About

Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge is a tropical vacation spot right in the middle of your hometown! Serving award-winning, world famous classic and exotic cocktails along with many original recipes, along with some tasty snacks, Forbidden Island is a retro-oasis in the desert of your busy modern day! Many compare its dreamy decor to the Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland, with its colorful assortment of decorative exotica, from tiki statues to glowing puffer fish to velvet Tahitian paintings. Browse through our Bible of 150+ rums from around the globe, start your Kill Devil List, join our Kill Devil Rum Club and explore the wide world of sugarcane spirits.

For too long, rum inhabited the public conscience as a “party liquor”.  When we opened our doors in 2006, having an extensive rum program in the US was nearly unheard of since the mid-century boom of Tiki. We actively sought out hard-to-find bottles, and built a premium rum program to educate our guests.  Ask your server about our rum program (one of the oldest in the country). We offer upwards of 150 sugar cane spirits spanning the globe, including several from right here in the Bay Area.  

Brothers Michael and Mano Thanos opened Forbidden Island in April 2006, along with Tiki Mixologist Martin Cate and it quickly became a beacon for local natives as well as travelers from the “mainland” and around the world! Since then, it’s generated a great deal of media attention, but it’s the loyal love of its patrons that continues to make Forbidden Island an astounding success story. Cate left in 2008 and Thanos, with the help of some extremely talented managers and bar staff, took this neighborhood bar and transformed it into a world class Tiki destination. Today, FI is hopping with a wide variety of live musical acts, unique events and has become a haven for cutting edge contemporary and classic Tiki mixology. In addition to the stellar drinks and music, FI offers many popular special events like its annual Luau, Parking Lot Sale and Surf music festival. Forbidden Island is a retro oasis in the cultural wasteland of the 21st century.

Swing by after work, after dinner, on your way to a party, enjoy a social celebration or just come chill out and relax with our friendly staff, ensconced in a tropical time capsule, watching vintage movies on the bar TV, listening to the best of mid-century pop music on our jukebox, and luxuriating with our luscious libations. Forbidden Island is also available for your own private Polynesian party on weekend afternoons. Aloha!

Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge