Tiki Central / Locating Tiki
El Tiki, Imperial, CA (restaurant)
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
06/19/2008
Name:El Tiki Description:
[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2020-01-15 19:34 ] |
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
06/19/2008
Wow. Not too long ago, someone posted the menu from the El Tiki here: ...which I tought was a great example of cross-cultural Tiki inspiration back in the day. The menu text says it all. |
C
CheekyGirl
Posted
posted
on
06/19/2008
Wow...anyone have pictures of what it looked like back in the day? |
JW
Jason Wickedly
Posted
posted
on
06/19/2008
Interesting, it looks like it is out in the middle of nowhere! Are there other businesses around it? Very cool...there's a million Chinese Tiki themed temples, but this is the first Mexican Tiki place I've seen. Neat find Mike. |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
06/19/2008
My first job was as dishwasher at the place in about 1975, I lived about 1/2 mile away and way able to ride my bike to work. Yes, it was out in the middle of nowhere, about 15 miles from town, but people came for the food and the atmosphere. I've known Ben all my life, talked to him this morning when I went and took the pictures. I'm sure El Tiki was what influenced my love for tiki. Nice menu photo, where was it posted? I'll check with Ben and see if he can dig up any old photos. Anything worth doing, is worth doing to the point of wretched excess. [ Edited by: MadDogMike 2008-06-19 15:19 ] |
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
06/20/2008
Unfortunately I can't remember who posted the menu here, maybe the person will chime in, I could not dig it up per the Search function. |
STCB
![]()
Sabu The Coconut Boy
Posted
posted
on
06/20/2008
That was me. But purloined those photos from an eBay auction that I ended up not winning. One of the big tiki-collectors owns that menu, though. Really cool that the building still exists. Great A-frame. Sabu |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
06/21/2008
Lyrics from their 70's radio ad jingle: Once upon a time, a long time ago El Tiki, El Tiki, El Tiki is nice |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
12/22/2008
Found the rest of the menu at http://www.tikiroom.net, thought I'd post it. I loved the "Tiki Toes"; nachos made with big fresh fried tortillas chips, real cheese, shredded beef taco meat, tomatoes, sour cream, etc. Yummmm. I like the prices too; shrimp plate $1.50, T-bone steak $2.95 :o |
A
arriano
Posted
posted
on
12/22/2008
The "wine cocktails" make me shudder. Did they use red or white Almaden wine to make their Zombie? |
R
RevBambooBen
Posted
posted
on
12/23/2008
This must be the place where Amy got her tikis. http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=20143&forum=18&start=0 |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
12/23/2008
Amy's place is amazing (that's your work, isn't it Ben?) She's about 80 miles North of here but all of the El Tiki tikis are still in place, her's must have come from somewhere else |
QK
Queen Kamehameha
Posted
posted
on
04/09/2009
hi all, Yes, I was on my way to mexicali and saw this place. I stopped knocked on the door Mark, the son, I believe, told me his dad had carved the older tiki's and the place was a restaurant and bar years ago. It's now his house. Some booths are still inside, still very retro looking, but not much else. I asked if I could buy some of the tiki's and we made a deal. I bought 3 with the largest being 15 feet, now 12 above ground. I was there last, about 5 yeras ago. I always wanted to go back Mad dog, I think his son is mark, Ben wasn't home when I was there, I met the sister though. Also, when your looking at the front of the main building, there was a drive entrance to the right, 2 of the tiki's I bought were at that entrance, all 3 that I have were carved by his dad as told to me. Mark had palm logs on the side of the house he said he was trying to learn to carve tiki's. I might try to take another ride over there, they were widening the road when I was there, We borrowed one of the road plows to help get the tiki's out of the ground. Then Benny who built my yard, hauled them back to Palm Desert. Amy [ Edited by: Queen Kamehameha 2009-04-09 18:21 ] |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
04/10/2009
Shows how much I know :) I haven't seen him in a while, but I've known Mark since he was just a pup, and I took his sister to the prom :)
[ Edited by: MadDogMike 2009-04-09 20:03 ] |
QK
Queen Kamehameha
Posted
posted
on
04/10/2009
MD, wow! small world, I am not generally good at names, but I spent 4 hours that day with him, getting those statues out and loaded, what a nice guy and his sister was nice too.They showed me around and it was great. My first real successful tiki find. I wasn't a Tiki Central member yet, so I never posted the about the Tikis. It's nice to know someone who knew about the place, thanks for all the info and pictures. I never took pictures that day, so I will put this with my yard folder to keep a record.Thanks again! Amy |
Z
Zeta
Posted
posted
on
04/10/2009
El Tiki with a sombrero... Now I have seen it all! |
QK
Queen Kamehameha
Posted
posted
on
04/10/2009
Mike, Just so you have them in one thread here are 2 of the El Tiki...Tiki's That I have.The third I dont have a pic of but will get one, it way up at the top of the yard |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
04/10/2009
Thanks Amy, they look right at home in your yard. Much happier than they were off the side of some abandoned country road. Seems like I don't see many new tikis carved upside down with the rootball for hair. |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
06/15/2009
Here is another of Ben Wilson's Tiki creations. This one migrated to a residence during the great tiki diaspora after El Tiki closed. This is a lousy cell phone picture taken through a dirty windshield, I'll replace it with a better one sometime. EDIT - New picture posted 4/23/10 [ Edited by: MadDogMike 2010-04-23 18:49 ] |
N
ninax797
Posted
posted
on
03/30/2011
