Tisa's Barefoot Bar — Restaurant in Suʻa County

Doesn’t get much better than this! This might be the best place on the island, but there is some local knowledge involved with actually being able to EAT there. They only serve food one night a week. They serve a traditional Samoan feast cooked with a local method of using and building an Umu from scratch. Typically this is held each Wednesday, and I would either try and call or make the beautiful drive out there and get a reservation for the sitting. Run by Tisa and her husband Candyman (who does all the cooking, building and unloading the Umu). They’ll welcome you in, sit you on their porch right on the water. The bar is your traditional license plate, sticker and flag tiki bar and their friendly dogs are milking around and chilling out on the porch with you. Next, they tell you it’s time to start preparing your food and they bring you to the “oven” and give you a history and local custom of the method of cooking. Food is amazing…Traditional Samoan oven “umu” cooking, cream of coconut with taro leaves, tuna sauce, taro slices, pumpkin, papaya, turkey, pork ribs, non alcoholic punch is served as you enter (though they are also famous for their made from scratch pina coladas). Tisa and Candy man then take turns visiting and chatting with you and the other patrons; truly a warm, unique and beautiful experience…I was glad I found out about this place and drove out there to make a reservation. Price was $65 per person and I got my initial serving and then was able to go back and get seconds or thirds of items were available! A must see and do and eat experience! Thank you Tisa...

You should definitely try and visit American Samoa so that you can take in the traditional Umu dinner feast at Tisa’s on Wednesday night.

Book via Facebook Messenger and the call to confirm on the day. They can cater to vegetarians with advance notice. It’s $65.

All ingredients fresh, organic and as tasty as this traditional fare can be.

Dinner starts at 7 PM but Candyman (Michael) kindly invited me to come as early as 4 PM when they started putting food in the umu (which has already been heating up for a few hours—-yes it’s a lot of work).

I got there at 5:15 PM and there was just the nephew checking the umu. So no one to talk to or get a drink from until about 6:20 PM, when Candyman started serving up his insanely great pina coladas with real coconut cream. (The virgin version is great too—you’ll never get better). I was glad I hadn’t come earlier though.

We were 15 guests and had a communal meal at a long table with banana leave plates. Guests were interesting and the evening passed quickly.

Tisa’s brother sings and plays guitar.

If you come without a car, one of the other guests can probably give you a lift. Otherwise, Candyman can help you get a taxi.

It’s about an hour’s drive from the Tradewinds Hotel due to American Samoa’s 20-25 mph speed limit.

I would have wanted to speak more with Candyman as he seems a person of substance with a wealth of knowledge, but this wasn’t possible as the evening is tightly choreographed.

While I’m glad I went and this is a unique experience, from the hype surrounding this place I expected more of a...

The beach is beautiful but the experience with Tisa and the "TISA’S MAGICAL PARADISE TOUR" was anything but magical. USD285! Tisa was disorganised and was annoyed as she had given us a time to meet, she arrived earlier and the whole party did not arrive until the stated time. Even though transport both ways was meant to be included we had to catch a taxi there as Tisa had too many people in her car. The "tour" was a drive up the road for about 20mins. During the drive she complained about tourists being on the island and that the locals don't want tourist there?. It was very difficult to actually ascertain what the tour/lunch included. The lunch was fine but hardly worth the price. On the way back she reluctantly "offered" to drive us back? As we were finalising the bill I said it was a disappointing experience and not worth the cost. Tisa absolutely lost it and started screaming at us. I said had I known exactly what the "tour" involved I wouldn't have booked, Tisa had given vague details about everything. She continued screaming while Candy man attempted to calm her down.

Save your money, go with any of the other locals offering tours (for a fraction of the cost) waiting...