Ken D.
Yelp
My wife and I have been coming to Ka'tiki for the past twenty-five years and with multiple ownership changes and the city growing and changing, Ka'tiki still manages to be our favorite place to visit. We have not ever had a poor or bad experience at Ka'tiki.
The biggest part of the crowd here is locals who visit every day. Most know each other and Ka'tiki serves as a local meeting place for those who are fortunate enough to live on Island Time. The crowd is older and most are retired and have moved to Florida from up North. The locals are friendly if you choose to interact but if you want to sit alone by yourselves, they will not bother you.
The bar and service staff are friendly and nice, but if you come at them with an attitude, they can give it right back. This is a laid-back, dive bar experience with good drinks, low prices, great bar food, casual environment so if you are looking for a snooty, upscale experience, there are many places along Treasure Island to the North where you will fit in.
If you want to come as you are, in your bathing suit and covered in sand with a burn then you will Love Ka'tiki like we do. They offer some great bands, awesome food made on-site, and both alcohol and beer. We love their draft beers, served ice cold in a picture with ice to keep it cold.
They offer $3 Cheeseburgers all day, every day. You will not find another deal like this in Florida. They also offer other burger options, chicken and fish sandwiches, BLT's, appetizers and much more. It is all prepared fresh and served hot at your table. My personal favorite is their Hot Buffalo Chicken Sandwich with a side order of Fried Mushrooms or Jalapeno Poppers. But, everything is always excellent.
Ka'tiki offers the best beer prices on the Island and most other places. This year their prices have increased like everything else but they still beat all the competition.
So, why four instead of five stars? This is an outside bar, but most of the patrons smoke heavily inside the Tiki Hut. As time passes, there is a heavy smell of stale smoke that permeates the indoor area and with my asthma, one of my biggest triggers is cigarette smoke. Sitting outside is not an issue, but inside can be bad for me. It is close inside so it is highly likely that the people all around you will have lit cigarettes going and in colder weather, when the plastic is rolled down over the windows and there is not a breeze coming through I cannot go inside. But, for most, this is not an issue. The smoke does not bother my wife and she barely notices it, so don't let that keep you from giving this a try, it is just my personal experience and hyper sensitivity.