Tiki Tuesday: Trader Vic's
Aloha friends! Sorry we haven’t written about all our Tiki bar adventures lately. We’ve definitely been out and about as you may have seen if you’re following along on our Instagram stories. For today’s Tiki Tuesday we wanted to highlight our most recent trip to Trader Vic’s in Emeryville, California.
Trader Vic’s was at the top of our list of our places to visit for a few reasons:
1. It’s one of the first Tiki Bars in California.
2. It’s the home of the Original Mai Tai created by Vic himself in 1944.
3. It’s one of the largest Tiki bar/restaurant chains around the world!
It’s hard to feel a little overwhelmed with excitement when you walk in. Every inch of the place is covered with Polynesian art from masks, to Tapa cloth covered walls, to prints, to decorative baskets hanging from the ceiling. As designers we really love to look at how they incorporate art into the space. It also gives us ideas on how to bring more of that island vibe in to our apartment and maybe even a Tiki establishment of our own one day.
With that said, the drink menu was HUGE! Aside from the Original Mai Tai, there were a couple of variations to choose from. We decided to go for the Tropical Tai Wave, which was a Mai Tai taster that included guava, passionfruit, and mango. Out of the three variations, the guava was our favorite, it was light, refreshing, and didn’t pack to big of a punch with the alcohol. If it’s the stronger drinks you’re after, you’d probably want to go with the Original Mai Tai, which we plan on getting on our next visit.
We ordered a couple more drinks, but the one that stood out the most was the Banana Batida. A little more decadent than your average Tiki drink, but a really good choice if you’re looking for something different. For those of you that are from San José and have had the banana shake from Falafel Drive In, this drink was the alcoholic version of that!
We’ve said this before, but it’s been really cool being in the Bay Area where you are never too far from a world famous Tiki bar. And since Trader Vic’s has over a dozen locations world wide, there is a good chance that we’ll be able to check out a bunch of those bars while we’re out traveling.
What has been your favorite Tiki bar that you’ve found while out on vacation? Leave us a comment and we’ll add them to our list of places to check out this summer!
LOCATION
9 Anchor Dr, Emeryville, CA 94608
HOURS
Monday
Closed