By
July 5, 2024
The roof at the Mai-Kai Restaurant, the iconic Polynesian outpost in Fort Lauderdale, had been a problem for quite some time. The staff was used to the black plastic bags put out to collect water during storms.
But an unexpectedly heavy rainfall in 2020 overwhelmed the Mai-Kai’s kitchen roof. It collapsed. As a result, on October 25, 2020, the restaurant closed and hasn’t been opened since.
But that doesn’t mean the Mai-Kai is gone. Quite the contrary.
Starting in 2022, teams of craftsmen, artists and construction workers began renovating the historic 26,000 square-foot building set on almost three acres of land.
Under new ownership, the restaurant’s renovation budget started at $5 million but has ballooned to $15 million.
With help from the tiki gods, the major renovations of this much-loved landmark, with its rum drinks and Pacific Island revue, will be finished late this summer or early fall.
