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The Yachtsman

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

The Yachtsman was opened in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia in August 2014 by partners Tommy Up and Sarah Brown. Tommy Up has a longstanding interest in vintage tiki bars, including visits in much of his travels. The decor was in keeping with the classic tiki theme, with A-frame structures behind the bar, walls lined with lauhala matting, and plenty of thatch and bamboo throughout. The drinks menu included modern drinks and classics, all prepared with a craft cocktail sensibility. The Yachtsman closed in May 2017.

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Tiki with Ray

living the Tiki lifestyle with Ray Wyland

Tiki bar review # 7 the yachtsman philadelphia, pa.

If you know your US history, you will know that Philadelphia is one of America’s oldest cities. It was built during Colonial times and needless to say cars, busses, and trains didn’t exist when it first started growing. People lived close to where they worked because, well, they had to. They were walking. Philadelphia back in the 1700’s was tight and compact. Most streets were wide enough for a horse and wagon to travel on and row homes lined every street. Actually, that pretty much describes Philadelphia now!

Fishtown is one of Philly’s newest and coolest neighborhoods. A couple years ago, people started moving to Fishtown because rent was cheap. Then cool places to eat and drink started popping up. The Yachtsman was one of those cool places.

This is the street The Yachtsman is on…

As you can tell, it’s a very tiny street and at first glance, not much to look at. If any place needed a Tiki escape, this would be it.

Walk through the front door of the Yachtsman and bam! You’re no longer in the concrete jungle of Philly. You’re in a Tiki oasis!

If you look to your right, you will have this big guy staring at you…

If you don’t want to sit at the bar, there is cool seating in the back…

Here is the drink menu…

It’s not a very long list, but the drinks they have are great. While I was there, I ordered the Mr. Bali Hai…

It’s first Tiki drink I ever had that had Kahlua in it. I was skeptical at first, but the drink was great! I highly recommend it.

My buddy Jeff ordered a virgin Pina Colada. He loved it!

What I like most about the Yachtsman is that it has a warm and cozy feel to it. If I was living in Philly and it was the dead of winter, a warm and cozy Tiki bar is where I would want to be. The Yachtsman is exactly that!

Here is the Yachtsman’s website .

And the Yachtsman’s Facebook page .

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exploring philadelphia's urban landscape

Dusting The Sand Off Of Philly’s Tiki Heritage

Welcome to our luau: Langerman’s Luau in Narberth | Image via Arkiva Tropika

Last month, a number of local media outlets predicted the “Return of Tiki” in light of plans by PYT owner Tommy Up to open a new bar of that persuasion in Fishtown. Up and business partner Sarah Brown launched a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of securing the $36,700 they need to properly outfit “Philly’s first tiki bar,” at 1444 Frankford Avenue. They must raise the sum in its entirety by tomorrow morning. (As of this writing, they have $2,798 still to raise to meet their goal with 16 hours to go.) The Yachtsman aims to put a 21st Century touch on mid-century Tiki culture—immersive décor by Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal of the team’s Emmanuelle nightclub, a menu featuring Hawaiian bar food by Chris Vacca and Kiki Aranita of Poi Dog food truck, and cocktails with names like Rum Runner and Painkiller. But while The Yachtsman will indeed be the first of its kind in decades, it is far from the first. By the late 1960s, at least four Tiki-themed restaurants served the Philadelphia region: Pub Tiki, Kona Kai, Langerman’s Luau, and Hawaiian Cottage.

Tiki as we know it emerged in 1934, when New Orleans native Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt opened Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, a small bar in Hollywood, California. Don’s Beachcomber Cafe, which served Cantonese food and rum punches amid a dining room overflowing with paraphernalia he had collected during his travels, transported its guests to Beaumont-Gantt’s interpretation of the South Seas. Before long, Don’s Beachcomber Cafe (later Don the Beachcomber) had become a phenomenon, attracting crowds and imitators alike.

Although born in California, Tiki did not remain constrained to the Golden State. The concept spread from coast to coast, enabling ordinary Americans to escape to at least a facsimile of paradise. Two business savvy restaurateurs facilitated the spread of Tiki: Vic Bergeron of the Trader Vic empire and Stephen Crane of the Kon Tiki chain; Bergeron often receives credit as the first to franchise the concept, while Crane glamorized it.

According to James Teitelbaum, author of Tiki Road Trip: A Guide to Tiki Culture in North America , Tiki was about escapism. “The best Tiki paradises have a completely escapist environment. Windows are bad because they’re a reminder of the outside world. Television more so. Water features and aquariums are great, tropical plants are great, lots of nautical junk (fishing nets, glass floats, bits of old ships) is always great, and of course a Tiki bar, by definition, has to have as many carvings of Polynesian deity figures as the owners can possibly cram into the room. The best Tiki bars do not have a frat party vibe; they’re tranquil and peaceful with low lights and a romantic adult atmosphere. That’s where most of the new ones get it wrong. Many of the real Tikis from Polynesia are fertility gods after all, so a good Tiki bar should be a place for seduction, not Jaeger bombs and high-fives.”

