The exterior of Sequoia Brewing Co., where owners plan to open a tiki bar in the back of the North Fresno location.

The North Fresno brewery plans a tropical bar tucked in the back, reviving a nightlife style the Central Valley hasn’t seen since the 1960s.

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Rum, bamboo and kitschy carved gods are finally coming back to Fresno — one of the last campy corners of old-school nightlife the Central Valley had yet to revive.

Will Oliver, part of the ownership group that revived Sequoia Brewing Co. nearly a year ago, recently told Business Journal reporter Frank Lopez that a tiki bar was in the works. But scant details about the venture were available until Reddit user “BespokeMullet” made a post in the Fresno subreddit Sunday about a tiki bar in the works for Sequoia Brewing at Champlain Drive and Perrin Avenue.

A tiki bar takes shape at Sequoia Brewing

The post included a sign painted on a wall with a tropical beach scene and the message “Something tiki coming soon.” A server said it could be open in a month or so, according to the post. It would be located inside Sequoia Brewing, “all the way in the back past the bathrooms,” wrote BespokeMullet.

A group of local business owners reopened Sequoia Brewing’s Tower District and North Fresno location in October 2025 after purchasing the popular nightlife spot from the previous owners, who closed the locations in February 2025 amid financial troubles. 

Oliver, who is also the CEO of the Fresno County Economic Development Corp., is part of the ownership group under the name Second Growth Brewing, LLC, which also includes Fresno Chamber CEO Scott Miller, insurance executive William Avakian, Lany Avakian, attorneys Joseph Doerr and Ian Wieland.

 

From Hollywood to the Central Valley

Tiki bars trace back to the early 1930s in California, born from a Depression-era American fascination with a romanticized South Seas. Ernest Gantt — who later renamed himself Donn Beach — opened Don the Beachcomber in Hollywood, widely credited as the first tiki bar.

Victor Bergeron soon followed, opening the bar that became Trader Vic’s in the Oakland area, going on to build a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants. Both men claimed to have invented the Mai Tai, and the rivalry helped cement rum, fresh juices and carved tiki gods as the genre’s signature.

Brothers Jimmy, Roy and Stanley Dunn opened a bar called The Leilani near Blackstone and McKinley avenues in 1951, according to website mytiki.life. It featured drinks served in moai head mugs — reminiscent of the statues found on Easter Island.

A sister restaurant called Luau opened in Downtown Fresno in 1964, according to mytiki.life. They later became Chinese buffets before eventually closing.

A national revival underway

A modern revival of the tiki genre is underway, according to Vogue, but is moving away from the syrupy, kitschy reputation with more immersive, movie-set interiors and cocktails built on fresh juices, homemade syrups and layered spices.

The magazine noted that while rum still anchors most menus, contemporary bartenders increasingly reach for gin, whiskey, tequila and mezcal. Vogue also framed the revival as a move away from tiki’s origins in colonialism and cultural appropriation, toward a less stereotyped version of the style.