Royal Hawaiian Closed

Is this for real:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/royalhawaiianlb

From the Royal Hawaiian Facebook page:

It's with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of a Laguna Beach icon. After 65 years of business we served our last lapu lapu last night. We can't express how much gratitude we have for all of our guests, regulars and staff who have supported us. Please share your favorite memory of dining, dancing or drinking at the Royal Hawaiian.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/laguna-350506-restaurant-royal.html#

Today only you can stop buy to purchase a shirt or tiki mug.

That sucks! If anyone is swinging in for a mug, I'd love to get one. PM me, please.
Rick

There needs to be a rule that when one of these places is going to close they notify US so we can have one last blowout. Damn!

This is a bummer. Even though I have never been to this place its sad to hear the history around the establiment and how long its been around then close down. Just looking at the photos of this place before the reinovation makes me sad. looked like a really cool tiki joint. I can only hope that some of the tiki est that I love are here to stay. I will continue to support tiki. :)

"high rent that was non-negotiable and the poor economy"

amazing how many popular restaurants get driven off by rent issues.

Totally bummed to find out about this today, when it's too late for one last visit!

Glad we were at least able to visit a couple of times before it closed, even though we never got to experience it in its glorious heyday.

The mug we got on our first visit will always be a cherished part of our tiki collection!

Glad I was able to visit a couple weeks back. There on a Saturday night. watched the band Flock of the 80s. I believe this might have been one of those cases of a new owner buying a Tiki Landmark and really messing things up. I personally was not happy with the renovation. They should have left it the Tiki dive bar that it was !!. It was the charm that brought people in. Dont mess with success I say.

Mahalo Royal Hawaiian.

Totally bummed to find out about this today, when it's too late for one last visit!

Glad we were at least able to visit a couple of times before it closed, even though we never got to experience it in its glorious heyday.

The mug we got on our first visit will always be a cherished part of our tiki collection!

The remodel wrecked it.
It took any 'coolness' right out of the place. There were lines down the street for the bar, when the bar was a dark, cramped, dive.

We played there for the grand re-opening, years ago, and I never went back. Never felt like I had to be in that building again. Still, a shame that a 'tiki' bar is closing.

what Spike said,

sad to see it go,
but after the mug release party,
I lost all want to go there.
drove by it every wednesday for the last 5 years,
and only thought about how it used to be.

Jeff(btd)

That's probably why it closed.

Wow...I got a hold of the owner and he said that people got word went bought everything yesterday. In one day, it was all pretty much gone.

What a bummer. So, who of you on here got stuff ?

I hate to say it but the place turned into "Douche Central" after the remodel
We stopped going & never went back.

The new owners removed most of the Tiki decor & I have to place the blame on them
for the poor business since, As they opted for the Sports Bar approach & crowd.

On 2012-04-23 14:45, tikiyaki wrote:
Wow...I got a hold of the owner and he said that people got word went bought everything yesterday. In one day, it was all pretty much gone.

What a bummer. So, who of you on here got stuff ?

I got a mug and a menu.

I'm glad I visited.
I was hoping to visit again this summer.
What a shame.

We went once when they started the remodel. I'll always remember it like it was in 1977.
I wouldn't mind getting the recipe for the Lapu Lapu, though...

I waa thinking just the other day that I would really like to have one of those Lapu Lapus again. They were good. I actually got pretty close to reproducing it once. Pineapple juice with a little orange juice, white rum, orgeat syrup and I think there was something else. Shake over ice and pour into a brandy snifter or double rocks and then float with a health slug of Myers's.

Not the real recipe, but it tasted pretty close. Not exact, but close.

I thought I tasted passion fruit syrup with more OJ than pineapple juice
Cheers
btw, I cruised by yesterday to take some pix for posterity and my Tiki Queen pointed out that one of the outside tikis was gone already. I put my camera against the windows and got a couple of decent shots of the interior and the "fixed" items were pretty much still in place but the collection of mugs and other accouterments are gone. So sad.

isnt it OJ, lemon juice, passionfruit syrup, and simple syrup?

I don't recall tasing any passion fruit. Dfinitely pineapple. There might have been lemon, or perhaps a little grapefruit. Granted it has been a long time, and perhaps the recipe was changed after the remodel.

[ Edited by: PiPhiRho 2012-04-27 20:24 ]

My name sake. I'm pretty sure there was passionfruit in it, but I'm no Mixologist. I wait for the drink to be made and then I am a pro at drinking it.

I remember when that place was cool. I am not sad at all .... Because the new version was LAME !!! I miss Sam's, too!!

Bummer.

NO WAY! I was lucky enough to check the place out recently and got myself a mug that ended up being stolen out my car that night. What a bummer!

Perhaps before they're lost to history (or until Jeff Berry tracks them down) someone can contact the owner or former bartender and get the cocktail recipes??

Track down and post the recipes here, right? :)

I just posted a little tribute to the Royal Hawaiian on my blog...

http://tikilagoon.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-royal-hawaiian-laguna-beach.html

It's just an anecdote, but I tried to provide a bit of the flavor of the place.

CJ

The colorful, if damaged, pre-renovation Tikis were spectacular.

On 2012-04-22 14:04, LapuRocker wrote:
Is this for real:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/royalhawaiianlb

From the Royal Hawaiian Facebook page:

It's with heavy hearts that we announce the closing of a Laguna Beach icon. After 65 years of business we served our last lapu lapu last night. We can't express how much gratitude we have for all of our guests, regulars and staff who have supported us. Please share your favorite memory of dining, dancing or drinking at the Royal Hawaiian.

The space is still available. It would be so great to keep it a Tiki spot. I have fond memories of the old Royal Hawaiian bar with the big fish tank, low chairs, et al. Never went for the food but always had the Lapu. The new spot had good food but lost the original vibe. How about a TikiTi South?

[ Edited by: KavikaTiki 2012-09-10 16:56 ]

On 2012-04-23 10:47, Luckydesigns wrote:
The remodel wrecked it.
It took any 'coolness' right out of the place. There were lines down the street for the bar, when the bar was a dark, cramped, dive.

We played there for the grand re-opening, years ago, and I never went back. Never felt like I had to be in that building again. Still, a shame that a 'tiki' bar is closing.

Someone should re-open the space and make the entire place like the original bar. It's still for sale, I think.

On 2012-04-22 20:07, thePorpoise wrote:
"high rent that was non-negotiable and the poor economy"

amazing how many popular restaurants get driven off by rent issues.

Just like Granita in Malibu, which closed as a result of a rent increase about 5 years ago, and the space has been vacant ever since.

For me, going to Laguna Beach during the summer was the excuse to get a Lapu Lapu. Glad I had the experience, but sooooo sad to see another classic Tiki bar go away, never to return.

You are fortunate that you have other tiki bars within driving distance. Other parts of the country (like mine) have few or no options. Earlier this year, in a small attempt to sort of address that, and to make some sort of tiki impact in northeastern Florida, I invited a new local bartender to my home where I introduced him to tiki drinks. He loved what I shared and caught on to it very quickly. He was quite a sensation at his bar for several weeks until -- drum roll -- they replaced him with some hot chicks who were very pretty to look at but who knew only about the common pop-culture stuff that everyone else knows and sells. It was sad to see a bar on the edge of distinguishing itself from all the others make a u-turn back to what was probably considered more "safe" and "guaranteed." The bartender did start to attract a following but was never allowed to continue to develop the clientele or the reputation. So the place is now "just another bar on the bayfront."