johnny quongs hawaiian - salt lake city

saw a mug on ebay today from jimmy quongs hawaiian...did a search here and found nothin....according to the seller the place (or at least the building)is still there...anyone know anything about it?? it was open (supposedly) from 1965-1973??

" I may not know karate..... but I do know crazy !!"

[ Edited by: Bora Boris - Corrected title. - 2012-02-27 20:22 ]

Tipsy,

There is a small picture of an ad from this place in the BOT, since I am at work right now, I can't tell what page. I have a Ku styled mug from this place.

Timeframe sounds about right, not for certain though!

PTD

BOT Page 157, upper right hand corner. Looks like someone we all know around here is bidding on it too!

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-08 15:13 ]

Won by...guess who??

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-1965-JOHNNY-QUONGS-Tiki-Mug-Salt-Lake-City_W0QQitemZ220230697747QQihZ012QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

One of the reasons I shop in the wild!

PTD

How great to discover a mug that I never knew existed! And that Frank didn't have yet !? Now that means something. I have seen this bugga before in a generic form, but never with that paint, and with the OMC sticker and that restaurant stamp.

The menu cover from the Hawaiian is also in the BOT, and the cool architectural model on the opening page of "The Tiki and its Temples" chapter in TIKI MODERN was done for The Hawaiian/Tiki Hut. That e-bay info about it is really interesting:

"The building is still there, with the recognizable mast soaring high....but it's in terrible condition now."
Now WHO is gonna go there and photograph that place, it sounds like a great example of Tiki Devolution !?

I wish I was home so I could post more images of the Tiki Take Out delivery vehicle fleet Johnny's had: Ford Mustangs that said "Tiki Hut" in the same type than the menu on the side...

Here's a matchbook from another of Johnny Quong's businesses, the Beachboy, also an A-frame!:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-09 03:15 ]

On 2008-05-09 03:14, bigbrotiki wrote:
How great to discover a mug that I never knew existed! And that Frank didn't have yet !? Now that means something. I have seen this bugga before in a generic form, but never with that paint, and with the OMC sticker and that restaurant stamp.

The menu cover from the Hawaiian is also in the BOT, and the cool architectural model on the opening page of "The Tiki and its Temples" chapter in TIKI MODERN was done for The Hawaiian/Tiki Hut. That e-bay info about it is really interesting:

"The building is still there, with the recognizable mast soaring high....but it's in terrible condition now."
Now WHO is gonna go there and photograph that place, it sounds like a great example of Tiki Devolution !?

I wish I was home so I could post more images of the Tiki Take Out delivery vehicle fleet Johnny's had: Ford Mustangs that said "Tiki Hut" in the same type than the menu on the side...

Here's a matchbook from another of Johnny Quong's businesses, the Beachboy, also an A-frame!:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-09 03:15 ]

glad i brought this topic to everyones attention!!...looks like i'm finally doing something right around here!!...and as a bonus, i didn't make anyone angry with this thread........what a day!!

Tipsy,

I saw that mug on ebay as well. Like Bigbro and KC, I too had never seen that one before. Here is a link to some great stuff on Johnny Quong's posted years ago by the Puamana and Sabu. This is the Ford Mustang Delivery fleet that Bigbro mentioned.

On 2005-03-07 12:24, puamana wrote:
Sabu, that matchcover with the drink pics is great ! I also hadn't seen anything from the Beach Boy before. Here's pics of the Johnny's Tiki Hut dinner menu :

Front:

Back:

Closer view of delivery cars for the Tiki Hut:

A-frame of the Hawaiian, with their delivery cars:

Inside back page of menu, with photo of architect's model for the Hawaiian :

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=13508&forum=1&hilite=quong

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2008-05-09 10:31 ]

Google street has already done Salt Lake City. The first address shows some buildings, but don't see it. The 54 2nd South address is a mystery to Google. If someone knows the location, they can have a picture of it now thanks to Google Street.

Maybe this is it? One building has a sign that reads "Exotic" but the address is 2901. This is further down the block on the other side.

