Polynesian Inn Restaurant in Albuquerque

Anyone know anything about this place? A kind soul sent me a link to this postcard, which just sold on eBay:

I've created a page for it in Critiki:

Polynesian Inn Restaurant

It's a bummer the back of the postcard is nearly impossible to read. I can about make out the words "ORDERS TO TAKE OUT" and "Chinese" and "American" and that's about it. The postcard sold for over $70! (Side note -- check out the way the postcard was used. It's to a TV station in Albuquerque, and the only info on the note side is someone's address & phone number... Mrs. Clark, Jr. was entering a contest with her local television station.)

It looks like the sign on the right of the building could possibly say "Tahitian Room", and I can't tell what the sign on the other side of the building says.

A quick trip to Google Maps/StreetView reveals that there's a very small park and an older-looking Denny's ('70s, maybe?) on the rough spot where this once stood. My Google searching turned up bupkis. Albuquerque had a Polynesian Cocktail Lounge, but I'm pretty sure there's no connection, as that place opened in 1990 and its origins are pretty well-documented and don't mention this place as a predecessor.

Thoughts? Ideas? Sharper eyes than mine? Better yet -- KNOWLEDGE?

I got...

A Grand Eating Adventure in a Polynesian Style Atmosphere. Enjoy your _____Chinese or American Dishes featuring ______________________drinks.

Caters or Take Out
Phone__________________

:wink:

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-04-09 10:12 ]

[ Edited by: leleliz 2009-04-09 10:14 ]

I can't quite make out the numbers, but it looks like the street name is San Mateo NE.

Sorry, I should have been more clear: I've got the address, it's 2420 San Mateo Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM. It was in the text of the eBay listing (but nothing else of use).

Finally, a TAHITIAN ROOM locale that is not just one of many rooms in a restaurant. I have been looking for one, because of this mug:

Because of the totem pole style I thought it might be Canadian, but New Mexico is Injun country, too. :)
The mug seems very locally made:

The French signature does suggest Canadian origin, however.

lots of french folk in the south east as well , like New Orleans...Acadians are french that started out in Canada probably thought the cold weather was bullsh#t and headed south ( cant blame em there huh?)

That place was right down the street from my house. There's a Denny's restaurant there now, and it's right next to a highway interchange (Interstate 40), so my guess is the building was torn down when they ran the interstate through town in the 1960s.

I found an ad for it under a different name (Trader Horns) in the October 1963 version of the Albuquerque phone book, which I'm posting below.

The same phone book has another ad for the Tiki Bird, which I'm also posting below. (Sadly, that place is gone too.)

And then there's the famous Tiki-Kai Supper Club featured in the Tiki Modern book (and a couple old editions of Modern Man magazine from the mid-1960s). Also gone, but I found a drink menu in a picnic basket full of random crap at an estate sale a few years back, which is the third image depicted below.

I'll keep searching. More info is bound to turn up.