Meet Phil Zuziak of The Tiki Terrace in The Northwest Suburb of Des Plaines

Today we’d like to introduce you to Phil Zuziak.

Phil, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Tiki Terrace is a culmination of the Zuziak brother’s love for Hawaii. With a background in Polynesian drum and dance, the ability to custom fabricate props and create an environment and much knowledge and love for Hawaiian food, drink and entertainment, the Zuziak’s dream of opening a Hawaiian dinner theater in the Chicago land area became a reality in 2004.

Since then, The Tiki Terrace has become a true diamond in the ruff. The environment is over the top tropical and when you walk through the doors your amazed that you just entered Hawaii

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been changing year after year. If this were an easy road to travel, we would not stand alone in what we do. The passion for this business not only makes it worth it, but a reward in its own. Not only do we love representing the Islands in the business of The Tiki Terace, we love the employees. We are truly a family owned and operated business and we love everyone we work with. With all this being said, the rough road is easily traveled when walked with those you love.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Tiki Terrace – what should we know?
The Tiki Terrace is a dinner/theatre that brings Hawaii over to the mainland through Hawaiian food, décor, music and authentic luau entertainment. We specialize in family outings, large groups, banquet style celebrations, catering Hawaiian food as well a full service restaurant that turns tables. We love to say that we don’t sell a plate of food, we sell a whole experience.

I am most proud of the fact that our employees love to work here. My wife and I believe that God has purposed us to bless the employees and show that business owners can be for the employees and not the other way around. It is our goal to be generous, fair and show the love of God in the workplace to the employees and the customers.

What sets us apart is our Luau style dinner and shows that you can experience every Wednesday, Friday and twice on Saturday.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We owe 100% of all we have and do to following the way God would have us run our business- We are far from perfect and still in the works. We don’t have a fortune 500 company, but we are blessed through hard work, determination, honesty, surrounding ourselves with wise people and good council and doing the next right thing.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1591 Lee Street, Des Plaines, IL 60018
• Website: www.thetikiterrace.com
• Phone: 847-795-8454
• Email: eat@thetikiterrace.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/thetikiterrace
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/thetikiterracedesplaines