Tiki bars have a simple formula — low-hanging thatched roofs, tropical fruit drinks with umbrellas in them and inspired carvings of Polynesian deities flanking the perimeter. They are the passion projects of those who seek, with great fervor, to recreate a postcard-like experience of a faraway place teeming with coconuts and white sand beaches.
Perhaps not surprisingly then, tiki bars got their start here Los Angeles. After all, L.A. is a land of meticulously crafted movie sets where those invested in the dream could convincingly design an experience that made their patrons feel like they had stepped through a portal to a simpler time and place.
Now, a new documentary called The Donn of Tiki delves into the advent, the appeal, the aesthetic of the tiki movement and the enigmatic man who started it all. The film just made its L.A. debut at the Dances With Films Festival.
Donn the Beachcomber and the advent of tiki
When filmmaker Alex Lamb set out to make a documentary about the history of tiki culture in Los Angeles, he wasn't expecting to profile a single man. "As I started interviewing people, everyone was talking about Donn the Beachcomber," Lamb told LAist's daily news program AirTalk, which airs on 89.3. FM. "It seemed like he deserved his own documentary."
Donn the Beachcomber, it turns out, was a great embellisher of stories. So Lamb and his co-directors not only had the task of telling his story, but they also had to parse out fact from fiction. But then again, that was part of Donn the Beachcomber's allure and he used it to weave a colorful and compelling tapestry of tiki.
So, what exactly is tiki?
"It is a very American thing," Lamb said. "The cocktails are really based off rum and south Caribbean mixology. The aesthetic is South Pacific, like Hawaiian [and] Tongan."
In other words, tiki is a combination of many cultures that keeps reiterating itself in slightly different ways.
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"The odd thing about tiki now is that it's really a copy of a copy of a copy of what this one guy Donn did," said Lamb.
So, what exactly did Donn do?
Donn the Beachcomber, née Earnest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt, opened the first tiki bar in Hollywood, California at 1727 McCadden Place. The year was 1937 and Donn had been working as a bartender at the Hollywood Hotel.
Years before his tiki oasis came to fruition, Donn was traveling to remote parts of the world where the dream was born.
"What Don was doing was really autobiographical," Lamb said. "He traveled to these places. He learned mixology. He collected these things. And to him, everything sort of meant something, you know, if he put something on the wall, that was because he wanted to talk about this place he had been and what he had seen and what he had learned."
"The odd thing about tiki now is that it's really a copy of a copy of a copy of what this one guy Donn did."
But Donn wasn't just offering people another watering hole in Hollywood, Lamb added; he was offering them an escape.
The appeal
"When you look at tiki historically, it seems to always come back after horrible things happen because people are trying to escape that," Lamb said.
Donn opened his tiki bar right after prohibition ended. But it took off as soldiers returned from World War II looking for an escape.
"Tiki really hit a nerve," said Kevin Murphy, who co-owns the Tonga Hut in North Hollywood. It opened in 1958 and is the oldest tiki bar in Los Angeles. Murphy said it was during this post-war period that different kinds of themed places popped up, including Disneyland.
"Everyone needed an escape," he said. "Especially when you’re in the Midwest and it’s cold."
"When you look at tiki historically, it seems to always come back after horrible things happen because people are trying to escape that."
Murphy's introduction to tiki culture was through his father, who like many others during the advent of tiki, built a bar in the basement of their family home.
"It was full of fake plants, and we'd have luaus," he said. "We loved parties and we loved themes."
While Lamb's documentary doesn't seek to answer questions around cultural appropriation and ethics, Murphy and Lamb acknowledge that's been part of tiki's story since the beginning. "Capitalism is at the core," says Murphy. "Hawaii isn’t the home of the tiki bar. It’s a SoCal construct." That construct created a fusion experience. "The rum is Caribbean, food is Cantonese," says Murphy, co-owner of Tonga Hut in North Hollywood. "But it creates an awareness for the south pacific. People google Tonga after they visit our bar. It drives awareness."
The drinks
The influence of Donn the Beachcomber on modern day cocktails can't be understated, according to many of the tiki bar owners and connoisseurs featured in the film.
"I think the craft cocktail movement of the early 2000s really helped bring back a resurgence of tiki," says Lamb. As bartenders started researching cocktails, they'd come across Donn the Beachcomber. Lamb goes on to say that Donn is the first person we know of who was mixing all kinds of rum and fresh juices together.
"The tiki cocktail was probably the first craft cocktail," says Murphy. "The foundation of a tiki bar is still your tiki cocktails." That means fresh juices, fresh made syrups, quality rums and quality spirits.
What are some tiki cocktail favorites? Depends who you ask, and maybe what day of the week it is.
"I'm going to go with a Navy Grog," says Murphy. It's one of the stronger more traditional tiki drinks with a grapefruit base. He also recommends a traditional Mai Tai. "If you start with that drink you will realize what a tiki drink is supposed to be," he says.
As for the larger tiki culture, Murphy and Lamb think it's having a revival moment. "We're getting a lot of people that are coming back and embracing it from history and then people are just enjoying it for the first time," says Murphy. That's the thing about tiki; it doesn't really change — and for many, that's exactly why they keep going back."
"The tiki cocktail was probably the first craft cocktail."
Tiki Talk — Listener favorites
We asked listeners to tell us their favorite tiki bars in LA as well and here are some of their suggestions:
Tiki No (North Hollywood)
Jim in North Hollywood pointed to his neighborhood favorite, Tiki No. "Tiki No has the best piña colada," Jim said.
Tiki-Ti (East Hollywood)
Adrian in Corona, who said he collects tiki mugs and began tiki bar hopping after learning about the legend of Donn the Beachcomber, pointed to Tiki-Ti in East Hollywood, which has called Sunset Blvd home for more than six decades.
Damon's Steakhouse (Glendale)
Floyd from Hollywood Damon's Steakhouse in Glendale is a must. "It's like a time warp. Good cocktails and pretty good steak!"
Tonga Hut (North Hollywood)
I mean, we talked to their owner for this piece so we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the oldest tiki bar in L.A. — Tonga Hut. But this longtime staple is also a listener favorite — Ken from West Adams was one of a few callers who mentioned it. "I've been to all the tiki bars in LA and the Tonga Hut is my favorite," he said.
Bamboo Club (Long Beach)
Not every great tiki bar is in North Hollywood! Ariana in Long Beach says Bamboo Club in Long Beach is her favorite. "It's still a hidden gem here, but we absolutely love this spot!"
Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Bar (Anaheim)
Ok sure, this is a tiki bar at Disneyland but it's still a fan favorite! AirTalk listener José wrote in to say that he and his wife have made a point to go to evry tiki bar in SoCal, and that it's become one of their favorite dates, but that they frequent Trader Sam's.
