Trader Vic's Palo Alto closing

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2012/06/20/trader-vics-in-palo-alto-will-become-the-sea-by-alexanders-steakhouse/

The Palo Alto branch of Trader Vic’s is still open, but get there while you can, because Jeffrey Stout and Alexander’s Steakhouse are moving in later this year.

However, chef-owner Stout won’t make the El Camino restaurant the third location of his Michelin-starred steakhouse; instead, he’s turning to seafood. The new restaurant will be named The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse.

“Our hope is to be the premiere fine dining seafood restaurant in the Bay Area,” he says.

“Essentially we want to do what we did with steak but different protein,” he continues. “I remember Aqua as the first seafood restaurant to go outside the mold of the old-school San Francisco, lemon and petrale sole dishes.”

Stout mentions places like L.A.’s Providence and New York’s Le Bernardin in discussing his aspirations for elaborate presentations and upscale seafood dishes — something that he says has been missing from the Bay Area food scene since the demise of Aqua.

It’s a big space: 150 seats in the dining room, plus the capability for another 200 in the private dining areas, which Stout says he hopes to utilize for corporate events and weddings. They’ll give the space a cosmetic makeover, but no big structural changes. At this early stage in the planning, the goal is mid-October.

As for Trader Vic’s, it’s been in business since 2001. At that point in time, it was the first Trader Vic’s to open in the United States in 28 years. No word yet on an exact closure date."

They were under performing. A shame yes, but as far as the TVs go, more of the corporate style.

This is devastating news. Luckily I live equidistant from Emeryville and Palo Alto and have been visiting both often but Palo Alto is close to work and has been a blast to visit with coworkers. I'm very sorry to hear that it is closing. When Emeryville was remodeled some of their employees were able to work at Palo Alto for a while so hopefully some Palo Alto workers will be able to do likewise. The ones I've met are dedicated Trader Vic's workers.

On 2012-06-20 16:23, JenTiki wrote:
The Palo Alto branch of Trader Vic’s is still open, but get there while you can, because Jeffrey Stout and Alexander’s Steakhouse are moving in later this year.

Sad to see it go; but glad i got a chance to stop in for a drink before.

Glad I got to experience Tikiyaki Orchestra there. Sad to see it close.

Bummer. Have not been, need to go. Any plans on a Tiki Central night get-together to say goodbye to the place? I am up for a road trip to check it out before it goes and meet some Northern California TC Ohana.

Lets get going before its gone.

DC

Its a Damn shame.
:(

Jeff(btd)

Very depressing . . . I need a drink . . .

I have had so many awesome stays at the hotel connected to TV PA , I am sure that will be gone too.

RIP Dinah's--I loved your koi filled lagoon

Bad news indeed... Many years ago I had my first "real" Mai Tai there. I also spent many nights down the street at Rickey's Hyatt Hotel, an amazing old-California bungalow hotel, now closed and replaced with condos, I think. Rickey's was straight out of old movies. Losing Vic's after having also lost Rickey's is a tremendous loss for the area. However there are still many very nice mid-century homes with loving and caring owners to be found all around Palo Alto.

Oh the irony....yesterday I was talking to our daughter who just returned home from her freshman year at Stanford. My wife and I were planning a trip to PA this coming year and wanted to stay at Dinah's and hang at TV. I even had her somewhat intrigued about Tiki....Oh well, time will tell. Damn!

Had a blast last NYE there and wanted to repeat it next -- dang! Worth a summer overnight anyway before it turns over. They still might keep a lot of the kitch - and hopefully the drinks will be "themed"!

A shame, although it was a much better run than TV San Francisco.

What is going on with TV's? For several years they seemd to be on a real swing, opening new TV's in many cities. Now they are closing more than they're opening. Is it the quality of the product they are offering, the management of individual ocations (Chicago comes to mind), or something else?

Can we expect another fabulous warehouse sale? That is some good shopping right there!!!

On 2012-06-21 18:50, CincyTikiCraig wrote:
What is going on with TV's? For several years they seemd to be on a real swing, opening new TV's in many cities. Now they are closing more than they're opening.

