The best tiki bars in the San Francisco Bay Area

This brand new Duboce Triangle bar showcases the dark side of tiki with sky high skulls and plane-crash-in-the-tropical-jungle decor. Though it has sacrificed none of the Disney-quality of the classic tiki bar, Last Rites has managed to do it with a bit more sophistication than many of its San Francisco counterparts. The bar owes this, in no small part, to grown-up cocktails that eschew the blue curacao and sickly-sweet syrups for combinations like the Halfway Tree, overproof rum and fortified wine served in a skull mug and the Hetch Hetchy, a drink made with bell pepper and paprika. But not to worry if you come craving the classics—Last Rites has those too. Try the Marine Layer, a take on the Fog Cutter that adds housemade cashew orgeat (instead of the typical almond) to a base of rum, lemon and egg white.

Taking over the reins from its popular tiki predecessor, Longitude, the Kon Tiki is chock full of tropical decor straight out of the Brady Bunch episode where Marcia hula dances and Bobby discovers a cursed idol. At the bar and in grass hut booths along the walls, patrons sip mai tais and daiquiris, perfect accompaniments to a food menu that features island-inspired takes on burgers and fried chicken sandwiches. A pupu platter will get you a sample of time-honored and seasonal treats for $40.

With three floors of dark corners, pirate memorabilia and a proper indoor waterfall, the decor at Smuggler’s is straight out of an adventure book. The bartenders are true tiki fanatics, and their drinks are expertly crafted, esoteric dives into tiki history. And while it began as a hidden tiki oasis, Smuggler’s Cove has become something of a victim of its own success; today you’ll find the bar perpetually crowded and swarming with scenesters. It can all be very un-tiki. Still, if you have a love for all-things tiki, Smuggler’s Cove can’t be beat. Big drinkers should try the very strong Jet Pilot—the mix of Jamaican and Guyanese rums, lime, grapefruit, cinnamon, herbsaint and a sweet spiced Caribbean syrup known as fulernum goes down all too easily.