Matier & Ross reported this morning on the demise of the planned condo tower on the Fairmont Hotel property -- essentially because they wanted to raze the existing hotel tower, built in the 60s, and the powerful hotel workers' union got involved because it looked like it would cost hotel jobs, which obviously it would have, and voted no on the whole thing. There's now talk of a total sale of the hotel property, which allegedly hasn't been doing great, business-wise, but this sounds like another reprieve for the Tonga Room which has been under threat of closure for two years now! more ›

In his side-item column on Inside Scoop this week, the Chronicle's princely food critic made a trip to everyone's favorite place to take their grandmother: the Fairmont Hotel's historic Tonga Room. It's worth a read if you can get past the fact that he calls the tourist-laden tiki bar "under the radar" even though it was nearly full on a weeknight. (Pro-tip: it doesn't hurt to check Yelp before your go, Mr. Bauer) more ›

"The quote [from the Chronicle piece] that tiki is 'no longer where it's at' is patently and demonstrably untrue. The resurgence is incredible and I've got the lines out the door to prove it." - Martin Cate more ›

The fate of the Tonga Room, that beloved but not often crowded Tiki bar in the bowels of the Fairmont Hotel, is on the docket at the Historic Preservation Commission's meeting today. Though Planning has already ruled that the historic space must be preserved in some way, today the commission discusses with the developers what their actual preservation plan entails. more ›

Writing in the Chron, John King examines the current state of the Tonga Room preservation debate, in which preservation architect Chris VerPlanck is preparing a nomination package for saving the Fairmont hotel's pseudo-Polynesian paradise as a historic interior. "My preservation ethos gears me toward pop kitsch and industrial vernacular," says VerPlank, whose firm Kelley & VerPlanck is working on a 21-page report (link via Grub Street SF) to be filed with the Historic Preservation Commission. Unlike New York City, where places like Philip Johnson's Four Seasons Restaurant have been declared landmark interiors, San Francisco's preservation board doesn't yet have a protocol for preserving interiors -- only buildings, sites and landscape features. VerPlanck argues that the Tonga Room "represents a highly evolved and rare example of the so-called 'High Tiki' style," but King isn't buying it, playing devil's advocate and asking whether we should be saving anything that anyone claims a kitschy attachment to. more ›

While the news is a few weeks old, it stings fresh as this morning's rain. See, word has it that the new plan to turn part of Nob Hill's Fairmont Hotel (which, oh noes, is a CHAIN!) into condominiums will mean an end to its famed Tonga Room. Ack, is right. Plans call for deconstructing the tower and replacing its rooms with as many as 160 condos. (.pdf warning) And said plans do not include keeping the best place in the city to drink rum while watching a band perform KOIT classics in the middle of a pool. Does this mean the Tonga Room will go the way of the 711 Club and 177 Townsend (Club Universe)? Probably. But as Curbed points out seven tiki lounges will still remain in San Francisco. more ›

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Unthirsty breaks down the top-ten San Francisco happy hours for stopping the shakes. Although we have to disagree with the number-one spot going to the thematic, fun, yet sometimes overpriced Tonga Room -- that, and the staff gets really mad when we stumble out through the hotel -- the other spots are spot-on. more ›

We are big fans of drinks that come with their own props – little plastic monkeys swinging off the rim, entire servings of fruit contained on one tiny sword, paper umbrellas. We still think fondly of the many times we walked out of the Caribbean Zone with a purse full of little cocktail tchotckes. We are thrilled that the Tonga Room is still going strong. However, we are not big fans of negotiating BART after having indulged our affinity for drinks that come with their own props. What is an East Bay resident to do when seized with the urge to drink something out of a big hurricane glass, then chew on a few rum-soaked pineapple chunks? more ›

A reader of SFist Answers writes in anonymously: more ›

Hanging on a wall of the brand new Trader Vic's near Civic Center is a copy of the restaurant's very first menu, circa 1930's Oakland. Back in the day, prices for the vaguely Polynesian cuisine hovered between 50 cents and two bucks, and as we waited to be seated we watched a tall blonde woman in a black trench coat study the old menu. Eventually, she turned to her companion and exclaimed, "I can't believe how cheap this place is!"
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if you have $5000 to blow, John Kerry is having a fundraising lunch in the City. more ›