Mauna Loa, Mexico City, Mexico (restaurant)

Name:Mauna Loa
Type:restaurant
Street:Ave. San Jeronimo 240
City:Mexico City
State:
Zip:
country:Mexico
Phone:5616-2777
Status:operational

Description:
Restaurant/night club with a polynesian floor show, and a cover of 60 pesos (~$5). Don't know how long it's been around; reportedly "a long, long time." Extremely popular with tourists, with several shows a week -- reservations are recommended. There used to be a Mauna Loa in Mexico City in the 60s at Hamburgo 172, I can't tell yet if there is a connection there.

Tikifish said it better than I could, when she found Restaurant Luau in Quebec:

The ultimate holy grail of tiki hunting (besides maybe a Mauna Loa mug or a Steve Crane bowl) is finding a tiki bar that hasn't been documented or found by other intrepid tiki hunters. It's kind of like being Lord Carnarvon and finding Tut's tomb unspoiled. But better, because tiki hunting doesn't come with a mummy's curse (though it would make a good name for a drink).

Indeed, this is a special, even magical feeling -- I've found a new (to us) Polynesian palace. I haven't been there myself yet, but I found a coworker with a sister in Mexico City who has been before, and grilled her with a few questions:

Do they have tikis? Yes

Do they serve tropical drinks in tiki mugs? Yes

What year did Mauna Loa open? Long, long time ago....

What does the interior decoration look like? Polynesian, it is very typical.

Is the food any good (warning: it almost certainly won't be)? So, so....

The responses aren't exactly as detailed as I'd hoped, and I don't have pictures, but it's a promising start. She hadn't had the Mai Tai and so couldn't report on the quality of the drinks, and she didn't give me any specifics on the floor show. Next step is to call the place and ask for more specifics, like what year it opened, and if there is a connection to the other Mauna Loa.

Now, excuse me while I do a victory lap around my office...

Felicidades, mi'jita! Qué padre! (and I love the thought of your victory laps!!).

One more reason to be glad I teach Spanish; there's another cool tiki bar out there where knowing the language helps immensely (when you're there)!

Now I'm REALLY overdue for a trip down south....I gotta week off for Thanksgiving (the whole work week, plus the attached weekends). Any traveling companions available?

Lemme see what it'll take to get a passport (I've never needed one before), and I'll get back to you!

Que Padre! Formika, I like that use of Mexican spanish. Or its Que buena honda! I guess some TC is off to CHILANGOLANDIA!

Does that mean they are going to go to Chilangolandia on their Honda's?? Like a bike rally to Mex?? (I failed Spanish due to the fact I could not roll my r's.)

Ben, "que buena honda" kinda means " how cool". Ben my boy, howzit?

No passport needed for traveling anywhere in Mexico, although it's always a good idea just to have one. I've driven all over Mexico without one and was just fine. http://travel.state.gov/passport_services.html

I've decided to play it safe and get one -- I really should have one anyway. I've sent off for fresh copies of my birth certificate & marriage certificate, and I'll do the expedited passport -- I should be able to get one in time. Formika, I'll send you a private email where we can chat more & see if & how we want to do this. Judging from my adventures with Spanish & Altavista's Babelfish today, I really shouldn't be left on my own out there!

Maybe we can organize a trip if that darned Volcano don't erupt (which it seems to do every time I plan on hitting Tenochtitlan.) I'll never get to see Juan Diego's tilma!

Humuhumu you seem like an unstoppable force once something gets in your head! I like that! Atomic Cocktail, I bet if you asked nicely you could hitch a ride with these gals. Popocatépetl wouldn't dare make a peep around these two. I am sure you'd be in safe hands with Humuhumu and Formikahini serving as body guards. :wink:

[ Edited by: DawnTiki on 2003-10-08 11:53 ]

Just be careful ladies and gentlemen. Do you remember a man named Harry Truman? (real name, same as our past Pres.) He lived on Mt. St Helens. His words were, "This mountain wouldn't dare blow up on me". A few months later he and his home were incinerated, blown into the atmosphere. What a ride!!

Just for nerdy clarification's sake, Tenochtitlan is the valley (formerly the site of the Aztec capital, built on a lake, thus the sinking buildings today in Mexico City).

