Hula Hut Drive In, Whittier, El Monte, Fullerton, Anaheim, CA (restaurant)

Name:Hula Hut Drive In
Type:restaurant
Street:
City:Whittier, El Monte, Fullerton, Anaheim
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
I came across a menu and a matchbook from the Hula Hut Drive In restaurant chain with locations in Whittier, El Monte, Fullerton and Anaheim. Really seems to be risque advertising for a family-style drive in burger place. I guess they were trying to get the Dads to come in!

Suprised I have not seen more from these places given that there were 4 locations.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2010-03-03 21:12 ]

Great paper ephemera, DC. I agree, the menu makes it look more like a strip club than a burger joint. Though this matchbook (pictured in the BOT) names Pico as its home burb, one can assume by the street address that it's the Whittier location. Not only the match cover, but the cover inside are tres sexy -though it seems to be more like nightclub clip art:

I guess they were believers early on in the motto "Sex Sells" --even burgers and hot dogs.

DC -You forgot to mention that these images came from a menu that sold on ebay for
a crazy price ,I think it was $ 280.The Hula Hut in El Monte was very popular in
the 1950's.My Dad met my Mom there for the first time and the rest is history.
They have been married for 51 years.My Dad has told me of the stories at the Hula
Hut which later turned into Bills drive in.This was the quintessential place that
would have been right out of "American Graffiti".The guys had slicked back DA
hair cuts with their cigarettes rolled up in their tee shirts sleeves and the girls
had the poodle skirts with bu fondue hair dues.Lots of cruise nights with cars of
all sorts would pull up there .Oh did I mention the girls on skates as car hops .
Look at the prices on the menus, are you kidding me....30 cents for a hamburger .
BTW I was the original winner of the menu .

1961 Surf,

Nice score on the Hula Hut menu, I remember trying to win that but it got bid up well beyond my meager means. I grabbed the images because they were so cool for that era.

Great story about your Mom and Dad, glad you got the menu.

I read some stories on the internet abut the Hula Hut restaurants being real gearhead places. Dan Gurney of car racing fame hung out at the Hula Hut in El Monte.

The Hula Hut in Whittier was frequented by Dean Moon the famous hot rod pioneer. They even had a car club called the "Hutters" named after the Hula Hut. Here is a picture of Moon and some fellow Hutters from the book Moon Equipped. Looks just like your description.

DC

Does anybody have specific address of all four Hula Huts?

You know DC if you think about it, if it wasn't for the El Monte Hula Hut...
I probably would not exist or have ever been born .Wow I never really thought
about that one.

Cool info, DC, the first actual, historic connection between Poly pop and Hot Rod culture I am aware off.

Anyone remember this place -> Since I grew up in San Gabriel through the 70s and 80s, there was a Polynesian or Tiki style of place that was a club, or a restaurant that had a big outdoor seating area where you could drinks out of half cut Coconuts, and Polynesian dancers would be in the distance dancing on a stage Was it a Tiki Hut?....anyone know what I am remembering? Been asking this for decades....

If it was in the San Gabriel valley, it could have been the Royal Tahitian in Ontario:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=2233&forum=1&start=45&hilite=royal%20tahitian

Or more likely "The Tikis" in Monterey Park, South San Gabriel:

http://critiki.com/location/?loc_id=302

Both had big outdoor areas with stages.

That is some saucy advertising.

I would like two 35cent cheeseburgers & one 15 cent Frys please!

I dug this up in the LA Library archives. It says that it is the Hula Hut in LA but I'm not sure of the exact address. This location definitely looks more like a club or lounge than a drive in.

The photographer is Herman Schultheis.

Summery from the archives "...exterior of the Hula Hut. They offered dancing for entertainment, dinners, cocktails, and as the main attraction: Andy Iona & Sam Koki, and their Columbia recording Islanders."

Abstract,

Great research from the library. I have a matchbook from that Hula Hut. It was located on Beverly Blvd in Los Angeles.

I don't think it was affiliated with the later chain of Hula Hut drive-ins.

DC

Thanks DC, It's hard to believe that a drive-in had such provocative advertising. I hope someone can discover even more information or find an owner or employee that will shed more light on the Hula Hut drive in chain.

Here is an image I found on the web for the Beverly Blvd Hula Hut. It is very similar to the matchbook you posted with a slight change in font on the Hula Hut name.

Found a great photo of the Hula Hut sign on Whittier Blvd. in Pico.

Tattoo also started a new Locating Tiki thread for the Hula Hut on Beverly, so any items from that location should go there.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44188&forum=2&4

DC

Nice shot!
That '34 Ford five window coupe hot rod is pretty cool, too!

Now THAT'S iconic !

On 2012-10-19 13:14, Dustycajun wrote:
Found a great photo of the Hula Hut sign on Whittier Blvd. in Pico.

Tattoo also started a new Locating Tiki thread for the Hula Hut on Beverly, so any items from that location should go there.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44188&forum=2&4

DC

The old Hula Hut Drive In was at about 10400 Whittier Blvd. The 605 freeway sits
there now. Around 1960 the Hula Hut bar and grill opened at the 9314 address in Pico. I lived nearby and still do.

Mr. Mahan's Hulaville in Victorville, Ca. had a large Hula Girl sign (she's still in the Rt. 66 museum on D st. now along with a diorama of Hulaville) if you listen to the video where he talks about the sign you can hear him say that she came from the Hula Hut ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F1UjZTELyM

Found these architectural renderings of the Hula Hut sign from Whittier, what a beauty. These came from a post from Heather David on Flickr and were in a 1952 Signs of the Times magazine. Sign was designed and built by Heath & Co.

DC

On 2018-07-05 14:43, Dustycajun wrote:
Found these architectural renderings of the Hula Hut sign from Whittier, what a beauty. These came from a post from Heather David on Flickr and were in a 1952 Signs of the Times magazine. Sign was designed and built by Heath & Co.

DC

Great find!!