Post #376387 by TorchGuy on Sat, Apr 26, 2008 4:52 AM

I visited Leilani a few times, and these shots are obviously after a late remodel. When I was there in the early '00s, the paint shades were darker and more muted, the bar was very dark (and the heavily carved shelf unit was still there) and the backing screens over the bowling pins' areas had the standard oval, but with a plastic tiki head (all identical) instead of a Brunswick crown covering the strike light! The lobby fountain was empty, and had only a lone standpipe in the center. However, the bar's fireplace was seriously cool - the six chains hold both the hood and the same-shaped fire support, which is a thick wood frame with a big plate of smoked glass set in it, at the middle of which sits the trough with lava rock and gas fire. The waterfall beneath still worked then, and was lit by a green floodlight. The bar had no Polynesian drinks, but they had good, cheap food. It was a cool place back then, to be sure - looks like its last days saw a bad remodeling.

Two really sad things here: One, the developer tore it down a while ago. To this day, the site is a vacant lot.

And two, as for the former owners' other alley, Sunset Bowl in Ballard: "We have no plans to close it"? They DID do a big remodel there at the end of last year.

A month ago, they sold it and it closed. Bleah. Real estate values in Allard are skyrocketing, and everyone wants to build condos. Across from Sunset Bowl was a massive building, a Denny's for many years, with an amazing Polynesian roofline. I've no clue what it once was, but the Denny's is gone, and the neighborhood is rallying to save the building, against the developer who seems to be throwing more and more money at it, hoping to eventually outweigh any claims of historical importance with sheer volumes of cash. I never saw any tiki decor inside, it was the blandest variant on the cheesy "Denny's Diner" remodels of the 90s where Denny's tried to suddenly switch from 60s coffee shop to fake-50s diner decor. But knock down those false drop ceilings, and who knows what's hiding in the rafters...