Popocatépetl (affectionately known as "Popo") is the active volcano shaped in the classic cone shape. In legend, he's the mourning prince, standing at the side of his beloved:

Ixtaccihuatl (or Iztaccihuatl), who looks very much like the "Sleeping Woman". She lies dead, stretched out under a sheet (of snow). Thses two mountains adorn the murals on the walls of just about every Mexican restaurant that has murals.

The story usually goes Romeo and Juliet-ish. Two opposing tribes, Ixtac's family are the hoity-toities (in the bad way, not the good way!). Popo's from the woodsy, hunter-y folks (too redneck for Ixtac's daddy). They run away together, but she dies of the cold and starvation, as Daddy has forbidden anyone to help them in any way. To this day, Popo stands over her, guarding her. Teach HER to disobey her parents and marry a boy from the "wrong" family!

This concludes your Mexican culture lesson for the day, class. You are now dismissed for recess....Where's my cocktail?

Thanks Formikahini, I did know that Tenochtitlan was (is) the name of the Aztec capital/valley, but I didn't know the name of the Volcanoes, thats why I love Tiki Central. I learn something new everyday! :D http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/popo/mar5popo.html

On 2003-10-08 07:49, jungletrader wrote:
Just be careful ladies and gentlemen. Do you remember a man named Harry Truman? (real name, same as our past Pres.) He lived on Mt. St Helens. His words were, "This mountain wouldn't dare blow up on me". A few months later he and his home were incinerated, blown into the atmosphere. What a ride!!

But they never found his body, and he had well stocked hidey holes in mineshafts in the area. several people think he might've made it & died of natural causes before anyone discovered where he was hidden.

As I'm in Mexico city right now (leaving for Acapulco tomorrow), I had to check out the location in San Jeronimo street. And well, it turns out it's closed now for a few years. I only saw a sign "Mauna Loa Plaza", but the owner of a store close to it confirmed the closing...

[ Edited by: virani 2006-04-03 19:11 ]

AAAAAAaaaagggghhhhh!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Aloha Amigos!
I took this picture 3 years ago in Mexico's most beautiful Polynesian bar ever. Mauna Loa, my parents used to take me there when I was a kid. It was huge, fancy and famous... With live dancing and music, very spectacular. It was in the Plaza Mauna Loa which was an office and commerce complex, with tiki columns, waterfalls and more tikis everywhere... The example I show, was on the outside, the specimen is made of concrete and painted white probably after the Mauna loa closed, ashamed of it's exotic origins.

Now it's a Dancing place called "Must" and before that it was called "Kapital".
Does anyone know where that kind of tiki comes from? Who produced it? Do you have any item from the bar?

I want to know...
Please help.

Z

On 2008-07-12 06:14, Zeta wrote:
....It was in the Plaza Mauna Loa which was an office and commerce complex, with tiki columns, waterfalls and more tikis everywhere...

Damn! That sounds great! Is there anything else left of that complex today? Maybe some modernism fans in Mexico City would have material about it...

That Tiki's eyes remind me of the Laguna Beach Outrigger illustration on page 301 of Tiki Modern, or that Kona Pali Apartment post in the lower right of page 223 of the BOT. I would attribute the style to Andres Bumatay, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tikis for the Mauna Loa were carved/sculpted by local Mexican artisans. Mexican craftsmen were sometimes even hired to contribute their skills to American restaurants, like at Ren Clark's Polynesian Village in Texas.

On 2008-07-12 06:14, Zeta wrote:
Do you have any item from the bar?

Z-man, did you see this thread before?:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=27442&forum=2

It starts out about a Mauna Loa in Canada, but most important to me is the fact that it later made me realize that the Mauna Loa Mexico logo Tiki (which is seen on the menu, matchbooks and swizzle stick) is based on a VERY important Tiki in early modern art history! :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-13 00:17 ]

Okay, I am doing a picture post test, but here is a picture of one of the rare headhunter style mugs from the Mauna Loa in Mexico City.

Bottom of Mug:

It's good to see that the cement tiki that was in front of the restaurant has lasted up until now.
Cool bit of Tiki history.

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-15 21:51 ]

Oh, and just noticed there isn't a picture of the restaurant in this post so might as well get one on here. And yes...live Flamingo's in the center area!!

