Tiki room at Young's Cafeteria in Moundsville, W.V.

Hey folks, I went camping last weekend in the panhandle of West Virginia, and I stopped off at the regular half-way point for a bite: Young's Cafeteria in Moundsville, W.V., right on the main drag. For as many times that I have been there, I never, ever saw, or thought there would be, a Tiki room in the back of this establishment. This place is incredible, for it has a number of tikis on the walls, bamboo everywhere, the round hanging, netted lanterns, thatched, individual booths that are cozy and very retro. The place IS authentic retro, for it appears that it is has been that way for quite some time. Who'd a thunk??? At any rate, if I get back, I will snap some photos and post here. If ever passing through this small town, check this place out. I need to check my tiki travel book and see if I missed the listing for this gem.

This is good news - an actual tiki sighting in West Virginia. According to 'Tiki Road Trip' there was no evidence of any tiki, past or present, in West Virginia....and thus, proof that there is still unknown tiki still waiting to be rediscovered.

Vern

What a surprise this is.
I've got a story for this news. (Don't I always?)

My Grandpa was a native of Moundsville. He was on the "Hatfield side" as he used to say and married a pretty little hill girl from the "McCoy side."

Grandpa was a minor league pitcher with a serious arm but could mostly earn money doing masonry.
Grandma ran a restaurant there in Moundsville.

They moved to Canton, Ohio and rasied a family there.
Their oldest son Bill, became the head bartender of the Bali Hai, famous in the day for its dubious Youngstown clientele and occasional visits from members of the Rat Pack.

Grandpa and Grandma eventually moved to Florida since he always loved tropical things and eventually our whole clan moved here as well.

Grandpa passed away about 7 years ago.

A few months ago we were cleaning out his work shed that he never let anyone go into and I found a real tiki treasure.
There were 4-5 ukulele bodies that he had been working on as a hobby. I was astounded. I often wondered if he would get a kick out of hearing me flail out a few Hawai'ian tunes and now I knew he would. I grabbed them of course and resumed his work on them. Before long, I'll have put together a uke or two from those parts.

I'd like to think that one day, I'll strum one of them at this new tiki place in Moundsville and complete the chain and grab some mana.

Mahalo for the news.

I'm going to ask my Grandma if she knows about Young's Cafeteria.
If that's the place they used to run I'll freak out.

[ Edited by: pablus 2006-08-03 05:18 ]

WOW!! That is great news!! A newly discovered Tiki place!!!!!

Awesome story too Pablus!!! You would make your grandfather proud!!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Hiya all, glad to see the responses from you. The story about your family is wonderful...and wouldn't it be something if your grandparents did hang out at Young's? I'm not sure how long the cafeteria has been there, but it is very '70s. I did want to clarify that the Tiki portion of the restaurant is in the back...and it is NOT a bar, for Young's does not serve alcohol. I did remember, and I believe I am correct, that there are faux fish tanks in the walls in each booth with tropical fish inside. Maybe my memory is a little hazy, but my description of the joint in my original post is right on the money. I did check my Tiki Road Trip book last night, and Young's is not listed. Is there an updated version coming out where I can contact the author about submitting pix when I return to Young's? As previously said, Tiki in West Virginia is a rare occurance that would take the skills of X-Files' Scully and Muldaur to figure out the how/why this happened :wink:

Tikibars is the one you want to talk to tikitommy. He be the man!!!

I can't wait to see the pics!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

What a fantastic find! And pablus, I love how you've always got a great companion story queued up. You're going to be Bungy Hedley when you grow up! Storytime with Pablus!

I've added the place to Critiki:

http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/location.cgi?loc_id=571

tikitommy, if you get pictures, I would love it if you would consider submitting them to Critiki!

A quick Google for more details turned up this gallery of pictures from a family's visit to Young's Cafeteria:

http://gallery.hoyhoy.org/20030908_ohio?page=1

They didn't dine in the back room, but luckily, one of the kids was photographed goofing off near the entrance to the back room:

Here's a zoomed-in view of the back room:

Jackpot! Looks like it's got lauhala matting on the walls, and you can see some very nice bamboo poles on the right.

If I have a chance this weekend, I may stop down, for their homemade pies are worth the hour trip. I promise to takes lotsa pics if no one minds. Wouldn't it be funny if this place ends up being a haunt for retro hipster types passing through? Right now, the very pleasant, simple church going folks who eat here are unaware of the treasure they have nestled in the pandhandle of W.V.

Okay folks, I think you've inspired me to take a half day tomorrow and make the trek to Young's to buy pie and photograph/document West Virginia tiki. If I arrive around 2:00, there should be few people, so I should be free to snap away with my digital. Might even eat my meal under the bamboo. If I indeed go, I will upload the pix this weekend for you all to enjoy on Critiki and here (you can upload photos to this site, right?). Tikitommy.

I talked to my Grandma and she didn't remember Young's.

Of course she was there a loooong time ago.
Like, the 1940s.

It was a nice chance to visit with her anyway.

Okay, mission accomplished. Mom, dad and I made the venture to West Virginia. We had a nice lunch, and as they ate their fish, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, I snapped away like a madman. I hope these pix show up successfully. So, here you have it, documented proof of tiki in good'ole West Virginia!!

