Thatch entryway,
photo by Heather Gregg

I love Portland so much, I’m coming back again. I’ll be at Thatch this Friday night (July 25) to meet up with the local tikiphiles — you’re invited. I had the great pleasure of meeting a few local folks the last time I was in town, and I always enjoy meeting more. Come on out if you’re in the Portland area!

Thatch
2733 NE Broadway St.
Portland, OR

• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]

I’ve got a backlog of Tiki Travels to tell you about! Remind me to tell you about New Year’s Eve at Tiki-Ti, and the swell Sippin’ Safari event in Boston. But to get started, I went to Portland a bit more than a week ago…

It’s really quite silly it’s taken this long, but I finally made it to Thatch in Portland. Of course, the Portland tiki crowd can make any ol’ hole a blast, but Thatch is hardly any ol’ hole… I love this place. First off, it’s dark, and I’m a sucker for a nice, dark tiki bar. It’s not as dark as The Alibi, of course, but I think there are sensory deprivation chambers that are brighter than The Alibi. I digress…

Thatch in Portland

What light there is at Thatch is provided by a lineup (literally — I’d actually love to see the lamps scattered a bit more) of really beautiful lamps by Kahaka, and a mess o’ pufferfish. Appropriate for the home town of the Velveteria, the place is lined with velvet paintings of varying quality. There’s a reclining wahine behind the bar who looks lumpy in good ways (boobies!) and in bad ways (I couldn’t shake the notion that her cheeks looked disturbingly like some paintings of Santa Claus). But much of the velvet there is really quite good, even great.

Also: there’s a black velvet clown. At least the clown is obvious in its wrongness, and Portland is a place that prides itself on obvious wrongness, so it sort of works in that regard, but really it’d be happier in a new home.

Clam shell originally from Portland’s Kon-Tiki

As reported earlier on Humu Kon Tiki, there are pieces from the Portland Kon-Tiki (via the recently closed Jasmine Tree) throughout Thatch — the famous three cannibal tikis of course, but also scads of other, smaller pieces that are probably better showcased here than they ever were at the Jasmine Tree.

The sunken bar is rather cool. I chatted to one of the bartenders about what it’s like to work at a sunken bar — I thought it might make the bartenders feel at a disadvantage, but he told me he actually really enjoys the intimate feeling he gets when he’s chatting with customers seated at the bar. The seating throughout much of Thatch came from an old Armet & Davis Denny’s, and it fits quite nicely. I didn’t get to spend time in the raised hut at the back of Thatch, as it was taken over by a large group by the time we arrived, but it looks like someplace I could lose many a happy evening.

The bridge entryway over a water pool works fantastically as a transition from the outside world. The bridge amazingly has no railings, but there haven’t been any drunken spills into the pool yet. Owner Robert Volz says that the absence of a rail forces even drunk people to pay a bit more attention to what they’re doing.

London Sour

I had a London Sour, which was quite tasty. Overall, the selection of drinks looked pretty good (though I wouldn’t miss the “Donkey Punch” if it left the menu… ugh). We didn’t try the food, since we’d just come from dinner (meatloaf & potatoes au gratin at the Doug Fir — yum!).

The music! The music was all spot on — lovely Exotica. I don’t know exactly what the music mix was, as I was paying attention more to the conversation of my companions… but I take that as a good sign, that the music didn’t jar me with its inappropriateness. Thank goodness.

Huge mahalos to Thatch owner Robert Volz for showing us a grand time, and to Melintur, Tiki Mama, Kim, Trader Tiki, Trott, Erik & Michele for sharing yet another memorable tiki-scented evening with me. I’m already looking forward to my return in late July!