Nope. This is it. Sigh

Swakny,

That Google Streets is amazing, I have not used that before. I sounds like they are working on shooting different Cities across the US? The Live Maps from MSN is also a good site for aerial photos in 3D birdseye mode.

These are the pictures of the mug from ebay. I thought I should post them before the link to ebay goes away.

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2008-05-09 10:27 ]

I thought I would add a few more postcards from Tiki in Salt Lake City.

These are from Benny Chan's Polynesian Restaurant.

On 2008-05-09 10:27, Dustycajun wrote:
I thought I would add a few more postcards from Tiki in Salt Lake City.

These are from Benny Chan's Polynesian Restaurant.

Kinda cool how they made the rocks look vaguely like tikis. Didn't notice at first.

That's also because they used a flash, which lit them flatly, straight from the camera. I bet with a little top lighting, the shadows would make them look more defined, even though they were intentionally kept crude.

Thanks for jumping in Dustycajun and pulling all that imagery on Johnny Quongs to give this thread its visual weight. I tried so hard to get that Tiki Hut Mustang fleet into TIKI MODERN, but did not find the room. That's the trade off with books, they are better than the web because you can hold and behold the images in a more "real" way, but even with a book as fat and full as TIKI MODERN, it cannot match the infinite room that the net provides.

And thanks for googling the building, that place bears no resemblance to the original, it either got added onto and completely changed in the process, or its another building. I have no idea what the e-bay seller is talking about in "...The building is still there, with the recognizable mast soaring high..." What mast? Maybe he means the sign, which WAS great (if not quite that big):

Somewhere, I think in the "Hawaiian" menu, there is a small photo of the UFO side of the building, with that wonderfull neon sign, so it really existed. I wonder if we have any Tiki agents in Salt lake City that could dig up real photos of the place. I have never seen any postcards of it, int or ext.

I wonder what kind of drink was served in that mug? Remember, this was Salt Lake City in the 1960's - that ad, postcard and matchbook are conspicuously missing the word "bar". Would be interesting to know if they had a whole series of non-alcoholic tiki drinks, ala the Hawaiian Punch Pavilion at Sea World.

On 2008-05-10 00:45, Koolau wrote:
I wonder what kind of drink was served in that mug? Remember, this was Salt Lake City in the 1960's - that ad, postcard and matchbook are conspicuously missing the word "bar". Would be interesting to know if they had a whole series of non-alcoholic tiki drinks, ala the Hawaiian Punch Pavilion at Sea World.

You mean...the tropical cocktails might all have been virgin in the Mormon capital? As a foreigner I am not knowledgeable about the intricacies of the liquor laws of that state, but it would be a curious footnote to Polynesian pop mixology history if indeed all these potions below (courtesy of Sabu from the above link) would have been non-alcoholic versions:

...and will we ever find out what was in a "Johnny's Hawaiian FI22" !!?

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-10 09:00 ]

That Google image is for one of th elocations, so maybe the other is more intact. Google maps had no idea where that street address was. It must have changed since then.

I asked the bum, and even he did not have any knowledge of the liquor law situation back then in S.L.C....has it changed since? Could all these cocktails really have been virgin? Was that maybe the reason why the place only lasted 8 years, the Polynesian food being the proverbial fish out of water without proper potion power? C'mon, SOMEONE here has to know about Salt Lake restaurant laws...!?

By the way, did anybody notice where Johnny swiped his menu cover Tiki from ?:

Straight from the United Airlines menu Tiki... (the original sculpture of him is standing in the Bishop Museum, I believe):

This menu cover was just mentioned here on TC, both menus can be enjoyed as full page illustrations in TIKI MODERN. :)
United Airlines clearly based the best example of its travel agency Tikis on this guy, too, here is Swanky's complete set up:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-11 05:48 ]

I have a letter from the Polynesian Salt Lake City dated March 12th 1969 saying that they do not serve Polynesian drinks because the state law of Utah prohibits serving malted liquor. signed Benny Chan Manager. This should solve the mystery

