{"id":246,"date":"2007-05-03T10:12:32","date_gmt":"2007-05-03T14:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/05\/03\/trader-vics-beverly-hills-closing\/"},"modified":"2007-05-03T10:12:32","modified_gmt":"2007-05-03T14:12:32","slug":"trader-vics-beverly-hills-closing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2007\/05\/03\/trader-vics-beverly-hills-closing\/","title":{"rendered":"Trader Vic’s Beverly Hills closing and the end of the classic tiki bar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humu Humu has posted her feelings about the closing of Trader Vic’s Beverly Hills.<\/a> I commented on that and wanted to bring it here and share my thoughts.<\/p>\n

There is a thread on Tiki Central to send messages to try to save Trader Vic’s<\/a>. You’ll notice I never posted. It was never going to get anywhere towards saving the place, and, it probably led to what happened, a very quick, quiet closing that did not allow a bunch of weirdos to make a scene.<\/p>\n

What seems to be lost on everyone is that these places are businesses<\/em>. When your business is losing money, you close it, no matter if that is painful or very painful. And often, before they close the business, they try a lot of things to fix it. Tiki bars are not an exception.<\/p>\n

The forces at work that have closed 90+% of the vintage tiki places in the last 30 years, are still closing them today.<\/p>\n

Getting conservancy groups involved is also a sure way to piss off the owners and\u00c2\u00a0get them to close a place sooner. They want to avoid government regulators from preventing them from doing as they please with their property.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Writing letters and even going there yourself on a regular basis is not the answer, though your business helps. What can you do that will help your local or even, not so local tiki bar survive? Promote it.<\/p>\n

You may be the most vocal and inspired advocate they have. I think the third Thursday get together at the new Hula Hula in Seattle is great<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0And their great reviews of the place and obviously their enthusiasm for it locally, are contagious. Such gatherings are happening all o<\/a>ver. We need to spread a very positive message about tiki in general, and we need to put out positive things about locations specifically.<\/p>\n

We in the Tiki community are, unfortunately, perhaps helping destroy a lot of places. If we venture to a classic bar, and then come to Tiki Central or our blogs and complain about the drinks and the beer signs, that may be the only description on the web for that place. And the young folks just discovering it search the Net first and see your negative comments. Though you may wrap it up with how great it is to go there, even though the drinks weren’t in tiki mugs, you leave an impression that no outsider is going to bother with, and is less likely to enjoy.<\/p>\n

What we can’t do is make a bad place good, bad drinks good, or bad food good. You can’t save a sinking ship with good wishes. And when we are honest with ourselves, we will likely find we are only sad to see the facade go, and not the place where we complained about quality and quantity through our teeth.<\/p>\n

Sucks doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

The best tiki bars in the country are still A) Tiki Central member’s home bars<\/a>, B) Trader Vic’s<\/a>, C) a few old guard like the Mai Kai <\/a>and Hala Kahiki<\/a>, and D) the new generation like Forbidden Island<\/a>. The ghosts are still growing in number as they have for the last 30 years. We are just painfully aware of them now and imagine that times have changed. All that has changed is the number of mourners and the depth of their sorrow.<\/p>\n

p.s. To help out, go to this page<\/a>, the second link when you search Google for the Mai Kai, and add a good review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Humu Humu has posted her feelings about the closing of Trader Vic’s Beverly Hills. I commented on that and wanted to bring it here and share my thoughts. There is Read More …<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[542,11,540],"tags":[702,386,407],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tiki-collecting","category-polynesian-pop","category-retro-preservation","tag-og-tiki-central","tag-tiki-bar","tag-trader-vics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p731sH-3Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":143,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2006\/08\/02\/trader-vics-mai-tai-bar\/","url_meta":{"origin":246,"position":0},"title":"Trader Vic’s Mai Tai bar","author":"Swanky","date":"August 2, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I was keeping this on the DL as I heard about it through the FOM earlier, but since Tiki Talk and Humu Humu blogged it, I thought I would too. Trader Vic's has come out with a new concept called the Mai Tai bar. This is a very low cost\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cocktail Capers"","block_context":{"text":"Cocktail Capers","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/cocktail-capers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":364,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2008\/05\/16\/repressed-tiki-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":246,"position":1},"title":"Repressed Tiki Memory","author":"Swanky","date":"May 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I was talking to an old friend today about Hukilau and the Mai Kai and suggested that if he had the chance, he should visit Trader Vic's Atlanta. His response surprised me. He told me he had been there, with me! We took a road trip to Atlanta in 1996\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Existential Fodder"","block_context":{"text":"Existential Fodder","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/existential-fodder\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":199,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2006\/11\/27\/the-basement-kahuna-collection\/","url_meta":{"origin":246,"position":2},"title":"The Basement Kahuna Collection","author":"Swanky","date":"November 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Basement Kahuna is a top big game hunter in the tiki world. The collection of artifacts he uncovered in just a few months was astounding. He has sold off his mugs and many other things and these days is only keeping postcards. While he was visiting last weekend, I asked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/11\/akua-motor-lodge-anaheim-2.jpg?fit=490%2C313&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":127,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2006\/07\/12\/market-for-trader-vics-cuban-menus-soars\/","url_meta":{"origin":246,"position":3},"title":"Market for Trader Vic’s Cuban menus soars","author":"Swanky","date":"July 12, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"I blame it on tiki newbies. About a week ago, one of the Trader Vic's menus from the Havana location came up on Ebay. These were printed with a note inside, supposedly \"hand written\" by Vic himself, saying something about that stinker Fidel. I am guessing the buyer thought it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":574,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2010\/10\/09\/south-seas-club-anchorage-alaska\/","url_meta":{"origin":246,"position":4},"title":"South Seas Club – Anchorage Alaska","author":"Swanky","date":"October 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, that's right, it's a bear with topless island girls, having a cocktail. Oh, and an old miner too. That's from the drink menu for a very unique Tiki bar in Alaska. Right, Alaska. This great menu is obviously a perversion parody or the classic Trader Vic's menu. In one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Architecture"","block_context":{"text":"Architecture","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/architecture\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/charleston-2010-001a-500x360.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":101,"url":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/2006\/06\/20\/vintage-trader-vics-flaming-rum\/","url_meta":{"origin":246,"position":5},"title":"Vintage Trader Vic’s Flaming Rum","author":"Swanky","date":"June 20, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"A few years ago, Ms. Floratina traded me a bunch of music for this incredible bottle of Trader Vic's Flaming Rum. She found it as old stock on a shelf in a California\u00c2\u00a0liquor store. Brand new ... er old. Has the old style tax label across the top. Don't tell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "\"Tiki\" Collecting"","block_context":{"text":"\"Tiki\" Collecting","link":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/category\/polynesian-pop\/tiki-collecting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/154-5403_IMG-2.jpg?fit=480%2C640&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swankpad.org\/blather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}