Kahiki Supper Club is a legend in the tiki world � a massive polynesian palace in the frozen land of Columbus, Ohio. Kahiki founders Bill Sapp and Lee Henry started work on the Kahiki after their bar, the Grass Shack, burned down on this site in 1959. Sadly, I never got to see Kahiki, it closed in 2000. The Kahiki's building was a classic example of midcentury polynesian pop architecture, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Despite this, Walgreen's purchased the building and bulldozed it. The Kahiki company now is focused on selling a line of frozen foods.

Some of the interior decor had been stored in a warehouse, and there was talk of the restaurant reopening in a new location. The potential for that seems to have ended: some of the decor was installed in the frozen food factory; the Kahiki's last owner, Michael Tsao, has died; and many of the remaining artifacts appear to have been sold at auctions.

However, the Kahiki has not entirely died... in 2006, former employees opened a new restaurant in a strip mall in nearby Hilliard, called Tropical Bistro

history

Tropical Bistro

Hilliard, OH

Bar & Restaurant

7.4

. It doesn't have the Kahiki's grand looks (much of the decor comes from the space's earlier, typical Chinese buffet incarnation), but the food and drink recipes remain the same, and drinks are served in tiki mugs.

Comments

DWoodr4234

February 2, 2021, 10:59 AM

An online Doc about the Supper Club:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNFdYLoKiE8&feature=youtu.be

DWoodr4234

February 2, 2021, 10:59 AM

A note from my friend Drew Tappan on the Columbus Supper Club:
I grew up within spitting distance of one of America�s great monuments to the bygone Tiki era: The Kahiki Supper Club.

By the time I was old enough to appreciate it, the Kahiki was in its waning years. It had become the place of middle school birthday parties and end-of-season soccer banquets � like a tropical themed Chuck-e-Cheese. It held on until I was old enough to � legally � drink. It was a magnificent building: a massive mid-century interpretation of a Polynesian longhouse, its entrance framed by two towering fiberglass flame-topped Moai glaring threateningly at their strip mall neighbors. You could still sense its one-time glory. You could still order the mystery drink, a giant bowl of �assorted spirits� and exotic syrups, bubbling with dry ice and delivered by an exotic bikini clad maiden in a brief but no less theatrical ceremony. The mystery was somewhat lessened by the inescapable fact that the mystery maiden was the older sister of a high school classmate. The Kahiki faded and closed in 2000. A few years later, the magnificent temple to 1960s kitsch was torn down and a Walgreens was built in its place.

TikiKenobi

TikiKenobi has visited Kahiki Supper Club.

August 2, 2019, 6:54 PM

The legendary restaurant. My wife grew up with it and when we moved to Columbus after college, she took me there and I fell in love. I regret to this day not visiting more before it closed. Nothing else will ever compare to it.

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