Trader Vic's, Beverly Hills - RIP - A Photographic Tribute

Just a couple months prior to the unfortunate closing of TV's, Bev Hills, I found myself feeling nostalgic for the restaurant I'd eaten at so many times with my folks as I was growing up. So I spontaneously decided to just go -- by myself that night -- and re-live a bit of my past.

But, being a tikiphile, I also called ahead and spoke to the manager, asking her if it would be alright to bring my digital camera along and take some photos of the venerable establishment. And she said "Sure -- That's fine."

Now, the truly odd thing about all this is that, at that point, I had yet to hear word one of all the rumors swirling around about the Beverly Hills TV's imminent demise. So my timing was just very fortunate, because, if I'd waited instead of acting on my spur-of-the-moment impulse, I could very well have waited until there was no more B.H. TV's to go TO!

And so I decided to finally share my pictorial tour of one of the oldest, classic, vintage tiki establishments with the rest of my TC Ohana! And I apologize, up front, for the uneven photographic quality. I did not have my tripod with me, and didn't want it to seem like I was doing a commercial photo-shoot.

Still, I think you'll be pleased to see that what some of the pics may lack in sharpness, they make up for in thoroughness. I tried to capture everything I could. And, now, boy am I ever glad I DID!

Aloha and ENJOY!

Mahalos for the Memories!

(AND the Mai Tais!!!)

Cheers! :drink:

Glad you got the shots...thanks for sharing.
TVBH just slipped away quietly.

Ha. In Germany we have the expression "throwing salt into old wounds". Don't bring up Trader Vic's demise again, it has been extensively covered and mourned here...though I maintain my stance that, since it already had been so thoroughly de-tikified in the 80s, the interior was not THAT much to cry about, at least no contest to the authenticity of Atlanta, Munich --or Chicago, R.I.P.

Here is another nice interior and exterior photo-rich thread about it, also:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6957&forum=2

Looking at your pictures again, Paul, think: Was this what the Trader Vic's looked like that you had gone to with your parents? I believe that that day you felt compelled to take those shots you were missing a Trader Vic's of the mind, a memory that had already departed:

That old world lamp chandelier in the vaulted bamboo ceiling, what is that doing there? And looking at the other ceiling shots, with all their great bamboo beams, WHERE is the slew of beachcomber lamps that usually hangs there...and around the booths, WHERE are the Tikis and carvings -(those few Tahitian Tiki poles were still there because they were structural)...and in those last pics, what the hell are crystal chandeliers doing under a vaulted rattan ceiling?

All these were crimes committed in the devolution era of the 80s. They were supposed to make the place "classier", and in the minds of many, they did...but as a Tiki palace, they just made it blander. It is then that we should have cried and protested, but no one, me neither, took note then.

So, yes, it was a loss, but only the finalization of a loss that had begone long before.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-15 16:21 ]

Well said, bigbro!

And point well (if somewhat sheepishly) taken! (Also, tikihai -- glad you were able to extract some enjoyment from the post/pics. Mahalos!)

Here's the deal, essentially, from my POV...

Though I DO agree -- I could hardly do otherwise as it's a glaringly obvious matter of fact -- that the interior was, sadly, no longer what it had been in its golden years, and had, indeed, been substantially de-tikified. Nevertheless, like a pig hunting truffles, I was determined to unearth what few remaining details of tiki-friendly decor could still be found and capture them for posterity. And indeed there WERE some positive aspects still to be seen, though admittedly somewhat lost amidst the dominant overall blandness.

Yes, as you astutely surmised -- and as I had actually started to express in my original reply to your first, unedited/expanded reply here -- I had, indeed, been missing a fondly remembered "Trader Vic's of the mind" as you aptly put it. But your pointing out of specific incongruities and odd juxtapositions of decor were rather eye-opening for me and enabled me to see things more from your own understandably (and PROPERLY) critical perspective.

So -- Mahalos, sir!

And, yes, I'm aware of how extensively the closing of the Bev Hills TV's has been discussed and mourned on Tiki Central -- perhaps to excess. However, given my particular mindset, I never feel that seeing photos of now-defunct tiki establishments, whether they had lost a lesser or greater measure of their former "tikiness", is quite analogous to "throwing salt into old wounds".

Now, if I were, instead, to post an extensive photo-thread documenting a certain Walgreens in Columbus, Ohio... Well, then I would richly deserve any and all verbal brick-bats that might fly my way! :lol:

Essentially, I suppose I tend, as a rule, to focus more on what has been retained rather than what has been lost. The donut vs. the hole, so to speak. And, to be honest, my former memories of the Beverly Vic's were when I was too young to clearly remember many specific details of decor. Though I vividly DO remember it having more of a fun "jungle" or tropical island ambiance back then, rather than the more elegantly sedate, yacht-club vibe which predominated in later years.

On my previous visit there -- in my early teens -- the World Series was happening and Jerry Lewis was going from table to table, listening to a portable radio, sharing the play-by-play & scores with the other amused or just bemused diners! So the place held some pretty colorful memories for me, needless to say.

Perhaps if someone has a nice selection of pics of what the place USED to look like back in the day, they might consider posting those as a basis of comparison. Or has that already been done? If so, I've never happened upon it in my searches for the Bev. Hills Trader on this site.

But I must say that if any of my current favorite remaining tiki palaces/bars/lounges were to go the way of the BH Trader's or San Diego's The Islands restaurant, I'd find it pretty bloody hard to focus on any small remaining aspects of former coolness! In fact, I'd be damn MAD :evil: and frickin' DEPRESSED! :cry:

Lastly, bigbro, I actually appreciate your rigorous and uncompromising attitude to all things tiki, and respect you for your honesty. Lord knows there's enough ass-kissers out there already! :wink:

Cheers! :drink: