Post #574318 by woofmutt on Wed, Feb 2, 2011 8:42 AM

"...You folks have it all wrong."

These folks don't have it "all" wrong, you just have one particular answer in mind which you believe is the One Answer as to why Tiki palaces get destroyed.*****

Many of the points raised here are completely valid and probably are reasons that an interesting establishment will be turned into yet another Drowsy McYawnfest's Mediocrity Grill & Warm Milk Bar. (Except for the concern about dusting. I've noticed most businesses don't dust their decor, no matter how simple and plain the decor is.)

There's a really interesting discussion buried in this thread: American taste and whether commercial properties cater to or actually create those tastes.

I say buried because as it is right now the thread isn't actually a discussion of this topic but a guessing game based contest to try and figure out the one answer you have in mind.

I'm looking forward to seeing if this one answer is the Unified Theory of Tiki Palace Destruction.

After the One Answer is revealed it'd be interesting to revisit this discussion in another thread.

*****A few years back I was talking with a guy who had been in the restaurant supply business for many decades and he told me about a greater Seattle area Polynesian themed restaurant that had failed. The place was, according to him, a really swell looking place with good food. The food was Polynesian and the guy said the reason the restaurant failed is that a Polynesian menu is the sort of thing people will do once maybe twice a year. It's not the place they'll go eat at every week.

While I think he had a good point I don't regard that point as the only reason such a restaurant would fail.