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Mai Kai, Fort Lauderdale, FL (restaurant) |
Matt Helm
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jan 24, 2008
Posts: 30 |  Posted: 2012-01-09 09:10 am Permalink
Had my second Mai-Kai experience last night - one of the advantages of living in Miami the last few years... always a great time from the bar to the dinner and the show. Truly amazing (and comforting) to think that after 55+ years they are selling out on a regular basis. The staff / service was excellent and the food was great. A few zombies and a stroll through the gardens and all was right with the world... 
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tikifred
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Dec 20, 2009
Posts: 64 | Posted: 2012-01-17 4:24 pm Permalink
Matt, I had my third Mai Kai visit last Thursday. Awesome as always, and this time I dragged the other half with me. We had the Mai Tais, beef skewer things, and steamed fish and curry chicken. Actually the food was even better than I remember from the last visit. The floor show is always fun and I spent extra time wandering through the gardens and waterfalls afterwards. Here's a picture of us feeling very tiki-rific. Oh, everybody- check out the Mai Kai shirts in the gift shop- the woman at the register said they only have so many of them because they are running out of fabric to make them. I'll post a picture but I think they're a must for TC-ers, as the print has "Mai Kai" in there along with the traditional Tiki designs.
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2012-09-16 08:35 am Permalink
Here are some great Mai-Kai ads by artist/illustrator/designer Al Kocab from the early 1960s...
Fort Lauderdale News November 11, 1960
Gold Coast Sun Spots April 23, 1961
Fort Lauderdale News December 7, 1962
-Tom
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11581
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2012-09-16 11:47 pm Permalink
Ha, that "dish" joke is classic! Thanks, Tom.
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2012-10-14 6:09 pm Permalink
Here is a vintage photo of the Mai-Kai under construction, scanned from an original loaned to me by Toti Terorotua...
I haven't yet attempted any restoration of this, except for fade correction.
-Tom
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11581
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2012-10-14 9:43 pm Permalink
That is indeed "vintage". I like it just like it is
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 605
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2012-10-16 5:39 pm Permalink
Nice find!
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2012-10-19 2:44 pm Permalink
Here’s Toti, the driver, with Pasefika standing alongside the Mai-Kai mobile. Photo courtesy of Toti Terorotua…
-Tom
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2012-10-31 5:12 pm Permalink
Photo of Mariano Licudine, Mai-Kai master mixologist, from a vintage entertainment weekly...
Gold Coast Sun Spots April 23-29, 1961
-Tom
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2012-11-01 3:06 pm Permalink
Featured in the same vintage entertainment weekly as above is one of the saronged Mai-Kai serving girls in a bikini...
Gold Coast Sun Spots April 23-29, 1961
-Tom
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2012-11-02 04:49 am Permalink
For those who noticed the "U.S. OBSERVER" symbol in the photo above and were the least bit curious of its significance, I offer this...
Gold Coast Sun Spots April 23-29, 1961
-Tom
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11581
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2012-11-02 11:40 am Permalink
Sign me up now!
Great find, Tom. Now we gotta find more stuff on this, love the logo!
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thejab
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2987
From: Tradewinds Apartments, Alameda, CA
| Posted: 2012-11-15 5:09 pm Permalink
Nice postcard!
Mai Kai Entrance Fort Lauderdale FL by hmdavid, on Flickr
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TikiHardBop
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 21, 2009
Posts: 519
From: Rockledge, FL
| Posted: 2013-04-08 11:54 am Permalink
The local paper did a video about the Mai Kai. It's not mentioned in the video, but it was his first visit:
http://www.floridatoday.com/VideoNetwork/2285544574001/Polynesian-paradise-just-a-short-drive-away
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TikiTomD
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Sep 20, 2009
Posts: 695
From: Flagler Beach, FL
| Posted: 2013-04-15 03:12 am Permalink
Here's an Al Kocab-drawn ad for the Mai-Kai, appearing in the Fort Lauderdale News circa 1963...
Swanky observes that the Fiji Room no longer exists as such.
-Tom
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