After a three-decade-long run, Tiki and most of its manifestations (including coffee shops, eateries, bowling alleys, amusement parks, and pleasure gardens) began to decline. Mid-century optimism gradually dissipated as the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War, and the Reagan administration rolled in successively. In addition, increased access to travel opened the South Seas to ordinary Americans wanting to see the real thing and develop an understanding of and sensitivity to the place.

The four establishments that comprised most of the Philadelphia region’s Tiki scene opened and closed in concert with the rise and fall of the trend nationally. The earliest to open in the area, Cherry Hill’s Hawaiian Cottage, opened in 1938 and the last to close, Kona Kai in Bala Cynwyd, did so in 1985.

Hawaiian Cottage, Cherry Hill (1938-1978)

Hawaiian Cottage postcard via Facebook page dedicated to Hawaiian Cottage memory

Located on Route 38 in Cherry Hill, NJ, Hawaiian Cottage was a roadhouse owned and operated by couple Michael and Mary Egidi. Upon arrival, patrons of the “theater restaurant,” which featured regular “luau shows,” were greeted by a yellow dome painted to resemble a pineapple and a set of flaming torches.

An undated welcome message from General Manager Joseph Zucci reads: “The lei welcome is traditional in Hawaii. The Hawaiian Cottage takes pleasure in continuing this old Polynesian custom—a colorful lei about your neck symbolic of the friendliness, hospitality, and gaiety of the Islands. Dining is an enjoyable experience, enjoyed amid a romantic setting of palm trees against a background of Hawaiian music and dances of native origin.”

Most notably (and in hindsight perhaps most questionably), the Hawaiian Cottage included a Japanese-themed dining room. The black and white “Geisha Room” featured a prominently situated geisha statue, Japanese-style screens, chandeliers, and custom made mugs by Otagiri Mercantile Company. Otagiri is best known for manufacturing Tiki glassware during the 1950s and 60s.

The black and white mugs used in the Geisha Room each bore a traditionally clad geisha. The others, souvenirs for guests purchasing alcoholic beverages, donned colorful parrots and caricatures of the fictional character Fu Manchu. This was unusual because Tiki establishments typically served drinks in Polynesian gods or Easter Island heads.

Hawaiian Cottage closed in 1978, after a fire destroyed much of the landmark restaurant. An Olive Garden now occupies the site, which lies between Kaighn Avenue (Route 38), Church Road, and Chestnut Street near the Cherry Hill Mall.

Postcard via West Jersey History Project

The cover for Pub Tiki’s cocktail menu, whose most expensive drink was a “Floral Tiki Bowl” for two — at $1.55 | Image via Polynesian pop culture site Arkiva Tropika

Pub Tiki, 17th & Walnut, Philadelphia (1950s-1977)

Pub, the legendary local chain whose Pennsauken, NJ location still greets eastbound drivers off of the Ben Franklin Bridge, once counted a Tiki-themed tavern among its collection. Founded by South Philadelphia native Morris “Duffy” Shoyer, the chain boasted five Pubs—three in Center City, one in North Philadelphia, and one in Pennsauken. The Center City locations included Little Pub at 1421 Sansom Street, Pub at 1522 Chestnut Street, and Pub Tiki at 1718 Walnut Street. North Philadelphia’s Pub was located at the intersection of Hunting Park and Allegheny Avenues in the Allegheny West neighborhood.

When Shoyer died in 1995, the Philadelphia Inquirer remembered him as benevolent history buff who believed that the “average man is entitled to dine in splendor, just as the rich man.” Indeed, Pub Tiki’s patrons dined in style amid a glowing map of the Polynesian Islands and an artificial waterfall. More importantly, it maintained “honorable” prices. Prime rib cost just $3.95 per plate, and each item’s cost was raised no more than one cent per year. Pub Tiki closed in 1977 upon expiration of its lease. For the next 35 years, clothing store Knit Wit, now at 1729 Chestnut, occupied the space; it is now occupied by Intermix, a high end boutique chain based in Manhattan.

The Pub in Pennsauken, loosely Medieval-themed but not touted as such, survives. It has been serving giant steaks and seafood platters since 1951. It is so, so worth a visit.

“1969 Nov birthday dinner” at Pub Tiki | Image: Flickr user latneym

The ads and menus from Pub Tiki ranged from playful and colorful to overtly racist | Image part of a collection by Tiki Central user Dustycajun

Langerman’s Luau, Narberth (1959-1968)

Image: Arkiva Tropika

Located at 915 Montgomery Avenue in Narberth, Langerman’s Luau was owned and operated by World War II veteran Harry Langerman. Langerman opened the restaurant (and a second in Atlantic City, NJ) after managing well-known and fondly-remembered Frankie Bradley’s at Juniper and Chancellor Streets, as well as Lew Tendler’s Steak House in Atlantic City.

In a Playboy magazine advertisement, the restaurant’s proprietor paints a picture of its atmosphere: “Picture yourself in the moonlit compound of a native Polynesian village… exotic native drinks in two-foot tall glasses… floating fresh gardenias… mouthwatering Polynesian hors d’oeuvres… a tropical paradise (giant Tiki gods, carved figureheads, glass float balls, swali tapa, outdoor waterfall… even an albatross).” One wishing for this experience could do so by drinking at the restaurant’s Kontiki Bar or dining in the Outrigger Room (the main dining room).