View of Thatch from behind a tiki’s bum

• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]
• Thatch, Portland, OR (bar) [Tiki Central]
• Thatch [Humuhumu's Life in Photos
• Jasmine Tree Tiki Decor Going to Thatch [Humu Kon Tiki]
• The Alibi, Portland [Critiki]
• Kon-Tiki, Portland [Critiki]
• Jasmine Tree, Portland [Critiki]

Portland Tiki Kon 2007

Dates for Portland’s annual Tiki Crawl, a.k.a. the Tiki Kon, have been announced: it’s happening July 27-29, 2007. Tiki Kon: Venture into Darkness will include stops at Portland tiki mainstay The Alibi and of course Portland’s newest tiki hotspot, Thatch. HQ for the whole shebang is once again the Jupiter Hotel, and there will be a tour of area home tiki bars.

I was at the first Portland Tiki Crawl five years ago, and I haven’t missed one since — I’ll be there again this year, and I’m particularly excited to get to see Thatch in person. The Tiki Kon website only has a teaser image for now, but stay tuned to the site for details.

• Tiki Kon
• Tiki Kon V, Portland, July 27-29 [Tiki Central]
• My Travels: 2006 Portland Tiki Crawl [Humu Kon Tiki]
• The Alibi, Portland [Critiki]
• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]

Welcome to Blog goes to the Alibi

Brandon at Welcome to Blog recently went on a one-night mission to take the pulse of Portland tiki, and he found a nice, strong heartbeat, indeed. After a brief lament for the loss of the Jasmine Tree, he pits the Portland grand dame of tiki, The Alibi, against brand-new upstart Thatch in a contest of Decor, Tikis, Drinks, The Crowd, The Background Music, The Bathrooms, and The Staff. Sounds like my kind of night out on the town. He gives thoughtful consideration to each location’s strengths and weaknesses — in particular, it’s great to hear that Thatch is playing Les Baxter. Which Tiki reigns supreme? Well, thankfully, one doesn’t have to win over the other — Portland is just lucky to have two great tiki bars, and hopefully that will be the case for a long time to come.

• Tiki vs. tiki [Welcome to Blog]
• Jasmine Tree Falling Victim to Urban Redevelopment [Humu Kon Tiki]
• The Alibi [Critiki]
• Thatch [Critiki]

Thatch, Portland’s new tiki bar, photo by Heather Gregg

Water feature near entrance to Thatch,
photo by Heather Gregg

Tonight there was a sneak preview of Portland’s new tiki bar thatch, an art installation party for two velvet paintings by Portland’s Pander Bros. Another sneak peek is planned tomorrow, for Tiki Central members only. Heather Gregg and Noel Henneman both uploaded photos to Critiki (psst — Critiki is always looking for more photos of tiki places!).

Owner Robert Volz hired Portland’s Bamboo Craftsman to do the bamboo construction, and it looks absolutely gorgeous in these pictures. The bamboo and decor even extends into the restrooms. The water features near the entrance do a great job of letting visitors know they’re heading into a different world when they come off the street (it’s great to see the use of clam shells).

Inside the private hut at the back,
photo by Noel Henneman

My one little quibble is that the pufferfish and tapa lamps, which are gorgeous, are lined up a little to neatly for my taste — I prefer a look that gives the impression of items added over time, one where there’s a sense of discovery as you see things you hadn’t seen before. That may be Robert’s way of marrying the midcentury modern booths and seating to the inherently flotsam & jetsam-driven world of tiki. It sounds like there’s more work to be done before they open though, so maybe more stuff is going up on the ceiling. Overall, the place looks really inviting.

There’s still no final word on what date Thatch will be open to the public (Saturday is not looking likely, but the opening is definitely imminent). Visit Critiki to see the all the pictures, and thanks to Heather and Noel for sharing them so quickly!

UPDATE: Thatch will be open for regular business starting next Wednesday, January 10.

• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]
• Lots of New Images of Tiki in Critiki [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Bamboo Craftsman
• Portland’s Thatch Opening Soon [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Pander Bros.

