Pics of Vics (fond memories of Trader Vcs LA)

In light of the abrupt closing of Trader Vic's, Los Angeles, I wanna encourange everyone with pics of their experiences at Trader Vic's, LA to post pictures. The LA Vic's was a true landmark and it is sad to see such a piece of, not only tiki history, but Los Angeles history go.

here are Pics of Vic's on my last visit, in March with friends:

Where the magic happens (a blury picture of the bar):

And the bill...Let's face it, Vic's was pricey:

Mrs. DigiTiki with a Suffering Bastard:

Yours truly:

The Tiki Bowl...damn I want one of those bowls:

The fitting image....Aloha to Vic's LA:

Thanks for posting those pictures and starting this thread. Those of us that never made it there, will be able to live vicariously through visions on TC. :)

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see em
Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that d.d.t. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Dont it always seem to go
That you dont know what youve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Life is a state of mind

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-05-01 00:37 ]

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-05-01 00:42 ]

Ojaitimo,
A great set of pics!!! My personal favorite is the one of the bartender pouring a Mai Tai....makes my mouth water!

"You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on." -- Dean Martin

[ Edited by: Digitiki 2007-05-01 08:55 ]

The last time we visited Trader Vic's Beverly Hills my camera broke the day before - so no pics - a big bummer.
But at least we had a great night & got to chat with one of the fabulous bartenders while he tried out some maitai variations on us with different rums. A truly memorable experience, even though we have no pictures to remember it by :cry:

The best :drink:

Here are the pics I took on Monday,April 30th 2007

Below: Notice the 2 "suits" or the "Beverly Hilton Police" who asked me to leave the property and take pictures from the street...

.....DisHeartening....

Here is a picture of yours truly stealing the Elusive Alabaster Albino Moai Ibex shortly before closing.

P.S. - During the heist I never spilled a drop of my Mai Tai. That takes decades of training.

I might have some pics to share. I'll check when I get home. I may have lost 'em during the hard drive crash early this year.....
......

Tom Slick,
Great pictures of the mural outside. I never was able to get a good shot of that because I always was there after dark.

I was just there this past Saturday 4/28 and I took this photo. Had I known they were closing, I would have taken more!

[ Edited by: blowtiki 2007-05-04 16:38 ]

[ Edited by: Ojaitimo 2007-05-12 22:14 ]

I am very sad that there are NO photos of the ORIGINAL Trader's, neither any of the exterior, with the early name, nor of the interiors, except for that one postcard shown below.

The rendering is great, but can't be trusted for the actual end result:

..it did have those Chinese tiles in it!

Here's the bar with the view of the side room, which used to be much nicer. But also, in 1955, the Trader Vic's style was simple, still. Then, in the 60s, it was probably really decked out, and then in the 80s major renovations scaled back on the decor again. So far, this is all conjecture to a large degree, I have never seen any photos of the heyday.

Last is a rendering of a corner of the restaurant that has a fascinating history. Florian Gabriel gave it to me as a present, and told me its story:
When Gabe applied for the designer job at The Luau, Steve Crane gave him this task: "Go around the corner to Trader Vic's and make a sketch of the decor" ...which he did, and the rest is (Tiki) history. This is the rendering that got him the job at SCA: