This is an archive - these pages are no longer updated!
Some information will be out of date.  Some of this writing goes back to 1995.
See Tiki Road Trip (2007 edition) for the most up-to-date information.

Conga Lounge
5422 College Ave (at Manila - four blocks south of Rockridge BART station)
Above Cafe Rustica.
Oakland, California

Full review and history of the Conga Lounge
is available in  Tiki Road Trip

December, 2004: Opened in mid-2003 by a pair of South African-born Greek brothers (Micheal and Mano), the Conga Lounge is a worthy and valiant effort to create a neo-Tiki atmoshpere.  Although tiny in size (perhaps a touch bigger than the Tiki Ti in Los Angeles), this place is packed with atmosphere.  The bar seats about a half dozen people, and a handful of tables and a few couches fill out the rest of the second-story room. Micheal and Mano are true fans of mid century pop culture, and have a good grip on the Tiki concept.  Exotica music is played frequently, and is mixed up with other 1950's-1960s era tunes.  Although we loathe televisions in Tiki bars (or any public places, really), we have to give Conga Lounge props for making a series of custum video 'mix-tapes' featuring an impressive array of new and vintage Tiki-related footage... and at least the sound is kept turned off, so the music on the sound system isn't competing with the telley. The room (as of my visit in late 2004) is covered in wall-to-wall new and vintage tropical ephemera, and we are told that the collection is growing daily.  A full menu of food (from Cafe Rustica downstiars) is reasonably priced; the portions are large the the quality is very good.  You can't go wrong with a meal at the Conga Lounge. Don't forget the cockatails, however (how could you?).  Efforts have been made to preserve classic tropical drink recipes, while adding new concotions to the list.  The house special - Gilligan's Island - is a banana-and-coconut Conga Lounge creation.  All in all, there are close to 40 drinks on the menu, so you may need more than one visit to get through them all. Conga Lounge also seems interested in supporting the Tiki community; Tiki News founder Otto Von Stoheim did a monthly Exotica DJ gig there (through the end of 2004), and local impressario Will the Thrill also hosts Conga Lounge events. I have seen very few neo-Tiki bars that really had the vibe and feeling of the classic tiki temples of the 1950s.  Conga Lounge comes much closer than most... the only thing missing is a layer of dust on the swag lamps! It might also be noted that Okaland is the home of the original Trader Vic's location, the home of the mai tai, and the home of other legendary Tiki sites such as Zombie Village and Bali Hai.  Conga Lounge is a great homage to these lost treasures, and as the only Tiki destination currently operating in Oakland, it is a worthy descendant of it's storied heritage. Conga Lounge web site There are 400 Tiki Bar Reviews plus other road trip adventures in the book Tiki Road Trip Get an autographed copy of Tiki Road Trip from the author!

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