Julian's Dining Room and Lounge, Ormond Beach , FL (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

T TikiTomD Grand Member (6 years) Flagler Beach, FL Joined: Sep 20, 2009 Posts: 700	T TikiTomD Posted posted on Tue, May 31, 2011 10:51 AM DC, I found a bit more on The Tropics and its connection to Julian’s from a deep dive into the news archives. The article below indicates that The Tropics began life all the way back in 1950. Julian Lopez apparently not only got his idea on employing the A-frame from The Tropics, but also large wall murals (Pirates in this case, rather than Polynesians). I’m sorry the microfiche source is such poor quality, as clear interior images would be priceless. It was even worse than bad, as the whole page was photographed at an off-angle, so I spent a fair amount of time cutting, rotating and piecing this together... Daytona Beach Morning Journal May 26, 1950 The excerpt that follows is from a larger article on area restaurants and indicates that Julian Lopez started work as a chef at The Tropics circa 1960, presumably leaving in 1967 to establish his own Julian’s Dining Room and Lounge that opened on December 22, 1967. It was stated that The Tropics had been open for 12 years, corroborating its 1950 opening date from the earlier article above. Daytona Beach Morning Journal June 23, 1962 Bigbrotiki, retirees were fairly represented in the Sunday night attendance at Julian's. Some were clearly regulars as the staff seemed to know them and what they wanted. Several couples danced to the lounge music in the area off to the left where the shields and Witco carvings hang. A fair number of tourists also entered. More regulars intent on drinking and watching sports on TV could be found at the "tiki bar" hidden on the southwest end of the building, accessed from the dining area through the doors to the kitchen. Live entertainment wasn't present on Sunday, but we noticed that it was posted when we drove by on Saturday afternoon. -Tom

DC, I found a bit more on The Tropics and its connection to Julian’s from a deep dive into the news archives. The article below indicates that The Tropics began life all the way back in 1950. Julian Lopez apparently not only got his idea on employing the A-frame from The Tropics, but also large wall murals (Pirates in this case, rather than Polynesians). I’m sorry the microfiche source is such poor quality, as clear interior images would be priceless. It was even worse than bad, as the whole page was photographed at an off-angle, so I spent a fair amount of time cutting, rotating and piecing this together...

Daytona Beach Morning Journal May 26, 1950

The excerpt that follows is from a larger article on area restaurants and indicates that Julian Lopez started work as a chef at The Tropics circa 1960, presumably leaving in 1967 to establish his own Julian’s Dining Room and Lounge that opened on December 22, 1967. It was stated that The Tropics had been open for 12 years, corroborating its 1950 opening date from the earlier article above.

Daytona Beach Morning Journal June 23, 1962

Bigbrotiki, retirees were fairly represented in the Sunday night attendance at Julian's. Some were clearly regulars as the staff seemed to know them and what they wanted. Several couples danced to the lounge music in the area off to the left where the shields and Witco carvings hang. A fair number of tourists also entered. More regulars intent on drinking and watching sports on TV could be found at the "tiki bar" hidden on the southwest end of the building, accessed from the dining area through the doors to the kitchen. Live entertainment wasn't present on Sunday, but we noticed that it was posted when we drove by on Saturday afternoon.

-Tom

Post #591491 by TikiTomD on Tue, May 31, 2011 10:51 AM