And here's a drink Stir Stix from this location:

Most of my collection is in storage right now but there are quite a few pieces from the Mauna Loa, Mexico City location, out there in TC collections. We should try to get more pictures of the different items posted here in this post so they can be viewed all together and more easily. Please put them here if you can.

Thanks, on behalf of the Mexican Government!
Mahalo, TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-15 21:49 ]

From a couple of posts above:

On 2008-07-13 00:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
...but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tikis for the Mauna Loa were carved/sculpted by local Mexican artisans. Mexican craftsmen were sometimes even hired to contribute their skills to American restaurants, like at Ren Clark's Polynesian Village in Texas.

How soon does one forget: I myself wrote this in the Book of Tiki, page 249, (about Milan Guanko):

"...and Ren Clark's Polynesian Village...for which Guanko and two Mexican carvers, Juan Razo and Fidel Rodriguez (WHO HAD ALSO OUTFITTED THE MAUNA LOA IN MEXICO CITY) carved over 200 Tikis..."

I knew there was something like that...but forgot how dead on it was. :)

Now, how about an exterior of the restaurant and Mauna Loa Plaza!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-17 15:05 ]

TabooDan,

Nice pics of the mug, I think you have the picture posting system figured out. I have a couple of those postcards and I never realized that the Flamingo area held LIVE birds! That is magnifico!

Bigbro is right, we need someone to post an exterior of this place. Who's got one??

Okay, here's the only picture I can find so far of a Mauna Loa in Mexico City but am not exactly sure of location. You can see the red and yellow banner on the right with the name and something (carving?) to the left of the banner but I can't make it out.

TabooDan

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-21 21:54 ]

Aloha a todos!
Did any other bar used that Marquesas Picasso tiki? Why they used that one? Maybe they got inspired by this old book:

Arte de los Pueblos Oceanicos.
Madrid 1931

Z

1 Mexican tiki mystery

On 2008-07-17 15:02, bigbrotiki wrote:
From a couple of posts above:

On 2008-07-13 00:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
...but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tikis for the Mauna Loa were carved/sculpted by local Mexican artisans. Mexican craftsmen were sometimes even hired to contribute their skills to American restaurants, like at Ren Clark's Polynesian Village in Texas.

How soon does one forget: I myself wrote this in the Book of Tiki, page 249, (about Milan Guanko):

"...and Ren Clark's Polynesian Village...for which Guanko and two Mexican carvers, Juan Razo and Fidel Rodriguez (WHO HAD ALSO OUTFITTED THE MAUNA LOA IN MEXICO CITY) carved over 200 Tikis..."

I knew there was something like that...but forgot how dead on it was. :)

Now, how about an exterior of the restaurant and Mauna Loa Plaza!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-17 15:05 ]

What else does anybody know about Juan Razo and Fidel Rodriguez ? Do you think they have a facebook account? Or if they visit tiki central often?

Hola amigos! I took this picture last Friday...

The Tiki on the entrance that I posted on this thread some months ago is gone now.

Great work, Zeta, even if so little remains...now that last Tiki is gone, too. Did you find any surviving personnel of this place? Anything about the MANU-KAI?

WHOA ON THE WHOAS! Manu-Kai?!?! Never heard of that one! Where did you found that document? What is it? It's funny it was on the Hamburgo street, near where the other Mauna Loa was,(Hamburgo 172) also as your hometown in Germany. Tiki synchronicity...
Stairs welcome the visitor...

Now the plaza turned into offices, hair salons, english academies and night clubs... I was born 50 years too late.

Bigbrotiki, I did contacted someone who used to work in the Mauna Loa years ago, he told me he have some relics, he just have to look for them, also, he is going to try to remember anything he can about the place... I will meet him again in two weeks or so.

Notice the to concrete pillars on the left? Probably was a nice sign or Tiki base. Language academy to the right. Dry river.

Here is a nice photo of the interior. I zoomed in on the table. you can make out a couple of mugs. The s & p shakers appear to be generic and not the Trader Vic type in this pic. The large Tiki in the postcard from TabooDan is not in the photo either. Kinda fun to pick photos apart. Enjoy.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2009-01-18 08:01 ]

Thought I would post the matchbook here also.

