Polynesian paradise

For more than a decade, designer Bobby Green wanted to open a tiki bar. In 1993, at age 23, he debuted a tiki-themed West L.A. coffeehouse/art gallery called Cacao, which was the site of the artist Shag’s first-ever exhibition. But by the time he found a location for a bar, Michelle Marini had already opened the Lava Lounge, a tropical paradise-themed saloon in Hollywood.

So Green revamped his concept from tiki to cheeky and Atwater Village’s Bigfoot Lodge was born, a campy tribute to all things Sasquatch. He later opened a Bigfoot Lodge in San Francisco, as well as Highland Park’s nocturnal haven, the Bat Cave.

But this past year, Green finally got his shot at Hawaiian chic. And in a most unlikely place: Mission Hills.

With December’s debut of Lucky Tiki, the San Fernando Valley now has its own island oasis.

Located where the 405 meets the 118, at a strip-mall bar once known as Wild Cherry, Lucky Tiki is already on the hipster radar. We came out on a rainy night and the bar was full of mai tai-drinking revelers, happy to have found something tremendously cool in their own backyard.

“It’s all in the details,” says Saul Garcia, a photographer who heard the buzz on the bar. “It’s amazing, you can really tell how much work they put into it.”

“It’s so creative,” says Eileen Reynosa, who showed up with half a dozen friends in tow. “I’m definitely telling everyone I know.”

From a lava rock fireplace in the shape of a giant glowering mask to an 8-foot tiki man who’s holding four skull heads, Lucky Tiki rocks.

“I can’t leave any surface untouched,” says Green, an art school grad who was raised in the Valley. “I have to detail out every nook and cranny. Because that’s the thing I notice when I check out a place -- ‘Oh, they left that corner bare.’ I have to do it all.”

Not only did he reach out to such tiki carving artists as Crazy Al Evans and Tiki Tony for the bar’s authentic look, he even tricked out areas barely visible to the naked eye.

To wit: The bottom of the wooden bar flap, where bartender-manager Tim Grieves (a junior high chum of Green’s) comes and goes, has its own tiki deity carved into it.

“I’ve always thought of myself as an interior designer who owns bars, rather than a bar owner with an eye for design,” says Green, who gives credit to his partners, Dimitri Komarov and D’mitry Lieberman, for backing him.

“It helps to have investors who have faith in you and have guts,” he says.

The fact that the bar’s been an instant smash is no surprise. In the same way the Bigfoot Lodge gave Atwater Village instant cachet, Lucky Tiki is making Mission Hills a destination point. There’s something to be said for driving to a no-muss, no-fuss bar.

And you can’t help but catch a bit of island fever.

Each barstool is made from palm trees carved in the shapes of Polynesian gods.

There’s also the official Lucky Tiki mascot on the bar, which invites guests to rub its belly for luck. Naturally, the establishment has a plethora of island drinks, including the Miehana (Anaheim spelled backward), a coconut and amber rum confection laced with orange and pineapple juices and Cointreau liqueur.

But our favorite detail is the “K’moniwannalayu” booth, a private bamboo-strewn area in the back of the bar shrouded by a thatched roof. Ahem.

Adding to the fun is a digital jukebox that offers vintage Elvis and Johnny Cash, Motorhead, the Dead Kennedys and more.

“Bob did his bar right,” says Crazy Al Evans, the artist who created the fireplace and the 8-foot deity. “He had 10-odd years to think about it and the result is a classic, classy bar. Not too kitschy, not too frou-frou, but just right.”

*

Heidi Siegmund Cuda can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

*

Lucky Tiki

Where: 15420 Chatsworth St., Mission Hills

When: Open nightly, 5 p.m.-2 a.m.

Price: No cover.

Info: 21 and older; (818) 892-2688