Clifton's Pacific Seas

Now the best reason for me to make the trek to Clifton's (not that there weren't enough already). Surprisingly painless to get in if one is willing to wait a little bit. Love the pirate doubloon they give you to gain access. Matt the bartender was a real delight and sure knows how to mix some delicious concoctions. Also come here regularly for the Coconut Club events, which couldn't be more entertaining, though they have gotten extremely crowded of late.

Avoid this place like the plague.

So after all the build up and hype, my girl and I went to Pacific Seas. We arrived about 7pm on a ssturdy night. We wandered around while the ultra-cool waitstaff were too busy to greet us. Finally a very nice guy named Marcel set up a two-top for us. He was great. The ambience is good-ish. There's a boat in the middle of the floor, which I guess is supposed to be cool. It's just in the way.
Ordered a Mai tai and a painkiller. Mai-tai was swill....sour and pale. The worst mai-tai ever. I swear Smart and Final makes a better mai tai mix.
Meanwhile , this hostess chick "Eena"(porn star name?)...was running around taking selfies with customers and sounding like she owns the place. Mid way through our second drink (no more mai tais), Eena comes over and smugly says to me "I'll be needing this table. It's reserved now. ". Wow. Thanks, bitch for making me look like a jerk to my date.
I said "can we finish our drinks"?..she says with a typical millenial smirk: "those other people didn't complain when I moved them". This is when I see red. So we move to adjacent stools, drinks in hand. The table we were just bumped out of stayed vacant for a half hour.
The way to handle a table conflict is to warn the customer ahead if time, give them a chance to finish their drinks, and offer them a free drink. Getting kicked off my table was embarrassing and ruined my experience there.
We will never return. There's five other tiki bars to choose from. I suggest you do the same, and not bother with this place. It's the opposite of what a good tiki bar should be.

The Pacific Seas is clearly improving since other negative reviews. We arrived at 6 pm on a Wed. and were let in after about 15 minutes with no waitlist. There were about 12 other people when we arrived. The place is sumptuous with numerous tiki details (some from Bahooka) in every direction creating a vibe that is very close to tiki perfection. I particularly dug the music selection, which contained no exotica or Hawaiian music, but everything else one might consider appropriate or groovy at a tiki bar from bossa nova to swinging '60s to surf and cha cha cha, a very thoughtfully rendered mix of ultra-groovy songs. The drinks were exceptional (they have a great menu now) and the whole experience, otherworldly. I have been to numerous tiki bars in the U.S. and Europe and this place is among the swellest, certainly the finest current tiki bar in the L.A. area.

Holy cow! This experience could not have been worse.

Warned on this site and others, I tried to get a reservation, but none were available. Instead, I got a very nice note saying I should show up about 15 minutes before the bar opens at 6 pm and put our names in with the hostess. If we did this, I was told, it should be no problem to walk right in.

We arrived about 5:30 pm so that we could be first in line. Twice, my wife and I approached the hostess and were told there was no need to put our names in because walking in at opening should be no problem. We were told, however, the bar didn't actually open at 6 pm, but rather 6:30 pm.

No matter. We grabbed a seat near the staircase to the 3rd floor and watched as the crowd steadily began to build up. Worried that we wouldn't be able to get in right away, we queued up with everyone else. The group was then approached by a manager who said that we couldn't congregate around the stairs and that - lo and behold - we all needed to put our names in with the hostess. Ooooookay ...

When approaching the hostess AGAIN, she still insisted that we need not put our names in. When I explained that the group was sent down by the manager, she seemed incredulous. After a few minutes of debating this with the assembled crowd, the hostess was finally approached by the manager ... and then THEY debated having us put our names in.

Finally the hostess took our names and c ell phone numbers. I was first in line (thank goodness), and I was told that I'd get a text in 10 minutes to go into the bar. Finally feeling confident, we wandered and paced for 10 minutes, then 20 minutes, then a half hour. At this point, I went back down to the hostess stand and was told that I should already have received my text. When I said I hadn't, the hostess said that something about the building's construction killing cell phone reception. Huh?!? (as I noted the 3 bars on my phone).