Pander Bros. velvet painting, for Thatch

Robert Volz has been working on his new tiki bar, Thatch, for a loooong time now, and it looks like the work is finally wrapping up. Robert reports that while Thatch will not be open in time for New Year’s Eve as he’d once hoped, he is now aiming to have a preview party for VIPs and Tiki Centralites on January 5. Those who are interested in attending can send Robert (a.k.a. Robertiki) a personal message on Tiki Central to score an invite. No word yet on the grand opening date for the general public. Robert is pictured above, along with a large black velvet painting for Thatch by Portland artists the Pander Bros.

• Ground has been broken on Portland’s newest tiki bar [Tiki Central]
• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]

The Alibi in Portland, photo by Ace Jackelope

Ace Jackelope, a.k.a. Tikijackelope, is a kindred spirit, if ever I’ve encountered one. He travels the nation, visiting the best Americana ‘murica has to offer — especially tiki places — taking pictures all the way. His latest tiki-flavored adventure brought him to the northern wilderness of my youth, the Pacific Northwest. He’s taken some wonderful photos (pictures that handily trump the many I’ve taken) of the Alibi in Portland and the Islander in Seattle, and got a sneak peek at Portland’s Thatch. He also grabbed a few pics of the recently-closed Tiki Art Now show that was at Roq la Rue in Seattle. Special Lake Wobegon bonus: another recent post on his blog features Ace Jackelope sitting on the head of Garrison Keillor.

• Northwest Tiki [The Lope]
• The Alibi, Portland [Critiki]
• The Islander, Seattle [Critiki]
• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]
• Seattle: Tiki Art Now III [Humu Kon Tiki]

Robert Volz with tikis from New York Trader Vic’s

A wild, almost too-good-to-be-true story came to me from Robert Volz yesterday. Robert is the owner of the new Thatch bar in Portland (development is well underway, and the bar will be opening soon, hopefully). Robert has already had some fantastic scores of items for use in his new bar, including original Armet & Davis booths from a local Denny’s that was one of the last midcentury Denny’s in the nation to be remodeled, and all of the decor from the local Jasmine Tree restaurant that recently closed.

Robert, who was once editor of a magazine for scooter enthusiasts, recently took part in a coast-to-coast scooter race. (Yep — from Pacific City, Oregon to Orange, New Jersey in ten days, on a scooter.) Once he was in New Jersey, it was clear that he wasn’t going to be one of the top finishers, so when he saw a sign saying “Restaurant Auction Today,” he decided to take a breather. In between the kitchen equipment and other typical restaurant fixtures were eight tikis. Not just any tikis, really honkin’ big tikis. And they were reported to be from the New York City Trader Vic’s. Robert said:

The funny thing, is that no one bid on the eight large statues that used to be in the NYC Trader Vic’s in the Plaza Hotel.

After no takers on several, I wrote a note to the auctioneer who passed it onto the the manager. The note was a ridiculously low offer for all of them.

To my surprise, I got them all.

Back of one of Robert Volz’s
Trader Vic’s tikis

Now, as I said at the top of the story — too good to be true. But I think in this case that it could very well be true. For one, two of the tikis are the same design as the Trader Vic’s salt & pepper shakers, and have “TRADER VIC’S” carved in the back of them — which anyone can do, but the carving doesn’t look fresh. For another, the tikis look somewhat consistent with (though larger than) some tikis Trader Vic’s still has in their possession, as seen when they loaned them out for the San Francisco Airport tiki exhibit.

If these tikis did indeed come from Trader Vic’s, it’s likely they date to 1965, when the Trader Vic’s moved from the Savoy Hotel to the Plaza Hotel; when Donald Trump bought the building in 1989, he closed the Trader Vic’s. These tikis have been somehwere — probably a warehouse — ever since.

Shipping these fellas back across the country was no small feat — shipping was quoted to Robert at $3,200, so he rented a van and drove all the way to New Jersey and back to get them himself. He says these guys are all going into Thatch, where they will get to hang out with the three massive cannibal tikis from the Portland Kon-Tiki he scored from the Jasmine Tree. To learn more about Thatch, check out this thread on Tiki Central, and this one where Robert asks a bit about one of the tikis.

