Post #567400 by lohphat on Thu, Dec 2, 2010 11:13 PM

Here's some info from my Dad, David May (Don's son and bartender at the Leilani):

Al Britt was the original owner who was a merchant seaman. He sold, or died, around 1953 or 1954. Dad bought the Leilani from the second owner, whose name escapes me, in June, 1955.

The web site mentions "The Beachcomber Tavern" 5300 something E 2nd Street. That beer bar was opened by a husband and wife who hired Perry Barrett as one of the first bartenders there. He may remember more details.

The Beachcomber is where Perry set up a pitcher of beer on the bar with a surgical tube siphoning beer to me siting on the floor because I was too drunk to stand. At 2:00 AM, Perry closed the bar and helped me mount my Schwinn Paramount. I headed South on Pacific Coast Highway. The dawn was not pretty. The Torry Pines Grade was covered with puke.

I over nighted in Coronado with a Naval Aviator's wife while he was out to sea doing touch and goes on a carrier. The next day she took me to where I could catch the Greyhound for Long Beach. I didn't have the strength or the will to face a another hundred miles ride.

The Hawaiian was owned by City Councilman Bob Crow. At times it was called "The Crow's Nest". I think that it is now an Argentine BBQ place. A frame front on the building. I think that you have been there.

So at 5305 E PCH the original A-frame building still exists -- it's now a Brazilian Steak House "Green Field".