Quick, let’s play “Name That Broward Restaurant”: This rummy port-of-call has opened after four long years of tiki theming and construction delays, a Polynesian temple devoted to pu pu platters and strong exotic elixirs from mai tais to zombies.
The answer: Hula Kai Tiki Bar, a 5,000-square-foot contemporary space from owner-developer James Flanigan that opened Sept. 25 on Fort Lauderdale’s 17th Street.
You’d be forgiven for assuming it was that other tropical haven for tikiholics — the iconic Mai-Kai Restaurant and Polynesian Show — which similarly spent four years mired in construction delays before reopening in Oakland Park in late 2024.
But that’s where the similarities stop. The new, sprawling 200-seat Hula Kai is a choose-your-own-tiki adventure, with distinctive vibes and bars on three levels, ranging from contemporary rum walls and an atrium garden on one level to midcentury South Pacific decor and vintage TV footage on another. A shaded rooftop bar crowns the two-story complex, offering downtown Fort Lauderdale skyline views.
This long-gestating project at 1075 SE 17th St. is a collaboration among Flanigan (CEO of Old School Hospitality), his father, Paul Flanigan, and business partner Frank Zaffere. The trio also operate four Quarterdeck restaurants in South Florida and a pair of classy brown-liquor lounges named Whiskey Neat. (James Flanigan’s uncle, Jimmy, runs the Flanigan’s chain, unaffiliated with Old School.)
Ever since he announced the bar in November 2022, Flanigan says he’s tried to brush aside comparisons to the northern tiki neighbor that shares half of Hula Kai’s name. He argues that his two-story restaurant is its own thing, a pan-Asian hybrid with “wide-ranging appeal” that embraces modern tiki glam with a dash of retro Polynesian camp.
“There’s plenty of room in Broward for tiki restaurants,” Flanigan tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “In fact, there’s not enough tiki bars here. In California, there’s an endless amount. What tiki lovers want are great cocktails and a culturally accurate representation of tiki, which is what we’re bringing here.”
Hula Kai is inspired, Paul Flanigan says, by modern tiki bars they’ve visited over the years, including Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago, Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar in San Francisco, and Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 in New Orleans.
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The pu pu platter at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale includes crab rangoon, chicken satay, lumpia, chili sticky ribs and tiki tots. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Pineapple fried rice at Hula Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
The ground floor and mezzanine of the new Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale, which opened to the public on Sept. 25. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
After a four-year buildout, Hula Kai Tiki Bar on the 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale has opened to the public. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
The My Kinda Rye cocktail at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Hula Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Tiki tots at Hula Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Chef Jonathan Jimenez, left, and co-owner James Flanigan pose at the new Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale with a spread of dishes. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Chili sticky ribs are among the many shareable dishes served at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Thai chicken wings at Hula Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The Castaway cocktail is served at Hula Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Owner James Flanigan, left, and Chef Jonathan Jimenez pose at Hula Kai restaurant in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
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The pu pu platter at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale includes crab rangoon, chicken satay, lumpia, chili sticky ribs and tiki tots. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The bar marks the ambitious centerpiece of a new entertainment district James Flanigan is building near Cordova Road, bound by Harbordale Elementary to the west, a closed Winn-Dixie to the east, Waxy’s Irish Pub to the south and his own Quarterdeck gastropub to the north.
For now, the district is a strip mall of low-slung buildings whose tenants include a vape shop, a Filipino restaurant, a coin laundromat, and a cellphone store. Flanigan began buying properties piecemeal here in 2021, starting with the building that once housed vegan eatery Green Bar & Kitchen, which he demolished in 2023 and replaced with Hula Kai. (He estimates he now owns 35% of the block.) Originally supposed to open in 2024, Hula Kai ran into costly delays, including drilling a new well to comply with city storm drain regulations, he says.
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The ground floor and mezzanine of the new Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale, which opened to the public on Sept. 25. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
On a recent late-summer visit to Hula Kai, Flanigan, 41, stood on the rooftop and laid out his vision for the district. He imagines upscale retail and lifestyle stores everywhere, including a “quick-service chocolate shop like Kilwin’s” across the alleyway from Hula Kai.
“This entertainment district is the biggest project of my life, what I think of as my legacy. The reason I did tiki is because there’s no competition with other types of bars here,” he says, referring to neighbors Village Well Pub, Waxy’s Irish Pub and Whiskey Neat. “Five years in the future, I see myself competing against Las Olas.”
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The My Kinda Rye cocktail at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
That transformation begins with Hula Kai, he adds, which aspires to be “something for everyone.” The ground floor features an 18-seat bar with a rum wall backsplash, carved Moai heads and high-tops that spill out to a lush faux-grass courtyard framed in palm trees and tiki-totem pillars. The theming comes from immersive tiki designer Rodney Ray (of Permanent Vacation tiki speakeasy in central Florida), he says.
Diners pass weave-matted walls adorned with retro photos of Hawaiian dancers in the stairwell leading to the second-floor mezzanine, which has vintage masks, ocean-blue banquette seating and a balcony overlooking Hula Kai’s tall glass windows. The shaded third-floor rooftop offers 36 alfresco seats framing an L-shaped bar.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
Chili sticky ribs are among the many shareable dishes served at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
The menu, under head mixologist Nicolette Bonkowski and head chef Jonathan Jimenez, leans bold without overcomplicated recipes. These include lemongrass-marinated chicken satay, hoisin chili glazed sticky ribs and teriyaki bao buns ($16 each), specialty fried rice in a pineapple bowl ($32), a green papaya salad ($14), pan-seared grouper sandwich ($20) and a Hawaiian-style N.Y. strip marinated in ginger and garlic ($32).
There are 13 layered, fruit-heavy cocktails ($16-$23), many served in hand-carved tiki mugs, including Jungle Bird with rum, campari, pineapple and lime; Hurricane, with dark and light rums, orange, passionfruit liqueur and grenadine; and My Kinda Rye, with rye whiskey, Falernum liqueur, cinnamon and pineapple served in a pig-shaped vessel.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
The pu pu platter at Hula Kai Tiki Bar in Fort Lauderdale includes crab rangoon, chicken satay, lumpia, chili sticky ribs and tiki tots. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
Happy hour — “Aloha Specials” in Hula Kai lingo — is available from 4 to 7 p.m. weekdays, with half-off appetizers, beer, wine and signature cocktails, Flanigan says.
Hula Kai Tiki Bar, at 1075 SE 17th St., Fort Lauderdale, opened on Sept. 25. Visit HulaKaiTikiBar.com or call 954-536-0804.
Sun Sentinel senior features writer Phillip Valys can be reached at pvalys@sunsentinel.com or Twitter/X @philvalys.
Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel
After a four-year buildout, Hula Kai Tiki Bar on the 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale has opened to the public. (Carline Jean/South Florida Sun Sentinel)