On 2008-05-11 10:22, pa'akiki wrote:
I have a letter from the Polynesian Salt Lake City dated March 12th 1969 saying that they do not serve Polynesian drinks because the state law of Utah prohibits serving malted liquor. signed Benny Chan Manager. This should solve the mystery

hmmm..no rum at the tiki hut....explains why all of them in that state went down the tubes and closed....it's just not the same...sigh

..also explains why it's so hard to find items from these salt lake bars.....back in the day, only drunks got randy and stole mugs ...sober folks rarely stole the drink mug for a souvenier, so not many ended up in house holds.....just a theory anyway.....

"Don't sweat the petty stuff - pet the sweaty stuff!!"

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-05-11 10:33 ]

I got a Johnny Quong's SLC on Ebay about 5 years ago. It wasn't nearly that much and as BigBro stated, it wasn't painted, nor did it look like it ever had been painted.

Having lived first-hand in the alcohol dry state of Utah in my youth, most bars that served drinks (yes, even then there were bars) did so by bringing you a glass, your mixer and a mini bottle of the liquor of your choice.

You then mixed your own drink!

Beer and wine were different, not deemed hard alcohol, so this could be served to you at a bar.

After the Olympics a few years ago, Utah loosened up on the laws and allowed bars to mix drinks. You can purchase beer and wine in most stores, but hard liquor is sold through state govenment liquor stores. Most counties are not allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays, including beer and wine at the local stores.

PTD

[ Edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-12 13:13 ]

Wow, Thanks for the info. Johnny's must have gone through LOTS of mini rum bottles then. Maybe each table had its own Hamilton Beach mixer? :D

Another Johnny Quong's Hawaiian mug on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Unusual-TIKI-Mug-Johnny-Quongs-Hawaiian-Salt-Lake-City_W0QQitemZ350097806688QQihZ022QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Just to help figure out dates for this place, this boring ad was run Oct 12, 1964.

I spoke too soon on this. Just found confirmation that the Hawaiian opened in 1961. Found a 1983 ad for the place that states they have been there for 22 years.

Tiny Outrigger bowl I found last Monday...

This one is marked for Johnny Quong's The Hawaiian Salt Lake City Utah. Does anyone else have one of these?

For size comparison.

PTD

On 2008-05-09 03:14, bigbrotiki wrote:
How great to discover a mug that I never knew existed! And that Frank didn't have yet !? Now that means something. I have seen this bugga before in a generic form, but never with that paint, and with the OMC sticker and that restaurant stamp.

The menu cover from the Hawaiian is also in the BOT, and the cool architectural model on the opening page of "The Tiki and its Temples" chapter in TIKI MODERN was done for The Hawaiian/Tiki Hut. That e-bay info about it is really interesting:

"The building is still there, with the recognizable mast soaring high....but it's in terrible condition now."
Now WHO is gonna go there and photograph that place, it sounds like a great example of Tiki Devolution !?

I wish I was home so I could post more images of the Tiki Take Out delivery vehicle fleet Johnny's had: Ford Mustangs that said "Tiki Hut" in the same type than the menu on the side...

Here's a matchbook from another of Johnny Quong's businesses, the Beachboy, also an A-frame!:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-09 03:15 ]

OK, guys. I just found your forum....and that's my (old) eBay listing you've quoted.

I see you've already found The Beachboy. In the mid-1960s, it was similar to the Hawaiian, with the rainstorms, thunder, and menu.

Here's what the building looks like right now:

http://snurl.com/uc05w [maps_google_com]

[ Edited by: krisbaker 2010-02-10 18:18 ]

[ Edited by: krisbaker 2010-02-10 18:20 ]

Two Johnny Quong mugs on ebay recently, the odd little Tiki..

and a generic Otagiri Coconut with the nameplate that could be filled in for the restaurant.

