The Mai-Kai Reopens
One of the last remaining Polynesian Restaurants from the 1950s reopens after years of speculation
In the 1950s, tiki restaurants were the rage throughout the United States.
Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, a Texas native better known as Don the Beachcomber, is credited for igniting the spark with the opening of his eponymous Don the Beachcomber restaurant and lounge in Hollywood, California in 1934.
Soon, tiki lounges and restaurants sprung up throughout the country. In 1956, brothers Bob and Jack Thornton built the Mai-Kai in Fort Lauderdale to the cost of $350,000 — the most expensive restaurant built that year. That stretch of Fort Lauderdale was mostly open land populated by retirees and some cattle grazing — but it was a short drive from the tourist mecca of Fort Lauderdale Beach.
The sprawling restaurant featured nightly dinner shows where tourists and locals could watch hula girls and fire dancers while eating fried rice, or downing one too many Rum Barrels at the Molokai Lounge. The restaurant was an instant hit, generating $1 million in revenue that first year.
For decades, the Mai-Kai continued to be Fort Lauderdale’s most beloved restaurant and tourist attraction. While the city changed around it, the restaurant — still owned by the Thornton family — remained largely unchanged. Repairs and upgrades were made as needed, but the Mai-Kai remained its own kitschy 1950s time capsule.
Then, in October 2020, the restaurant abruptly closed after a burst pipe in the restaurant’s kitchen caused extensive flooding. For a while, the restaurant was thought to be closed for good, with the land sold for yet another strip mall, when Bill Fuller stepped in. The managing partner and co-founder of Miami’s Barlington Group and Mad Room Hospitality, partnered with the Thornton family to renovate the South Florida tiki palace and reopen it. Fuller gave new life to Ball & Chain, a nightspot in Little Havana that saw great musicians like Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Louis Armstrong, and Nat King Cole play. Fuller, who retained much of its original charm, knew that the Mai-Kai, which is listed in the National Trust for Historic Preservation, needed to be brought up to code while still retaining all of its charm. Fuller enlisted a crack team which included experts from Disney and Universal to keep the Mai-Kai as close as possible to its original feel.
Four years and $20 million later, the Mai-Kai softly reopened partially last weekend to invited friends and family. Though the main dining room, gift shop, and tiki gardens are not open yet, its Molokai Bar welcomed guests for the first time in four years. In addition, a new outdoor patio bar opened and a ten-foot-tall volcano was installed.
Guests overflowed from the bar into every square foot — each dressed in their best Tiki attire from Hawaiian shirts to flowered dresses.
The verdict? The Mai-Kai looks great! At first glance, she looks the same. The cocktails are the same potent potables filled with rum, various juices and bitters (the Mai-Kai famously never tells you what’s in your cocktail and bartenders make cocktails behind closed doors, leaving you to suspect that they’re all basically the same). I went Saturday evening at 10:15 p.m. (the earliest reservation I could snag) and the kitchen was backed up and most items were sold out, including a nostalgic PuPu Platter. But the drinks were sweet and potent, the bartenders were friendly, and the vibe was electric. Even though I didn’t get my crab rangoon — and they weren’t selling tiki mugs yet (I was this close to putting that mug under my shirt and leaving a twenty-dollar bill wrapped in a bar napkin), there was plenty of people watching.
As three sarong-clad dancers presented the restaurant’s famed “Mystery Drink” (a $100 tiki bowl cocktail meant to be shared by four people) and set it on fire, dozens of people applauded.
There’s no set word on when the Mai-Kai’s dining room will reopen (though I suspect it’s any day now), but it’s good just having a taste of this piece of Fort Lauderdale history back.
Update: An opening date for the Mai-Kai dining room has been announced. The restaurant will open November 22, 2024 for its dinner show and dining.