North Hollywood tiki bar Tonga Hut gears up for reopening, with help of its dedicated community Listen 3 min MORE Dedicated Tonga Hut customers set up the netted roofing inside the lanai. Photo by Danielle Chiriguayo/KCRW.
Tonga Hut co-owner Kevin Murphy took to Facebook in April, calling for a construction crew to build a pandemic-safe lanai. He expected a handful of volunteers to help. But like much of the last year, the unexpected happened. More than two dozen dedicated tiki heads signed up to help within the first few hours.
“I was surprised! Overnight, 27 people said they were coming to help,” Murphy tells KCRW. “I started going, ‘Whoa! I got to figure out 27 things to do.’ … How do I keep 27 people busy?’”