The Lanai, San Mateo, CA (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

A aquarj Tiki Socialite SF bay area, CA Joined: Apr 02, 2002 Posts: 1125	A aquarj Posted posted on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 11:28 PM Thanks DC for posting those! On 2010-10-15 08:19, Dustycajun wrote: A really old matchbook. I've never seen that one, and it's definitely old, as suggested by two things. First, earlier materials for The Lanai do not even have a specific numbered street address, other than 40th and El Camino. Second, there's no mention whatsoever of Villa Square, which in all likelihood puts this in the earliest days of the The Lanai, between the opening of the restaurant in 1950 and the opening of the Villa Hotel (and Villa Square concept) in 1957. One interesting thing I've wondered about is when the palm tree neon sign was added. Namely, was it there with The Lanai from the beginning in 1950? This matchbook suggests that the curving palm tree icon would have been part of The Lanai identity from the beginning. It also appeared on some of their plates. We can see the neon sign in question in the brochure image above, but more on that coming up in my next post... -Randy

Thanks DC for posting those!

On 2010-10-15 08:19, Dustycajun wrote:
A really old matchbook.

I've never seen that one, and it's definitely old, as suggested by two things. First, earlier materials for The Lanai do not even have a specific numbered street address, other than 40th and El Camino. Second, there's no mention whatsoever of Villa Square, which in all likelihood puts this in the earliest days of the The Lanai, between the opening of the restaurant in 1950 and the opening of the Villa Hotel (and Villa Square concept) in 1957.

One interesting thing I've wondered about is when the palm tree neon sign was added. Namely, was it there with The Lanai from the beginning in 1950? This matchbook suggests that the curving palm tree icon would have been part of The Lanai identity from the beginning. It also appeared on some of their plates. We can see the neon sign in question in the brochure image above, but more on that coming up in my next post...

-Randy

Post #560156 by aquarj on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 11:28 PM