Post #366751 by GatorRob on Thu, Mar 13, 2008 3:12 PM

I hate to continue to derail this thread, but what the hell. I threw a picture of myself in here. :)

I pretty much agree with Swanky. Find the hook that brings them in and then give them something they weren't expecting, but hopefully will like. But I'll tell you... the only reason I think the Mai-Kai survives to this day is tourism. If it was in Chicago or Seattle or Dallas, it would have been gone long ago. Tourists stream into the Mai-Kai mostly to gawk at the "tacky tiki stuff" and see the show. They don't know or care about the history of the place. The Mai-Kai tried the Gauguin Room as a "hip" and upscale dining room and it failed. Why? Because the tourists just wanted to see the show. There aren't enough people like you and me to make that sort of thing successful. At least not on a grand scale like the Mai-Kai or any of the other long-gone tiki palaces. So the Mai-Kai is pretty much an anomaly.

So (back on topic), could a Don the Beachcomber's survive today? My conclusion is yes, if it is in an area where that sort of decor, drinks, music, etc was acceptable to the public (i.e., tourist areas mostly). But if it's going to survive in a typical non-tourist city, it has got to present itself in a different way that draws in the locals.