Courtesy of John-O:
So this is a closure rate of at least one location per year for the last 5 years...

1. Scottsdale - July, 2011
2. Chicago - June, 2011
3. Dallas - 2010
4. Las Vegas - 2009
5. Bellevue - 2008
6. Beverly Hills - 2007 (although split into Trader Vics Lounge and Trader Vics LA Live, so a net gain)
7. San Francisco - 2007

On 2012-06-21 19:26, VampiressRN wrote:
Can we expect another fabulous warehouse sale? That is some good shopping right there!!!

I don't think so - its my understanding that the decor came from the Handley's private collection. Mr. Handley's wife still runs the Xanadu Gallery in SF, so I would think the decor would be funneled through there. ...although they did do a fire sale when they closed their Xanadu Gallery in Menlo Park... Here's a thread where Humuhumu visited that gallery:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=23609&forum=1

Ya know, when I hear mention of the "corporate Trader Vic's" style, I can only think it's one of the main contributors to these closings.

I LOVE Trader Vic's and fortunately, am a huge collector of it's trappings. I support the company and want them to do really well.

I do believe that the corporate management does not quite understand what makes Vic's so special.

Hearing this news gives me fears about TV's LA Live location. It seems to also be teetering on the precipice of closure. I'll go into specifics in a second.

This 'corporate' approach is a middle-of-the-road compromise to satisfy what they think is the 'general public' taste. Not too tiki, not too specific, not too defined. You are definitely NOT transported to an exotic fantasy. It's a general, non-threatening blandness that you find in mid-range chain hotels. If you are serving a middle-of-the-road experience with middle-of-the-road drinks and middle-of-the-road food, I guess that is a sound strategy. The problem I have with the way Vic's is doing their new restaurants is that Trader Vic's is historically, not middle-of-the-road. It's a very defined experience with a choice to go after a very specific clientele. (And I'm not just talking about the Tiki-Central fan base). The newer locations seem to water down what makes TV's special while still holding onto some of the class that separates it from Olive Garden, etc. Generally, a mixed message is read as a mixed message and the inability to find an audience is the outcome. I believe that is what's happening to hasten these closures.

When TV's announced a location in LA Live, I thought it was a really bad idea. I'm sure there were perks from the developer that made it easier for the owners, but the very nature of that venue is sorta against what Vic's is about. I've gone there many times to find the place basically empty only to walk around the corner and find Yard House jammed packed. Sportsheadz want beer...cheap beer and a loud environment to scream at a wall of flat-screens. They don't want Pu-pu platters, they don't want tea smoked duck and they don't want $12 cocktails, no matter how well done they are.

The more TV's wants to bend to these temptations, the less likely they are going to find a crowd.

Recently, I've been there a few times only to discover that more and more, the management is rolling on its belly to entice the sportsheadz. The flat-screens are in your face at the bar, they've done a major-TV's no-no and added a huge, ugly beer tap right in front of your face, blocking your view of the bartenders and the class set up of booze and glassware behind the bar and most importantly, they've cut Hawaiian music for 60s-80s pop...throughout the restaurant and into the dining room.

Now, the high quality food and drinks are the same, the prices are the same higher prices, but the experience is becoming 'Yard House-light'. I can tell you, this is no strategy to stay in business. They'll put off the clientele that wants a TV's experience and they'll just look like a pathetic wanna-be to the sports crowd that thinks it's still too pricey.

It's kinda like your grandfather pretending to like hip-hop to fit in with the kids...funny, but off putting.

Now, I do think if Vic's had made more of a statement in decor, embraced what makes Vic's a special destination, a place to be as opposed to middle-of-the-road corporate fare and most important, picked a location where the type of clientele would embrace that experience and can afford to pay a premium for it (say, central downtown LA), it wouldn't be struggling so.

I guess what I'm saying is these closures are their own fault and in my opinion, not an 'economy thing'. There's plenty of mid-to-higher-end restaurants doing very well in this economy.

I just don't think a watered-down Trader Vic's is going to get a foothold in that or really, any market.

I really hope they wake up.

