GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Max’s South Seas Hideaway, a two-story tiki-themed restaurant and bar located at 58 Ionia Ave. SW in downtown Grand Rapids, is scheduled to open Saturday, Oct. 19.

The restaurant, which a team of skilled tradespeople and artists are transforming into a “Polynesian Pop fantasy world,” is now accepting dining reservations at MaxsTiki.com. Reservations are “highly recommended” but not required.

“When you step inside Max’s, you’ll enter a fantasy world unlike anything previously seen in Grand Rapids,” said Grand Rapids restaurateur Mark Sellers, who created HopCat and Stella’s Lounge.

He’s opening Max’s in partnership with Martin Cate, a James Beard award-winning author, bar owner and mixologist, as well as “Gecko,” a renowned Hawaii-based tiki and Polynesian artist.

“Everything from the music, to the service, tropical cocktails, artwork, and gourmet food is being created to transport guests to a place far from their day-to-day life,” Sellers said. “Our goal is for people to forget the outside world exists, if only for an hour or two.”

Located at the former Waldron Public House building, Max’s will feature three custom bars, several “semi-private” tiki huts, an intimate dining room and two private dining areas. It will have capacity for about 200 people.

The restaurant will also host Sellers’ collection of mid-century and modern tiki-artifacts, which, according to a news release, is “one of the largest collections of its kind in the world." Plans also call for a group of boutique tiki-themed hotel rooms to open on the restaurant’s third-floor in 2020.

The exact number and opening date for those rooms has not yet been determined.

“Max’s will be the largest-scale tiki restaurant to open anywhere in the world in decades, and will put Grand Rapids on the map for ‘tiki tourists’ and fans around the world,” Cate, who owns several other award-winning tiki bars, including Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, said in a statement.

Max’s will offer traditional and specialty tiki drinks and cocktails featuring tropical fruits and juices, house-made ingredients and top-shelf rums.

The restaurant’s food menu is being created by chef Joseph Peebles, who most recently served as the executive chef of several restaurants in Palm Beach, Florida. The menu includes a Pu Pu Platter of shareable Polynesian-inspired appetizers, as well as seafood, dry-aged steaks, desserts, and vegan and vegetarian items.

Max’s will be open 4 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

In addition to food and drinks, Max’s is set to feature a ceramic studio. It’s expected to open later this year, and will feature “custom-designed tiki mugs and other ceramic items” manufactured and sold inside Max’s and through the restaurant’s online store.