Tiki bars in Toronto range from retro to modern, and their menus are as diverse as the city’s bar and restaurant scene.
Wherever you wander, expect warm welcomes, tropical decor and exotic cocktails or booze-free mocktails.
So, here’s to a cozy season filled with rum flights, umbrella drinks and Polynesian and Jamaican fare. (Bring the party home with tiki barware, Hawaiian shirts and other vintage finds, too!)
Here are 10 bars and shops to get you into a tiki state of mind in Toronto.
Say cheers at tiki bars and tiki-inspired restaurants in Toronto
Shameful Tiki Room
Painkillers, Zombies, and Mai Tais, oh my! This authentic tiki bar is worth the jaunt west to Parkdale for its classic cocktails and kitschy mid-century decor.
Coziness and dark lighting make Shameful Tiki Room the perfect spot for a date night. It’s also popular with groups sharing the signature party-sized Volcano Bowl, so reservations are recommended for weekends.
Sober tiki fans will find fun non-alcoholic drinks like the virgin Nobody Gets Lei’d. The small plates menu includes favourites like Spam-fried rice and coconut shrimp.
Lulu Bar
A taste of the Pacific at downtown’s retail/restaurant/community hub, The Well, Lulu Bar is a bright and friendly restaurant serving traditional tiki drinks and colourful cocktails, many of which are available zero-proof.
Their Honolulu Happy Hour is one of the best deals in the city, with half-price on all drinks every day of the week from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen
Chubby’s Jamaican Kitchen puts a sunny spin on a circa-1890s townhouse on Portland Street in the trendy King West neighbourhood.
The century home has been transformed into a tropical hideaway with laid-back reggae music, Jamaican comfort food, and an impressive selection of rum-based cocktails that change with the seasons.
Patois
Caribbean-meets-Asian soul food is featured at Patois, which offers good eats and great drinks served family-style, and breezy cocktails like its signature Patois Rum Punch or the spiced rum–based Island Storm.
A short walk from Trinity Bellwoods Park’s (unofficial) sled hill, this Little Portugal getaway is your passport to beachy jerk lobster nuggets and fresh jelly coconut all winter long.
Soos
For a sophisticated take on tropical fare, visit Ossington Village’s Soos for contemporary Malaysian street food, mouthwatering cocktails and teapot shots.
Nosh on rendang braised short ribs washed down with a Guava Colada (coconut-fat washed rum, Wray and Nephew overproof rum, guava juice) and watch your worries slip away.
Paradise Grotto
A new addition to Toronto’s tiki scene, Paradise Grotto in the Entertainment District has an island nightclub vibe, with lots of room for mingling and dancing.
Beach-themed bottle service—aka “Booty Packages”—is available. Or hit up the Grotto at Happy Hour or Late Night for deals on classic margaritas and daiquiris. (Accessibility note: this bar is down a flight of stairs.)
Toronto holiday pop-up bars
The festive season brings holiday pop-ups with tropical—perhaps even downright tiki—drinks to go with their winter wonderland themes.
Don’t miss the Miracle Holiday Pop-up Bar or Ginger’s Holiday Grotto Pop-up Bar. Both of these bars are fundraising for worthy charities and enhance those warm, fuzzy and festive feelings.
Shop for tiki essentials at these Toronto barware and vintage shops
Kensington Market
Go all-in for your tiki night out by putting together a tropical-themed outfit.
The Kensington Market neighbourhood is a trove of vintage shops, and your best bet for scoring authentic Hawaiian shirts, muumuus and sundresses (check out Flashback and Exile).
You’ll find tropical-inspired yacht shirts from Canadian streetwear brand Kuwalla Tee at Bungalow, which also carries mid-century modern furniture and other retro finds.
Ethel 20th Century Living
One of the city’s top stores for quality vintage finds is this spot on the east-end Danforth strip.
Ethel 20th Century Living is a great place to pick up mid-century modern and retro barware for staying in or accessories for going out, like colourful carved bangles from the 1940s.
Cocktail Emporium
Tiki mugs make great gifts, and you’ll find many to browse at this one-stop shop, which has locations in Kensington Market, Union Station and Queen Street West.
Traditional Neko cat or Darth Vader? You choose! Cocktail Emporium also stocks books, barware and ingredients like bitters, rimmers and syrups to help you create your own tiki bar at home.
