Hawaiian Room, Bellflower, CA (bar)

Name:Hawaiian Room
Type:bar
Street:9875 East Alondra Blvd.
City:Bellflower
State:CA
Zip:90706
country:USA
Phone:(562) 866-9252
Status:operational

Description:
Old Tiki Bar from the late 1960's.
Origianlly decorated by Leroy Smaltz (Oceanic Arts)

The owners (Candi & Monroe) have owned the bar since 1980. The bar is now a local neighborhood hang-out with limited tikies. However, drinks are cheap, they have Hawaiian music on the juke, & there are a lot of cool Polynesian artifacts lurking in the shadows.

Resurrection: September 20, 2003
https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=5195&forum=4&72
:drink:

Aloha TIKIphiles, I swung into the Hawaiian Room last night on a lark and had a great time. Although I just missed the thursday night $5.00 steaks(!), the Karaoke was happening and alot of fun. The best thing about this place however is not the entertainment or the decor (which is old and tattered thatch and bamboo but very cool), but Debbie the bartender was super nice and made an amazing "sex on the beach...with a curve"(?), and it only cost 3 bucks!(I quickly removed the fruit and umbrella as the local gentry were looking at me funny)Anyhoo, a good time was had by one and all and I recommend this joint to anyone who likes a little "dive" in their TIKI bar.

tikitortured, glad you liked it, Candi & Monroe are great owners, i hear candi does a mean korean bbq.

tbird

[ Edited by: Tiki Bird on 2004-04-30 15:42 ]

There's nuthin' worse than a "mean Korean" BBQ'n.

I don't mean to beat a dead horse by reviving this thread but I really think this place deserves the attention. It's really a relatively unknown and unfrequented gem. It is such a classic old tiki joint and it gets very little recognition. Sure it has beer signs and posters of sexy beer chix hanging everywhere, but underneath all of that and the dust is a truly vintage Tiki bar. No offense to the Lucky Tiki or the Purple Orchid or Mr. Tiki, because I DIG those joints, but I'd rather hang at this raggedy old place, sip my mediocre-yet-cheap Mai-Tai, and daydream about what this place once was. Even better: what this place COULD BE again! All it needs is a little TLC...TIKI LOOKING CRAP. Man, if we (Tiki folk), made a few suggestions and/or donations to the owners, this place could be "the $#!+" again! I've talked to the owners, a VERY NICE man and wife of (I think) Polynesian-Asian extraction and when I told them how cool and classic their place was and how there is a big Tiki Bar revival going on, they seemed surprised. I'm not trying to "rally the troops" or anything but I do want to bring attention to one of the last REAL Tiki bars in L.A. or California, or the U.S. for that matter, cuz before long all we're gonna have left is our own home bars and a few newfangled,trying to be vintage, immitation, plastic coconut, twelve dollar Mai-Tai cuz Tiki-Ti does, ceramic tiki mask, yet still pretty cool cuz we got nothin' else left kinda places! So c'mon down and support this dive and strike up a convo with the sweet little Asian gal behind the bar and tell her how cool her place is and how much cooler it would be if she would put this Tiki pole you carved in the corner over there. I'll be the knucklehead at the end of the bar sippin' a FIVE DOLLAR MAI-TAI with a stoopid look on my face, gazing past that hot Mexican chick holding a can of Modelo. Aloha!

[ Edited by: tikitortured 2005-09-23 18:29 ]

This place ain;t have bad--I'm glad I had the chance to visit it the last time I was down there!

I've been hanging out here after work. Its a pretty cool bar with a lot of history. Does anyone have some history or photos on this place. I would luv to see it in it's glorious hey day. I haven't had the steaks or bbq, but wold love to hit those nights! Any chance of anothe T.C. nite here!

u r a brave soul

I have been there twice. scary stuff.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Aw come on your big guy, its not that bad. hahahahahaha! Just a working mans crowd.

I stop to have a mai tai today after work. The decor is amazing, wall to wall tapa. Some nice lady rambled sweet nonsense mumble to me and another cute biker girl was ranting and yelling. It's a must go! Let me know if anyone plans to go in the afternoon during the week. It's only a few blocks from where I work.

I don't think I have been there ever since Miss Hawaii and I found its O.A.Tiki-handled doors locked, ten years ago. :)
Does it still have that white "Droopy" Tiki fountain statue in the entrance?