DC

I guess I'm the only person on Tiki Central who will admit to having been the the Hawaiian. I think it was the summer of '63 maybe '64 and after visiting family in Utah we joined a family friend at the Hawaiian. To the booze question, the drinks in the tiki mugs were all virgin, at that time only clubs allowed you to mix your personal booze with their mixers and you had to be a paid member or their guest, and this was a restaurant not a club. We had 4 or 5 different mugs at our table with that many different fruit drinks in them, mine came in the coconut and I felt gypped because the other mugs looked cooler. When you entered you went down a short hall which had the band on the other side, right passed the band area the room opened up like a great hall. Our host had reserved our table in the only intimate setting I remember, a large hut surrounded by a short wall, and yes the lightning, thunder started then the rain fell from the thatch eves into the short wall, totally cool! The band, uke, guitar, upright bass, steel guitar and others I can't remember (I think it was a 6 piece) came back from a brake and I went up to them to ask if they were Hawaiians and the leader told me that they were Samoans (pretty sure the didn't say Tongans), what they played would have been call Hawaiian music back then though. I can't remember the decor but I do remember the A-frame entrance and the Hawaiian sign to the right. On another tiki note the day before I had collected my first 2 tiki mugs, PMP handled tikis that I won at Salt Lakes Lagoon amusement park.
aloha and sorry about being so long winded, tikicoma

On 2011-07-20 00:12, tikicoma wrote:
I guess I'm the only person on Tiki Central who will admit to having been the the Hawaiian.

Nope... I was there.
I remember going to The Hawaiian back in the early 1970s. I was just a little tyke from NorCal visiting grandparents so I don't remember much; mainly that it rained INSIDE and had thunder and lightening and everything. Scared the crap out of me!
BUT I remember loving the decorations, seeing real hula girls, wanting to touch every Tiki in the place and that my grandpa was probably the hippest dude in SLC!
I wish I had pictures.

On 2010-02-10 18:17, krisbaker wrote:

On 2008-05-09 03:14, bigbrotiki wrote:

Here's a matchbook from another of Johnny Quong's businesses, the Beachboy, also an A-frame!:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-09 03:15 ]

OK, guys. I just found your forum....

I see you've already found The Beachboy. In the mid-1960s, it was similar to the Hawaiian, with the rainstorms, thunder, and menu.

Here's what the building looks like right now:

http://snurl.com/uc05w [maps_google_com]

[ Edited by: krisbaker 2010-02-10 18:18 ]

[ Edited by: krisbaker 2010-02-10 18:20 ]

Here is that image...it became The Spot Club

On 2008-05-10 08:58, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2008-05-10 00:45, Koolau wrote:
I wonder what kind of drink was served in that mug? Remember, this was Salt Lake City in the 1960's - that ad, postcard and matchbook are conspicuously missing the word "bar". Would be interesting to know if they had a whole series of non-alcoholic tiki drinks, ala the Hawaiian Punch Pavilion at Sea World.

You mean...the tropical cocktails might all have been virgin in the Mormon capital? As a foreigner I am not knowledgeable about the intricacies of the liquor laws of that state, but it would be a curious footnote to Polynesian pop mixology history if indeed all these potions below (courtesy of Sabu from the above link) would have been non-alcoholic versions:

Well, I managed to find a matchbook from Johnny Quong's Hawaiian. Some different graphics on the cover than the one Bigbro posted.

Sad but not surprised to report that all of those drinks shown on the inside of the matchbook were indeed non-alcoholic.

I am assuming there were a few airplane bottles/flasks imported into the Hawaiian over the years.

Also saw this take out menu on ebay with some nice graphics and info from the Hawaiian.

DC

is the dust on a dusty cajun: cayenne pepper, or filet gumbo?

First time I noticed this, the title of this thread needs to be changed from "Jimmy" to Johnny Quongs - moderator help.

Porpise - It's definitely Cayene Pepper.

I have seen a few more mug varieties from Johnny Quongs.

Moai

Modified Peanut.

And a Mainlander mug, rarely seen outside of St. Louis.

Some pretty nice mugs for a place that never sold liquor.

DC

I dug up some old ads for the Hawaiian.

