Post #17557 by Doctor Z on Mon, Dec 30, 2002 5:29 PM

Kilohana is just down the block from my place (and just around the corner from "The Tikis" apartments on PV Blvd - BOT page 221) and I've been in there a couple of times. It's all new stuff - nothing vintage. The folks that run the place are pretty cool and they do have really nice bedding that the owner makes, some of Bamboo Ben's artwork and a stock of TikiFarm mugs, but I find it a little too pricey for me. Nice to have a Hawaiiana store in my neighborhood; however shops come and go in the 'Riviera Village' rather quickly, so I hope this one will stay around...

As far as "Back Home in Lahaina" goes - it's part of a small chain that includes one off of Artesia in Torrance/Lawndale ("The Loft at Lahaina"), and another new one on Hawthorne in Torrance (called simply "The Loft", I think...). I haven't been to any of them yet, but Z-Girl used to go to the original Loft when it was in Gardena and she says that their 'Spam Musubi' is out of this world!

Purple Orchid? Great decor, interesting drinks, "portable" mugs, but definitely the wrong music (it's a jukebox that apparently plays Van Halen every other song...), and a crowd that, for the most part, has no clue what the decor is all about. But it's still a good meetin' place for TC'ers & it's only been open for a year, so it still has room to 'grow' from the beer bar it used to be into the tiki bar it wants to be. It just needs our help...