HawaiiVisited May 2022 Views –

Mai Tai Bar, Honolulu: A Parasol Cocktail Steps from Waikiki Beach at The Royal Hawaiian

A glass of a drink in two layers, dark brown above and orange-yellow below, topped with a paper parasol, a cherry, a pineapple wedge and a lime wedge, with a white paper straw, on a pink-bordered napkin beside a wooden menu cover lettered mai tai. — A glass of a drink in two layers with a paper parasol, cherry, pineapple and lime, May 2022.

Mai Tai Bar is an oceanfront bar at The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, at 2259 Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki, Honolulu. The Royal Hawaiian's website says Mai Tai Bar is just steps from Waikiki Beach and that its signature drink is the Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai, a rum cocktail.

Mai Tai Bar's layered cocktail with a parasol

In the cover photo above, a glass holds a drink in two layers, dark brown on top and orange-yellow below, with a paper parasol, a cherry on a pick, a pineapple wedge, a lime wedge and a white paper straw. The glass sits on a pink-bordered napkin printed with the first letters of what looks like The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, beside a wooden menu cover lettered mai tai. The recipe on The Royal Hawaiian's website floats dark rum on top and garnishes the glass with a parasol, cherry, pineapple and lime wedge, so my drink fits that description, but the photo can't show which of Mai Tai Bar's drinks it is.

The Royal Hawaiian Mai Tai

The Royal Hawaiian's website says Trader Vic Bergeron created the original mai tai in 1944 and that it came to Hawaii in 1953, when it was first served at The Royal Hawaiian. The website's recipe lists light and dark Old Lahaina rum, orange curaçao, orgeat, pineapple juice and orange juice, with Whaler's dark rum floated on top.

The other glass

A glass of pale yellow drink with a rim crusted with white grains, a piece that looks like orange peel among the ice, a lime wedge on the edge and a white paper straw, on a pink-bordered napkin. — A pale yellow drink with a rim crusted with white grains and a lime wedge.

The second photo shows a pale yellow drink in a similar glass, with a rim crusted with white grains, a piece that looks like orange peel among the ice and a lime wedge on the edge. I can't tell from the photo what the drink is.

Before you go

Mai Tai Bar's page on The Royal Hawaiian's website, which shows no update date, lists cocktails from 10:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. (last call 10:45 p.m.) and lunch and dinner from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (last call 9:45 p.m.), while another line on that page says daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., so confirm before you plan around it (checked Nov 14, 2026).
The Royal Hawaiian's website says Mai Tai Bar has live music daily from 6 to 10 p.m. and a casual dress code.
The Royal Hawaiian's website says the first four hours of parking are complimentary with a $25 minimum purchase at any of its restaurants or bars.
The phone number on Mai Tai Bar's page, +1-808-923-7311, is the resort's number.