After only nine years, Langerman’s Luau closed. The building that housed it was eventually demolished. A small building containing offices now occupies the site. The Atlantic City location suffered a fate of demolition too.

Kona Kai, Bala Cynwyd (1967-1985)

Kona Kai blueprint | Armét & Davis architects

Kona Kai, Philly’s last Tiki bar to open and the last to close, was also the most architecturally significant. Designed from the ground up by the prolific firm of Armét & Davis, the Kona Kai featured a steeply pitched A-frame entry flanked by decorative concrete blocks. The interior included every element one might expect to encounter, including a waterfall that culminated in a winding pond and landscapes painted onto glass.

The Santa Monica-based Armét & Davis, now Armét Davis Newlove Architects, is credited with designing over 4,000 buildings between the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Indonesia. In the 1950s and 60s, the firm proliferated the Googie style of architecture, a mid-century modern style heavily influenced by the car, the airplane, and human’s first forays into space.

In Sven A. Kirsten’s The Book of Tiki , which is as authoritative as the subject gets, the Marriott-run Kona Kai flagship at the mouth of the “Golden Mile” (City Line Avenue at the Schuylkill Expressway) is described as a “true temple of Tiki.” The “Golden Mile” refers to the mile long stretch of City Line Avenue that boasted some of the finest mid-century modern architecture in the Northeast.

Kona Kai, which represented Marriott’s response to Hilton’s alliance with the still-popular Trader Vic empire and Sheraton’s relationship with Kon Tiki, was closed in 1985, not long before its parent Marriott Motor Hotel was demolished in the late 1980s. The site is now occupied by a nondescript office building.

Image: Joseph Stelman, Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Kona Kai color postcard via Flickr user hollywoodplace

Other Tiki-themed or at least Tiki-related bars included the Bali Hai at 254 South 15th Street—now the parking garage with a Starbucks and Fox & Hound. Another, the Tahiti Bar at 126 South 16th Street, became more famous for a court case weighing nude dancing and liquor licenses than for its mai tais.

Did we miss any? Leave your throwback Tiki bar memories in the comments.

Tags:     bars and restaurants City Line Avenue Fishtown Hawaiian Cottage Kona Kai Langerman's Luau mid-century modern Pub Tiki

About the Author

Rachel Hildebrandt Rachel Hildebrandt , a graduate of PennDesign, is a native Philadelphian who is passionate about the changing city she inhabits. Before beginning her graduate studies in historic preservation with a focus on policy, Rachel obtained a B.A. in Psychology from Chestnut Hill College and co-authored two books, The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer (2009) and Oak Lane, Olney, and Logan (2011). She currently works as a senior program manager at Partners for Sacred Places.

17 Comments:

Been in the Pub Tiki and the Hawaiian Cottage, loved the atmosphere in both.

Like “Tiki” movie palaces were also built in the 1920s in “exotic” styles such as Chinese, Mayan, Egyptian, and others. The Lindy was built in Philadelphia in the Chinese style, but closed when TV arrived in people’s homes. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9133 There was a huge Chinese style movie palace planned for Market Street West, but not built. You can still experience one exotic movie palace with much of its decor intact, by seeing a movie right outside of Philadelphia at the Bala Theatre, which was built as the Egyptian. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9064

The unnecessary loss of the elegant French Art Deco Boyd Theatre at 19th and Chestnut Streets, to be replaced by 8 small movie theatres catering to both affluent and indigent patrons, is a serious business mistake, and will fail, because combining both classes will please neither.

As well as retaining the public’s architectural “roots”, reviving this venue for many needed uses, saves energy, provides jobs, tax revenues, improves the streetscape, productivity,and quality of life. Such actions have been taken in many locations successfully.

The public is robbed of its architectural heritage, along with the opportunity of enhancing the treasure of Rittenhouse Square. The city’s lucrative Historic Tourism industry that is a destination for the world to view 300 years of authentic American architecture, is further damaged.

Continuing to level still-viable existing structures like the Boyd, will eventually cause the end of Philadelphia, once the second-largest English-speaking city in the world, next to London (18th century).

This whole concept of tearing down the past does not solve unemployment,energy conservation, and “income inequality” (lack of practical education mounted by private industry, which knows what subjects to teach to enable doing higher-paid jobs). It is counter-productive to progress and profit.

Sloth (too lazy to do it right), Ignorance (they don’t know that they don’t know), and Greed, destroy good civilizations that wisely contain a mix of old and new, large and small architecture for an interesting environment to engender imagination for new ideas.

The Kona Kai on City Ave had a big sale of fixtures and decor in 86 or 87. It was not well attended, and I remember the spooky feel of all that hanging beachcomber dross and the remains of dried palm fronds, all bathed in daylight through dusty windows. Don’t get me wrong, the experience was worthy if still strange, but the magic was in the combined mood all that South Sea smoke and mirrors at night, lit with pin lights and soundscape by tinkling waterfalls, etc.

My one regret was that I didn’t understand then how to work with a rigger. I looked at those absolutely massive black tikis and knew I could never budge them. They were monumental and undeniably bad ass. Nowadays I imagine they’d be home quick as a wink while I tried to convince my wife of the sense of it all while serving a carved platter of flaming eggrolls and a skull drink called Virgin Beware!

