Los Angeles, CA

[Carbon]

I was surprised there wasn't a thread for LA. Did I just miss it?

Anyway, I'm originally from Los Angeles. I know some in LA probably miss the old Trader Vic's (the new ones are a bit too corporate and mainstream from what I've heard), Don the Beachcomber's, and Steve Crane's The Luau, but I wasn't around to experience them unfortunately.

A little bar I ran across on the internet was Tiki Ti. It's a small, family-owned and operated place which I'm definitely going to check out when I visit home. Anyone been? Apparently it's been around since 1961 in one guise or another. The only thing that's off-putting is that they allow smoking (although I'm not sure how this works since it's outlawed in LA), but this may be appealing to those that like to pair a pipe or cigar to their drink (not me).
http://www.tiki-ti.com/pages/home.html

Apparently a new place called Luau just opened in Beverly Hills inspired by the old one from back in the day. It's more of an upscale bar/restaurant that one would expect to find in Beverly Hills.
Link#1 (http://www.nbclosangeles.com/around_town/dining/Luau_Debuts_in_Beverly_Hills.html)
more info (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/562585)

I'll check out both places when I can and let you guys know what I find out. :cool:

[RC]

Tiki Ti is a very cool and strange place. We gave them a plug on the Rum Connection site last week. They are family owned since birth and mix up some of the best drinks in Hollywood. Definitely check it out!

[Paul C]

Tiki Ti is the bomb! I've been going there for years and that bartender is one of the best (if not the best) I've ever seen. Beware the drinks - any more than 2 of most of them and it's cab time. I love the fact he closes for months every year to go to Hawaii. If any of you happen to be in LA and want to go there it's at 4427 Sunset Boulevard, in between Los Feliz and Silverlake.

I am a person who used to go to Don the Beachcombers in Hollywood all the time. Really great. There was also that large Polynesian place near Pico and Fairfax, the name escapes me now. The staff dressed like they were crew on the Love Boat.

They are opening a new Trader Vic's downtown at L.A. Live.

There also used to be the most fantastic Polynesian "gee-gaw" warehouse on San Fernando road. It was called Sea and Sand if I remember correctly. There you could buy anything from the cheapest plastic tiki head to a fully carved "totem" palm tree. They also had a black light room with a full size glowing Creature from the Black Lagoon. All the salespeople were ladies in mumus with plastic leis.

As for rum bars in LA, haven't found a lot but Ciudad downtown on 5th and Figueroa has rum flights, fantastic mojitos and REALLY good food. Their selection of rum is pretty good, that's where I first tried Oronoco, Zaya, Barbancourt 15, Aniversario and a few others.

Their chefs are the Too Hot Tamales who also have the Border Grill in Santa Monica and many cookbooks. The food is great. It's a nice place to hang on a weekday night on the patio, in the SoCal weather looking at downtown. Sunday is tapas night so that's a favorite. There's also a really great paella night.

Cheers

pbc

[Dood]

I was surprised there wasn't a thread for LA. Did I just miss it?

Anyway, I'm originally from Los Angeles. I know some in LA probably miss the old Trader Vic's (the new ones are a bit too corporate and mainstream from what I've heard), Don the Beachcomber's, and Steve Crane's The Luau, but I wasn't around to experience them unfortunately.

A little bar I ran across on the internet was Tiki Ti. It's a small, family-owned and operated place which I'm definitely going to check out when I visit home. Anyone been? Apparently it's been around since 1961 in one guise or another. The only thing that's off-putting is that they allow smoking (although I'm not sure how this works since it's outlawed in LA), but this may be appealing to those that like to pair a pipe or cigar to their drink (not me).
http://www.tiki-ti.com/pages/home.html

Apparently a new place called Luau just opened in Beverly Hills inspired by the old one from back in the day. It's more of an upscale bar/restaurant that one would expect to find in Beverly Hills.
Link#1 (http://www.nbclosangeles.com/around_town/dining/Luau_Debuts_in_Beverly_Hills.html)
more info (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/562585)

I'll check out both places when I can and let you guys know what I find out. :cool:

Tiki Ti is very well-known here on the forums. Great rum selection, great drinks, but get there EARLY and avoid Wednesdays - the Tiki Central forum people show up on Wednesdays and fill the place up.

I tried out Luau a few weeks ago. The drinks are fantastic - the drink menu being developed by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. The mai tai was one of the best I've had. Their rum selection is, well, better than most places, but nothing phenomenal. I wouldn't call this a tiki bar so much as a polynesian-themed restaurant/bar with upscale tiki-style drinks.

