Tonga Room

Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar
A display window (2019) near the entrance to the Tonga Room
Map
Restaurant information
Established1945; 79 years ago (1945)
Street addressFairmont San Francisco,
950 Mason Street,
San Francisco, California,
United States
Coordinates37°47′32″N 122°24′36″W / 37.79214°N 122.41000°W / 37.79214; -122.41000

The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar is a restaurant and tiki bar in the Fairmont San Francisco hotel in Nob Hill, San Francisco, California. Named after the South Pacific nation of Tonga, this dining and entertainment venue opened in 1945.[1][2] The Tonga Room replaced the Terrace Plunge, an indoor swimming pool that was installed in the Fairmont in 1929.[3] The pool was transformed into the Tonga Room's lagoon.[4][5] The restaurant was redesigned again in 1967. In 2024, the Tonga Room started using new glassware, and moved away from ceramic tiki mugs.[6]

A report by the City of San Francisco Planning Department called the Tonga Room a "historical resource."[7] 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."[7]

  • A boat with the band in the pool of the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar
    A boat with the band in the pool of the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar
  • Entrance of the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar
    Entrance of the Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar
  • Tonga room restaurant looking towards Hurricane Bar
    Tonga room restaurant looking towards Hurricane Bar
  1. ^ McKinley, Jesse (April 3, 2009). "Order a Mai Tai and Save Paradise". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  2. ^ Jones, Carey. "Tonga Room and Hurricane Bar - Bar Review". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  3. ^ Poblete, Pati Navalta (September 4, 2020). "The Fairmont's Tonga Room Celebrates An Anniversary". San Francisco Magazine.
  4. ^ Wells, Madeline (June 3, 2022). "Anthony Bourdain loved this SF tourist trap. Now I can see why". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  5. ^ Flynn, Katherine (December 11, 2014). "The Tonga Room in San Francisco". National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  6. ^ Wells, Madeline (January 22, 2024). "Popular 79-year-old SF tiki bar makes major change". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  7. ^ a b Selna, Robert (May 5, 2010). "Fairmont, preservationists at odds over Tonga Room". SFGATE. Retrieved 2024-02-26.