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One of the city's most delightfully kitschy nightspots (thatched-hut decor, Polynesian idols, and an honest-to-God tropical downpour every hour on the hour) serves up magnificent exotic cocktails and mostly lackluster Asian food (excluding good pepper beef, crispy fried bass, and five-spice duck). Other highlights include dance music of the Commodores cover band variety - performed on a floating raft - plus a lively happy hour buffet.
So as we posted yesterday, No Reservations star Anthony Bourdain is in town, tasting some local fare, barhopping, and tweeting about it for our enjoyment. Yesterday, after finishing up a photo shoot,... More »
How long did it take to lash the ships' ropes and assemble the thatch for the Tonga Room back in 1945? We bet it was considerably less than the long years it'll take to decide its fate. At our sister ... More »
The place: Tonga Room, 950 Mason (at California, in the Fairmont Hotel), 772-5278 The hours: Wed.-Fri., 5-7 p.m. The deals: All-you-can-eat $10 buffet of quasi-Island specialties The digs: Exubera... More »
It seems odd that the Fairmont wants to close the Tonga Room just as neo-neo-tiki is blowing up in artisan-cocktail circles. (Today, for instance, the New York Times reported on the opening of yet ano... More »
Let me say right off the bat that there's no particular downside to being a restaurant critic. You go out to eat and a few weeks later a check arrives in the mail: not a bad way to make a living. There are side perks, too -- the occasional... More »
In an era of crumbling institutions, rampant greed, and change forthe hell of it, the all-but-certain demise of the Tonga Room may be thesaddest slap at historical preservation to date. The grandest of thecity's tiki bars blossomed just after World War II and in the decadessince has delighted natives and visitors alike with its over-the-topdecor, foliage-festooned umbrella drinks, and regularly scheduledtropical downpours. Those of us who grew up delighting in thewall-to-wall tribal... More »
The Tonga Room is one of the last remnants of that giddy era when umbrellas sprouted from every coconut, Trader Vic ruled the cosmos, and ukuleles could be heard from North Beach to the Richmond. The crucial element that separates the Tonga from its Polynesian competitors past and present is, of course, the tropical downpour. Sure, the totem poles and the jungle foliage and the ship's riggings and the fertility-god icons are lots of fun, but your voyage to the tropics really begins when the... More »
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