Post #31174 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Tue, Apr 22, 2003 6:11 PM

While most of you were enjoying Mondo Tiki in Vegas this last weekend, I was heading up to Solvang, CA with friends in an annual Easter tradition that I'll refrain from explaining here.

Needless to say, it gave me a chance to finally meet Trader Rick along the way for breakfast at Alphie's - the old tiki restaurant he discovered and has been wanting to show us for some time.

Alphie's is just off the 101 in Goleta, just North of Santa Barbara, at 5725 Hollister Ave. When I drove up at 7:30am, I have to say I was a little skeptical when I saw the facade. It didn't look very tiki:

But then the carvings around the door looked promising. As you can see by the hours, this is strictly a breakfast/lunch place.

Inside, I was in for a pleasant surprise. This was strictly an old-school tiki joint with tons of vintage artifacts on every wall. Each column was covered with the same carved panels:


The restaurant looks small from the front, but it is very deep with several back rooms. It had a good breakfast crowd of locals.

The vintage carved weaponry on the walls would make Basement Kahuna weep with envy:









According to Trader Rick, (I hope I have this right), the current owners bought the place in 1980 and all the decor was already in place. I forget when he said the restaurant opened originally. Maybe he can fill in the details for us. It looks like some 1980s art posters were eventually mixed into the decor:

But thankfully the old pieces are still there:

Here's Rick showing me one of the back rooms. Look at the nice outrigger canoe hanging from the cieling:

And out back, there were some pilings and floats:

We wonder if this place was once a full-service restaurant that was open evenings as well. We saw some dj equipment in the back, so maybe they rent the restaurant out at night. If so, this would be a great site for a party.

It was great meeting Trader Rick and we had a good conversation over breakfast, talking about tiki, of all things! Soon he will be moving from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, folks, so we'll be able to include him in all our hoity-toity doings.

Trader Rick, would you add some of the history of Alphie's to this post, as you learned it from the owners?

I got a big thrill out of seeing another hidden tiki hideaway with all its artifacts still intact. I would recommend it highly as a breakfast or lunch stop for those travelling the 101.

Sabu

[ Edited by: Sabu The Coconut Boy on 2003-04-22 18:15 ]