I know just what Jeff is talking about. But if he could get his hands on one of Stouffer's mix books he'd have a gold mine.

Back in the early to mid-70's I tended bar for Stouffer's restaurants & hotels in the Cleveland area. We made every cocktail from scratch - egg whites and all - by the book. Their book; a 5x7 3-ring indexed binder, with all of the old cocktails and explicit recipes. I'd love to have snatched a copy, but they guarded it like a pit bull.

Now Stouffer's is strictly frozen foods and such, but back in the day they were truly a class act. Perhaps Jeff could search out a copy of their little black book. It'd be a great reference source.

I live within staggering distance of the Forbidden Island Lounge that the author mentions in his article, and have always thought it was a really cool place. Now that I know it's "special", I'll have to go back soon and savor those drinks with more appreciation!

I can so identify with Berry's statement about Ah Fong -- how he was fascinated by it as a kid -- because I felt the same way about the Mai Kai in Ft. Lauderdale. My family used to go down there every year to visit my grandparents and I was absolutely fascinated by the place. Unfortunately, my grandparents moved away before I was of legal drinking age. Luckily, I now live near Forbidden Island in Alameda, and the fact that I'm a regular there can be directly credited to the Mai Kai mystique. Maybe there are some little kids in Alameda right now who can't wait to grow up and drink an authentic Zombie at Forbidden Island...

I love Mai Tais, Zombies, and the like!

If you live in the tri-state area, there is one place to get your Tiki drink fix: I recommend Hunan Taste in Denville, New Jersey.

They have a great bar area, featuring a huge aquarium tank that serves as the bar, and the bartender makes a mean Zombie. The Chinese food is also awesome, and the decor is a flash to the past.

http://www.hunantaste.com/

Lets not forget that other worldwide Tiki giant Trader Vics. Not only have a few of them survived into the present day but the chain, which has long had a larger presence overseas than in the US (including in places like Beirut and Jordan), is rapidly expanding again in the US. The popularity of my local one, one of the old survivors, has surged as the management has placed a renewed emphasis on drinks and it is certainly the only place in the city to get a proper Mai Tai.

It is a huge relief, back ten years ago my date and I were the only people in the place on New Years Eve and now my wife and I sometimes have to wait to get a table.

There's a neo-Tiki bar in the East Village called Wakiki Wally's. Not as great as the Bali Hai from my SoCal childhood, but they make a real effort, with an artificial waterfall and live cockatoos. The drinks? I couldn't tell you whether they're authentic or not. I love these places for the decor.

I was pretty disappointed that the Trader Vic's in Chicago closed a couple years back. A friend of mine gave me a copy of a 60s edition of his bar guide, and it is quite a lot of fun. It doesn't only cover the tiki drinks, but they are there. IIRC though, for a few of them, they just say to use his bottled mixer rather than giving actual ingredients.

Also, in Minneapolis, there is Psycho Suzy's Motor lounge, which has a pretty good selection of Tiki drinks, most of which will knock you on your butt.

As a North Carolina kid we didn't see much of these around here, but in New York definitely check out Otto's Shrunken Head on 14th Street in Manhattan. Serious Zombies, fun decor and a little rock n' roll.

Zombie Hut on Smith St. in Carroll Gardens does alright by the umbrella drinks as well.

until Mr. Berry namechecked Tiki Ti. That is a fine, fine establishment.

Avoid it if contains sweet and sour mix and you're looking for an authentic cocktail.

In the 60-70's, I only knew tiki drinks from the stool side of the bar, but, as a reference point, I know a heck of a lot about margaritas because I grew to an adult on the border circa 1970. There were only 3 ingredients in it: tequila, lime juice and cointreau. These days, the mass bought margarita is a concoction that includes sweet and sour (sugar-laden) syrup.

So now I ask about "sweet" drinks before I order. If the s&s mix is part of the recipe, I bow out.

In the mid-90s I lived and worked in the Hyde Park area of Chicago, where the University of Chicago is located. There was a tiki bar in the nabe which was frequented by U of C students. Typical UC student behavior of the era, because it played perfectly into the stereotype of the "Maroon" as an academically-obsessed nerd whose social life, if indeed s/he had one, would be what Spy Magazine once termed "unwittingly hip." Meaning, seriously retro rather than campy/ironically "retro."

Well, along comes the new millennium and with it a growing appreciation of tiki culture and whatever is left from the 1950s-60s boom, which is now attracting a new generation of collegians...EXCEPT for the U of C folks, because their beloved tiki bar has fallen to the "gentrification" craze!

I expect to learn about a hip new hootennanny house on the U of C campus any day now...