Best Tiki Bars in North America

Tiki began in Hollywood, where Donn Beach created the tiki bar in 1934, and the best tiki bars in North America still pour his rum-heavy recipes. Tiki-Ti, opened in 1961 by Ray Buhen, who started at Don the Beachcomber, has just 12 stools and won the Timeless U.S. Award at the 2023 Spirited Awards. Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco keeps over 1,400 rums. Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29 in New Orleans honors cocktail historian Jeff Berry, and Three Dots and a Dash hides beneath Chicago's streets with The Bamboo Room inside. Daydream Rum Bar, under a café in Albuquerque, won the Best Bar Design Award at North America's 50 Best Bars 2026. These are the bars we would start with.