Good to know you now understand how to work a a rigger and a bolt cutter in case we come across any vintage pieces that need to be freed from demolishment 🙂

This is a great piece of history – thanks for documenting it – and I’m looking forward to checking out the Yachtsman.

David Carroll, owner/designer of Philadelphia’s late lamented The Hot Club (and several other Philly nightspots), told me that he attended a similar auction of the Pub Tiki’s furnishings, and rescued some round booths and bamboo wall covering. This was placed in the back room of the Hot Club, which opened in late summer 1977 and closed in 1980 (after a fire in early 1978, the club closed for most of that year and was completely re-designed in the interim – -but the booths and bamboo remained). Later in 1980, Carroll moved his new wave music concerts from the Hot Club to the much larger Starlite Ballroom, a former movie theater turned ballroom at Kensington and Lehigh Avenues. The Pub Tiki bamboo shoots survived a bit longer there, now decorating a newly built dressing room. The Starlite ceased operations in 1981 (the building now houses the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center). I do not know the fate of the then twice-recycled Pub Tiki bamboo.

I loved the Pub Tiki, but especially we went to the Kona Kai for family events.

Kona Kai was our go-to as well; then we lost interest or it fell out of favor for some reason. I miss it now, as with all places which no longer exist, because I can’t go if I wanted to. This sentiment applies, even much more so, to departed loved ones; I don’t even want to get started on that subject. Best wishes.

Do any of you recall the name of the steak house that was in the same Marriot Complex as Athens Kona Kai on city line ave. many thanks.

Hi Lou–it was the Sirloin and Saddle Steak Room…

Hong Luck on 413 in Langhorne is still in business.

Thx for all this. But there is one error. I know every tiki site lists the closing date of Kona Kai as 1985, but they’re wrong. It was my favorite place in the whole world growing up, and the last time I was there was my birthday when I turned 15–September 11, 1986. And I know it was that birthday because there were 2 people there at that dinner who I did not meet until Jan 1986. Also, a scene from the 1988 movie The In Crowd was shot inside Kona Kai in summer 1986. How do I know when they were filming on-site in Philly? I’m in the movie (you can also easily research a movie’s filming dates, if you want to verify this).I’m an extra in all of the group scenes. I’m sitting right behind Joe Pantoliano in a green blouse. So…Kona Kai did not and could not have closed in 1985! Someone, somewhere on the Internet said this once and everyone now takes it as gospel without doing any research, but it’s simply not the case.

Tara, thank you so much for leaving this post! I had no idea about this movie and I just HAD to look it up and finally found a link and watched the scene, I now want to watch the whole movie, it looks good! We have a tiki group in Philly and this is such cool information to bring to the group!

Thanks Tara. I decided this past year to compile a video of filming locations for ‘The In Crowd” and the dinner scene escaped me for awhile. I thought it was on a set. So glad I finally searched Tiki Phila and read your comment. I’d love to hear about your experience and any other info you may have. I’m still on the hunt for Vicky’s house in West Phila. Stay well green blouse girl!

Why wasn’t the Pub Tiki in 19132 that was on the 3100 block of West Allegheny Ave. There was a bowling alley beneath it Probably was the first one to close in the Philly area.

Does anyone remember the Polynesian I think on Walnut St?

I remember my experience at the KonTiki on Walnut Street in Philadelphia as , if I remember,a twelve-year-old. My Aunt Ann Treated me to a birthday lunch. I had a lime Rici. It was good. Aunt Ann was careful to instruct the waiter to “please withhold the alcoholic ingredients”. The meal was excellent as well. The decor was full of adventure, from the entrance to the inside. The whole experience was exciting for a twelve-year-old boy beginning his own life’s adventures. “Wow! There are places like this in the world! I’m happy to be here.” I grew there

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The Yachtsman Philadelphia | Tiki Bar Review

Posted by George Koroneos | Apr 14, 2015 | Tiki | 0 |

Sometimes the bars closest to home are the ones that take the longer for us to get to. After being open almost an entire year, we finally made the hour-and-a-half journey to Philadelphia hipster territory (affectionately known as Fishtown) to down a libation or two at The Yachtsman , Philly’s only Tiki bar.

The only thing questionable about The Yachtsman is its decision to charge upwards of $14 for a Tiki drink in a town that is used to paying $2 for a PBR. But here’s the good news. The drinks are worth the money. We showed up around 5pm on a warm Saturday afternoon and the place had a decent amount of frat boys meandering around the bar drinking an assortment of liquid concoctions. The bar itself is not overly Tiki; most of the decor is island chic and wouldn’t be out of place at a Jimmy Buffet bar. But there’s something to be said about sipping on a Zombie in the heart of an urban jungle with the spring breeze wafting through the door and the sounds of the tropics in the air.

I typically order a Mai Tai to gauge the drink quality at a Polynesian-themed bar, but I was feeling a little more dickish and ordered a Painkiller, since most bars won’t put it on the menu fearing legal repercussions from Pussers . The bartender did not flinch at my request, and shook up a near-perfect mix of coconut cream, rum, nutmeg and pineapple. The Navy Grog and Pina Colada were just as flawless, served with a healthy portion of fresh fruits and top-shelf rums.

