Filled with bamboo, thatch and all manner of tropical fun, the Bamboo Club in Long Beach has been a magnet for revelers looking for island escapism since 2019. The elaborate but cozy spot has been sold, but new owners say they aren’t changing a thing.
Twenty-five years ago, German-born cultural anthropologist Sven Kirsten jump-started the revival of all things Polynesian pop with The Book of Tiki. When the book was first released, only a handful of original clubs from the 1950s and 60s (most notably Tiki Ti and Tonga Hut) were still among the living. Today, dozens of tiki bars are churning out Mai Tais and Navy Grogs all over Southern California.
“Bamboo Club had great cocktails and regular events like a tiki market and live music,” says Kirsten. “For the longest time they had these tiki-lite bar that were just serving tiki drinks that hung up palm leaf wallpaper and Cost Plus basket lamps and called it a tiki bar but the Bamboo Club (and the Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach) hired good people to design and outfit them.”
The proper mix of tropical décor, tiki carvings and easy lighting is just as important as the right kinds of falernum and orgeat in creating an environment suitable for imbibing. “Bamboo Ben” Bassham of Huntington Beach and has art in his blood. His grandfather Eli Hedley started carving when he arrived in Southern California during the Great Depression. At one point, Hedley’s work could be found everywhere from Disneyland to Las Vegas.
“Bamboo Ben is very prolific,” Kirsten says. “He comes from tiki royalty. Eli Hedley was the original beachcomber who helped bring the flotsam and jetsam aesthetic to Southern California.”…