What is up with Bahooka's hours?!

OK, this is a long story about a terrifying ordeal we had last night. It all started when we went to Disneyland. We did not know why at the time, but the park closed 6PM last night (turns out there was a Grad-Night-esque party for EVERY Disney employee). We didn't really care, as we planned on hitting up the Bahooka after the park. It took us TWO HOURS to be herded out of Disneyland and to the parking lot after having soap suds, masquerading as snow, dumped on us and everyone else in the park (but that's another story)

We get back to my girlfriend's "lowrider" and head down that big-ass ramp and run over a tiny yellow speed bump thing. OW! Well, no matter. We head on the 5 when we hear a scraping sound. The fender molding had come off of the car! It was a few miles before we could pull over, but it was to late. We drove back tp Disneyland and waited 20 minutes to talk to "they" (another long story).

By this time it's about 8:30. Now, I did not have any idea where the Bahooka was. All I remeber was "Rosemead." We saw a Rosemead Blvd. in Downey, so we figured "Let's try that!" We drove, saw nothing. Then we saw two tiki apt. bldgs. "It's a sign!" we thought. We drove more, saw nothing. Then we saw a vaguely tiki/tribal/African motel. "ANOTHER sign from the tiki gods!" we gasped. We drove more, then REALLY saw more nothing. Then, we saw an A-framed Korean church. "The Bahooka?" No, not the Bahooka. Then we hit a pothole. Then, the Bahooka! I made a u-turn, accidentally ran over the curb, pulled into the parking lot...

The Bahooka had closed. It was now 9:00 PM.

Disappointed, we drove back down Rosemead, past two other freeways we could have taken, and then past the 5 into distant and exotic Downey, "Looking for soul food, and a place to eat." Now, quite by accident mind you, for I had NO idea this was here, we find...

The World's Oldest McDonald's.

We are amazed. We are thinking this night is saved. We get out, read the plaque posted by the gigantic sign, and then walk over to order our food.

Rather then politely tell us they are closed, they slam the take out windows in our faces. I don't know, perhaps they could have TURNED OFF THEIR LIGHTS INSTEAD OF LIGHTING THE PLACE UP LIKE VEGAS if they wanted ot let people they are closed! I'm am starting to hate Downey.

It is now 9:30 PM.

We drive around Downey trying to find SOMETHING. ANYTHING. We settle on a place called Pieloon. Inexpensive, good food, good service. Perhaps the night was salvaged?

NO! We get home at midnight, and now I have stomach flu from midnight until two AM! ARRRRRRRRGGGHH!!!

Now you read all of this, and you are thinking "Why isn't this posted in the Beyond Tiki section?" Because I want to know WHY was Bahooka closed at 9PM? In fact , I got the impression that it had BEEN closed for awhile. If it had been open, half this crap could've been avoided. I was really looking forward to going there.

Come to think of it, why was EVERYTHING closed? Pieloon was open late: 10PM!

If I may paraphrase W.C. Fields: "I went to Orange County once, but it was closed! Ah, yes!"

[ Edited by: Trader_Rick on 2002-12-06 10:08 ]

Trader Rick,
Its unfortunate you had a bad night. But it seems like you are blaming your bad evening on Bahooka being closed! It sounds like your bad night started hours before you even made it to Bahooka - and continued through the rest of your evening. Forgive me for asking, but how did Bahooka end up being the scapegoat?

*** * * The Polynesian Popster * * ***

[ Edited by: PolynesianPop on 2002-12-06 10:33 ]

Good point, pop. I was in a pretty bad mood on the way over there. However, if you reread my message, I say "If it had been open, half this crap could've been avoided". HALF, not all. And true, I could have called ahead and actually planned this out, but I still think 9:00 is awfully early to close a restaurant. At least next time I'll know better.

On the plus side, I got to go to Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room again!

Crap! My car broke down and I didn't have my cell phone! Sat on the side of the freeway for hours- DAMN that Bahooka!

Trader Rick,
It seems like the Bahooka, although it serves an array of drinks is a "Family Restaurant". And therefore, a restaurant, before being a bar. It seems unfortunate that it cannot stay open as a bar after the restaurant closes. I looked on the website, this is what I gathered from it. They have a kid menu for gosh sake. I guess if one wanted to start real early on the drinking...What lushes! :) I think Bahooka should stay open later, what a tease!(My humble opinion)
Ukulelelady
P.S.Sorry about your misfortunes.

When assigning blame, I think it's prudent to go after the entity with the deepest pockets, so clearly this is Disneyland's fault.

Closing at 9 is still preferable than, say, closing for 3 weeks in a row. I think maybe I can blame anything that goes wrong until the 18th on the Ti being closed :) As for Bahooka, I defer to the official goodwill ambassador of Bahooka. Matt what is the story with the hours? :)

Steve

The hours posted on Bahooka's website show that they close at 9PM Sunday through Thursday and 10:30 PM Friday and Saturday.

Tiki-Ti's hours are 6PM to 2AM Thursday to Saturday, and that is when they are open at all which seems to be getting less and less common. I had wanted to go there for my birthday, but no... they're closed again.

Only in certain parts of town do you find places open late. Rosemead is not one of them. Downey isn't either.

Who said I was blaming Bahooka? I just thought it was weird that it closed so early it would have really salvaged a crappy night. Also, if people can vent about being stuck in LA traffic or about their lame bosses, can't I vent? Next time I'll post in "Beyond Tiki" I guess. Actually, next time I'll just plan ahead. I thought it was more of a bar, not a restaurant. Then again, this place serves a helluva a lot of drinks for being a family restaurant that closes so early!

But I am NOT blaming the Bahooka for anything. Just imagine you went to a garage sale and you found a really cool tiki mug. You ask the person how much it is and they say "Oh, that's not for sale." Then you find another one and they say "Oh, that's not for sale either. In fact, nothing's for sale. Go away." Last night felt kind of like that. Sure, Bahooka will be there tomorrow, but after all that, that's how it felt at the time. I feel much better now. Ah, this is like tiki therapy! :)

By the way, how come no one rushed to take McDonald's side? Not tiki enough? :D

[ Edited by: Trader_Rick on 2002-12-06 20:32 ]

On 2002-12-06 12:33, Steve Kapu wrote:

Closing at 9 is still preferable than, say, closing for 3 weeks in a row. I think maybe I can blame anything that goes wrong until the 18th on the Ti being closed :) As for Bahooka, I defer to the official goodwill ambassador of Bahooka. Matt what is the story with the hours? :)

What I've been told is that there is just no business past 9. Really the place is extremely slow Monday through Thursday. Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be downright packed to the gills. I prefer the place mid-week, so you can sit and enjoy yourself at the bar. The bartenders/owners are some of the nicest people around. And regardless of what some people say, the drinks are pretty darn good.

As for the place having a lot of drinks for a family restaurant, that is just a few of what was once a bigger list. If you goto the website you can see that there are missing numbers on the drink page. I've been told several drinks have been pulled over the years. Of course those were the drinks that were most aligned with those in the grog log(strong, not too sweet, and powerful). They do have the grog log(wonder how they got that?), so maybe you can convince them to make you something.

The house special drink, not on the menu, is pretty powerful.

Aloha

trader rick
i am on your side and your radio show kicked ass back in the day.

l.a. comapared to sb is like going from haiti to dom rep. crap here, but paradise there. i am sorry for your experience.your show is still de best