We spent three solid hours at The Yachtsman, talking about high school reunions that shouldn’t happen and the survival of journalistic integrity while watching the steady flow of fratastic millennials pondering the definition of tiki while getting hammered on Zombie Punch. In order words, it was the perfect Philly Tiki bar. All in all, this was well worth the trip to the City of Brotherly Love and we will more than likely be back.

About The Author

George Koroneos

Rock & Roll Wedding Photographer • Tech Geek • Tiki Collector • Vespa Aficionado • Aging Punk Rocker

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The Yachtsman

Owned and operated by the same team that runs Emmanuelle, The Yachtsman is Philly’s only tiki bar. Despite its casual aloha-shirt trappings, the bar staff is quite serious when it comes to constructing the drinks, which call for housemade everything and no bottom-shelf shortcuts.

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Fishtown philadelphia tiki bar: the yachtsman.

Becoming recent fans of " Best Bars in America ", a show on Esquire , comedians/hosts Jay Larson and Sean Patton reintroduced us to the Tiki Bar via their stops in cities across the nation. We have an affinity for anything Polynesian due to time spent in Maui, Hawaii and Disney's Polynesian Resort. A "Tiki Bar" is typically outfitted with Polynesian decor and serves elaborate, tropical cocktails. When we heard about the opening of " The Yachtsman " at 1444 Frankford Ave in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia it was imperative that we paid tribute to the Moai.

The Yachtsman is a product of the same people that brought you PYT Burger , one of our favorite spots for a burger in the city (you must try a Doh! Nut Burger). Inside the Fishtown bar you'll find a Moai Head, Hula Girl, bamboo, thatching, and more retro tiki-kitsch decor. No detail was forgotten but you'll easily forget what city you're actually in.

One of The Yachtsman's signature drinks is the "Caribe Welcome Coconut", which is served in a fresh, young green coconut. The Mai Tai (pictured above) is served in a ceramic tiki mug and accompanied with a parasol and a plastic sword! Don't forget to order a round of Rivertowne Hala Kahiki (Hah-lah-kah-hee-kee). Properly labeled as "nectar from the Gods", the Hala Kahiki is a pineapple beer, or "liquid aloha", in a 12 oz. can.

We definitely recommend The Yachtsman, our new favorite spot in Philadelphia.

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Talking the Yachtsman bar and tiki with Phoebe Esmon

That the latest wave in Fishtown would bring up a sprawling, faux-German beer garden, a Brooklyn-ish barbecue barn, and a factory-size coffee-bar-rum-distillery is hard enough to conceive. But that a modest corner tappie on Frankford Avenue would suddenly

That the latest wave in Fishtown would bring up a sprawling, faux-German beer garden, a Brooklyn-ish barbecue barn, and a factory-size coffee-bar-rum-distillery is hard enough to conceive. But that a modest corner tappie on Frankford Avenue would suddenly turn into a bamboo-trimmed tiki bar? Impossible! Or so it would have seemed until the recent boom. And that the new bar would be called the Yachtsman only underlined its intentional out-of-placeness in these once defiantly blue-collar precincts. We talked about this fish-out-of-waterness with bartender extraordinaire Phoebe Esmon, who with her fiance, Christian Gaal, concocted the drinks at Emmanuelle's as well as at Yachtsman. She looked deep into the soul of tiki and tried to make sense of the palmy, beach-bum ethos of it all.

Q. Some of Fishtown's original settlers and re-settlers aren't too pleased with all this current hubbub. What do you say to them?

A. Everyone complains when their neighborhood is crime-ridden and dilapidated. And then they complain when folks move in to make it better. It's a tricky balance.

Do they even know what tiki is?

It's part of the popular culture at this point. They know that rum and blenders and umbrellas are somehow involved. Why would they necessarily know more?

How do you define tiki? In a Facebook post, you once wrote it was a celebration of native island culture and the "otherness" of all things nonwhite and non-European at a time when America was still decades away from desegregating; a fantasy akin to Gauguin's romance with Tahiti or "Josephine Baker's befeathered banana dance" that took Paris by storm.

Well, it's rum-centric with a Caribbean, maybe African or island vibe. If you think about the time it was created in the imagination of Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood in 1934 - the time in history between the wars, civil unrest, the economy up and down - that time period described a lot of the mood of today.

So the point of tiki - besides an excuse to order a Mai Tai - is what?

A. The point of tiki is to take you out of your everyday life. Any bar is where you can leave your troubles at the door. And the tiki bar takes that idea as far as you can go. You can step off Frankford Avenue into a weird Polynesian paradise where the sun is always shining and a coconut full of booze is handed to you. You can escape from all your cares . . . if only for the length of a drink.

I noticed the piña colada with that spear of pineapple leaf jutting out is named after you. Did you add "Phoebe's Pina Colada" to the list as a personal signature?

A. No, I told them [owner Tommy Up, among others] not to put my name on it. But you see how that turned out. You know we don't use corn syrup here. It's evil and it should be stopped. But we make our own almond flavoring, spice blends, galangal syrup, papaya and pickle garnish. I make the coconut cream out of coconut milk, some fats and sugar, for the piña colada.

