Post #471371 by Mo-Eye on Fri, Jul 24, 2009 5:03 AM

Just found another decent possibility in St. Petersburg, again on Treasure Island.

China Boy was opened in November 1963 by Danny Wann and F. J. Richard of Clearwater. Wann was head chef at the Hawaiian Village in Tampa and was also connected to the Seven Seas Restaurant in Clearwater. Dining room interior was labeled as a Far East Theme, so probably not much actual tiki. However, they did also have a Polynesian Bar in the cocktail lounge, which was operated by Leon Leung of Rochester, NY. It had "tall ceramic mugs designed with Oriental faces" and over 45 drinks on their menu. The chef, Allen Poy Lee came from the old Black Pearl restaurant.

Here's an ad for the China Boy from 1964 :down:

It states that they would pay for your toll over the causeway! They ran a lot of these ads through 1964, but then there is no info after that. Looking at google maps, there is actually still a Chinese restaurant in what looks like the same location, but couldn't make out the current name.