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Some information will be out of date.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.

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Kona Kai
Chicago location.

Full review and history of the Kona Kai
chain is available in Tiki Road Trip

Pics and mail about the Kona Kai.

Thanks to Amy n' Dave for the photo at the top of the page. Amy adds: The Chicago Kona Kai show (was) put together by the folks at the Barefoot Hawaiian, who also have a cool little shop in downtown Des Plaines, Illinois. I think they also give Hula lessons. The show (was) Friday and Saturday nights (at 8:00) and it's quite a production! There's no cover charge, but you pay plenty for the drinks. Anyway, you can enjoy the show from the bar area or in the adjoining dining rooms. Great atmosphere! November 1998: As of January 1, 1999, the Chicago Kona Kai will be closed to the public.  The wonderful floor show will cease.  The Tiki Puka Puka will be a distant memory.  The waterfall and stream will be shut off. But it could be worse - you see, rather than becoming completely renovated like San Diego's Islands Room was in 1997, the Kona Kai will be converted into a private party room.  That means weddings, conventions, Bar Mitzvahs, etc.  It may be time to organize a private party for all Tiki Bar Review Pages readers! Until that happens, we urge you all to attend the Kona Kai on New Years Eve for one last Mai Tai before we are shut out of Chicago's best Polynesian Restaurant. December, 1998: Report from the final night of the Kona Kai: It was a bittersweet night indeed.  The Kona Kai was having it's last hurrah.  The dance troupe from The Barefoot Hawaiian was giving it's last show, and the last round of Mai Tais were being served up.  The place was packed.  There was laughter, there were tears.  And at the end of it all, the Kona Kai was closed to the public.  There really isn't much more to say - The Kona Kai will be missed.  That's one more Tiki Bar to cross off of our list.  Let us Chicagoans at least be grateful that we still have Hala Kahiki and, for what they're worth, Trader Vic's and Ciral's House of Tiki.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the evening was that people from all walks of life who love Tiki Bars in general, or the Kona Kai in particular, met that night for the first time.  After the people I was with left, I stuck around for a final drink.  At the bar, I met a couple who had met at the Kona Kai 14 years earlier, and who came back every year to celebrate.  I spied a group of hip rockabilly/swing types camped out at a large table in the corner of the lounge area, and wondered if they were readers of these very pages.  I spoke to the band leader, which is something I had never taken the initiative to do previously.  The hostess told me of plans to go to work in her parent's grocery store.  So many new faces, and none of us ever had an excuse to speak until it was too late. February, 2000 David Lawrence writes: While it is true it did close to the public as a restaurant, it does remain open and reasonably unaltered from its original existence. The room has been broken up slightly, with a Japanese paper wall type thing being dropped in across the old band area to create a front Sushi bar and steak house area. The rest of the restaurant remains intact. Speaking with the manager of the O'Hare Marriott (in February, 2000), he indicated they are committed to keeping the Kona Kai space as unchanged as possible for years to come. It is available for rent as a banquet hall. For an additional charge, the front bar area (now sushi bar) can also be added to the hall for special functions. The only recent tragedy was the death of all the fish in the pond and waterfall area, due to the attendees of a past gathering deciding that the fish should be drinking beer as well as the guests. The fish did not take well to the beer, and subsequently died. They have since been restocked. I'm proud to say my fiance and I will be having our wedding reception in the Kona Kai room this summer. A beautiful place from a time gone by, it's the perfect start to our life together. Fred writes: Through the sixties and into the seventies there was a Kona Kai at the Marriott on City Line Avenue near the Schuylkill Expressway in Philadelphia (I think it was actually in Bala Cynwyd). Indeed it was beautiful and quite similar in design and concept to what you describe in Chicago. I loved the place. It had a refreshing coolness in the air, probably due to the brook and waterfall. In addition to other Polynesian treats there were Polynesian Pu-Pus and stuff you grilled on a small tabletop hibachi. The drink we enjoyed the most I think was called the Scorpion. It was a blend of tropical fruits and rums. There was little or no no color, just a little cloudiness, and it was served in a clear glass footed soup bowl with a gardenia floating in it. The combination of exotic flavors and the fragrance made it more than a little intoxicating. On one exquisite night with a woman I still fondly think about, we just about made it out of the place with her wearing six gardenias. I would really like to know what was in that concoction....

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