This Trader Vic's is closing because the owner decided to not renew her contract with Trader Vic's, and decided to try something else, so don't blame this one on Trader Vic's. How sound of a business decision that is on the owner's part, I don't know. Alexander's is a steak house, and there are a couple of REALLY good well established steak houses right near that Trader Vic's, and they are going to try to spin this as an Alexander's with lots of seafood, but there are a couple of really great well established seafood restaurants nearby as well. The restaurant business is tough, especially in this economy that the Bay Area (and elsewhere) has weathered over the past 5+ years. And while the greatest affluence of new money wealth is definitely concentrated in that area of Silicon Valley - just the other day I could NOT find a parking space in what was once sleepy Mountain View - I wonder how wise a decision it is to mess with something who's theme ties in so nicely to the adjacent hotel. I guess time will tell.

This throws yet another monkey wrench into the Tiki Crawl for me - I was planning on throwing a crawl at the end of summer, but if Trader Vic's Palo Alto is closed by then, I'll probably have to scrap the entire South Bay day, as there are pretty much no tiki establishments left in the South Bay with the closing of Martini Monkey, Smoke Tiki, and now Trader Vic's Palo Alto. Support your local (and distant) Tiki Bar while it's still around, peeps!

I'm starting to worry a bit about Emeryville as well. The recent remodel was great, but I've noticed on my last two visits (within the past month) that the food menu has changed (not all for the better) and they have new bartenders wearing ties and vests, as opposed to the Shag aloha shirts they've been wearing for the past year. Looks like they're trying to draw a more corporate crowd too. At least they appear to be relatively busy on the nights I've been, so that's good.

On 2012-06-22 13:26, Mai Tai wrote:
This Trader Vic's is closing because the owner decided to not renew her contract with Trader Vic's,

Trader Vics requires not just an initial franchise fee, but periodic payments as well?
Its not like they do that much adverstising.

On 2012-06-22 18:20, christiki295 wrote:

On 2012-06-22 13:26, Mai Tai wrote:
This Trader Vic's is closing because the owner decided to not renew her contract with Trader Vic's,

Trader Vics requires not just an initial franchise fee, but periodic payments as well?
Its not like they do that much adverstising.

Like most any franchise, I expect that there is an annual franchise fee, plus a percentage of the annual gross income (not net. but gross, whether there's a profit or not).

On 2012-06-22 14:44, JenTiki wrote:
I'm starting to worry a bit about Emeryville as well. The recent remodel was great, but I've noticed on my last two visits (within the past month) that the food menu has changed (not all for the better) and they have new bartenders wearing ties and vests, as opposed to the Shag aloha shirts they've been wearing for the past year. Looks like they're trying to draw a more corporate crowd too. At least they appear to be relatively busy on the nights I've been, so that's good.

Jen, agree that the seemingly frequent menu and bartender changes are troubling, and behind the scenes there has been management changes over the past few years.

I was in the Emeryville location on Saturday night and saw Peter Seely touring around a few apparently Japanese businessmen. And Peter looked very serious, not a jovial party planning session.

But, as you noted, the bar and restaurant were packed. Unfortunately by 10pm the ENTIRE restaurant was empty and the bar was thinning.

So, the only thing we can do is patronize these locations and enjoy them while they last.
For my part I have two gatherings planned for Emeryville:
June 28, 6 - 9 ALL NIGHT HAPPY HOUR - that's this Thursday
July 19, 6 - 10pm Fashion Show and Tiki Oasis Mission: TO12 pre-party

Is there an official meet up for the Paol Alto location?

On 2012-06-22 13:15, tiki1963 wrote:

When TV's announced a location in LA Live, I thought it was a really bad idea. I'm sure there were perks from the developer that made it easier for the owners, but the very nature of that venue is sorta against what Vic's is about. I've gone there many times to find the place basically empty only to walk around the corner and find Yard House jammed packed. Sportsheadz want beer...cheap beer and a loud environment to scream at a wall of flat-screens. They don't want Pu-pu platters, they don't want tea smoked duck and they don't want $12 cocktails, no matter how well done they are.

The more TV's wants to bend to these temptations, the less likely they are going to find a crowd.

