Post #403252 by TabooDan on Fri, Aug 22, 2008 5:23 PM

I know we have dated the close of the Hawaii Kai to 1989/90, but just to put a little more weight behind that, in the New York Times in September of 1986 there is a little bit of information about the Hawaii Kai and referring to it as still a restaurant to visit.

"At Hawaii Kai, another theater district tourist treat, a little plastic lei awaits every diner, and the floor shows features hula lessons. There is even a souvenir stand with plush animals, just like a 1940's nightclub - remember when Humphrey Bogart got into a fist fight over custody of a stuffed bear?

Hawaii Kai also maintains the tradition of funny drinks, of which the funniest is a volcano, a great ceramic bowl of rum punch, colored aquamarine to represent the ocean, with a ceramic cone rising from the middle. Sterno is placed in the cone, and then ignited; the thing is served with long straws, which keep you from singeing your eyebrows, while the flickering purple flame permits you to admire the bamboo-and-batiked interior, which is otherwise inordinately dark. Trader Vic's, which might be considered an upscale Hawaii Kai, has nothing half as delirious."

Neat l;ittle write up! I also find it interesting how the Hawaii Kai sign was still on the building up until at least 1993!