Fed up, we finally tailgated a large party that was headed in, and yes ... we made it!!! AND, the place was nearly empty. Sweet! We approached a manager to tell him (very politely, I might add) how frustrating the process was. First he said something about the staff being discombobulated because their shift was just starting. (Seriously?) Then he said the owner wanted it this way to keep the riff raff out. (Really?) Finally, I assume noting our slack jaws and the WTF looks on our faces, he gave us two free drink tokens.

Sounds like things were looking up, right? Well, as we spoke to the manager, a large group had walked in and gathered around the bar. Didn't seem like a huge deal, but one bartender was assigned to wait solely on the large party we'd walked in with (he angrily told a couple of the folks ahead of us). That left one bartender to handle the overflow, which at this point was about 10 deep in front of me.

I stood in line patiently for 15 more minutes (I timed it) while a group of young LA partiers ordered painkillers ("To kill the pain," I believe every single one of them said) and Scorpion Bowls (because they get set on fire). When I finally dragged my beleaguered body up to the bar, I gloomily ordered a Mai Tai and a Navy Grog. The Mai Tai was pretty bad. The Navy Grog was okay, except for a mild taste of banana. But hey, they were free!!!

We drank our drinks, pretty much in demoralized silence, then left. On our way out, we saw a very earnest looking group of tiki enthusiasts (which were completely absent from the bar, as far as I could tell) that had been there before us but were still waiting with hopeful looks on their faces for the chance to go in. We gave them our warning, wished them luck, and said goodbye.

As I drove out of the parking garage at about 8:15 pm (nearly three hours after we arrived), I got a text that my "Pacific Seas experience was about to begin." Well, not exactly ... but thanks anyways, Clifton's.

Wow, this was a terrible experience!

We called early in the day (getting an uninformative voicemail) and researched extensively online and we still ended the night without actually being able to get into the bar.

There was a huge line to get into the complex and nobody outside seemed to know or acknowledge that there was a tiki bar inside. We got confusing directions from multiple bouncers which eventually ended in us waiting 45 minutes in the general line.

Once inside, after much confusion and poor signage, we found another line on the third floor to get into the Pacific Seas area. After waiting in this line, we were told that the bar was full tonight and closed to walk-ins.

This could very well be a fine tiki bar, but it's enclosed in a tower of nightlife and unhelpful employees. After trekking across town to see this, I could not have been more let down.

Who gives you a clear drink, tasting of banana, and tells you its a zombie? These guys. If you are into physical appearance with a crappy personality and no substance.. this is the spot. Here is to hoping they find their footing better.

Drove down from sf to try it out and was turned away at the door. Private party on a Saturday night. It would be nice if that was listed on the website. :(

We managed to get in on the official opening date (12th of November. It seemed as though they were trying to keep the bar from being overcrowded so we were let in little by little.

The decor is top notch and there are enough hallways to walk around and gawk about at the history on the walls and ceilings. The craftsman boat in the center hub served as a DJ booth for the time being.

The drinks were good but the drink selection was a whole different story. It seems as though there is no menu yet but you are left with questioning the bartender as to what they can and can't make for the time being. Mai Tais, Navy Grogs, Singapore slings, Fog Cutters, Painkillers, Cobra's Fangs (!!), Scorpions and of course Daiquiris were all on the table for now.

I only asked about the barrel mug for purchase but they did have a three Ku bowl with Clifton's on the side, whether or not it's available for purchase is a mystery to me. I will be back soon to check the bar out again!

I was at the new Pacific Seas on Halloween night for a pop up dinner with the Coconut Club. I can't rate on food and drinks though because they were provided by the club and not the restaurant as far as I could tell. The decor was amazing! One of the best in terms of tikiness. There also appears to be plenty of room for the throngs of tikiphiles sure descend upon it. The bar is behind a false door that looks like a larger mirror in the 3rd story bar area. There are parking garages and nicer hotels within walking distance but it did seem to be in a regentrification zone. Not only is the Pacific Seas a sight to behold so is Clifton's in general. There are 5 different bar areas in the multistory location. One of them even had a cool Art Deco black bear tiki mug! I can't wait to go back