So maybe you had a place on the menu after all?

A. You know Don the Beachcomber - his real name was Don Beach - his second wife's name was Phoebe. Phoebe Beach.

The Yachtsman

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Philadelphia local news: Neighborhoods, politics, food, and fun

RIP Yachtsman: Tommy Up on the rise and fall of his Philly hotspots

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Despite his reputation as a master of notoriety, Tommy Up says he’s bewildered by the attention his Fishtown tiki bar is getting.

The Yachtsman shut its doors after three years in business on Frankford Avenue last week. Foobooz reported the closure , then followed up with two additional posts on the topic within 48 hours. (Long and the short: Up, full name Updegrove, owes his landlord $42k in back rent, and his operating company, which also owes $48k in liquor taxes, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.)

Yet “it’s such a small little bar,” Up said, pointing out that it takes up no more than 1,500 square feet of a narrow building on the edge of Fishtown’s hot zone.

“Why aren’t people writing about the dry cleaner in the Piazza that shut down six months ago, or the Pink Dolphin [deli] that closed, or I Heart Radio and how there’s no way they’ll be able to sustain their huge debt load?” he asked. “No, they care about my fucking little tiki bar.”

A dry cleaner? Yeah, that industry doesn’t have quite the same cachet, not in Philadelphia or any American city. But being part of the food and drink scene here isn’t the only reason Up’s activity draws eyes. The 45-year-old, who grew up in Atlantic City but moved back to family in Philly after realizing the casino industry wasn’t for him, has an uncanny ability to corral public attention.

It’s basically what launched his career — and the most successful of his efforts, virally speaking, came right before things appeared to start to fall apart.

In September 2014, then-Eagles running back LeSean McCoy left a 20 cent tip on a $60 check at Up’s Northern Liberties burger joint, PYT. Up posted a photo of the receipt online, calling out the sports star for his stinginess. Responses were varied, with some taking offense at Up’s “customer shaming,” but most people were on his side. The story spread far and wide, and garnered PYT a second boost of international fame when Charlie Sheen pledged ( and delivered ) $1,000 to the server McCoy had stiffed.

But within a year of that splash, the original location of PYT shut down for good. An outpost in New York launched later that month lasted a very short time — “I’m gonna say maybe 99 days,” Up said. A replacement Philly spot planned for the Fillmore entertainment complex fell through. So Up was left with just The Yachtsman. And now that spot’s shut down, too.

Straight outta Atlantic City

“Being a restaurateur was the last thing I wanted to do,” Up told Billy Penn .

He’d worked in the biz all his life, he said, starting during high school on the AC boardwalk at a corn dog stand called Dipsticks. When he moved to Philly, he fell into bartending, and quickly realized he had a knack for promoting club events. He founded a nightlife events company called PaperStreet, and started setting up parties. He drew 1,600 people to the first open-air dance night on the Moshulu on the Delaware, and turned the upstairs Absinthe Bar at Time into a must-hit weekend scene.

After a while, he joked, “It got too easy, so I decided to torture myself and open a restaurant.”

PYT came into existence after he met and started working with developer Bart Blatstein (“a crazy man”). Up took the lead in helping show and get tenants for the under-construction Piazza at Schmidt’s. In his words: “We did all the stuff to make Northern Liberties popular when there was nothing but people hitting each other in the head with bricks.”

During the buildout, Up said, he came up with the idea for a burger place. Something that was more like a bar, but had cool burgers too. At first Blatstein shot him down: “Wait…you’re not gonna do a burger place, I’m gonna do it.” But eventually Up won out, and wedged his way into becoming the Piazza patty purveyor. They weren’t partners; Up maintains he came up with the funds and opened on his own. “Alright, good luck!” Blatstein reportedly told him.

And he did have luck. When PYT opened in summer 2009, it was a hit. Unappreciative critical reviews did nothing to stem the social media capital Up created for the spot, with its wall-sized photos of sexy women dripping mayo off their burger-stained lips, and high-octane boozy shakes. It became the most-checked-into joint on Foursquare, and even hosted a “Super Swarm” meetup to get a whole 250 people checking in at once. (I was there, and have the T-shirt to prove it.)

Beneath the success, Up was a bit freaked out. “Holy shit, I have 15 employees, this is terrible,” he remembered thinking.

A berth for The Yachtsman

In 2012, he got sick of cleaning up puke from PYT’s back room where he hosted private parties, and decided to turn it into a vaguely French-themed cocktail bar. He enlisted drink mavens Phoebe Esmon and Christian Gaal to create the menu, revamped the room, somewhat illegally created a new entrance for it on the outside of the Piazza — the complex was already beginning to lose its luster — and opened a second bar called Emmanuelle.

He channeled the relationship with Esmon and Gaal into a second bar on Frankford Avenue, some of the funding for which he crowdsourced. The Yachtsman launched in August 2014 — and almost immediately was more popular than the spot in the Piazza.

“Emmanuelle was fun,” Up said, “but we weren’t able to nail down the demographic” that liked high-end cocktails.

Really, the decline of the Piazza was just getting started. In 2013, Bart Blatstein sold his controlling interest in the development to Jared Kushner ( yes that Jared Kushner ). “He warned me he was selling it,” Up said. Then Blatstein dropped another bomb: He was also bringing in a direct PYT competitor: Wahlburgers.

