Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Macchu Picchu
Peru • 10 days, 9 nights
Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges
from
Central Asia yurt night stars
Uzbekistan • 15 days, 14 nights
Central Asia Road Trip: Backroads & Bazaars
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Saquon Barkley Plaque
Kirkkasik Bedesten inside
Kirkkasik Bedesten
Someshwar Temple
Someshwar Temple
Grilled cheese and tomato soup are soulmates.
The Palisades Restaurant
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
A skeleton on display contemplating its own mortality.
Kid Mai Death Awareness Cafe
This classic London pub has a surprising history behind it.
John Snow
The beef, Guinness, and oyster pie sports a rich, flaky crust.
The Guinea
Welcome to one of the only floating pubs in the world.
Tamesis Dock
This may be the oldest pie in the world.
St Helens 'Oldest Pie' at The Turks Head
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
Decoy’s wines reflect the terroir of California.
How a Wooden Duck Migrated From the California Wetlands to a Wine Label
12 days ago
There’s more to the French capital than the Eiffel Tower.
Dear Atlas: What Are Some Non-Touristy Things to Do in Paris?
15 days ago
The plants around Liz Dauncey in this photo are not poisonous, but many common garden and houseplants are.
Are Some of Your Favorite Houseplants Poisonous? AO Wants to Know.
22 days ago
“There may be a collective sense of a dark loneliness,” Dahl says, referring to Norway’s natural landscape.
In Norway, Easter Means Tucking Into Crime Stories
22 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All the United States California Huntington Beach Don The Beachcomber
Don The Beachcomber is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Don The Beachcomber

This midcentury LA bar was the birthplace of tiki culture.

Huntington Beach, California

Added By
Molly McBride Jacobson
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
Don the Beachcomber interior.   Sam Howzit/Flickr
Don the Beachcomber interior.   Sam Howzit/Flickr
Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach.   Don the Beachcomber
Jungle decor at Huntington Beach’s Don the Beachcomber.   Sam Howzit/Flickr
Tiki carving from Don the Beachcomber in Huntington Beach.   Sam Howzit/Flickr
A mural depicting Polynesian islanders in the style of Paul Gauguin at Don the Beachcomber.   Sam Howzit/Flickr
Bob Hope learns to hula at the Waikiki Don the Beachcomber.   Hawaiian Beachcomber
Donn Beach himself.   Hawaiian Beachcomber
The iconic roadside sign, left over from Sam’s Seafood   Avoiding Regret (Used with permission)
Beckoning   Avoiding Regret (Used with permission)
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Ernest Beaumont Gantt made his way through the Depression as a bootlegger, but when Prohibition ended he was out of a job. He worked a number of odd jobs, but having traveled in the Caribbean and Pacific, he found himself successful as a technical advisor on the numerous South Seas films Hollywood was churning out.

In 1934 Gantt opened a bar in Los Angeles where he made rum drinks (it was the cheapest liquor he could get) and decorated with Polynesian flair he had collected, along with buoys and nets he scrounged up from the waterfront. He named it the Beachcomber Café, and he put his all into making patrons feel as though they were in a little grass shack somewhere far off in the Pacific.

Gantt cast himself as the master of ceremonies and legally changed his name to Donn Beach. Celebrities and civilians alike flocked to the Beachcomber, and Donn knew how to keep them there: Knowing customers were more likely to stay for another drink if weather was inclement, he created his own tropical rainstorm via garden hose on the roof. Soft ukulele and exotica music both live and canned was ever-present. Eventually there would be a myna bird trained to say, "Give me a beer, stupid."

Despite the fact that he himself was drafted, World War II turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to Donn Beach. First, thousands of American youth were shipped out to the Pacific, where many of them were seeing palm trees and beaches for the very first time. News of this paradise came back from overseas, and the idea of a tropical vacation began to grow in the American pop culture consciousness.

Military men brought back coconut shells and grass skirts to their new suburban homes; A-frame architecture modeled on indigenous longhouses and bamboo rattan furniture were in vogue. Second, while Donn was overseas, his wife Sunny managed Don the Beachcomber (the bar, not the man). She turned out to be twice as savvy as he, and expanded the establishment into a chain, and a popular one at that. Various copycats ensued, including the highly successful Trader Vic's. But Don the Beachcomber remains in the minds of tiki enthusiasts as the birthplace of essential tiki drinks including the Mai Tai and the Zombie.

Donn and Sunny divorced, and she retained the rights to the Don the Beachcomber chain. By the 1980s, all of the restaurants were sold or converted to a different brand, but three restaurants to date have taken on the DTB brand. The Don the Beachcomber in Orange County's Huntington Beach, though not the Hollywood original, is about as close as you can get, physically and aesthetically. It still serves up classic Donn Beach - rattan furniture, sugary tropical drinks, and midcentury Polynesian pop nostalgia straight from the originator himself.

Update May, 2018: This location is permanently closed.

Related Tags

Tiki Bars Restaurants Unique Restaurants & Bars Shops

Community Contributors

Added By

Molly McBride Jacobson

Edited By

Avoiding Regret, ejb

  • Avoiding Regret
  • ejb

Published

August 3, 2016

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • Tiki Pop, by Sven A. Kirsten. Taschen.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_the_Beachcomber
  • http://www.donthebeachcomber.com/
Don The Beachcomber
16278 Pacific Coast Highway
Huntington Beach, California
United States
33.725497, -118.079035
Visit Website
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Astronaut Islands

Long Beach, California

miles away

The Skinniest House in America

Long Beach, California

miles away

Newland House Museum

Huntington Beach, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach

California

Places 4

Nearby Places

Astronaut Islands

Long Beach, California

miles away

The Skinniest House in America

Long Beach, California

miles away

Newland House Museum

Huntington Beach, California

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach

California

Places 4

Related Stories and Lists

Real-World Diagon Alley, the Original Tiki Bar, and Other Enticing New Atlas Locations

film locations

By Meg Neal

Twirl Paper Umbrellas at the Vintage Tiki Bars That Taught Americans to Relax

restaurants

By Molly McBride Jacobson

Related Places

  • The Mai-Kai’s roadside sign.

    Fort Lauderdale, Florida

    Mai-Kai Restaurant

    When you can't get to the Pacific, just go to Florida.

  • The Tonga Room’s pool.

    San Francisco, California

    The Tonga Room

    Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

  • Dining room at Trader Vic’s Atlanta.

    Atlanta, Georgia

    Trader Vic's

    Mai Tais and Navy Grog served up in one of the original tiki bars.

  • The bar at the Shameful Tiki Room.

    Vancouver, British Columbia

    The Shameful Tiki Room

    A high point in Vancouver kitsch.

  • Las Vegas, Nevada

    Frankie's Tiki Room

    The best Tiki bar in Las Vegas.

  • Behind the bar at Tiki Ti.

    Los Angeles, California

    Tiki-Ti

    Established in the '60s, a family-owned tropical drink bar founded by Ray Buhen, bartender to the stars.

  • Las Vegas, Nevada

    Golden Tiki

    Keen eyes can find the Disney influences throughout this treasure trove of a tiki bar.

  • He’s definitely watching you.

    Nashville, Tennessee

    Chopper

    Feast on award-winning birria tacos from a food truck inside this neon robo-tiki bar.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.