This is an archive - these pages are no longer updated!
Some information will be out of date.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.

Joe’s Palm Room Louisville, KY Polynesian Palace Louisville, KY June, 2003 Driving home from the spectacular Hukilau festival in June of 2003, I passed through Lousiville, Kentucky at about 11 PM.  I decided to pull over and have a look at two locations that I have listed in Tiki Road Trip, but had no information about.  It was clear, given the hour of the night, that if either of these places were restaurants, they'd be closed, but if they were lounges, I might be in luck. Well, they are both lounges, but that doesn't mean I was in luck. In finding my way to Joe's, I had to navigate through what I will charitably refer to as an unfriendly neighborhood.  That is to say, I was afraid for my life.  Given my looney and often reckless road trip adventures over the past two decades, be advised that when I say that I have seldom been through a worse neighborhood, this is a statement of some weight.  The late hour didn't do much to improve things. All of my survival instincts demanded that I turn back, but when I saw Joe's Palm Room, a white 1960's building illuminated with green and red floodlights, I just had to stop. Noting the barbed wire fence around the parking lot, I found a half dozen people relaxing on the back patio near a large barbeque.  Inside, the blindingly pale color of my skin attracted some attention among the four people at the bar, but I soon made friends with Tracy (the manager), a regular customer named Anthony, and two others.  They warmed up after seeing their home away from home listed in Tiki Road Trip, and were soon giving me the history of Joe's Palm Room. The original location was opened about 1954 at 13th and Magazine, by Joe Hammond, who's wife ran the adjacent cafe.  The current location appears to have been in place since the late 1960's, and is now run by the Whitfield family.  While there are no Tikis in evidence, and in fact little tropical decor, the building will still appeal to fans of mid century design, with it's long, half-octagonal bar, cozy stage, and red leather details.  Paintings on the wall are by Muhammed Ali's brother, Rockman.  Music is classic soul and funk. There seems to be a rivalry going on between Joe's and Polynesian Palace.  My hosts informed me that "It may be Polynesian, but it's no palace!", while Tracy told me, very delicately and with great tact, that I may not exactly be accepted at the Palace, due to my particular race.  Seems that the neighborhood is even less ethnically tolerant than the one in which Joe's is located. Anthony felt that if he escorted me there, I'd be OK, so I thought I might just do a drive-by (oops!  bad choice of terms!), and check it out.  I was more than a little nervous following this guy to parts unknown, but he seemed a good sort, and we later exchanged stories of the music business - he does some concert promotion. Polynesian Palace had closed early that night, but I don't think I missed anything.  The iron bars over the windows of the stand-alone one-room building might have been enough to warn me away, if the broken glass all over the sidewalk didn't.  The sign that says "Every 1 Welcome" didn't convince me. A faded mural of a hula girl and a surfer boy (apparently listening to Soul Stereo Sounds on a conch shell) on the building may have once been cool, but even this vintage building art isn't worth risking your neck to observe. Stay away.  Far away. Get an autographed copy of Tiki Road Trip from the author! 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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