UPDATE — Perhaps a bit too good to be true, after all. Sven Kirsten and Tim “Swanky” Glazner have weighed in on Tiki Central, and they’re of the opinion that these are more recent carvings (Sven speculates that perhaps these were rounded up for a proposed re-opening of Trader Vic’s in New York that didn’t happen).

• Jasmine Tree Tiki Decor Going to Thatch [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Scooter Cannonball
• Trader Vic’s, New York [Critiki]
• Thatch, Portland
• San Francisco: Poly Pop Exhibit Tour at SFO [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Ground has been broken on Portland’s newest tiki bar [Tiki Central]
• Could someone please tell me about this tiki god? [Tiki Central]

Mimi Payne keeps adding great items from her collection to Arkiva Tropika — she adds cool things too frequently for me to post about it every time, and I can’t not post about the wonderful things she’s sharing, so there’s only one thing for it: a weekly roundup. This is just a small fraction of the items she’s posted this week; if you like these, make sure to check out Arkiva Tropika yourself, and you’ll be over the moon.

1954 Waikiki Room menu, from Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

This is a 1954 drink menu from the Waikiki Room at the Hotel Nicolette in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There was another Waikiki Room across town, in the Hotel Leamington. I love the woodgrain backdrop of the menu, and the tiki is simple, but beautifullly illustrated. Inside, the menu has full-color photos of the drinks, rather than the more commonly seen drawings. Very cool!

1950s postcard from Portland Trader Vic’s, from Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

This is a lovely postcard view of the Portland Trader Vic’s, which was in the Hotel Benson. I have no idea what that carved thing in the foreground with the white thingy on top could be.

1950s menu from Zombie Village in Oakland, from Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

Without a doubt, hands down, no contest, this is my favorite bit of Polynesian Pop imagery anywhere. That woman is just gorgeous. I want her tattoed on me. I want to be her. She even makes the menacing dark cloudy figure seem like something you can’t be bothered to be concerned about. Who could possibly be distracted by a 50-foot angry genie when you’ve got that woman mezmerizing you? Oh yeah, there’s a neat building in the back, too. Seriously, aside from the beautiful woman, it’s a nice, simple composition that conveys a mood without having to try too hard. Beautiful. This image can also be seen at the beginning of the Book of Tiki.

Fan from Aku Aku at the Stardust in Las Vegas, from Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

This fan is an unusual item, although Mimi has a few fans in her collection. It comes from the Aku Aku at the Stardust in Las Vegas. The Aku Aku closed long ago, but the Stardust closed just this past Wednesday. I like the rendering of the Aku Aku moai as an Asian brush painting, and I like the muted colors.

Back of a 1964 menu from the Hawaiian Room in New York City, from Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

And straight from muted colors, we have color overload, with food, no less. Look at this — this is every classic ’60s food cliche in one spread. I’ll just let it speak for itself, since I wouldn’t be heard over its screaming, anyhow.

1950s menu from the WikiWiki Coffee Shop at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach, from Mimi Payne’s Arkiva Tropika

This menu is interesting to me not so much because of the design, but because this is from a place I’ve been to, that’s still operating today. The Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach still has a Polynesian floor show and restaurant, but this menu comes from the small coffee shop just off the hotel’s lobby. Today, the coffee shop is run by the same family that performs the floor show at night; it’s kind of fun to be served your hangover-healing coffee by the same woman who was hulaing for you the night before. Gives it a sort of end-of-Wizard-of-Oz feeling. Another interesting thing about this menu is that while it’s from the coffee shop, and has “Good Morning” printed in the decorative border, the paper insert is a dinner menu, which seems a little odd.

Check out Arkiva Tropika for more — much, much more — stuff just like this!