I have very vivid memories of Mauna Loa! My parents were swinging lawyers back in the early 1970's. They used to take me there when I was a kid. I remember that in order to go inside the restaurant you had to cross a little wooden bridge that creaked. The restaurant itself had different levels. The food was a combination of Polynesian and island=inspired Chinese food. We would get battered shrimp, roasted pork and Chinese vegetables with dry reconstituted mushrooms that my dad would playfully call "Dragon skin". The most impressive feature of the restaurant was a large window overlooking an enormous two story waterfall. You could see the lower part of the waterfall at the bar right below.

The bar (and night club) was called "El Corsario". I don't think kids were allowed there, but I went there for a couple of private parties. The whole place was made to look like a pirate ship. I remember some of the floors leaned to one side, so it would "feel" like the ship was sinking - It was quite ridiculous, nowadays that would be against some type of safety code!
You would get your drink served in a different mug depending on the kind of drink you ordered. Since I could only drink Shirley Temple I would always get a brown glazed tiki guy.

My last memory of Mauna Loa was a New Years eve party at the Can Cun location. The Can Cun location was a scaled down version of the Mexico City restaurant. The party was quite fabulous. They had a live show with Polynesian dancers, and we got plenty of props (hats, sparklers, noise makers). As midnight approached the MC did a countdown and brought in a model dressed like a mermaid (two performers carried her inside a net) and also an enormous cake shaped like a volcano, complete with dry ice "smoke". At midnight there was dancing and a balloon drop.

Anyway, my mother may have pictures. I'll ask her next time I see her!

Uncle trav, Thanks for the pictures! Where are those from?
Koolraul, welcome to Tiki Central and thanks for the description! I went there with my parents too... And you are right, El corsario (corsair) was the night club next to the restaurant where people would go to dance. Koolraul, it would be great if you could get those pictures!

The entrance of what many years ago used to be El Corsario.

Mauna Loa Menu

Probably the last matchbook design they produced:

"A paradise in el Pedregal" Pedregal is a fancy and classic borough of Mexico City, means "place of stones", it's named that way because is all built on volcanic stone.
I have it double so if anyone want to trade let me know.

On 2008-07-15 21:07, TabooDan wrote:
Okay, I am doing a picture post test, but here is a picture of one of the rare headhunter style mugs from the Mauna Loa in Mexico City.

Bottom of Mug:

It's good to see that the cement tiki that was in front of the restaurant has lasted up until now.
Cool bit of Tiki history.

[ Edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-15 21:51 ]

Found this on Tiki Finds:

On 2003-10-05 14:55, Sweet Daddy Tiki wrote:
this weekend's finds:
when i spied this mug from a distance at first i thought it was one of those african-style trader vic's coffee grogs because it was so dark, but turns out to be from the Mauna Loa, Mexico. i would not have considered this tiki (Mayan or Aztec maybe?) but i bought it because of the recent thread about Mexican tiki restaurants.

Sweet Daddy T.
[ Edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2008-09-17 22:04 ]

Notice the difference?

Aloha again...

Mauna Loa swizle sticks.

Sorry for the terrible blurry picture! Notice the logo on top and the war club shape on the bottom? There's many color versions of it, I have 4 different ones.

Detail.

Different colors

From the Jan 1967 issue of "VENTURE" travel magazine:

"If you like an exotic evening, the Mauna Loa, Hamburgo 172 (11-00-20), serves Polynesian and South Seas dishes amid one of hte most colorful gardens in all the world, with pink flamingos wandering among the topical flowers. You get piping hot egg rolls with the drinks.

A Chinese restaruant, Luau, Niza 38A (25-74-74), has excellent Cantonese food."

Cool Sabu!
El Corsario. Inside Mauna Loa... Your dancing ship in the south of the city.

Vintage ad.

Class!! Salud caballeros!
From a Mexican seventies gentlemen magagazine...

Probably inside our favorite Mexican disappeared "bar polinesio" Mauna Loa, but I could be wrong...

Very cool shot! Nice one Zeta! That guys legs almost goes up to his glass!!

Here is a picture of the inside of the Mauna Loa again to get an idea of the carpet:

It looks pretty close. What yah think??

TabooDan

Mahalo TabooDan!

From Zeta's international marketplace:

On 2009-03-27 16:54, Zeta wrote:
Never seen before 1960's Mauna Loa bar Mexico swizzle stick

Trade or sell