Post #246047 by rupe33 on Tue, Aug 1, 2006 4:18 AM

Was out on the West Coast recently and had the chance to stop in at the Beverly Hills venue on July 28th, 2006. While I was snapping photos, one of the employees chatted me up a little bit. He'd been there only about 20 years or so, and indicated there were people on staff who'd been working 30+ years at the same location.

He was a bit reticent to talk about the upcoming changes, but eventually did reveal a bit of info. Apparently it's true that there will be condos built on the site, but there's no end date that's been made official yet. A plethora of studies still have to be done (environmental impact, traffic impact, etc.) which seem like they could hold up the restaurant's demise for a spell. There has been some disapproval from locals who enjoy the place as well - he talked a bit about how people had been brought there as kids, and how they were now bringing their kids and grandkids as well. That leads me to believe there could be some forces lined up against the "development" of the area.

Apparently there will be a new restaurant on site, but it will not be Trader Vic's. The employees have been offered employment in the new restaurant, although again there still seems to be no set date as to when that changeover might happen. I asked if maybe (as in Chicago) the Trader Vic's company would possibly relocate the restaurant to a new location. He said it was possible, but he hadn't heard anything about it.

The Beverly Hills location has been open 51 years according to the gent I spoke with. Go while you can!

~Rupe

[ Edited by: rupe33 2006-08-01 04:20 ]