The Tonga Room: San Francisco tiki bar
How did I not know about this place before now? The Tonga Room is a fabulous looking tiki bar in the basement of San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel. In addition to your usual tiki bar delights, it has a pool in the center with a boat and bandstand. Here’s a picture from when it first opened in the 50s.
Sadly I’m only just now hearing about the bar because it’s in danger of being shut down. The hotel is being turned into condos and having a sweet basement tiki bar isn’t in the plans for the new developer. Laughing Squid has all the details on the campaign to save The Tonga Room.
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Pingback left on February 24, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
Oh, no! Close the Tonga Room, the classiest place a teenage guy could bring his also underage date after a prom? I may chain myself to the floating island, “thunder storm” and all! I was taken there several times by my Drake High boyfriend, Bob, who looked soo cool in his white sport coat and pink carnation. It’s like murdering my youth!
Comment left on February 25, 2009 @ 12:18 am
That’’s an awesome bar! My wife is fully prepared for me to someday convert a room into a Tiki Bar.
Comment left on July 13, 2009 @ 9:19 am
The Tonga Room was one of my favorite happy-hour haunts when I was a corporate drone back in the ”80s. Friday afternoons my friend Gary would call me at the office and I”d hear the single word ”TONGA!” shouted into the phone; we”d meet at California & Montgomery and hop a cable car up the hill to the Fairmont.
Or sometimes a group of us from work would go together to drink and scarf up the buffet tidbits (which were free back then). To this day the phrase ”pu-pu platter” makes me snicker.
We”d pace ourselves by the rain-and-thunder storm (every 30 minutes): the first low rumble announcing each downpour was the cue to order a fresh round, even if we”d just ordered. And when the band began to assemble on their thatch-roofed raft to float out into the lagoon, we knew it was time to go home. Happy hour was over, which meant pricier drinks.
Comment left on August 16, 2009 @ 11:14 am