Home Tiki Bars Archives - Page 2 of 15

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #134 The Knotty Pono – San Diego CA

Posted by Ray on August 8, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars

Knotty Pono, not Knotty Pine!

The name of Jessie and Shawn’s home tiki bar is called the Knotty Pono which is named after their home which is literally made from Knotty Pine. They had an extra room in the back of their home that was begging for a remodel, so they went to work on turning it into a tiki bar. First they found an old bamboo bar then they started to resurface the floor with cork tile, and proceeded to fill the space with more and more tiki artifacts. Here is the story of The Knotty Pine, I mean The Knotty Pono!

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #133 The Luna Lagoon – Santee CA

Posted by Ray on July 21, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment

Paige and Christian Luna both have a love for tiki and goth. Outside behind their home in Santee CA, you will find a little shack. It used to be a home office, now it’s the Luna Lagoon. The Luna Lagoon is named after their favorite Universal Monster movie, The Creature From The Black Lagoon and their last name, “Luna” which in Spanish means moon. Paige and Christian created a cozy spooky tiki goth bar that showcases their passions and it’s what makes The Luna Lagoon so special. Here is Paige and Christian’s story…

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #132 The Tiki Playground – El Cajon CA

Posted by Ray on July 8, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars

I was pretty much born and raised into the tiki lifestyle…

When Kailani was growing up, she spent her summers on O’ahu where she learned Hula. She performed as a child and never stopped! Maybe you can see Kailani dance in the San Diego area or you can come to Kailani and Alan’s Tiki Playground. The Tiki Playground is an outside tiki bar that looks over an impressive view over El Cajon. Hanging on the walls are pictures of Kailani’s family and various tiki and Hawaiian items that Alan has found over the years. Kailani and Alan are very welcoming and The Tiki Playground might be one of the most relaxing home tiki bars I ever visited. Aloha!

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #131 Gecko’s Grotto – La Mesa CA

Posted by Ray on June 25, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment

Traveling to Hawaii is not cheap, especially if you have three kids!

So, what do you do? Well, Steve and Amy brought Hawaii to them and built a tiki bar in their home. After their kids moved out, they converted one of the empty rooms into Gecko’s Grotto. With the help of Buzzy, they built a home tiki that’s truly stunning at night or even during the day! Here is how the Gecko’s Grotto came to be…

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #130 Lei Low Lounge – El Cajon CA

Posted by Ray on June 18, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment

Frank and Kathy are into many different things. Kathy likes to collect gumball machines (she has a lot!) while Frank loves music (he’s a drummer) and Star Trek. They both love Disney and they both love Tiki! Their home tiki bar is a place for Frank and Kathy to show off all the things they love. The name of their bar is Lei Low Lounge, it’s located in El Cajon and they pretty far out in the country so they don’t have many neighbors. This is a good thing because they built a stage right outside of their tiki bar and they have bands play regularly. There’s a lot going on at Frank and Kathy’s Lei Low Lounge and here is their story…

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #129 The Hula Hideaway – Chesterfield MI

Posted by Ray on May 25, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment

Get Your Tiki On!

In 2022 Erika decided to start an Instagram page where she would post a new tiki drink every week for a year. Well, that changed Erika’s life! Pretty soon she was posting about everything tiki in her life. Fast forward to now and Erika’s Get Your Tiki On Instagram page has over two thousand followers. She knows a lot of Tikiphiles across the country and they know her!

Erika and Jeff originally decided to call their home tiki bar, Tiki Underground, but that name was taken, so they went with The Hula Hideaway since Erika used to be a dancer. You might have seen Erika’s videos on Instagram of her bar, but seeing The Hula Hideaway in person is truly incredible!

Continue reading →

Home Sweet Tiki Home #8 Chiqui-Flamingo Casa – Tucson AZ

Posted by Ray on April 10, 2025 in Home Sweet Tiki Home, Home Tiki Bars 1 Comment

Why did you move to Tucson? 350 days of sunshine!

I’ve known Kym back when she lived in Seattle. This was a couple years ago. And then Kym moved away, she moved to Tucson. I have to be honest, I really didn’t know that much about Tucson. I knew two things, It’s in the desert, and Kon Tiki is there. I finally made a trip down to Tucson and met up with Kym and she showed me her home. It’s perfect combination of Tiki, Atomic Age and Mid-Century Modern!

Kym was correct, there’s over 300 days of sunshine in Tucson and she has a tiki lanai in her back porch to enjoy all that sun, but during the summer, it gets hot, really hot, to the point where you just stay indoors. Kym’s got that covered, she has not one, but two bars in her home. And did I mention that her living room is tiki themed? Kym has a name for her home, it’s called Chiqui-Flamingo Casa and her is her story…

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #128 Pakele Lounge – Tucson AZ

Posted by Ray on April 6, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars 3 Comments

Pakele Lounge means the Escape Lounge…

Tucson is a beautiful city but during the summer months it gets hot, really hot! What most people do is stay indoors to escape the heat. When Paula and Paul Gregg decided to build a tiki bar, they decided to build one inside. They took their fourth bedroom and converted it into the Pakele Lounge. Tiki Bars are all about escapism, sometimes its escaping the heat or life’s stresses but sometimes a home tiki bar is a place to go and relax and have a good time. Here is Paula and Paul’s story…

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #127 The Kona Cove – Baltimore MD

Posted by Ray on March 24, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars

Join the Marines and you’ll see the world!

Ryley did just that! He grew up in the Seattle area, joined the Marines and got stationed in San Diego where he met his wife Ellie. While living in San Diego they spent many hours at some great tiki bars like False Idol and Mothership. But when you’re in the military you go where your needed and that meant Ryley and Ellie had to move across the country to Maryland and now call Baltimore home.

There isn’t much of a tiki scene in Baltimore, does Baltimore have a tiki bar? I’m not sure. Actually, there is one, it’s The Kona Cove which is in Ryley and Ellie’s place. The Kona Cove is filled with Witco and it is a bar I’d hope to visit someday. Ryley and Ellie also have a tiki podcast! It’s called The Tiki Talk Show and they are going to have me come on as a guest. Stay tuned and in the meantime, here’s the story of The Kona Cove…

Continue reading →

Home Tiki Bar Spotlight #126 Kahui Cinema – Warren MI

Posted by Ray on January 27, 2025 in Home Tiki Bars

There’s a lot of different things you can do in a home tiki bar. One of those things is enjoying tropical cocktails or maybe you can relax listening to some Exotica. But in Kahui Cinema, you can watch movies! When Craig Esper decided to transform his basement into a tiki bar, he also turned it into a theater. Craig has a large collection of what he likes to call “odd-ball films” and he has his own personal theater to watch them in. What a great combination, b-movies and tiki!

Continue reading →