South Seas, located at 1301 Story Ave., dates to the summer of 2022.
From Hog Father Pizza to — a South Seas Tiki?
San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel posts this conceptual history of tiki. The curmudgeon in me desperately wants to question the use of “culture” in this context, but this can be left to another day.
The Evolution of Tiki Culture in San Francisco
Like much of American pop culture, the tiki bar concept was born in Hollywood. In the years following Prohibition, the burdens of the Great Depression and a scarcity of commercial air travel each contributed to the seduction of a Polynesian escape — real or imagined. Donn Beach (neé Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt) is credited with inventing the tiki aesthetic with the opening of his Don the Beachcomber bar in 1933, which immersed diners in tropical decor and rum-fueled creations such as the Zombie and Navy Grog. Four years later, Beach’s success led competing restaurateur Vic Bergeron — who would go on to create the tiki bar’s signature drink,...Read more
