Fort Lauderdale has a new tiki destination, and it comes with a cocktail that gets set on fire. Hula Kai officially opened its doors on 17th Street late last month, bringing a three-level mix of indoor tiki decor, a garden-style outdoor space, and a rooftop lounge with Fort Lauderdale skyline views to 1075 SE 17th Street.
The grand opening on September 26 capped nearly five years of planning and construction, according to The Atomic Grog, which traces the project back to initial concept announcements in 2022. The venue was developed by South Florida restaurant group Old School Hospitality, led by CEO James Flanigan, whose father Paul Flanigan purchased Quarterdeck from Flanigan’s Enterprises in 1986, per Restaurant Business Magazine. Flanigan described the new spot as a contemporary take on a tiki bar that harkens back to old tiki culture, according to WSVN.
The build itself tells its own story. Old School Hospitality acquired the property for roughly $1 million in 2021 and demolished an existing vegan restaurant building to make way for a custom three-story structure, a project that faced about two years of construction delays before ground even broke, the same outlet notes. What rose in its place is a 5,000-square-foot venue with 24-foot ceilings and room for more than 200 guests spread across a ground-floor bar, a second-floor banquette dining mezzanine, and the rooftop Ohana Lounge.
Flaming Rum and a Pig-Shaped Mug
Inside, the immersive tiki decor comes courtesy of prop designer Rodney Ray of HeadHunter Props and Fabrication, who filled the space with dark wood, bamboo, giant tiki masks, a ceiling-suspended pirate figure, and a WWII airplane-inspired riveted aluminum bar, per the same report from the Atomic Grog. The theatrics extend to the drink menu. Hula Kai's Zombie cocktail blends light rum, dark rum, grapefruit juice, falernum, and Wray & Nephew rum with cinnamon, and according to WSVN, bartender Ricky said the drink is topped with Wray & Nephew rum, lit on fire, and sprinkled with cinnamon.
For whiskey drinkers, there's the My Kind of Rye cocktail, built around WhistlePig rye and served in a pig-shaped tiki mug, WSVN reports. Up on the roof, bartender Nicolette Bonkowski prepares the Say When cocktail, which mixes egg white, Roku gin, lemon juice, passionfruit liqueur, and house meat orgeat, finished with a house-made Jell-O shot. The corporate beverage program behind these drinks, and the rest of Old School Hospitality's restaurant group, is led by Corporate Beverage Director Sophie Snyder, who also oversees operations at sister cocktail lounge Whiskey Neat, according to Quarterdeck Restaurant.
Pacific-Inspired Menu and a Causeway Cluster
Food leans Pacific and pan-Asian, with a pupu platter featuring crab rangoon and lumpia, pineapple fried rice, pork belly, and ribs all on the menu, per WSVN. Hula Kai's own menu broadens that further with Spam Musubi, Poke Tacos, Teriyaki Bao Buns, Blue Corn Fried Calamari, and Hawaiian Mac Salad, blending traditional Hawaiian staples with broader Pan-Asian street food choices.
The location is no accident. Hula Kai sits in the Lauderdale Harbor plaza directly adjacent to sister concepts Quarterdeck and Whiskey Neat, completing a multi-concept entertainment strip Old School Hospitality has been building along the corridor. By constructing a custom three-story building next to its existing venues, the group is leaning into a localized, multi-concept entertainment model for SE 17th Street.
How Hula Kai Stacks Up Against Mai-Kai
The opening also invites comparison to South Florida's tiki royalty. Unlike the historic Mai-Kai Polynesian restaurant in Oakland Park, Hula Kai was designed as a modern pan-Asian tiki bar rather than a mid-century retro reproduction, according to a 2022 report from the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Where Mai-Kai preserves old-school Polynesian showmanship, Hula Kai is pitching itself toward contemporary craft mixology and rooftop nightlife.
For now, Hula Kai is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 5 p.m. until closing, staying dark on Tuesdays, according to WSVN. The restaurant operates on a first-come, first-served basis without taking reservations, and the kitchen closes an hour before the bar each night, per Hula Kai's own posted policies. Lunch service isn't available yet, but the restaurant anticipates adding it sometime in November.
