2006 was a bad year for Tiki in Southern California: the Royal Hawaiian and Lucky Tiki closed their doors, the Hanalei Hotel in San Diego remodeled and stripped out their classic decor, Hollywood's Lava Lounge is dumping their tiki theme, and Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills was scheduled for demolition to make way for luxury condos.

For a while, it looked like Sam's Seafood [Link] in Huntington Beach was heading for death by development as well, but to the surprise and delight of many, it now appears that they are committed to retaining their tiki tilt factor. They've retained the able services of folks such as master-craftsman, Reverend Bamboo Ben [Link], who is busy restoring and updating the bar and dining room. They've also commissioned 2 brand-spanking-new signature mugs from artist, Sam Gambino [Link] (who has no relation to mafia crime families that I know of). No word yet on the fate of the Polynesian floor show, but hopefully, they'll still be shaking their grass skirts and coconut bras for years to come.