I don't recall. I'll be sure to take some photo's next week and post them

I usually go on wedensdays and thursdays after 2pm. Hit me up if you go. I usually go when Brandy the bartender works.

anybody up for drinks this weekend or next week after 2pm?

Tomorrow is my last day at work and I'll be visiting here around 5ish. Come out!

PICTURES!

this place is a true hidden gem. i would love to see some old pictures from this place.

Wow, that place is something else! People talk about how dust is a welcomed commodity when it comes to tiki bars... From the looks of these pictures, this place may have the most dust out of any current opened tiki establishment!

On 2009-08-01 10:09, Tiki Shaker wrote:
From the looks of these pictures, this place may have the most dust out of any current opened tiki establishment!

This impression however, is vastly exaggerated by the above photos' flash lighting. Every dust crumb reflects the light like under a microscope. I doubt the owners have ever seen their place like this. Observe, please:

A dramatically lit corner ( with film lights) of the Chin Tiki:

The same corner, lit with a camera flash:

Though I added a few props for my shot for Tiki Modern to make the image more cluttered, I certainly did not wipe any dust. Actually, I was so disappointed to find that my final photo showed so little dust, since it was meant to portray a Tiki tomb, that I briefly considered using the flash picture.

This is not meant to criticize Coco Joe's photography, which best documents all the detail left in the place that the human eye would not pick up on --AND it's patina. It is rare to find authenticity without dust. The Hala Kahiki is one of the few examples, they wipe it down top to bottom regularly.

When I stumbled on the Hawaiian Room in the late 90s, the entrance room had this type of Tiki greeting you:

In WHITE, mind you! I assume it is not there anymore. Sabu, was it still in place when you came upon this place?

Hi Bigbro,

Actually, that tiki was at the Hale Hawaii in Torrance, not the Hawaiian Room. The tiki still there, and the Hale Hawaii is another gem of an old tiki bar that's still managed to survive. We must arrange a field trip for $10 scorpion bowls soon. Have to do it on a week-night though. The Hale Hawaii is no longer open weekends.

On 2009-03-06 20:21, bigbrotiki wrote:
I don't think I have been there ever since Miss Hawaii and I found its O.A.Tiki-handled doors locked, ten years ago. :)

This, too, is in reference the Hale Hawaii, not the Hawaiian Room...

that big bro guy doesn't know anything about tiki

On 2009-08-01 17:52, Coco Joe wrote:
that big bro guy doesn't know anything about tiki

An obvious rookie!

DC

Thanks Sabu and Z-man for clearing that up, I clearly mixed up my Hawaiian strip mall joints, tiz tiz! I was at the Hale Hawaii last more than 10 years ago, and looking at that entrance thinking "did it look like that?" No it didn't. :)

That doesn't look like dust, it just looks like garbage lying around and a tipped over barstool.

That being said...it's close to home, so I'll be there.

Great Neighborhood bar. I will be there tomorrow after work.

Please join me for drinks tomorrow around 4pm

On 2010-01-13 12:33, Coco Joe wrote:
Please join me for drinks tomorrow around 4pm

Ha ha ha,
Sorry Joe, been there 3 times,
and it scared me all 3 times.
especially the 65 year old transvestite Karaoke singer.

Come down to Don's when your done.
I'll pay for you 2 to get into the show.
Jeff(btd)

On 2010-01-14 18:13, bigtikidude wrote:

On 2010-01-13 12:33, Coco Joe wrote:
Please join me for drinks tomorrow around 4pm

Ha ha ha,
Sorry Joe, been there 3 times,
and it scared me all 3 times.
especially the 65 year old transvestite Karaoke singer.

Come down to Don's when your done.
I'll pay for you 2 to get into the show.
Jeff(btd)

You're missing out! This place is awesome and seriously the nicest people ever!

Bamboo Ben needs to do a resto on this place bad.

[ Edited by: WooHooWahine 2010-11-14 18:23 ]

Nothing says Tiki more than Coors Lite Neon signs and Karaoke.
:o

Jeff(btd)

I've lived in Bellflower my entire life, but just noticed this place yesterday for the first time! Looks interesting!

I recently visited the Hawaiian Room as I was driving North from Irvine, and it was still too early for DTBC Dagger Bar. Could the HR be the only Tiki bar in the world (other than Frankie's) where you can get a drink at 10am ?? I really like the HR, not only is it a vanishing breed of authentic mid-century Tiki bar, but it's an actual Tiki DIVE bar. You can't say that about the refurbished Tonga Hut anymore.