• cocktail menu from Waikiki Room, Hotel Nicollet- Minneapolis, MN [Arkiva Tropika]
• Waikiki Room, Minneapolis [Critiki]
• postcard from Trader Vic’s, Hotel Benson - Portland, OR [Arkiva Tropika]
• Trader Vic’s, Portland [Critiki]
• dinner menu from Zombie Village - Oakland, CA [Arkiva Tropika]
• Zombie Village, Oakland [Critiki]
• souvenir fan from Aku Aku, Stardust Hotel - Las Vegas, NV [Arkiva Tropika]
• Aku Aku, Las Vegas [Critiki]
• dinner menu from Hawaiian Room, Hotel Lexington- New York City [Arkiva Tropika]
• Hawaiian Room, New York [Critiki]
• Wiki Wiki Coffee Shop menu from Hawaiian Inn - Daytona Beach, Florida [Arkiva Tropika]
• Hawaiian Inn, Daytona Beach [Critiki]

Jasmine Tree tikis, originally from the Portland Kon-Tiki

The questions surrounding the future of Portland’s Jasmine Tree appear to have largely been answered. Due to urban redevelopment, the Jasmine Tree had the choice of shutting down or relocating, but has to be out of its current location by the end of October. The search for a new location has not been successful; there is still a slim chance that the restaurant could move, but if it does, it won’t have a tiki theme. The owners of the Jasmine Tree have agreed to sell the tiki decor to Robert Volz, who is opening a new tiki bar in northeast Portland, called Thatch. Volz had worked with the Jasmine Tree owners to try to find them a new location; he plans to use much of the decor in Thatch, and may sell some of the decor to fellow Portland-area tikiphiles and Tiki Centralites.

While the Jasmine Tree is not my favorite tiki bar, it is very notable for its decor. The items aren’t presented in the greatest way, but they have a great pedigree — much of it came from the Portland Kon-Tiki when it closed. Most striking is the set of three large cannibal tikis in the picture above, as seen in many menus from Steve Crane’s Kon-Tiki locations, and also Steve Crane’s Luau in Beverly Hills. The prospect of these tikis, and other Kon-Tiki decor, continuing to be available for the public to see (and perhaps in an even better environment) is good news.

Thatch’s opening date has not yet been announced, but it sounds like work is very far along, and the bar will hopefully be opening soon.

• I just bought the Jasmine Tree [Tiki Central]
• Jasmine Tree Falling Victim to Urban Redevelopment [Humu Kon Tiki]
• The Jasmine Tree, Portland [Critiki]
• Thatch, Portland [Critiki]
• Kon-Tiki, Portland [Critiki]
• Luau, Beverly Hills [Critiki]

Spitting fountain at the Alibi in Portland, photo by Hanford Lemoore

Last month, Hanford and I paid a visit to the fine city of Portland for the 2006 Northwest Tiki Crawl. The weather was beautiful (if a bit hot on the last day), and the company was grand.

The kickoff night was at Mark and Maggie Axton’s lush backyard paradise, the Castaway Cove, which includes a bar enclosed in a large freestanding building, a small “beach” complete with fire pit, and even a creepy voodoo maze through the shrubberies.

Day two included a visit to the Alibi, pictured above. The Alibi is the shining star of Portland tiki; the bar has a very long history, having started as the Chat n’ Nibble when the road it was on was the main dirt road for horse carts to get to town. It went thorugh a series of evolutions through the years, until becoming tiki in the post-WWII era, and undergoing a remodel and expansion in the ’70s. The natural build-up of dust, cigarette smoke and general grime slowly took its toll, and this past year, the same team of folks who throw the annual crawl started spending every Sunday there volunteering to clean the joint up. The results are outstanding — lamps shine brightly (but not too brightly!), the mural is looking lovely, and there are so many more little details to be seen now. There is more cleanup to be done, but it’s already looking worlds better. The famous neon Alibi sign has also had a refresh, and is looking better than ever. The drinks… well, the drinks still need a lot of work (One gentleman’s Mai Tai came with olives in it! And I thought it couldn’t get worse than the dreaded pineapple juice and grenadine.), but it’s all a big step in the right direction, and gives me great hope.

