hala kahiki merchandising

I have forever been on their case to re- issue their old vintage menu as re-release souvenier to sell through their gift shop. Also, a re-issue of their famous pineapple head mug. they want to create and sell their new menu, which is nice, but doesn't have the same appeal. They are also kicking around the idea of putting a silk-screened logo on all their clear glassware based on their old matchbook cover. i feel we are getting closer to this actually happening. stay tuned........

I have one of their menus-bought it in the gift shop-unfortunately,it has no drawings or photos.I wish they would reissue their signature mug-I'd love one of those.

Stay on target, Dave.

The folks at HK are such great people, but they can take their time in adapting to new ideas.

In a way, that's good: it is what has kept the place largely untuoched for 30+ years. On the other hand, yes, having them revive a souvenir mug and classic menu would not be bad at all, would it? I can smell the feeding frenzy already....

i'd be first in line if they do, my favorite place on earth

I think people in the restaurant business spend most of their time running the restaurant. Hence the slow reaction time to producing side projects like repro mugs and menus. If someone outside the restaurant could take up the ball as an intermediary and hash out the details, do the legwork, I would bet they might be more willing to get things going. It'd take a person that wanted to perform a labor of love, and wanting to see a project through for the sake of the project.

Any takers?

It'd take a person that wanted to perform a labor of love, and wanting to see a project through for the sake of the project.

In a perfect world, you would be right..... however, when dealing with restaurant/bar owners, it's almost never about love it's always about money. you get into the bar business to make money......(and the porn business to make love)......you see, trying to get the owners to open their wallets for stuff like this is the real trick. they simply don't care and don't want to shell out the dough. In their minds, hala kahiki isn't broken, so why waste money fixing it. It's been running perfectly for years and years, the place sells itself, so why change or add anything new just to placate a few tiki geeks!!! This is the mentallity that we who love the stuff we are into are up against when trying to get the rest of the world up to speed on it. Time and time again I did the legwork and served it up on a bamboo platter to no avail.... people are creatures of habit and it's hard to get them to try something new...christ, I've tried to get them to have some small bands/exotica combos play there in the summer or at the very least, update their jukebox with some blue hawaiians, don tiki or any number of wonderful tunes available today. don't get me wrong, i've known those folks for years and love em' all to death but it's an uphill battle all the way....

It just shows ta go ya!!!