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TGIF at Sam's Seafood June 29th |
little lost tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 12, 2006
Posts: 7460
From: Orange,CA-right near the Circle!
|  Posted: 2007-07-01 10:09 am Permalink
WooHoo tested...
Bamboo Ben approved...
Must be good!
Excellent food and drink...
and they even have a smoker's patio?
Paradise..... 
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bb moondog
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 18, 2006
Posts: 477
From: Gilbert AZ
| Posted: 2007-07-03 09:23 am Permalink
How far is this joint from the Happiest Place on Earth--aka Disneyland? I will be attending said attractions next weekend and that sounds like a worthy diversion away from the mouse...
_________________
ahuka a'la a'la palu
BB MoondoggyO
sweatin' to Quiet Village in AZ
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tikihai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 05, 2005
Posts: 156
From: Seal Beach, Cal
| Posted: 2007-07-05 9:45 pm Permalink
I have to say my "Sams" experience was not as joyful as some here...On a ten scale, score it a 3.5 and here is why.
I ordered a Mai Tai from the bar and knew I was in trouble when they poured it out of one plastic container, put a slice of pineapple on the glass and an orchid and it was done. OK...I sucked it up, but I was cussing myself out the whole time. While perusing the drink menu for a better drink, I read the Mai Tai ingrediants...pineapple rum, pineapple juice and "secret flavor mix" (probably pineapple infused sweetener)$9.00
For my second drink, I chose the "mojito" which came a lot closer to really being a mojito, but still fell far short of my top ten mojito's list. It was however a fairly tasty drink $11.00.
I thought for sure someone would have clued the new owners in on proper tiki drinks. Hurricanes and mojitos are OUT...Good Mai Tai's, zombies, etc. are IN. Then again maybe their focus is to make a zillion dollars pedaling these to the unsuspecting post pubies that will surely flock here.
The decor was clean, considerably cleaner than the real Sams was, maybe even too clean. The smoke stained walls, gone...the tiki atmosphere, gone. In fact the tiki vibe was nearly sucked right out of this place. I was really glad to hear that Sams was re-opening, but I won't be in any hurry to go back and it's only 2 minutes from my house.
I don't want to discourage anyone from trying it out, but thought it fair to forewarn considering the fluff up from some of the previous posters.
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7197
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2007-07-05 10:43 pm Permalink
that's why I drink beer!
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The Sperm Whale
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 23, 2004
Posts: 1538
From: Lakewood California
| Posted: 2007-07-06 08:28 am Permalink
One thing I do like about the "new" Sams is there selection of beers. I do really hate their music selection. It is that trance-ey mellow thirty something crap. All in all though it is pretty nice in there. And as for the drinks it is usually a good rule of thumb not to order a Mai Tai or any mixed drink at any restaraunt if you are a drink snob like me. Unless I'm at the right place I ususally just stick with beer.
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Cammo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 1807
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2007-07-06 5:38 pm Permalink
How can a person go to Sam's Seafood and NOT order a Mai Tai?!
It ain't a German Beer Hall; it's Sam's fer cryin' out loud!
And our Local Tiki Watering Hole, the "China Inn" on Hornbland in Pacific Beach has some of the best drinks anywhere, and they charge 5 clams for the ride. That's it, 5 claminitos.
Why don't you guys just tell the bartender what you want? I don't get it. Why are you drinking crappy stuff? Write down the ingredients if you have to, he's charging you a sawbuck anyway, work the chump! Don't tell him it's a Mai Tai, tell him its a Trader Vics Special! He'll make it, he's got nuthin' else to do.
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tikihai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 05, 2005
Posts: 156
From: Seal Beach, Cal
| Posted: 2007-07-07 2:58 pm Permalink
Cammo said:
Quote:
| Don't tell him it's a Mai Tai, tell him its a Trader Vics Special! |
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Trader Vic Special...that's good stuff Cam. I certainly will custom order up something when I go back on the 28th for the mug party. Hopefully with the introduction of the new mug the tiki vibe will return for me. I do have a habit of just ordering up a mai tai as a first drink and going from there. How crazy is that, thinking you are actually going to get a "mai tai".
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Tiki Diablo
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Jun 24, 2002
Posts: 1889
From: socal
| Posted: 2007-07-08 12:30 am Permalink
I haven't tasted the Mai Tai at Sam's lately, but I do remember ordering a few drinks at Sam's before and they were ALL the same color. I just stuck to beer when I would go. You have to eat there now, the food is top notch ! This is a restaurant with a bar in it. Come to think of it the old cooking was really bad, prime rib was the worst I have ever had.
I know the place was CLEANED out by thieves that took a lot of the old stuff while it was boarded up. Damn shame that someone would do this. Bad juju. They lost a lot of decor, so in order to help remedy this I am making up some tiki artifacts for them, this should help add some of the tiki back into the place. They will also be starting TIKI TUESDAYS for us tiki peeps with discounted drinks and tiki music.
I have said this before and will say it again, I'm just glad Sam's is open. How many bars have we lost? Never to be enjoyed again. Is the new Sam's the old Sam's , no. The only way to get it back is to build a time machine. I am sure they will be adding more decor as time goes on just like every other bar has done. It is all about layers in a tiki decor job. There is still alot of MANA left in the place, you can feel it. I would suggest you go into Sam's now with an open mind as if you had never been in there. If this place was a new building and business with no history, we would be raving about it hands down. I say we all give Sam's a chance and do our part to make sure we don't lose this one again forever.
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Cammo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 18, 2006
Posts: 1807
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2007-07-08 06:32 am Permalink
Diablo - make as many 'tiki artifacts' as possible and git them in there NOW! You make the best stuff!
Nonetheless, funny you should mention it, but I am building a time machine in my garage. It will maximize the sub-quanta discord of a typical vortex-modelled stasis field; in other words, it will drop you back in time to exactly when you want for as long as the field is open. It's pretty much a switch-on, switch-off operation.
So, anybody got one of those extremely high velocity coil acceleration dampers that they used to make in the late '70s? They're kind of hard to find.
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tikihai
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 05, 2005
Posts: 156
From: Seal Beach, Cal
| Posted: 2007-07-31 3:16 pm Permalink
Tiki Diablo said:
[quote]There is still alot of MANA left in the place, you can feel it.[quote]
I agree and I too am glad it is open again. However, there is a big hole in the place and everytime James Brown comes on the box a little of that MANA is leaking out. I hate to be the wet blanket here, just sharing some honest feelings. True about the drinks before not being the best but if you sat at the front bar when Tommy was pouring he would make you up a drinkable "trader vics special" with Bacardi, Myers and maitai mix. Sam's was my local watering hole for too many years. During the hiatus I was spending time down the street at Harpoon Harrys (not a tiki bar but killer drinks, killer food)
Sam's future is still in doubt to some extent. It goes up for review by the Coastal Commission in another four years and it could end up being condos, that is the real shame.
[ This Message was edited by: tikihai 2007-07-31 15:23 ]
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