Post #31188 by Trader_Rick on Tue, Apr 22, 2003 8:47 PM

Thanks for the posting the pics, Sabu! Alphie's was originally opened in 1957 by a man who, rumor has it, was named Alphie. OK, seriously. The place DID open that year, the same year, I believe, that UCSB moved to its current larger location, just over a mile from Alphie's. As far as I know, the place was never a tiki BAR, but a pizza and beer place with a tiki theme. Alphie's did very well, catering largely to the college, when something unfortunate happened in the early '80s. Just up Hollister from Alphie's, near the airport, the very first Elephant Bar opened up. For those of you who don't know, the Elephant Bar (or "E-Bar," as it has been annoyingly dubbed by UCSB students and others) is a chain of safari/jungle themed restaurants in California (and possibly outside of California, but who cares?). Needless to say, the first one opened up right here and took a lot of business away from Alphie's: it is much larger, serves a greater variety of foos, serves cocktails, and even has a college night which is probably just as bad as one might expect.

This did not bode well for Alphie's. It was sold in 1983 and the new owners decided rather than to gut the place and rename it, Alphie's would simply adapt to remain competitive. Hence, it became a breakfast and lunch place. A few years ago, the only other breakfast place in the area, Cajun Kitchen, packed up and moved several miles to the north. Now, Alphie's has a monopoly in downtown Goleta and is doing VERY well, as Sabu and I saw. Thanks again, Sabu, for posting pictures. Getting the word out about Alphie's is one of the reasons why I joined Tiki Central in the first place, believe it or not!