Editorial
NYC tiki bars range from kitschy 1950s holdovers to the Polynesian's Times Square modernism.
The Polynesian is Major Food Group's rooftop tiki bar above the Pod hotel on West 42nd Street, with one of the city's biggest rum collections and drinks served in fishbowls and pirate ships. Brian Miller built the program. Some listings now flag it as shut, so call ahead before you trek over. Best early on a warm night for the terrace, before Midtown finds it.
Otto's Shrunken Head buries a punk tiki bar in the back of an East Village dive on East 14th Street, with live bands, cheap-ish mai tais and zero pretension. It has held on while flashier rooms folded, which tells you something. Yelp logs over 500 reviews. Best late on a band night when the back room fills and nobody cares what you are wearing.
The bars above are where New York still drinks tiki, with proper Don the Beachcomber-era classics, deep rum lists, and the kind of decor that holds you for a third round. The scene has thinned, so this is a short list by design.
Tom Callahan covers pubs and bars across the UK and Ireland for barsforkings, with a value-conscious eye and little patience for anything overpriced or over-styled.
Fewer than there were. Several well-known rooms have closed in recent years, so the scene is thin. Otto's Shrunken Head in the East Village is the steady survivor, with live bands and unfussy mai tais.
The Polynesian above the Pod hotel on West 42nd Street holds one of the city's largest rum collections and serves large-format drinks in fishbowls. Call ahead, as its operating status has been in question.
Otto's Shrunken Head on East 14th Street is a punk dive with a tiki back room, cheap-ish cocktails and live music. It is best late on a band night when the room fills up.