Tiki Bars

By HILARY HYLTON

TREND These Polynesian paradises, popular in the 1950s and '60s, are making a comeback

HOW IT STARTED Just as the old lounges were closing, a new generation discovered the tiki's retro-hip allure

JUDGMENT CALL May be able to ride the Rat Pack revival--but don't take out any long-term leases

Bali Hai is calling--again. Tiki bars, those hula-hut hangouts made popular in postwar America by G.I.s returning from the South Pacific, are making a comeback. Many of the old Trader Vics and Don the Beachcombers have sailed into the sunset (last year's demolition of the Kahiki in Columbus, Ohio, to make way for a Walgreens drugstore was mourned by tiki fans worldwide). But a new generation of tiki rooms is sprouting in cities from Seattle to Santiago; the Trader Vics in Beverly Hills, Calif., has become a hot spot for Oscar parties; and tiki aficionados are swapping reviews, tiki mugs and Polynesian black velvet paintings on websites like www.tikinews.com

In Austin, Texas, Dino (Mr. Fabulous) Lee, a popular lounge singer who counts President Bush among his fans, has just opened Oceans 11, named for the famous Rat Pack film currently being remade. The retro-hip atmosphere features Frank Sinatra songs playing in the background, parasols adorning drinks with names like the Angie Dickinson (along with all-American beers like Schlitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon) and bamboo-dominated Polynesian decor. For Lee, who grew up watching his mother sing at some of Los Angeles' top tiki clubs, the place is re-creating the egalitarian spirit of the postwar years. Says Lee: "They were symbols of a new, less formal, more relaxed kind of country." --By Hilary Hylton