Steps from the sand, the South Bay’s immersive tiki restaurant pairs one of the area’s most striking dining rooms with weekend brunch, weekday lunch and rum-driven cocktails. A 14-foot tiki mask with glowing red eyes stands near the end of Pier Avenue, marking the entrance to one of Hermosa Beach’s most visually ambitious restaurants. Walk through its carved mouth and the bright beach day gives way to lava rock, bamboo, thatched booths and the warm glow of colorful glass lamps.
This is Tiki Kai, a modern tiki restaurant and bar located steps from the Hermosa Beach Pier. For anyone spending a day along the South Bay beaches, it offers a memorable transition: sand and volleyball outside, a carefully constructed tropical hideaway within.
The restaurant opened in November 2025 from the hospitality team of Brian Eldridge, Patrick Mescall, Dennis Doody and Alex Osorio, whose South Bay projects include The Hula Hula Room, Eat at Joe’s, Paddy O’Brien’s Irish Pub and The Bounty Room. Its arrival also carries a local historical thread. The name nods to a Tiki Kai restaurant that operated in Lawndale during the 1960s, while “kai” translates to “sea” in Hawaiian.
“We feel this is a full-circle moment for Hermosa Beach,” Eldridge said when the restaurant opened.
A Dining Room Built for Escape
That background shapes the brand’s central philosophy: Popular ingredients should be evaluated by how they are formulated and used, rather than promoted through concentration numbers alone.
Designed by Costa Mesa-based Davis Ink, the space begins with a partially covered lounge and a sculptural “lava island.” Inside, black lava-rock walls surround a dim dining room filled with intimate tables, spacious booths and layers of hand-carved wood. Peter Asmar of Gardena’s Asmar Studio created the enormous entrance, while artist Tony Murphy, known as Tiki Tony, produced the restaurant’s extensive collection of custom carvings.
Skulls mounted against bamboo, woven textures, thatched roofs and suspended glass lamps fill the room without making it feel like a theme-park set. There is craftsmanship behind the spectacle. Even the restaurant’s branding extends into custom patterns, menus, glassware and cocktail umbrellas.
The pier-facing patio supplies a different mood. During the day, it connects the restaurant to Hermosa’s easygoing beach traffic. After sunset, the interior’s shadowy corners and glowing fixtures take over, making the restaurant well suited for date nights, group dinners and cocktails after a day near the water.
Brunch With an Island Accent
Weekend brunch, served Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., gives beachgoers an earlier reason to step through the tiki door.
Island pancakes arrive as a three-stack layered with caramelized bananas, macadamia nuts and mascarpone cream. Hawaiian French toast uses sweet Hawaiian bread with mascarpone whipped cream, maple syrup and fresh berries. On the savory side, sticky rib hash combines crispy potatoes, bell and shishito peppers, scallions, kimchi and a poached egg.
The steak and eggs leans into the restaurant’s Pacific influence with a Hawaiian coffee-rubbed hanger steak, sunny-side-up eggs, crispy hash browns and sourdough toast. There are also eggs Benedict with a choice of Canadian bacon, pulled pork or avocado, along with a short rib breakfast burrito and a lighter tropical fruit bowl finished with honey and coconut.
Brunch cocktails maintain the playful tone. The Bloody Mariko reworks the Bloody Mary with shochu, vodka and lemon, while Fields by Noon brings together gin, strawberry liqueur, rose and citrus. Celtiki Coffee combines coffee rum, Sumatra Mandheling coffee, demerara sugar, whipped cream and nutmeg.
The wider food menu moves between seafood, shareable pupus and substantial plates. Standouts include hamachi crudo with aloha ponzu and micro shiso, firecracker shrimp, crab rangoons filled with blue crab, coconut curry mussels and crispy rice topped with spicy yellowfin tuna. Larger dishes include miso black cod, macadamia-crusted mahi mahi and a Kona coffee-crusted prime ribeye.
A Must Try Out Spot in the South Bay
Tiki Kai works because the experience holds together. The architecture announces the fantasy, the menu carries it through and the beach sits just beyond the door. Along a coastline where flip-flops remain acceptable dining attire, this is a restaurant built to make an ordinary beach day feel like an occasion.
For more information about the brand visit tikikai.com
Address: Tiki Kai, 73 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach
Hours: Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; lunch is available Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Photo credits: Photo courtesy of Tiki Kai