[charlie]

I live in Southern Cal and also am interested in bars that appreciate , and have a good selection of Rum. It seems like a Vodka & Tequila town

[Dood]

I live in Southern Cal and also am interested in bars that appreciate , and have a good selection of Rum. It seems like a Vodka & Tequila town

There are some great places for cocktails and/or whiskey. You can check out Seven Grand for a phenomenal whiskey bar.

As for rum, there's a rumor that a bar in the Hollywood/downtown area is opening a rum room, but I don't know how solid that is yet.

There's always Eva's Caribbean Kitchen in Laguna Beach. I have yet to go because I'm a loser, but they have quite the impressive rum list.

[charlie]

rum places seem slim then in la, curious if its an underserved market or really not much of a rum drinkin market??

[Edward Hamilton]

Spirits distribution is very difficult in LA due to many factors, the least of which the distances, not to mention the traffic, that sales people have to contend deal with in southern California.

As mentioned above, there is a much larger market for tequila and vodka so distributors are much more interested in those products. And then there are only a few distributors in Southern California who are interested in rum. The good news is that several great rums are coming south from the Bay Area.

Like good rum, patience will be rewarded, it just takes some time.

[Moonclip]

Not a bar, but for anyone in Los Angeles or Orange county, Hi Time Wine liquor store in Costa Mesa has a rather good selection of rum.

A lot of the more obscure or harder to find rums on I've seen on this site I've seen for sale at this place.

[Dood]

If you're looking for rum in LA these days, I highly HIGHLY recommend Audrey Saunders' newest creation: The Tar Pit.

They have quite a nice selection of great rums, from La Favorite to Appleton to Santa Theresa to El Dorado. It is easily the most complete collection of rums I've seen north of Laguna Beach and south of San Francisco.

[Dood]

It's been mentioned in the general discussion thread, but it definitely bears mention here:

If you want to find a great rum bar in Los Angeles today, you must visit La Descarga.

La Descarga is a Cuban-prohibition-era-themed bar in Hollywood. The entrance is very speakeasy (I don't want to spoil the surprise if you don't already know) and the interior is very evocative of what you see in photos of old Cuba.

They have over 60 rums in their collection and are working on increasing that number.

They focus on the classic rum cocktails like daiquiris, papa dobles, etc. Pablo (head bartender) says that he's trying to avoid Tiki drinks, though I really think that a serious rum bar should not eschew Mai Tais, Zombies, or something like Jeff Berry's Ancient Mariner.

The drinks are very well made, and it's very nice sitting in the dimly lit room listening to the live band perform.

In the back of the bar they have a cigar and rum lounge where you can buy cigars and top-of-the-line rums to enjoy. The prices are a little steep ($14 for Appleton Reserve IIRC), but it's a nice atmosphere. I spent some time back there talking to the newly hired staff who were still learning about rums...which of course led to a lot of sharing of what I was drinking (they hadn't yet tried the La Favorite Blanc or the Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva).

If you're in LA and looking for rum, the MUST SEE place other than Tiki Ti is La Descarga (http://www.ladescargala.com/).

[joshua]

Here's the Yelp for the Tar Pit:

Tar Pit (http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-tar-pit-los-angeles) 3 1/2 *'s seems pretty low to me for a place of this caliber, but this might have something to do with it: Audrey Sanders Leaves the Tar Pit (http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/audrey-saunders-leaves-the-tar-pit/)

I guess the Tar Pit isn't Audrey Sander's new haunt after all :(.

This is the yelp for La Descarga:

La Descarga (http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-descarga-hollywood) 41 reviews 4*'s. Pretty solid. It's hard to maintain a 5* rating when people don't understand the value of a good drink.

Last but not least here's the yelp for Tiki Ti:

Tiki Ti (http://www.yelp.com/biz/tiki-ti-cocktail-lounge-los-angeles#hrid:joXjGKN-4qeuInIfIpwl1w/src:search/query:cocktail%20bar)4 1/2 *'s is amazing for 297 reviews.

I'm going to have to hit this one the next time I'm in the city of Angels for sure :D.

Cheers,
Josh

:::Edit:::
Fixed links.

[forrest]

Another amazing Rum bar in LA is Caña (http://www.canarumbar.com/), the staff is amazingly gifted, the selection is fantastic and Wednesday April 28th Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry will be there!!!

[forrest]

Wow anyone in LA?

[UnkleNeeko]

Visited La Descarga two weeks back. Decor is amazing! Although we got their at opening to see it clearly, it was close quarters by 9ish on a Thursday. Recommend going there to see the show, I think it is every hour or so...wow, really makes for a treat...nothing like live latin music to create a mood. Although I had hoped to see Pablo mixing it up there, I appreciated conversing with Armando (bartender) and the 4 specialty drinks he suggested we try - his creations. Definitely good times!