Do you miss the smoking days of yore, when people could crowd around you in a bar and leave your hair and belongings reeking of cigarettes? If the answer to this is ‘yes’, then I have good news for you. The Tikki Ti bar on Sunset Boulevard provides the nostalgia you seek.

Even when I was a passionate chain smoker, I appreciated the smoking laws. Thus, the Tikki Ti bar, regardless of its attributes, is probably not going to make it on my essential nightspots list. The joint itself is extremely small: maximum capacity in there shouldn’t exceed thirty people, but it does anyway. The crowd seems to be pretty much Junction locals and older gents looking for an excuse to break out the Hawaiian shirt collection. The décor is, well, tikki: a pastiche of fifties tropical souvenirs. My personal favorite is a sparkly lava-lamp-esque erupting volcano.

There’s an extensive drink menu, leaning heavily towards rum drinks, although they do have a traditional full bar. I opted for the Blue Wave, as you can never go wrong with blue drinks. It was pretty tasty; a mix of blue Curacao, pineapple juice, a splash of soda water, and, you know, rum. However, the price was less than awesome: almost every drink on the menu ranged between nine and ten bucks, and it’s cash-only. Boo. My roommate was less than psyched by her option: some medley of rum, orange juice and grapefruit juice. The kids next to us ordered a ‘Skip and Hold Hands’ that was essentially a Tom Collins with Heineken on top, which sounds disgusting but is apparently very innovative and awesome. I’m also told a ‘Stealth’ can reduce the manliest man to a pile of incoherent vomit. Neat!

Over all, the experience was marred by high prices, my lack of interest in kitsch, and a Hawaiian shirt guy who kept urging me to spin a wheel for my drink choice. He was nice and all, but I don’t really give off the ‘Wheee! Let’s all do Purple Motherfucker shots!’ vibe. It seemed like a friendly crowd, and hipster haters can rest assured that this isn’t that kind of joint. If you’re into tropical drinks and don’t mind/enjoy the smoking inside, plus have a lot of cash, you’ll like this place. I can see it as a super sweet bachelorette party spot. For someone who isn’t me.

Tikki Ti's
427 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 669-9381
Open Wed-Fri 6pm-1am; Sat 6pm-2am