If you happen to be in Richland WA, you have to stop in at Lee’s Tahitian!
Richland is located in the Southeastern part of the state of Washington. It’s about three hours away from Seattle and you have to go over a mountain range and drive through the desert to get there. I hope you visit Lee’s Tahitian at night so you can see their glorious neon sign!
Sadly, I was passing through Richland during the early afternoon, but the sign still looks cool in the daylight.
Technically Lee’s Tahitian is a Chinese restaurant. It opened in 1952 as Vina’s Tahitian, became C & L Tahitian in 1956 (named after its owners, Chin and Lee), and finally became Lee’s Tahitian in 1976 when Lee bought out Chin. The restaurant in the front is small with a handful of booths. It was closed when I stopped in but I was able to snap a picture.
The dining room in front is nothing special but the place where you want to be is back in the Tahitian Room, or as those in the know call it, The T Room …
I love this entrance way! I wish every bar had a side entrance like this. It’s something right out of the fifties. Inside the bar, you have this very large Witco tiki to great you …
It used to be a waterfall but sadly the days of water passing through this tiki are long gone.
Outside of a couple of random masks hanging up and some thatch over the karaoke stage, there isn’t much more tiki to Lee’s Tahitian.
Lee’s at this point is pretty much a dive bar, and there weren’t any tiki drinks to order, so I drank Rolling Rock while I was there. Oh yeah, the cobwebs aren’t real, Lee’s was decorated for Halloween!
Lee’s Tahitian is a Chinese restaurant and they serve a full menu of all the classic American Chinese restaurant dishes …
I ordered the Sweet and Sour Chicken and it hit the spot.
For me, tiki bars are a time machine. I had a great time at Lee’s just looking around and imagining what this place was like back in its heyday. Lee’s Tahitian is a piece of tiki history and I’ll say this …
Don’t go out of your way to hit Lee’s Tahitian, but if you’re passing through Richland WA, you have to stop. You just have to!
Here is the Lee’s Tahitian Facebook page