Post #397658 by woofmutt on Wed, Jul 30, 2008 9:32 AM

So far it is only a theory that the photo of the Unknown Bar was taken in Seattle.

Tipsy McStagger said he was "Almost positive it's the Bamboo Room in Seattle." based on his memory of a photo of that property. But when later reviewing the photo he said "Now that I see it I may be wrong."

Swanky who re-posted the Bamboo Room photo said "Sign is at the right height and place...But the front of this building doesn't quite look right."

I agree the building front doesn't look like a match. I also think the sign style isn't a match either.

BoraBorris did a Tiki Central search for 544, but 544 as seen in the photo is on the awning of the building next door. The Unknown Bar would probably be a 542 or 546 if it had its own street address. The Unknown Bar may be attached to a restaurant with a completely different address.

The quote that sputnikmoss posted from the original thread on Lotta Living said "This was probably in the Los Angeles area. I had other slides with this man in the same clothes at Disneyland."

The only hard evidence connected directly to the photo of the Unknown Bar is other slides of the same man in the same clothes at Disneyland.

The Chinese elements on the 544 building is probably the strongest evidence for placing the Unknown Bar in a China Town somewhere. The 544] address in the picture and the street grade gives one more to work with if you know your local China Town.

The photo does look like Seattle's China Town/Pioneer Square/Belltown area but those are all older areas of the city and as such look similar in design and construction to most American cities from that period. (Though a 544 address could be found in Seattle's China Town.)

Other than the Unknown Bar I was happy to see this:

I've driven by Chen's literally thousands of times***** and must have gotten the same vibes as Sophista-Tiki because I always thought the place would be a great candidate for a Tiki face lift. I never made the address connection with the Tiki Hut.

Chen's village doesn't have any signs of former greatness inside. It looks like a heavy remodel hit it in the late 70s/early 80s. Chen's Village is popular with people in the Magnolia/Queen Anne/Interbay (it's actual neighborhood) area, but I've never had anyone get all that excited in their comments about the food.

*****I used to pass it 20 times a day for almost 2 years...So I use "literally" literally.

woofmutt

[ Edited by: woofmutt 2008-07-30 09:39 ]