Wahlburgers didn’t open until three years later, but Up calls what happened to the Piazza after Kushner took over “one colossally bad idea after another.”

Things came to a head when the Piazza scored a big Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit party in 2015. “I thought, great, maybe they’re finally catching a wave, this will bring us all some business,” Up recalled. But in order to stay open during that Saturday night shindig, Piazza management demanded $10,000 in cash. “They obviously don’t understand how much a restaurant has to take in to make that kind of money,” Up said. “I put together a potential revenue sharing plan, and got back a ‘fuck you.’”

Instead, management erected a tarp around PYT to make it impossible for partygoers to attend. Per Up, “That’s when I knew the writing was on the wall.” That fall, in October 2015, he walked away from the property — with six figures of debt hanging over his head.

The Big Apple beckoned

How is it, then, that he managed to open an NYC outpost of the burger joint a month later? “I did it on a whim,” Up said. “On an indie film budget.”

Essentially, it was Up working 120 hours a week with a skeleton crew. His Chinatown landlord liked him, and came to the spot often to eat with his wife, Up said. But when the landlord offered the chance to renew the initial trial lease for something longterm, the deal came with  stricter terms: Take the whole space, don’t share it with a pizzeria, and pay me $35,000 a month.

Up slept in the burger joint for a night to think about his options. In the end, he realized he couldn’t handle it. “I was physically and emotionally broken,” he said. “I knew I needed some kind of break. I had no life and it would have killed me.” He shut the place down, along with all of his communications.

“I knew there would be some chaotic insanity,” Up admitted. “I basically unplugged my cell phone for like two months.”

He doesn’t regret opening the restaurants — “I met lifelong friends you can only make through hard work and tears” — but it made him hate the industry. However, after he slowly returned to society, and enlisted a corporate lawyer to help deal with his debt, he began investing his energy in The Yachtsman.

“That tiki bar is sort of what brought me back out from my cave of pain,” he said. “I started to pour my heart into that bar. I was beginning to love working again.”

And now, it’s closed.

Up said he’s ready to do everything he can to reopen, despite reports that another bar called Churchkey is already planned for the space. He won’t discuss the particulars of how his lawyer might resolve the current Yachtsman situation — “I’ve seen enough Law & Order TV shows to know better” — but he isn’t ready to give up on it.

“If I do somehow get the bar back open,” Up said, “all this is gonna look like my biggest PR stunt yet.”

Danya Henninger

Danya Henninger was first editor and then editor/director of Billy Penn at WHYY from 2019 to 2023. More by Danya Henninger

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The Upstairs Bar at The Franklin is Now a Tiki Bar

With the recent closing of the Yachtsman, Philadelphia was down one tiki bar, but not for long as Friday, May 26 marks the debut of  The Franklin ’s revamped Upstairs Bar.

The Upstairs Bar has gotten a full remake as an island-inspired bar adorned with bamboo, twinkling lights and leis. With that the cocktail menu has also undergone a shakeup. The new cocktail menu features rum drinks, each with their own flair and served in differing tiki drinking vessels.

Bar manager Jason Elliot  explained to Philly Mag   that the cocktail menu is a mashup of classic tiki cocktails and house-made originals all made using fresh juices, intricate garnishes, and even dry ice.

Highlights from the new cocktail menu   include classics that are attributed to their creators like the Fogcutter ($13), which originated at Trader Vic’s in 1940 and contains white rum, brandy, gin, orgeat, orange and sherry. You can also get a classic Zombie, Pearl Diver or a Missionary’s Downfall. They also have a host of original cocktails like the “Oxy-Colada” ($13) made with Plantation OFTD rum, creme de cacao, coconut, pineapple and orange and the “When the Levy Breaks”  ($15) made with Rhum Barbancourt 4 year, Maggie’s Farm white rum, Smith & Cross falernum, fassionola, orange, Peychaud’s bitters and Fernet Branca. 

Visiting with friends? You can also grab one of their large-format drinks like the “Legends of the Hidden Temple” ($24), which serves two and is made with hibiscus rum, Appleton Reserve, lime, Cruzan Blackstrap, orgeat and falernum. There’s also the “Bali Hai” ($85) that serves eight and the “Luna Ka Laina” ($120) that serves six.

The Upstairs Bar is open 6 PM- 2 AM daily.

Photo via The Franklin Bar on Instagram .

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Philly Grub

Philadelphia and south jersey food news, commentary, recommendations, etc., a look at hook & master, hook & master , a new chicago tavern-style pizzeria at 2nd & master in fishtown/olde kensington, results from a new partnership between james beard award-winning/iron chef jose garces and pizza guru steven seibel. in addition to ambitious pizza offerings (3 styles), the concept also features tiki drinks, craft beer, and small antipasti-style dishes. .

If you’ve read my (woefully out of date!) guide to tiki drinks in Philadelphia , you’ll know I’m a bit of a tiki aficionado. No offense to the chefs, but the tiki drinks initially excited me the most about the place. Then, I got even more excited when I learned Shannon Mustipher (author of  Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails ) conceptualized the drink menu.  

