More than a throwback: Tiki culture is alive and well in Sacramento’s bar scene
Maritime decor with moody lighting. Strong, sweet drinks. Exotic music pierced with bird calls. A trip to a tiki bar can be like going on a tiny tropical vacation, no passport needed.
Tiki bars have been a staple in the dining and drinking scene since their advent nearly 100 years ago. Like anything with that kind of longevity, tiki’s popularity rises and falls like the tides. Currently, there are four tiki bars in the Sacramento area.
The longest-lived is midtown’s Jungle Bird at 2516 J St. It spun out from a Tiki Tuesday event that bartender Buddy Newby pitched at Tyler and Melissa Williams’s original restaurant, Tank House, in 2016.
“It went nuts. And as a businessman I was like, I see opportunity here,” Tyler Williams said. So they set about launching a full tiki bar.
Tiki decor runs a gamut from high to low camp. “There’s like Trader Sam’s, which is one of my favorites, the Disneyland bar, that has animatronics in it. On the other end of the spectrum is the tiki dive bar. That’s the direction we took with Jungle Bird,” he said.
Jungle Bird sports a beach club motif with a thatched roof palapa over the bar and cozy nooks adorned with grasscloth walls and tropical bric-a-brac. The decor continually evolves.
“When I see things, I have to buy them. I have to put it on the wall. It’s just never ending. More mugs, more carvings, more paintings, more stuff,” he said.
Jungle Bird serves a combination of the true rum-driven tiki classics, like the 1944 Mai Tai ($15), painkiller ($15) and the eponymous Jungle Bird ($15), as well as original creations like the Lei’d Back ($15), made with vodka, orange curaçao, lemon, orange and Dole Whip.
The food menu also is rooted in the old and new. You can get the obligatory pu pu platter ($28) or mix it up with banh mi fries ($18) or poke nachos ($20). They also go big on holiday themes, especially at Christmas, when it transforms into Jingle Bird.
Whereas Jungle Bird grew from a grassroots concept, Shipwrecked was architected. Owners Nate and Melissa Yungvanitsait, who also own University of Beer, built the concept around a fictitious character, seafaring Captain “Bad Luck” Bob, who unfortunately cannot stop running aground.
Nate Yungvanitsait grew up in Thailand. He moved to America with his family when he was 14. His mother opened a Thai restaurant in Davis. “So hospitality is pretty much the only line of work that I’ve been in my whole life,” he said.
They opened the original Shipwrecked at 217 G St. in Davis in 2023. In this chapter of Captain Bob’s story, his bad luck manifested in an encounter with the Kraken. “So we have tentacles coming out from the walls and ceiling. We have a hammerhead shark. We have stingrays,” he said.
When Shipwrecked Paradise Island opened in Sacramento in 2024 — supplanting the University of Beer location at 1510 16th St. — Captain Bob had beached on an island.
“There’s a little bit more jungle, rain forest. You have anacondas, and then you go into the patio, and there’s a ruined city,” Yungvanitsait said.
Like Jungle Bird, Shipwrecked’s menus blend the classic with the innovative. Alongside the tried and true, they produce some eye-popping, Instagrammable drinks like the brilliant blue Hawaiian Hula Blossom ($13), with which derives its color from blue curaçao, and the layered Captain Bob’s Bourbon Swizzle ($16).
The food shies away from the typical — no crab rangoon here — for finger foods that harken to cuisines outside the South Pacific, like Jamaican style jerk shrimp skewers ($18) and salmon ceviche ($16).
The newest addition to the scene is by far the most experience-forward. Hawthorne’s Hideout isn’t exactly a tiki bar, but it behaves like one. If Jungle Bird is rooted in dive culture, Hawthorne’s is firmly in the Disney camp.
The immersive speakeasy-style club at 102 K St. in Old Sacramento, centered on fictitious character Elias Hawthorne, is decked out with kitschy adventure-themed curios, all intended to help visitors mentally build the story of his life.
Reservations cost $95 for a two-hour visit, which includes a shot, two drinks, Dole whip and immersive character interactions.
So what is tiki’s enduring appeal? When Williams was researching for Jungle Bird, he discovered tiki is more than an aesthetic; it’s a cultural identity.
“There’s groups of people that commune around this style, and they live it. They wear Aloha shirts and love the vintage stuff, and they’re all collectors. They listen to Martin Denny. They drink nothing but tiki drinks,” he said.
Tiki culture remains strong in Sacramento, dovetailing with a deep-seated love for midcentury modern chic. Sacramento Ohana is a community that gathers to “celebrate our love for tropical drinks, Polynesian-inspired decor, and the laid-back island lifestyle.”
The organization hosts an annual tour of home-based tiki bars, as well as a marketplace for tiki wares, bartender competitions and other get-togethers.
What I’m Eating
Very shortly after 9/11, we spent a month in Spain. It was an amazing time to travel, since hardly anyone else was. We had the country’s cultural attractions all to ourselves. This was pre-euro, so it was also extremely inexpensive.
However, at the end of our trip, we were pretty burned out on Spanish food. By the time we got home, we swore we’d never touch a piece of jamon iberico again.
Five days later, we were on the hunt for tapas.
The cravings still strike from time to time. We have several Spanish restaurants locally, but I have a soft spot for Aioli Bodega Espanola at 1800 L Street in midtown.
The space has an Old World bistro atmosphere, dark wood, dim lighting. A mural on the wall in the dining room nods to the great Spanish modern artists.
Patatas bravas ($8.95) are a must, and while I prefer mine fried, Aioli’s roasts their potatoes, an acceptable alternative. On a recent visit on one of our many foggy evenings, a standout was the seasonal Ensalada de Elsy ($11.95).
The tumble of arugula with finely shredded celery, endives, radicchio and cucumber was a riot of the crisp textures and bold flavors that shock the mouth awake and make you appreciate the glory of winter produce.
But the real highlight was a confetti of black olive, roasted until dry and fudgy in texture. As you bite into the morsels, before the deep saltiness hits your tongue, dark flavors of cocoa and licorice bloom on the palate.
Aioli has long had an excellent prix fixe lunch option, with soup, choice of main and dessert for just $25.
Aioli Bodega Espanola
Address: 1800 L St., midtown
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Sundays
Phone: 916-447-9440
Website: aiolibodega.com
Vegetarian options: While Spanish cuisine can be less than friendly to vegetarians, Aioli has several offerings including pastas and paellas.
Noise level: Moderate, but the kitchen can get loud
Openings & Closings
OneSpeed Pizza, a much-beloved East Sacramento institution for 17 years, will lose its lease at the end of this year. It’s seeking a new location within the same neighborhood. While there is urgency to find a new space before the lease runs out, chef-owner Rick Mahan must also balance the potential risk of acting too early and incurring excessive carrying costs. Mahan thinks they’re about six months from pulling the trigger, but is actively scouting options now.
Dodici Pizza, the new pizza concept from the owners of Adamo’s Kitchen in midtown announced last month, opened on Tuesday. They built out the space at 12th and D streets in Alkali Flats out for the restaurant in 2021, but ended up renting it to another restaurateur who launched Anonimo Pizza. That later became Luccas Pizza before operating out of sister restaurant Bambina’s last year. Dodici will serve an Apulian-style pizza, which is more rustic than the traditional Neapolitan style.
Bay Area-based Folsom fusion restaurant Red Hot Chilli Pepper which specialized in Indian-Chinese fusion cuisine has closed according to the Sacramento Business Journal. They reported that a notice in the window of the business, located at 2791 E. Bidwell St., said the turnkey restaurant business is for sale.