Here's some interesting undocumented (??) facts that I got while chatting up the local barflies. When the HR opened in 1964, it was simply called the "Hawaiian Room", there was no Poly-Pop decor. The story goes that the following year (or maybe even much later), one of the regulars who was a superintendent at the nearby Tahitian Village motel complex in Downey, "appropriated" some of the decor there for the HR. I don't know if that's really true, but this is what they told me.

They also told me they have a great $7 steak special on Sundays and to come back for that. They were all a friendly bunch of working-class regulars who were VERY proud of their bar. They know that the tapa paper is very valuable and that nothing should be pinned on top of it, and not to turn on the fragile looking Pufferfish lamp.

Maybe we should start having a Tiki Central night there. :)

[ Edited by: JOHN-O 2011-03-16 21:01 ]

Some pics that I took there in 2012

OK, John-O. See you there in November!

I wonder if they still do the steaks there?

Jeff btd

Does anyone know if the Hawaiian room is still open? I tried to call the other day and it appears that the phone has been disconnected?

Appears to be open, as of last week. There's a post on Yelp http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-hawaiian-room-bellflower

On 2005-09-23 18:26, tikitortured wrote:
I don't mean to beat a dead horse by reviving this thread but I really think this place deserves the attention. It's really a relatively unknown and unfrequented gem. It is such a classic old tiki joint and it gets very little recognition.[...] I'm not trying to "rally the troops" or anything but I do want to bring attention to one of the last REAL Tiki bars in L.A. or California, or the U.S. for that matter[...]

Ten years later and it bears repeating -- loudly this time, because big changes are afoot!

This place is a serious relic ... is it the second-oldest tiki bar in LA? Why has it never gotten any love from the tiki locals? So it's not a place for "craft cocktails" and $20 drinks, or heck for any exotic libations at all -- probably not even something involving Lemix -- but what it's got is tiki authenticity. It's funny how the press never includes it in a list of LA's oldest tiki, either, so they missed the latest news...

But as of last year, it still had the air of a forgotten tiki tomb from 1960:

Now, big changes. It was recently bought by the owners of the Bottoms Up Sports Bars. They are "keeping the Hawaiian theme" but "updating" it ... the bartenders have to dress in Aloha shirts now. We have no idea what happened to the insides of the place; all we know is something just happened!

[ Edited by: mike and marie 2015-03-25 19:42 ]

Thanks for the update, John O and I were wondering a few weeks back about the place.

"But as of last year, it still had the air of a forgotten tiki tomb from 1960.."

Something tells me that this is not gonna be the case anymore :(

Sounds like bad news. Who is going to volunteer to survey the damage?

DC

Facebook: Bottoms Up Tiki Lounge/Hawaiian Room

[->>King Bushwich 33rd on Hulu.com

The sports bar curse, again!

Went this afternoon and at first glance not much has changed. The staff is still cool and cocktails are still awful. My wife had a Mai Tai (Hawaiian style) and I had a Longboard on tap. They need to keep the kegs colder and chill their glasses.
A noticeable amount of Tiki Decor is no longer there but It is still worth a visit. The interesting “bottle wall”has been reduced to about a third of its former self.
The Tapa is still on the walls and the canoe’s and bamboo are looking good attached to the ceiling.
The place has been spiffed up top to bottom. We had just started to enjoy our visit when the juke box began blaring out a gangsta rap”melody”. Completely destroyed the moment and it was time to leave.
Happy Hour, am to 10 am and 3 pm to 6. My Longboard was 3 bucks, Mai tai was 10
Compare this pic of same tile in previous posts and you can see that they have applied some elbow grease to this establishment.

I love the "bottle wall". I first saw one at the Kon Tiki in Tucson a few years ago.

On Monday I decided to make my own version for my home bar, the Tiki Nui. I went to Oceanic Arts to buy some cork for it. Leroy saw me with a bag full of corks and asked what I was up to. I told him what I was making and he shared this story. He made the ones for the Kon Tiki and other bars. The bottles were Sake bottles he would get from digging through the trash in Little Tokyo. They were made in the 60's and he showed me a photo album with pictures of these in different bars. I will confirm with Leroy next time I see him that he made the ones at the Hawaiian room. It is always such a treat talking to Bob or Leroy.
I made three of them so far and plan on making at least three more. Here's one I made.

Mahalo,

TikiVato

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2015-11-06 00:00 ]

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2015-11-06 07:03 ]