The yachtsman and upstairs tiki (at the franklin bar) were the most recent establishments that attempted to go for a polynesian-inspired rum bar vibe, with complex cocktails in tiki mugs and tropical island decor. each pulled it off pretty well, and while the clientele was there, the niche was short-lived. .

True tiki lovers may lament the lack of—and frankly pine for—tiki in Philadelphia. While the decor doesn’t “wow,” Hook & Master’s upstairs “tiki lounge” is the closest to a tiki bar Philly has since the demise of those mentioned above. 

The drinks, on the other hand, are respectable. shannon’s recipes are in good mixologist hands with mike achuff behind the upstairs bar. if you’re looking for an introduction to tiki cocktails, this is an excellent place to start. mike’s adept mixology skills hold promise that philly could once again see a comeback interest in tiki drinks. his desire to honor the early trailblazers of the tiki drink movement and source higher-quality ingredients (better rums, housemade syrups, etc.) will be essential in the evolution of hook & master’s tiki program. .

I enjoyed the Hi-Tide (a riff on the Mai Tai), Junglebird, and El Diablo during my visit. All very sessionable, and complementary to the seafood-centric tapas menu. 

Primarily, the sweet amalia oysters (from a cape may oyster farm) and grilled octopus dish were faultless. these south jersey oysters are some of the best in the country; succulently plump and sweet served with a lovely tangy cocktail sauce and champagne mignonette, and fresh lemon wedges, they were a delight to slurp. .

The grilled octopus had Garces’ signature all over it; cooked perfectly tender, it paired exceptionally well with creamy garbanzo puree, sweet cherry tomatoes, hot paprika oil, and crispy chickpeas – for a triumph in texture and finesse in flavor balance. It’s one of his favorite dishes (noted on the menu) and one of mine now.

Chef Steven’s obsession with pizza is a gift to Pizzadelphia. I took two Brooklyn-style pizzas home to enjoy – the Traditional Cheese and Tomato Pie. Each had the right amount of topping with a thin, crispy crust. If these are any indication, I must return soon for the Chicago pan and tavern-style pizzas.

Hook & Master currently seats 25 in the downstairs eatery and 45 upstairs in the Tiki Lounge. Next summer, the outside “Octopus Garden” will seat 80.

Hook & master offers a takeout window where those who remain covid-cautious can not only order hook & master ready-to-eat takeout, but can also order take-and-bake uncooked tavern-style pizza dough that can be thrown into the oven at home., hook & master is a welcome addition to the already hot fishtown food scene. check it out and tell them philly grub sent ya.

Food enthusiast. Travel lover. Social media maven. Independent Journalist. Food marketing/PR expert. https://original.newsbreak.com/@marilyn-johnson-1587690 https://phillygrubtrips.wordpress.com/ Email: [email protected]

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Is Bankruptcy Filing the End of Tommy Up’s Tiki Bar?

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Tommy Up with admirers at Fame Lust party at Kung Fu Necktie. (Photo courtesy Mario Manzoni / Fame Lust)

The Tommy Up/Yachtsman  saga continues: On Friday morning, S&L Real Estate’s  Lance Bachmann — Up’s landlord at 1444 Frankford Avenue — reached out to Foobooz to notify us that Up will not, in fact, reopen his tiki bar on Saturday, like he said he would . He won’t reopen next week, either.

That’s because Up’s company, Frankford Restaurant Holdings, Inc. , filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s United States Bankruptcy Court on Thursday.

Photo provided by Lance Bachmann

Chapter 11, also known as “reorganization” bankruptcy, allows Up — full name Thomas Updegrove — to remain in control of business operations while the business is restructured to pay off its debt. But Bachmann says the bar is completely gutted and its liquor license has already been “surrendered to safekeeping” (meaning that the PLCB has it locked away while the business is closed).

“He’s out. He hasn’t paid us rent in almost a year,” said Bachmann. “He owes us over $42,000 in back rent.” (According to the Chapter 11 filing, Up’s company also owes the city more than $48,000 for liquor taxes.)

Bachman said that Up showed up at his office yesterday with $2,000 and his version of an olive branch: a box containing a bottle of rum and a few quart containers of piña colada mix and pineapples (photo above). Bachmann said that Up wanted to negotiate a repayment plan.

The efforts were clearly unsuccessful. On a phone call with Foobooz, Bachman explicitly stated, “I’ll give you $150,000 if he opens in my facility ever again.”

Up has had landlord troubles before . In 2015, he suddenly closed P.Y.T., his burger joint in the Piazza, and court records indicate that Up once owed Jared Kushner, his landlord at the time (and now senior advisor to Donald Trump), as much as $300,000. Soon after, he closed his New York outpost after just three months in business.

When Foobooz reached out to Up for comment, he responded: “Well, I’m not opening on Saturday. What I had to do was file for a corporate restructuring, Trump-style, and I’m in the process of that right now. It’s in the legal court system right now, and I’m under the protection of the United States government. Lance may not have much of a say in that at the moment.”

But Bachmann begged to differ: “The place is totally empty — how’s he going to reopen?”

Fishtown Tiki Bar The Yachtsman Temporarily Closed [Foobooz] The Informant: Tommy Up Disappears [Philly Mag]

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