This weekend was the grand opening of Forbidden Island, and it appears to be a massive success. There was a line out the door Saturday from before 6 p.m. to the end of the night; the line stretched to the end of the block, with people willing to wait as long as an hour to get in. Once inside, there was a lot of enthusiastic raving about the drinks and the decor to be heard. I’ve now had a chance to sample at least half of the menu, which has 38(!) drinks. My favorite right now is the Krakatoa, which is from Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Grog Log, and is a take on the Mai-Kai’s Black Magic. I also really love the Hawaii Kai Treasure, from the Hawaii Kai in New York. Everyone’s having a lot of fun working their way through the menu. There is also an extensive menu of fine rums available. It’s truly thrilling to see Forbidden Island off to such a great start, and getting such a positive response — and not just from tikiphiles, the crowd this weekend was a broad cross-section of people. Just goes to show that anyone can appreciate quality.

Now that Forbidden Island is open, the local tiki crowd is planning on gathering there every Wednesday, in the years-long tradition of the Wednesday meetups at Tiki-Ti in Los Angeles. Everybody is welcome, feel free to go up to the group wearing the aloha shirts and introduce yourself. Forbidden Island co-owner Martin says:

Come one, come all, to Wednesdays at FI!

Help make this inaugural Wednesday one to remember- there’s a surprise in store, so be there by 7pm and wear your finest aloha- you’ll want to look your best!

Don’t forget your VIP cards, or pick one up if you don’t have one yet

Mahalo, and see everyone on Wednesday!

I’ve updated Critiki with a ton more information about Forbidden Island, and many photos of the beautiful interiors.

• Forbidden Island
• Forbidden Island, Alameda [Critiki]
• Wednesdays at Forbidden Island [Tiki Central]