The next stop was the Jasmine Tree, a Chinese restaurant that years ago inherited tiki artifacts from the Portland Kon-Tiki when it closed. As earlier reported, the building the Jasmine Tree is to be demolished to make student housing for nearby PSU, but they are promising to re-open in a new location. Here’s the thing, though — the food & drinks are absolutely abysmal at the Jasmine Tree, and the space they’re in isn’t too terribly special (though the bar does have a few neat old-school details). The only thing the Jasmine Tree has going for it, in my book, are the cool tiki items that are currently displayed rather haphazardly. I heard the Jasmine Tree say they’re relocating, but I haven’t heard anything about what they plan to do with all their tiki stuff, if it will be re-installed, if they’ll go more tiki (don’t hold your breath), or if they’ll sell some of the tiki stuff off. Ordinarily, I’d blanch at the idea of tiki stuff getting sold off, but if it wound up at another public place, it wouldn’t be much of a change from the current state of affairs. Anyway, it was another typical night at the Jasmine Tree.

The evening events took place at our hotel, the Jupiter, where there was a vendor room (Hanford scored a ton of great vintage aloha shirts), and some bands played. At the afterparty, we made some drinks out of stuff we were able to pull together, and I managed somehow to make something out of Voodoo Rum, lemon juice, sweet & sour and orgeat that tasted just like the brine from a sweet pickle jar. So, maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on the drinks at the Alibi & the Jasmine Tree. Hanford & I finally made it to bed at about 4 a.m.

The next day was a scorcher, with the temperature bumping up against 100 degrees, which is unheard of for Portland in June. It was the day of the home tiki bar crawl, and the stops we made it to (before having to bop off to the airport) were lovely home tiki bar setups. A highlight of the day was a sneak peek of a brand new tiki bar opening soon in Portland, called Thatch. Thatch is being opened by the same chap who owns nearby Pour, a sleek wine bar. Thatch will include a small bridge crossing over a water feature at the entrance, a raised hut area at the back, and a sunken bar area. The booths are original Armet & Davis Denny’s booths, and the place is going to be all decked out in bamboo. A lot of imagination was needed to see how it would be when we paid our visit, but it sounds very promising, and there was a lot of excitement. Thatch is due to open in mid-August.

Mahalo to the Portland Tiki Crawl group for such a fantastic weekend, and for doing to much wonderful work on the Alibi!

• 2006 Northwest Tiki Crawl pictures [Hanford Lemoore's Photo-Matic]
• Tiki Kon: Northwest Tiki Crawl
• Portland: Northwest Tiki Crawl 2006 [Humu Kon Tiki]
• The Alibi in Portland Undergoing Renovation [Humu Kon Tiki]
• Jasmine Tree Falling Victim to Urban Redevelopment [Humu Kon Tiki]

Mug from NW Tiki Crawl 2005

Tickets are now on sale for the annual Northwest Tiki Crawl, taking place in Portland the weekend of June 24, 2006. As with last year, there will be a special event mug created by Tikitronic. Special highlights this year include some new home bars on the Sunday home bar tour, a special preview of the not-yet-open Grass Skirt Thatch, Portland’s newest tiki bar, and a chance to spend time in the soon-to-be-closed Jasmine Tree. Of course, the Alibi alone is worth the trip to Portland. Here’s the schedule from the NW Tiki Crawl website:

Friday: Kick-Off Party at the infamous Castaway Cove, home of Tikimaxton & Pele. This will be for full weekend Crawlers only to get to know your fellow tikiphiles and enjoy the Cove’s famed hospitality. Food & drinks provided.

