Located just a stone’s throw from the Kemah Boardwalk, The Great Kanakas Atomic Tiki Bar (601 5th Street) is Kemah’s newest hot spot. With tiki totems flanking the entrance, it is apparent even before you walk through the doors that the Great Kanakas is the epitome of a tiki bar. Upstairs, the tiki-themed décor and laid-back vibe help create an oasis of sorts where guests are immersed in the Polynesian culture. With palm trees in the corner, surfboard-shaped tables, bamboo walls and a palapa (thatched hut) over the bar inside adding to the island feel, guests can kick back with an umbrella-laden fruity concoction and relax when they need to get away from it all but don’t have the time or resources to actually visit Hawaii. 

Specialty drinks like the Wrong Way John E’s Bombastic Punch (coconut rum, fruit juices and a 151 kick) and the Lost Lagoon (their version of a liquid marijuana) are served in a tiki totem glass with, of course, a colorful umbrella. Specialty shots, such as the Naked Mermaid and the Capri Sun are served in mini tiki totem shot glasses, and they proudly serve Galveston Island Brewery’s Tiki Wheat on tap (they even installed their own tiki totem beer pull for the tap).

There’s a surfboard on the ceiling and an alien riding a pink flamingo in the corner, but the description for their Ocean Water specialty shot, “if you like it dirty, we can make it a Galveston Bay,” offers the biggest clue that owners John and Suzanne Williams are fun-loving people who don’t take themselves too seriously. 

With a dream of one day opening a tiki bar, John and Suzanne came up with the name when Suzanne discovered the word “kanakas” means “average Joe” in Hawaiian. The name personifies their salt-of-the-earth outlook on life and their vision to have a place where everyone feels welcome.