Francis Cabang and Harold Hanna opened The Royal Hawaiian on Pacific Coast Highway in 1947, making it one of the oldest continuously operating tiki bars in California. The signature cocktail, the Lapu Lapu, dates to the founding and remains the reason most people come. Cabang’s legacy was carefully preserved when the bar was revived in 2023 after a closure, the same rattan furniture, the same Polynesian escapism, the same patio where the California coastal breeze hits differently when there’s a tiki mug in your hand. Happy hour runs Monday through Friday, 3 to 6pm. Weekend hours stretch from noon into the evening. Right on PCH in Laguna Beach, it’s the kind of place that justifies the drive down the coast.