An early 1960s ad with the call in service and delivery fleet.

This one has a nice rendering of the A-Frame building and the Tiki masks on the poles out front.

A comical ad for the takee outee service.

And a mid-1980's ad that referenced Mr. T for steaks!

Johnny with a Mohawk!

DC

Since this thread seems to be the repository of all things Beach Boy related, I figured I would ad this article about Johnny Quong opening the Beach Boy restaurant here.

The article indicates that the Beach Boy restaurant theme was going to be franchised out, but I have found no evidence of that.

And now, the Johnny Quong and the A-Frame Beach Boy.

DC

Wow, what an ace of an A-frame! Hopefully one day a good quality glossy 8x10 will turn up of this marvel.

Good to see some info on the Beach Boy A-frame come to light. I mentioned it back in 09' but there was no response back then. Always great to see something new.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=32643&forum=1

Found another ad from the Hawaiian, quite a floor show.

Now who got the great menu that sold on ebay a while back?

DC

I did

I had the empty cover for years, never knew this eye candy existed!

I need it for the show. You can ask for it as payment for your loans after :)

Spotted this cool invitation to a pre-opening Luau from the Hawaiian on ebay a while back.

DC

Once again WWII shows an interesting influence on a mid-century poly-pop restaurant. Johnny Quong was born in Canton in 1923, when he was about 10 he came to the U.S., during WWII he was a mechanic in the army-airforce for the Flying Tigers.

(from a 1965 international harvester magazine)
"The Hawaiian is a rendezvous decked in all manner of South Sea paraphernalia- obsolete anchors, coiled hawsers, fish nets, stuffed sharks and even a "built-in" typhoon.", and to my eye the buildings outriggers look like they are honoring the Flying Tigers nose art!

"Same night, but 2,193 miles away, a CM-80 Metro-Mite rolled up to a suburban Salt Lake City home. A pretty girl in Polynesian attire stepped out, her arms expertly balancing covered trays of piping hot chop suey, chow mein and Mandarin pressed duck. She rang the doorbell, was welcomed in, transferred the savory portions to the family's dinnerware, was paid for the service and returned to the specially outfitted International truck. another homemaker's request beckoned! The traveling waitress promptly wheeled away on her errands for The Hawaiian, a popular and colorful Chinese-American food emporium."

Utah is called the beehive state, I remember in the mid sixties asking my mom if it was named that after all the women's hairdo's. :lol:

aloha, tikicoma

Wow! Great stuff Tikicoma! Those CM-80 Metro-Mites are killer! Nice find.

DC

I saw this set of S&Ps once on Ebay (2nd photo is of that auction/1st photo is of the set I won) and realized that I had never seen them before and that they had never even been posted on this thread.

I happened to be wasting time online the other night and saw the set pop up in a mish mash lot of mugs i didn't really need but I bid anyways and won (this never happens) and ended up buy these for about $8.50.

Not bad.

Mo Eye had posted this rather boring ad from the Hawaiian announcing the live entertainment Hawaiian-style..

I picked up this old 1964 Salt Lake City newspaper photo of the band from the Hawaiian!

Kind of matches the ad in pizazz! The Hawaiian Osmonds?

DC

Whatever Happened to... Johnny Qoungs the Hawaiian?
Salt Lake Tribune article online today!

http://www.sltrib.com/news/1898275-155/whatever-happened-to-johnny-quongs?page=2

"Lightning flashes. Thumder rumbles through the air. The floor begins to vibrate. A palm tree crashes to the ground."

"He didn't want his restaurants to look like typical Chinese restaurants... He wanted to give diners more than just food-he wanted to give them an experience

The Quong's in the Hawaiian.

aloha, tikicoma

[ Edited by: tikicoma 2014-12-30 21:46 ]

Tikicoma,

Nice find on that article, always nice to see interior photos of these places and the owners. I scored an old mini match-cover from the Hawaiian.

With the always appreciated Tiki with Tiki Torch still like combo.

Now where did they come up with that tapa and font on the logo?

DC