Tiki-Ti regulars and most first
timers are familiar with the paper drink menus
that are handed out by either one of the Michaels
or someone who is close enough to hand them out
(to all of you who do this, we thank you). Well
those current menus have a long history, and not
all of them were paper. The very first menu was
about 7 by 5 inches and had 29 drinks listed.
Over the years the menus were made out of paper,
wood, and photo paper; they were handed out, on
the walls, on the bar and now on the web. Here
are a few of the many menus that the Tiki-Ti has
used over the years. (Sorry prices no longer
apply.)
You
may notice that some of the drink names have changed
or that some drinks are no longer on the menu.
In
the early days, several wooden bar menus
like this were stationed on top of the bar,
to make it easy for patrons to choose a
drink from the growing drink menu.
Ray
Buhen (Michael's Father) made these for
a short time. But for some reason they seemed
to sprout wings fly away. So Ray stopped
making wooden menus, that were not nailed
down.
This
is one of 4 permanent wooden wall menus.
The odd looking white pea things in
the middle are from painting out the
prices and changing them over the years.
Also if you look closely there is orange
strip across the bottom next to the
hands. This used to be the Lapu Lapu
Senior, one of the few drinks no longer
on the menu. This was a large driink
that came in a bowl and was for 2 to
4 people. After a minor incident it
was taken off the menu.
This
wall menu was originally a lighted
advertising item.
Michael painted the top and chest
with black paint and then scratched
out the menu.
Pretty
clever.
x
Michael
holding the first
Tiki-Ti menu that his dad Ray made.
x
Close
up of the first Tiki-Ti menu
x
1971 menu on photo paper
TIKI-TI.COM
is the web home of the Tiki-Ti • 4427 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles
California 90027 323-669-9381 • Open Wed. through Sat. 6pm
to 1am
