When I tell people that I try to visit and review a tiki bar wherever I travel I often get mixed looks and comments ranging from “what’s a tiki bar?” to “why would you do that?” But after I explain I pretty consistently have people telling me how cute it is and excited to visit a tiki bar for themselves.
My interest in tiki bars started with a simple question I asked my fiance (then girlfriend) on a trip to Chicago - “Should we buy a shot-glass?” We had started travelling more frequently as a couple and wanted something to remember our trips by and we knew lots of people that would get magnets or shot-glasses to show the many places they went.
However, as we walked around a local gift store we couldn’t find anything that caught our eye or inspired us in the shot-glass or magnet sections. We thought that maybe we could be more sophisticated and get a piece of art on every trip and soon found ourselves in a local art gallery/store. We quickly realized that if we wanted to travel we couldn’t afford art at every stop. Eventually we gave up and decided to figure out our nights plans.
Although I was not yet a dedicated google local guide, I did use google maps to find cool spots to visit on trips and we ended up at this fantastically strange place: Three Dots and a Dash. A tiki bar I would later realize was one of the best in the country. While there we loved the atmosphere, the friendly bartenders, and the cool drinkware.
As the tiki drinks hit us (and the tiki drinks always hit you) we began to further admire the tiki glassware. How could we have this for our home? Should we steal it? No, that’s terrible and the bartenders were nice. Maybe we could charm them into giving it to us? When we struck up a conversation about our favorite mug the bartender told us simply that it was for sale; our minds were blown. In talking more we found out that almost all tiki bars sold their mugs…and a beautiful tradition was born. Tiki mugs were unique to where they were bought, they could actually be used, and they were basically mini works of art. It was decided that night that we would buy a tiki mug at any tiki bar we could find on all our future trips.
Since then, we’ve visited tiki bars across the country together and I even took my fiance to a national tiki convention (Tiki Oasis) as part of our engagement. When people ask “why tiki bars?” they get a version of this story along with the sentiment that a tiki bar is a place that a traveler can go to see some awesome decoration, talk to a bartender who knows their stuff, and come home with a souvenir. For my fiance and I, they’re also reminders of all the silly fun we have together and why we feel lucky to have found one another.So that’s why I say that a tiki mug is better than a shot-glass and try to review every tiki bar I can.