Post #289071 by Kenike on Thu, Mar 1, 2007 7:59 PM

Trader Vic’s has finally made its long-awaited return to Dallas!

After 18 years of being entombed in its original location, Trade Vic’s has reemerged mostly intact. Anything that was still usable was kept and restored…right down to the carpeting.

The original restaurant existed from 1967–1989 as part of the Dallas Hilton. Although closed, the restaurant with all of its décor remained and was occasionally rented out for private parties. In 2004, the dilapidated remains of the Hilton was purchased by two Dallas firms, and so began an $80 million redevelopment of the property. The old Hilton was remodeled and expanded and became the Hotel Palomar.

Palomar co-owners Kip Sowden and Jeff Berry (not that one) then formed Realty America Hospitality Group to be run by Rusty Fenton. The company then bought the franchise rights for Trader Vic’s and the road to reopening was underway.

One last look at the original Trader Vic’s building just as construction began in 2005. Additions to the Palomar would soon obstruct this view completely.

The entrance as it appears today.

First, every inch of the entire restaurant was photographed and then it’s contents removed and restored. Anything that could still be used was used as long as it was up to code. The carpeting in the main dining room was a total loss so the pattern was reproduced and replaced. Some of the original lighting was falling apart and unusable, but several of the well weathered lamps were returned to their original locations.

More pics of the interior:

Formikahini enjoying her very first mai tai at the Dallas Trader Vic’s:

Here is the private dining room that seats 10. On the walls are lots and lots of TV memorabilia, including a dining award the restaurant received in 1989 (the year they closed).

The big tiki out front is from a company called Asia America who imported it from New Guinea.

Chicagoans will recognize this chandelier as once belonging to the Chicago Trader Vic’s location that recently closed.

The “official” opening date is March 1st. In the meantime, Formikahini, myself and my wife Eva were fortunate enough to attend a “mock service” before the official opening date.

The Moai

The moai that once guarded over the old Trader Vics remained out front for many, many years until one day it just disappeared. Where it went and what happened to it remained a mystery for a few years until this article appeared in the January 2005 issue of D Magazine:

***Joe Hunt was the man who took the tiki. As a kid, his father used to take him to Trader Vic’s. So the local financial consultant offered to buy it from the hotel for $2,400. But then things got weird. The hotel—which was owned by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s organization and which was part of his plan to establish peace on earth through transcendental meditation—backed out of the deal. Hunt sued. The Maharishi’s people never showed up in court. And a judge awarded the tiki to Hunt, who carted it off to a friend’s warehouse in Ennis.

But then the hotel sued Hunt, and Hunt was forced to return the tiki to the hotel’s heavies in May 2003. But the statue never made it to its rightful post, and its whereabouts remained a mystery to all but a few of the Maharishi’s operatives.***

After the purchase of the hotel in 2004, the original plan was to restore the moai and auction it off with the proceeds going to Special Olympics. Formikahini and I inquired about the status of the moai while talking to Rusty Fenton the night of the mock service. He told us what they would really like to do is return it to the front of Trader Vic’s once the restoration is complete. He then added, “Would you like to see it?”

We were then led out of Trader Vic’s and to the “secret location” where the moai is currently being worked on. Its condition for the most part is not great, and its future still uncertain, but THERE IT WAS...a giant 3000lb piece of tiki history laying anesthetized and awaiting surgery.

While we were there I spotted the old and now broken Trader Vic’s sign. The other side apparently is not broken but I didn’t try to move it to get a picture.

HUGE MAHALOZ to Rusty Fenton, Rock Gennaro, Sven Koch, Eve Bergeron, our waiter Shawn and to all the staff at Trader Vic’s for their hospitality and willingness to let us explore just about anywhere we wanted. It was an honor to be one of the first to dine at the new/old Trader Vic’s and it was an evening we won’t soon forget!

[ Edited by: Kenike 2010-01-18 01:52 ]