This is funny my mom was telling me stories about her childhood bestfriend Benjamin Wilson sharing a song el tiki jingle for show and tell in the fourth / fifth grade she was singing it to me I thought it was cute so I tried finding it and she remembers the whole song, her name is Monica. I thought my mom was going nuts. |
O
Otto
Posted
posted
on
07/11/2011
Hey! This would be a great idea/theme for a South of the Border style Tiki Oasis? |
D
Dustycajun
Posted
posted
on
07/11/2011
Now where the heck did John-O get that shirt? DC |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
07/11/2011
Otto - Ben Wilson, the owner of El Tiki, had built some fiberglass sombrero'd tikis in the late 70s for a chain of Mexican fast food restaurants he tried to open. I don't know if any of those are still around but they would be cool decorations for Oasis (though Sven would say they were "Tiki Devolution Style" and he would be right) Edit - DC, he said he had HB Tiki print it for him. Hey look, mister. We serve hard drinks in here for men who want to get drunk fast, and we don't need any characters around to give the joint "atmosphere". Is that clear? [ Edited by: MadDogMike 2011-07-11 15:40 ] |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
09/25/2011
April 9, 1963 - Imperial Valley Press A 6-foot tiki god, which weighed more than 300 pounds, was stolen from the front of El Tiki Restaurant in Imperial. Ben Wilson, the restaurant's owner, said he was busy with customers most of the afternoon and when he went outside at 7 p.m. to turn on the outside lights he discovered the tiki missing. |
CTIT
Chuck Tatum is Tiki
Posted
posted
on
09/25/2011
Looks like a case for...Chuck Tatum, Time Travel Detective! |
D
danlovestikis
Posted
posted
on
12/06/2013
Somehow I missed this thread. I'm so happy you posted it again with your special proposal. Now back to the main thread! Wendy |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
03/02/2014
Found this posted on FaceBook yeasterday. An El Tiki float in the 1963 Imperial Fair Parade. Talked to Ben (the owner of the El Tiki and soon to be my father-in-law), her doesn't remember much in the way of specifics but that he opened the bar the year before and was probably looking for a little advertising. The picture is not so clear but when you zoom in you can see a tiki head on the front, two palm trees on the back, and two or three people sitting on the float. One is a girl with a pink flower in her hair and the middle one looks like it could be Ben. He still owns the 1924 Model T and still drives it in parades. |
FM
Fez Moai
Posted
posted
on
03/05/2014
That's pretty awesome! And congratulations! |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
04/01/2014
1965 Yellow Pages ad |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
09/22/2014
Our local paper has a column where they reprint old "Stories From the Past", this was printed 4/16/14 so the original story was in April 1974. |
H
![]()
Hakalugi
Posted
posted
on
09/22/2014
Ha! That's great! |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
01/15/2015
I posted a picture a page back of a tiki that Ben Wilson, the El Tiki owner and now my father-in-law, sold after El Tiki closed. It has been guarding the driveway of a house down the road from me for 25 years. I had always admired it but never thought about buying it. Last month I noticed it was leaning and in danger of falling so I contacted the owner of the property and we made a deal for me to buy it. At 10 feet tall, it is heavier than I expected - I estimate it to be about 300 lbs. It was carved in the 60s so it is close to 50 years old, but is in great shape due to our dry desert climate. |
H
hiltiki
Posted
posted
on
01/15/2015
Lucky guy. |
B
bigtikidude
Posted
posted
on
01/17/2015
congrats on gettin that Mike. |
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
01/17/2015
Does anyone in the family have photos of the house when it still was "El Tiki"? |
ATP
![]()
Atomic Tiki Punk
Posted
posted
on
01/17/2015
Very cool! |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
01/17/2015
Thanks guys, I'm excited to show the Tiki to Ben as soon as he is feeling better |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
01/22/2015
I had seen and posted the first part of this story a while back, now I found the exciting conclusion of the story. April 9, 1963 - Imperial Valley Press El Tiki Restaurant’s tiki god is home-complete with a new and brighter face. So was this the beginning of the devolution of Tiki? Brightly colored Tiki faces in California in 1963? Maybe we can't blame it on Florida or Jimmy Buffett? :lol: |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
01/26/2015
1969 ad |
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
01/26/2015
Says it all! :) |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
02/10/2015
Finally got Ben over to the house to see the Tiki he carved back in the day. He recognized it immediately like an old friend. Ben is 86 years young, recovering from a recent triple cardiac bypass and getting stronger every day. |
H
hiltiki
Posted
posted
on
02/10/2015
Nice, love that tiki. |
B
bigbrotiki
Posted
posted
on
02/10/2015
Wonderful! Were any photos taken of El Tiki back in the day? |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
02/10/2015
Sven I have been trying to find pics but no luck. Ben can't seem to find any. I put out a call on the local "I remember" our town on FaceBook - got lots of fond memories but no pics :( Ben lives 100 miles away, one of these days I'll get to his house and help him look. |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
09/11/2015
Not having any luck finding inside pictures of the El Tiki so I decided to make one :lol: [ Edited by: MadDogMike 2015-11-04 22:20 ] |
A
![]()
AceExplorer
Posted
posted
on
09/11/2015
Nice, MDM, good choice of subject! You can create your own wall art for your tiki bar. That's cool. |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
11/14/2015
El Tiki had ephemera! Thank you HBTiki :wink: |
M
MadDogMike
Posted
posted
on
01/29/2016
Finally found 2 lonely pictures of the inside of El Tiki. They were taken in the early 80s, after the restaurant closed but was still used for private get-togethers. Thatch, bamboo, Tikis, fishing net, etc. The dapper gentleman in the grey suit is the owner, Ben |