The Tropic Isle Restaurant and Cabaret Ltd., Surrey, B.C., CANADA - Locating Tiki

T TabooDan Tiki Socialite Coast of BC now in Crowsnest, AB., Canada Joined: Jul 18, 2004 Posts: 691	T TabooDan Posted posted on Wed, Jun 20, 2007 11:05 PM Name:The Tropic Isle Restaurant and Cabaret Ltd. Type:Restaurant Street:13639 104th Avenue, City:Surrey, B.C. State: Zip: country:CANADA Phone:588-4421 Status:defunct Description: Okay, here's a 'new' long since closed one for you. I am quite surprised that this establishment has not been discussed on here before. I know that some of our Canadian Tiki/Polynesian Restaurants don't compare to some of the great ones in the US, but this one is for sure worth a mention. The Tropic Isle Restaurant and Cabaret Ltd. was established in 1969 and had it's grand opening in June or July of 1970. It had three partners that owned the business and they also owned another restaurant with two locations in the Lower Mainland. The Tropic Isle was known for it's "Delectable Chinese & Western Foods". It had "Smorgasbord Everyday" and could cater to "Banquets, Catering, Weddings, Office Parties". It was also Open 7 Days A Week and had Live Orchestra Friday and Saturday nights. The Tropic Isle had a long life and closed it's doors in 1988. During their years in business, they were quite successful and were very well taken by the local community. The Tropic Isle was the first restaurant to have a Smorgasbord here and made for quite a unique dining experience. One of the managers, Ken, was a very nice man who did alot for the community. Ken belonged to a few local committees and sponsored several different charities throughout the community. They had a wishing well in the front foyer where the Tropic Isle would empty it out and donate all the money to different charities or for specific fund-raising events. At one such charity event for the local Children’s Treatment Center in 1976, The Tropic Isle collected $681.20 from it’s wishing pond alone!! That's alot of coin tossing!! Lot's of different events happened at the Tropic Isle for all sorts of causes to raise money. The good thing for the Tropic Isle was it's large size which catered to large parties and different types of clientele. Inside the Tropic Isle there were two large rooms. The Tiki Lounge, as it was known, seated 150 people and had it's own stage and dance floor area. They had bands playing in this room every Friday and Saturday night. The other room, where the smorgasbord was, was called the "Ming Room" because of it's oriental decor. It had a large seating capacity of 250 and was decorated in true oriental style and was known for it's great choices in the new smorgasbord. The decor in this room was straight forward with oriental design features and decorations that were influenced by travels abroad. This is a picture from an old newspaper ad about the restaurant (circa 1970) showing the exterior of the restaurant. It's got great style to it and was very well done. You can see that it has very little windows. This building was specifically built to be The Tropic Isle and the construction was overseen by the owners. This is a picture of the building today (2007). It is still here but there have been a few changes over the years. The roof architecture pieces are no longer there, there are now windows all down the side and front of the restaurant, and the hand carved doors are long gone. The building itself has also been extended on the parking lot side and the main entrance has been changed and moved. There are no traces of the Tiki Lounge or the Ming Room left inside at all. After The Tropic Isle closed down, it became a Chinese restaurant called "Yic's". This restaurant operated for about 10 years until it closed down in about 1999. The building lay empty for about 4 years and in approx. 2003 was leased to a Korean Restaurant and office. I have been in contact with the family of one of the owners so I will be finding out some more information for you interested parties. Keep checking back for further updates! Mahalo, TabooDan UPDATE - I have added some information to this post and have touched up a few areas where information was changed or needed to be corrected. More information and photos will be added to my future posts as I go through my information. [ Edited by: TabooDan 2009-05-02 10:02 ]

Name:The Tropic Isle Restaurant and Cabaret Ltd.
Type:Restaurant
Street:13639 104th Avenue,
City:Surrey, B.C.
State:
Zip:
country:CANADA
Phone:588-4421
Status:defunct

Description:
Okay, here's a 'new' long since closed one for you.
I am quite surprised that this establishment has not been discussed on here before. I know that some of our Canadian Tiki/Polynesian Restaurants don't compare to some of the great ones in the US, but this one is for sure worth a mention.

The Tropic Isle Restaurant and Cabaret Ltd. was established in 1969 and had it's grand opening in June or July of 1970. It had three partners that owned the business and they also owned another restaurant with two locations in the Lower Mainland. The Tropic Isle was known for it's "Delectable Chinese & Western Foods". It had "Smorgasbord Everyday" and could cater to "Banquets, Catering, Weddings, Office Parties". It was also Open 7 Days A Week and had Live Orchestra Friday and Saturday nights.

The Tropic Isle had a long life and closed it's doors in 1988. During their years in business, they were quite successful and were very well taken by the local community. The Tropic Isle was the first restaurant to have a Smorgasbord here and made for quite a unique dining experience.
One of the managers, Ken, was a very nice man who did alot for the community. Ken belonged to a few local committees and sponsored several different charities throughout the community. They had a wishing well in the front foyer where the Tropic Isle would empty it out and donate all the money to different charities or for specific fund-raising events. At one such charity event for the local Children’s Treatment Center in 1976, The Tropic Isle collected $681.20 from it’s wishing pond alone!! That's alot of coin tossing!!

Lot's of different events happened at the Tropic Isle for all sorts of causes to raise money. The good thing for the Tropic Isle was it's large size which catered to large parties and different types of clientele. Inside the Tropic Isle there were two large rooms. The Tiki Lounge, as it was known, seated 150 people and had it's own stage and dance floor area. They had bands playing in this room every Friday and Saturday night. The other room, where the smorgasbord was, was called the "Ming Room" because of it's oriental decor. It had a large seating capacity of 250 and was decorated in true oriental style and was known for it's great choices in the new smorgasbord. The decor in this room was straight forward with oriental design features and decorations that were influenced by travels abroad.

This is a picture from an old newspaper ad about the restaurant (circa 1970) showing the exterior of the restaurant. It's got great style to it and was very well done. You can see that it has very little windows. This building was specifically built to be The Tropic Isle and the construction was overseen by the owners.

This is a picture of the building today (2007). It is still here but there have been a few changes over the years. The roof architecture pieces are no longer there, there are now windows all down the side and front of the restaurant, and the hand carved doors are long gone. The building itself has also been extended on the parking lot side and the main entrance has been changed and moved. There are no traces of the Tiki Lounge or the Ming Room left inside at all.

After The Tropic Isle closed down, it became a Chinese restaurant called "Yic's". This restaurant operated for about 10 years until it closed down in about 1999. The building lay empty for about 4 years and in approx. 2003 was leased to a Korean Restaurant and office.

I have been in contact with the family of one of the owners so I will be finding out some more information for you interested parties. Keep checking back for further updates!

Mahalo, TabooDan

UPDATE - I have added some information to this post and have touched up a few areas where information was changed or needed to be corrected. More information and photos will be added to my future posts as I go through my information.

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2009-05-02 10:02 ]

Post #314009 by TabooDan on Wed, Jun 20, 2007 11:05 PM