Saturday: There will be gatherings at Portland tiki bars: (soon to be closed!) Jasmine Tree and the venerable Alibi. Then the Tiki-Kon really gets going that evening at the Jupiter, with Bands! Vendors! Drinks! Socializing! Raffle with Fabulous Prizes! Mysterious Other Things! Full Weekend crawlers will also be treated to an EXCLUSIVE preview of Portland’s newest tiki bar, Grass Skirt (not yet open to the public!)

Sunday: A special Tiki-Kon Brunch at the Alibi, followed by The Original NW Tiki Home Bar Tour, which this year will include new home bars (transportation provided). The group will then return to the Jupiter for the weekend farewell - allowing more time for shopping, socializing, and maybe a little drinking at the nearby Doug Fir.

• TIKI-KON: NW Tiki Crawl 2006
• NW Tiki Crawl 2006 Official Announcement! [Tiki Central]
• 2006 Northwest Tiki Crawl Announced [Humu Kon Tiki]

Jimmy Chan, Jasmine Tree bartender
photo from the PSU Daily Vanguard

The Jasmine Tree restaurant in Portland will have to either relocate or close under current plans by the Portland Development Commission, the PSU Daily Vanguard reports. The PDC is looking to bring affordable middle-income houseing to the area, for those employed by the nearby Portland State University. The plan also calls for a light-rail line, which would run through the space currently occupied by the Jasmine Tree.

The Jasmine Tree has plenty of history — besides having been in operation for 30 years, they also house many tikis from the legendary Portland Steve Crane-owned Kon-Tiki restaurant, including the three large cannibal tikis as seen in the Kon-Tiki & Luau logo.

The Jasmine Tree’s current lease is up at the end of April, and it is unknown what the fate of the location is beyond that.

• The price of urban renewal [PSU Daily Vanguard]
• Jasmine Tree Rumors [Tiki Central]
• The Jasmine Tree, Portland [Critiki]

Northwest Tiki Crawl

The annual Northwest Tiki Crawl is gearing up again — this is the fourth year (if you include the first year, which was a combo tiki & polka extravaganza). Portland is home to the Alibi, one of my favorite tiki bars, and also some fantastic home bars. Details about this year’s event have not yet been announced, but in the past there have been live bands, a home bar tour, and commemorative mugs. Like last year, the official hotel is the Jupiter; we had a great time there last year, in particular at the Doug Fir restaurant in the Jupiter. (Roughly one half of my 100+ photos from last year’s event are of a chrome moose head. I had a fair bit to drink.) The Jupiter is accepting reservations for the Northwest Tiki Crawl weekend, and is extending a special rate. The website for the Northwest Tiki Crawl has not yet been updated for this year, but you can see details from last year’s event.

• NW Tiki Crawl Room Reservations [Jupiter Hotel]
• NW Tiki Crawl 2006 Official Announcement! [Tiki Central]
• Northwest Tiki Crawl

The Alibi in Portland

The Alibi in Portland, Oregon has a long history, and a promising future. The establishment today known as the Alibi began as the Chat n’ Nibble, a stop along a dirt road in the late 1800s. Over time, the bar morphed, becoming Max’s Alibi, becoming simply The Alibi, and expanding into a restaurant. The Alibi went Polynesian in the middle of the last century, though much of the existing decor dates from about the ’70s.

The Alibi has been operated under lease from the property owner since the 1980s, and the lease agreement has stated that the decor must remain intact. The current lessors have been learning about tiki culture from the dedicated local tiki community, and they share the desire to keep the tiki torches burning (even if only figuratively) at The Alibi. To that end, there are efforts underway to renovate the tiki, while keeping the decor intact. The Orchids of Hawaii lamps are being cleaned and repaired, the spectacular exterior sign is getting a paint job, and the water feature is being expanded. The Alibi’s owners have eagerly recruited the assistance of the local tikiphile community to lend a hand with keeping the tiki aesthetic in good shape.

Just one request guys — keep it dark!

• Portland Alibi update [Tiki Central]
• The Alibi [Critiki]