Trader Vic's, Almaty, Kazakhstan (restaurant) - Locating Tiki

K kenbo-jitsu Tiki Socialite Southern CA Joined: Jul 27, 2011 Posts: 367	K kenbo-jitsu Posted posted on Thu, Jul 31, 2014 4:30 PM The Almaty location is a strange one. It was without a doubt once a legitimate Trader Vic’s location. It still appears on this current menu for the Trader Vic's in Munich. http://www.bayerischerhof.de/resources/_docs/en/cocktailkarte_trader.pdf Here’s a picture in case the PDF goes away. Also, according to the Internet Archive WayBack Machine, it WAS at one time listed as a location on the Trader Vic’s corporate web site. It first appeared there sometime in the second half of 2009. (This is actually a year and half earlier than I had previously thought the place had opened – although maybe the web site was anticipating the opening.) Sometime between then and now, though, the relationship between this restaurant and Trader Vic’s corporate seems to have changed. There have been quite a few overseas franchise locations recently that have left the Trader Vic’s fold and gone their own way. All four India locations, for example, left this year and now operate as a chain called, “The Big Kahuna”. This isn’t quite what’s going on here though. Check out this curious window sticker shown in one of the photos of the place available on the internet. Photo from http://ilovealmaty.kz It’s almost like the restaurant is independent now, but they’ve made a deal with Trader Vic’s corporate allowing them to sort-of pretend that they’re not.

The Almaty location is a strange one. It was without a doubt once a legitimate Trader Vic’s location. It still appears on this current menu for the Trader Vic's in Munich.
http://www.bayerischerhof.de/resources/_docs/en/cocktailkarte_trader.pdf
Here’s a picture in case the PDF goes away.

Also, according to the Internet Archive WayBack Machine, it WAS at one time listed as a location on the Trader Vic’s corporate web site. It first appeared there sometime in the second half of 2009. (This is actually a year and half earlier than I had previously thought the place had opened – although maybe the web site was anticipating the opening.)

Sometime between then and now, though, the relationship between this restaurant and Trader Vic’s corporate seems to have changed. There have been quite a few overseas franchise locations recently that have left the Trader Vic’s fold and gone their own way. All four India locations, for example, left this year and now operate as a chain called, “The Big Kahuna”.

This isn’t quite what’s going on here though. Check out this curious window sticker shown in one of the photos of the place available on the internet.

Photo from http://ilovealmaty.kz

It’s almost like the restaurant is independent now, but they’ve made a deal with Trader Vic’s corporate allowing them to sort-of pretend that they’re not.

Post #724437 by kenbo-jitsu on Thu, Jul 31, 2014 4:30 PM