Every year, Tiki-Ti closes for a few weeks around the holidays, so that its owners and only employees, Mike & Mike Buhen, can catch a break with their families, and do some maintenance on the old ‘Ti. It’s a hard few weeks for the Tiki-Ti regulars (until I headed north to the Bay Area, I was steadfast among them, and felt very adrift myself through those weeks). It’s also a bit of heartache for those unfortunates who make the pilgrimage during this time and find themselves surprised to be greeted by a bolted door. The doom & gloom the holidays bring to a Tiki-Tiphile are well worth it though, for the mind reels at even the most fleeting thought of what would happen if Mike & Mike got burned out and threw in the towel on the whole operation. Tiki-Ti, started in 1961 by Mike’s pop Ray Buhen, is one of the very last places on the planet where you can taste drink recipes with a direct pedigree to the great Don the Beachcomber. And it’s the only place you can get a Ray’s Mistake (pictured above).

So, heed the warning, and get there while you can: Tiki-Ti’s last open day before the holidays is Saturday, November 18. They’ll open again on Wednesday, December 27.

• Tiki-Ti
• Tiki-Ti, Los Angeles [Critiki]