Tonga Room
The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar is a restaurant and tiki bar in the Fairmont San Francisco hotel in San Francisco, California. Named after the South Pacific nation of Tonga, this dining and entertainment venue opened in 1945. The Tonga Room replaced the Terrace Plunge, an indoor swimming pool that was installed in the Fairmont in 1929. The pool was transformed into the Tonga Room's lagoon. The restaurant was redesigned again in 1967.
A report by the City of San Francisco Planning Department called the Tonga Room a "historical resource." Citing the Polynesian-themed bar's artificial lagoon, rainstorms, and lava rock, the report said: "The Tonga Room exhibits exceptional importance due to its rarity and as one of the best examples of 'high-style' Tiki bar/restaurant in San Francisco."
References
- Jesse McKinley (April 3, 2009). "Order a Mai Tai and Save Paradise". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-02-27.
- Robert Selna (May 5, 2010). "Fairmont, preservationists at odds over Tonga Room". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
- Jackie Burrell (October 18, 2011). "A Q&A with Anthony Bourdain". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 2011-10-25.