Post #599081 by TikiTomD on Sun, Jul 24, 2011 3:53 PM

While I was looking for information on “Beyond the Reef” (focused on the Ormond Beach restaurant, not Judge’s in Brookfield, WI), I ran across some information on the Leilani Supper Club and its successors. The original newspaper clippings posted by Lake Surfer are great, supplemented by additional fine research by meega and Mo-Eye, with DC doing his usual superlative job on visuals and bigbrotiki putting in some context along with others.

First, that 1983 news article on the sale of the motel from Lake Surfer also included a photo with a portion of the motel sign in the background...

The Milwaukee Journal March 2, 1983

An excerpt from that same article indicates that the Leilani Supper Club in its original incarnation ended in 1966 with a bankruptcy sale...

This 1967 article hints at the reason things went awry (high prices for big name entertainers) and indicates that the Leilani reopened at the beginning of 1967 under new management, Beefeaters Table, Inc, with a more limited scope...

The Milwaukee Sentinel January 31, 1967

Leilani Supper Club entertainers mentioned in the 1965 and 1966 gossip columns included Wayne Newton and Vic Damone.

Starting in 1970, the Leilani Restaurant started focusing on wedding receptions, according to newspaper editions of the time. Then in 1974, I ran across this ad which was the first explicit mention of Giles’ Leilani that I had run across...

The Milwaukee Sentinel August 21, 1974

This 1980 article suggests that Giles’ Leilani Restaurant was doing a great brunch business...

The Milwaukee Sentinel January 19, 1980

To survive, this 1983 article shows that Giles’ Leilani introduced a “legal” casino in November, 1982 and renamed the business to Giles’ Leilani Fifth Season Lounge and Restaurant...

The Milwaukee Journal June 9, 1983

Seems that by 1985, Giles crossed the line on the “legal” casino...

The Milwaukee Journal October 24, 1985

And, in spite of stating that the Leilani was “a restaurant first and a casino second,” the local food critics thought otherwise...

The Milwaukee Journal November 15, 1985

This 1984 ad indicates that Giles’ Leilani still relied on the wedding reception trade...

The Milwaukee Sentinel January 18, 1984

By the end of 1987, the business had devolved to a large extent...

The Milwaukee Journal December 12, 1987

By the beginning of 1989, it looks like the Leilani was experiencing a final incarnation on its way to the wrecking ball in the 1990s...

The Milwaukee Journal January 17, 1989

-Tom