Today we’d like to introduce you to Kern Mattei.
Kern, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started working at the Mai Kai when I was in High School as a bar back. As I graduated high school and started college, I worked my up to being a bartender and the waiter. It was during this time that I fell in love with the service industry and decided to make it my major in college.
I graduated from Florida International University with a degree in Hospitality Management and left the Mai Kai to pursue my newfound career. About 5 years later, an opportunity came up for me to return to the Mai Kai in a management position. I was very excited to return to the place that started my journey and have been here ever since.
Has it been a smooth road?
Coming back to the Mai Kai in a management position was a fairly smooth transition as it was the place where I worked my way through college and thus many of my research papers were actually about the Mai Kai. So it was actually my college research coming to life. In the beginning, I reviewed many of my college papers and began to put my studies to work.
Since the Mai Kai was full of long-term employees, it was a challenge to come back and see many of the same people that I worked with and trained under, that I was now going to lead into the future. I took a modern management approach and worked that into a restaurant culture and philosophy that had been going strong since 1956.
It was an exciting challenge that I was eager to accept.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
The Mai Kai opened in 1956 and immediately became one of the area’s top destinations. We started off with seating of 200, and in 1970 expanded to our current size of 600 seats.
The Mai Kai’s décor is a classic Polynesian style with tiki poles, monkeypod tables, black velvet paintings and oceanic artifacts adorning the inside and giant tiki’s, waterfalls, tiki torches and a thatch roof on the outside. Our dinner menu features a variety of selections from our Cantonese and Southeast Asian dishes to fresh fish to our USDA Prime Steaks cooked in our wood burning Chinese Ovens.
We also specialize in Hand Crafted Tropical Drinks. Our Cocktail Menu, which we’ve had since opening in 1956, features over 50 different specialty cocktails using freshly squeezed juices, house made syrups and top-shelf rums. In 2016, we were rated the Number One Tiki Bar in the World by Critiki.com, and locally in 2016 we were voted as one of the top ten cocktail bars in Broward County and now in 2017, we were voted as one of the Best Bars in the World by Liquor.com. So we are very proud of our bar program that has put us at the front of the current cocktail revolution.
In addition to having great food and delicious drinks, we also have one of the longest running Polynesian Shows in the United States. Our Polynesian Revue is a live show that is performed nightly. The show is led by our Emcee who takes you on a journey of the South Pacific Islands through song and dance. The highlights of our show include the romantic Hawaiian Wedding Song, the exciting Tahitian Drum Dances, and the breathtaking Samoan Fire Knife Dance.
We just celebrated our 60th Anniversary in December of 2016, and are honored after all those years to still be here and still be considered a top destination.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
The city of Fort Lauderdale is a great place for us. When we first opened in 1956, Fort Lauderdale was a premier Spring Break destination with a growing community. Over the past 60 plus years, the city has grown and prospered, continually changing into what has now become a premier family and adult destination.
I would definitely recommend the greater Fort Lauderdale area as a place to start out. We have such a diverse community, with so many opportunities, you just have to find your niche and take it from there.
Pricing:
- Our Specialty Cocktails are priced from $9.00 up to $49.00 for our Mystery Drink which serves four people.
- Appetizers range from $6.50 up to $22.95 for our Canoe Sampler Platter.
- We have a wide range of entrees that start at $17.95 and go up to $79.00 for our USDA Prime Filet Mignon and Lobster Tail.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3599 North Federal Highway
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33308 - Website: www.maikai.com
- Phone: 954-563-3272
- Email: info@maikai.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themaikai/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maikairestaurant
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheMaiKai
Getting in touch: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