I, too, have noticed the night & day difference between TV and the YardHouse and share your concern. I am sure rents are breathtakingly high, and now we now the corporate franchise fees also are steep. The $28.00 cost of TV entree is almost double the cost of an entree at the Yardhouse. I also think they need to go after that crowd, and lower their prices to sale more food and drink. They can change the music, sell more beer and obviously keep the televisions as Angelenos love Lakers, just so long they keep the Tikis.

Then they just become another "Sports Bar" ,But with Tikis
like we need another Sports Bar.

On 2012-06-26 00:51, Atomic Tiki Punk wrote:
Then they just become another "Sports Bar" ,But with Tikis
like we need another Sports Bar.

What we need is to stop the bleeding of every US Trader Vics closing.
So, yes, TV LA Live should become a sports bar, like the successful Yardhouse next door, as opposed to being an incredible museum slated to close in 6 months.

I hate to agree with that.

As you can see from the Trader Vic's L.A. Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/tradervicsla they have embraced their sporty neighbors and good for them. Why Not? I know the NBA strike was bad for them but I'm sure the Kings winning the Stanley cup and going six games was huge! I like that Vics and while I don't get there as often as I'd like seeing a jersey or two hanging on the wall isn't going to kill anyone.

The Hep Cats have been hitting TV's Palo Alto since hearing the news about the closing.

Heard last night: They will close on Saturday August 4th.

Enjoy the fantastic cocktails while you can.

If anyone knows of a place in the south bay that does cocktails anywhere near as well, We'd love to hear about it.

Cheers - Mark & Janice

Sadly the demise of themed restaurants is usually due to a drop in the overall quality, not the decor. Franchises are not always a safe investment. The competition for restaurants/bars is cut-throat and our current economy makes it very hard to keep business flowing and profits growing. Loyalty to a business is through the food, drink and service. When cut-backs occur, in order to maintain a profit, it becomes apparent to the frequent flyer and occasional patron. Soon the "menu change" "poor service" "lack of that old experience" diminishes the desire to engage in patronage and eventually that affects the business.

It is much more painful in the case of TV for Tikiphiles as most folks have a über appreciation for the decor, expectation for quality cocktails and great Polynesian food. When all of these items do not occur in unison, the tipsy factor drops and so does business. There is also the challenge of the urban sprawl, in that trekking a long distance is more of a challenge with increasing gas prices.

It is sad to hear that the Palo Alto TV is closing, can't say the local patriots haven't tried their best to provide decent patronage.

Any update on the exact closing date and what time.
I will be in the area on Sat. Aug. 4th,
and would like to stop in for one last time.

Jeff(btd)

On 2012-06-22 13:26, Mai Tai wrote:
This Trader Vic's is closing because the owner decided to not renew her contract with Trader Vic's, and decided to try something else, so don't blame this one on Trader Vic's.

Similarly, the Mai Tai Tiki Bar in San Diego initially was considered to be a Trader Vics, but the owners opened their own Tiki establishment instead of paying for the TV name.

A friend of mine tried. Oh well. I still bet there will be some good dumpster-diving...

=====================

On Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 9:27 PM, Julie Handley wrote:
Dear Amber,

I am very sorry you missed our last night.

Unfortunately there is really no barware “tiki” or Trader Vic’s items left.

All of the other art works from New Guinea are from my parents collection and I have decided to keep them.

Alexander's Steakhouse is planning to open The Sea, by Alexander's Steakhouse on about November 1st. They may be having some of the existing art work at the new restaurant, but it will not be for sale.

Please feel free to contact me. I am very touched by the great out pouring of good wishes and also the sadness that has been generated by this closing.

Best, Julie
Julie Handley
Executive General Manager
Dinah's Garden Hotel
4261 El Camino Real
Palo Alto, CA 94306-4405
(650) 493-2844 Office
(707) 481-4494 Cell
(650) 856-4713 Fax
[email protected]

Tikiorama
Trader Vic's, Palo Alto dining room
http://www.dermandar.com/html5p/bFlQti

And they are closing the poolside restaurant too

Bummer...great place to sober up the morning after a night at Vic's

http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2012/09/05/palo-altos-iconic-dinahs-poolside-grill-closing-changing-hands/