The Bamboo Club — Restaurant in Long Beach

I'm very conflicted about the Bamboo Club there are things I really like and things I don't. I believe that the Bamboo Club has potential to be a great Tiki bar but has some things to work on. I'll start with the PROS: I love the look of the building from the outside it looks like it from the 1960's and that is a really good thing. The inside also has that same vibe with straw and lights adorning from the bar. Now let's get to the drinks! The drinks are really really good! We tried the U. S. O. Monroe, Slap and Tickle and the River Dragon all very distinct in flavor and delicious. I definitely want to try more they have many. The food is very unique and flavorful. Loco Moco was tasted how it should and the Scorpion Burger very was nice and spicy. Now to the CONS: I made reservations on a Sunday at 5pm and arrived on time but when I got there the host said everything was taken. So what is the point of making reservations? I believe it's mainly just to have a estimate of how many people might show up that day. I will say that the host / waitress did not have us wait long for a table. I might be getting old but the music was just to loud on bad sound system, very distorted and unpleasant. I'm not sure if the Bamboo Club is really embracing the Tiki Vibe and experience they have great Tiki cocktails but also serve Modelo. I think beer should be available but you can still find beer to fit the motif of Tiki. The Tiki experience really needs to be at the forefront of the location. There is this community of Tiki enthusiasts who are dying for more locations to visit and most of them are more than willing to spend cash to have that experience. When you have people in there who are going to be drinking Modelos getting dunk and start kicking stools you are not helping your cause. There is also this feeling of not really being welcome but it could have been that they were to busy to really to be more hospitable. I think The Bamboo Club has great potential to be a place Tikiheads will want to go. I understand that it is fairly young establishment and all that comes with time just like Golden Tiki in Las Vegas so I am very hopeful that it does in the future. All in all I do plan on going again just to see if maybe I just went on a bad day and maybe it will...

This was the first visit for 5 of us, two who came all the way in from Pasadena. We arrived at 6:50pm, for what I thought was my 7pm reservation. It turns out, my reservation was 7:15pm. I was told by the hostess that they are strict about their seating times and we couldn't be seated yet. I asked if our party could grab a drink at the bar or sit on the patio while we wait. I was told that we couldn't go to the bar, because they were "setting up" whatever that meant. She had the audacity to tell us to leave and come back at our reservation time because she couldn't offer us a place to wait. So we had to all go to our cars and wait for 25 minutes. When we came back the same hostess told us that she would have to check if the table was ready. She disappeared for another 5 minutes then finally came back and showed us to our table. Service was okay at the beginning. We put in our drink orders and at some point our waitress, came back and informed us that we needed to order prior to 8pm otherwise we'd only be able to order off the late night menu. We said we'd check the menu and be ready in a few minutes. She disappeared and never came back. I finally had to flag down the hostess to grab our waitress so we could order as it was already 7:47pm! Once we placed our orders, the wait times for our food were acceptable, the food, however, was not. Most of us got the bland Huli chicken sandwich. Mine was cold (probably explains the quick wait time) ...so gross. The fries weren't great either. No one was offered ketchup for their fries, or my friend for his burger. I had to finally ask for some bbq sauce just to add flavor and finish my cold, barely edible dinner. No one at our table liked their food. The only compliment we can offer is the ambiance was fun and the drinks were good. We won't be back. This bar, their lack of customer service and their subpar food is definitely for less discerning diners. Clearly their relying on the kitsch of their tiki bar culture and decor to...

Great spot! On a recent visit to The Bamboo Club, we had a decent-sized group and a few family members from out of town. We found The Bamboo Club, which accepted reservations on a Saturday night. When we arrived, we were met with a friendly host who guided us to the outdoor patio. A live DJ played swing, surf, and tiki upbeat music. The type that keeps your foot moving to the beat. A few patrons danced in the open floor area, keeping the atmosphere lively.

The outdoor patio had plenty of room for small and large parties. The inside area looked chill and moody, but there was little room for our party of nine.

We glanced over the enticing menu on our phones. We started with some specialty drinks and a few shareable starters. There were many options for drinks, and our party mainly chose the classic Mai Thai. For the shareables, we ordered Vietnamese Drummettes, LB House Fries, and Shishito Peppers. All were delicious!

I ordered the Ginger beer and Huli Grilled Chicken Sandwich with mac salad. The grilled chicken was tender and juicy and had great flavor. The mac salad was creamy and had an al dente chew. My family ordered a variety of items, which they seemed to enjoy.

We all shared a couple of desserts to finish the meal. The Thai Tea Créme Brulée had nice flavors but was a little runny and almost soup-like. I hope this was just one that was far from perfect. Bread Pudding with coconut sorbet was my favorite of the two. It was topped with Whalers rum caramel, coconut flakes, and pineapple flambé. Yum!

Lastly, we all had a great time, and the service was friendly and attentive. I would come back again and highly recommend it. Parking can be a challenge since the lot is small. The other option for parking is around the residential streets. Reservations are recommended, but walk-ins are...