Those are the same tables they have in the Aku-Tiki Room in Kewanee, Il! I've got to scan & post the images I have from there, as soon as I have space on my hard drive...

WOW!!!! This is great! Thanks for the archeology tour and pictures tikitommy!! A job well done!! I have a menu from that Aku Room!

Post those pictures!!

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

[ Edited by: Jeff Central 2006-08-05 13:01 ]

Nice shots, TT. Thanks.
You get an TC merit badge for Tiki Discovery.

Fantastic! Thanks for making the pilgrimage, tikitommy (and for sharing your pics with Critiki, too!). What a neat find. Did you eat in the tiki room while you were there? Were you able to learn more about the story behind the tiki bar (i.e., when they built it, & what inspired it)?

Wow! This place is near a couple of wild caves I have visited! Who wudda thunk it! I've got to get up there - it is "just down the road a piece" from my place (100 miles or so). Thanks for the pictures...

Was out wandering today & it turns out that there was another tiki place in West Virginia. I bought a postcard from the Holiday Inn, Huntington. On the post card is a picture of the Ma-Kiki Club. The picture is tiny but the back of the card says: 3325 US. Highway 60 East for the address & The Ma-Kiki club Polynesian Food & Drinks. The card is postmarked 1969.

Sorry, I can't put a picture up right now but will try to do so at a later time.

Tikisgrl

What a great find! I know this is an older post, but my wife and I are going to be going towards that part of the state this summer and I was very glad to find out this info!

As for the (defunct) tiki bar in Huntington, WV: I can't provide a lot of info, but I do have a little bit I've gleaned from various sources. Apparently, that Holiday Inn was opened by a local businessman who also owned a Holiday Inn in the downtown area that was ancient Greek themed, complete with a volcano, waitresses in skimpy togas, and full "ruins" decor.

I have done a little Googling, and it appears that the location of the Holiday Inn with the tiki room is currently the site of a budget-priced chain motel that was recently renovated and reopened. Between its tenure as a tiki mecca and the new, bland motel it was an Executive Inn and Suites. Towards the end of the Executive era the building had fallen into serious disrepair and looked utterly abandoned and destined for total demolition. That particular area of town is "transitional", with a new Wal*mart and State Police barracks to one side and multiple strip clubs and a pawn shop on the other. There are several motels of various mid-century origin in that area almost all of which are in terrible, terrible shape. Even at its worst, the Executive was probably the safest (others are known havens for drug use/production/distribution, prostitution, and the occasional shooting).

When I moved to Huntington it was still situated in a very mid-century shape, with a low-slung motel building and attached (but architecturally distinct) bar/lounge. The bar was no longer tiki judging from the name, but it was obviously something that had been pretty impressive several decades past. The exterior was plain, and the sign was a newer cheap backlit number with a general title...possibly "Good Times Lounge"?

As part of the renovation, the bar area as well as some of the motel room were completely demolished and the remaining wing was completely refurbished, replacing the mid-century look with fresh stucco in various shades of beige. It's nothing exciting, just a clean, cheap place for business travelers and truckers. It's possible that further sleuthing could find out if any tiki decor remained at the time of the building's demise. I'd certainly like to see any pictures of it in its heyday!

At one time Huntington, WV had several very classy hotel bars. In addition to the tiki room and greek-themed affair, there was Hotel Prichard (formerly a favorite of visiting presidents, celebrities, and TV shows--now a low-rent apartment building with the elaborate ballrooms converted to office/residential space) and the very large local favorite The Hotel Frederick. The Frederick was home to a restaurant/bar known as the Elephant Walk, with elaborate elephant accents, heavy carved wooden doors, dark paneling, and a multitude of nautical artwork. The restaurant portion is now a CPA firm or law office, but the remaining bar area (with a smaller dining room and mostly intact decor) is on its most recent incarnation: 21 at The Frederick. It has a very "Rat Pack" feel, and the cuisine is loosely based on Italian fare. The hotel itself is mixed use, with remuddled floors serving as both offices and apartments that show a progression of remodeling over many decades. The newest owner is working on renovations that will "modernize" the hotel and allow it to be reopened as condos, with a possibility of limited hotel rooms. I'm sure there were many more!

An article in our local magazine (Huntington Quarterly) focused on the proprietor of the Greek and Tiki hotels some time in the past year or so, talking about how he had been a major part of the local Jewish culture and had a second career as a Sheriff (complete with custom tailored rhinestone cowboy style western uniform) later in life. I can't seem to find the article online, but I'll try to search through my stacks of magazines at home and see if I can find some more details.

I can confirm that the Greek-themed Holiday Inn still stands and is a popular attraction in town. Unfortunately, since the original opening, it went through a period as a Radison, eventually becoming the independent Pullman Plaza Hotel. There's still a bar and restaurant, but the decor is generic steakhouse with some homages to our local university football team (the steak house is a former Damon's that was rebranded as Bobby Pruett's Steakhouse--named after a former football coach in the area). It's a very nice hotel, but there is no apparent signs of its former theme. There are rumors that some Greek theming, including the volcano, may still exist in an area of the restaurant that has been blocked off with newer construction.

Sorry to go so far off-topic!