Post #426644 by Kenike on Thu, Jan 1, 2009 6:37 PM

In October, 1958, Dobbs House Inc. announced plans to redecorate and re-equip the 2nd floor main dining room at Dallas Love Field’s newest terminal. The plan was for a “Polynesian dining experience,” as no name for the restaurant had been chosen. By the end of that month, décor had already begun to arrive.

Manager Thomas Martin told the Dallas Morning News, “We’ve got wooden carved Easter Island statues, real native spears, dugout canoes and other things on the way. There will be an elaborate pool with a stone bridge going across it. We’ll have a waterfall, native huts – we are buying all authentic things, not trying to make an imitation.”

Henry Rose, former employee of Don The Beachcomber and Trader Vic’s, arrived from Honolulu as a consultant. The News also reported that Rose’s grandparents were “the last Occidental aids to Hawaii’s last reigning monarch, King Kamehameha.” I guess no one at the Dallas Morning News bothered to do a fact check on that claim.

The rest of the article:

“Ching Lee, an alumnus chef from Trader Vic’s, has installed his round bottom pans in the Dobbs House kitchen and is testing his recipes on Texas appetites.

“We had to change the stoves – Ching Lee’s pans wouldn’t sit on flat stoves,” said Martin.

“When will the plush terminal’s Polynesian restaurant start serving fancy island fare to the wafted strains of steel guitars and the muffled chant of soft voiced warriors?

“Christmas is our target date,” said Martin. “By the way,” he added, “Polynesian Room is just a working name. We haven’t decided what to call it yet.”

The restaurant opened in what seems like record time – the last week of November, 1958. Less than 2 months after it was announced.

“The Dallas Luau opened for business this week, though decorators were still completing the sumptious setting. There is seating for 300 at the tables of glistening monkeypod wood. There are massive carvings of Polynesian gods – Akua, the war god, and Tiki from Bora Bora among them. Native spears and knives are displayed in the straw of a decorative portico; likewise, there are native dugouts and drums, ornately carved shields and screens, and a bulkhead covered with a near-extinct native Hawaiian tapa. There are even specimens of the thorny Porcupine fish and waterfalls."

Bill Wong (from the Outrigger in Denver) was brought in to help train the kitchen staff.

“Wong is coaching the chefs in Dallas to prepare Polynesian delicacies for the Dobbs House Luau at Love Field. Wong has been operating the Outrigger Room in Denver. When he finishes up his stint at Dallas’ Dobbs House, setting the menu and training the staff, he’ll perform a similar mission in Miami.”

1967 magazine ad:

1969 magazine ad:

In January 1974, DFW airport opened between Dallas and Fort Worth, and business at Love Field dropped dramatically. To help keep the terminal open, part of it was turned into a family entertainment center called “Llove” and the Luau was turned into a caberet and dance club.

The Llove concept only lasted a few years. Office space currently occupies the location of the Luau.

[ Edited by: Kenike 2010-11-22 12:35 ]