BAHOOKA MEMORIES - a photo love story

Yesterday, I added more photos to my "Bahooka!" set in anticipation of the final night tonight. Now sadly, I won't have that last cocktail among the flotsam and jetsam of the Pacific that washed up in the San Gabriel Valley four and a half decades ago.

Full set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/attackcat/sets/72157632777921376/

Man! Friday was a long day for me but well worth it. I took a vacation day for a Tiki road trip to say farewell to the Bahooka and stopping at a few other places along the way. I live 3hrs north in Pismo Beach. So here are some photos of that trip.

First stop. Oceanic Arts.

Second stop. The beloved Bahooka. Main reason for this thread.






I have many more pics but I'm only going to post a few.

So when I was at Oceanic Arts I ran into Adrian aka Polynesian Pop on TC. We hung out and showed me some sites.

Kahlua Apts

So we went to L.A and ate in China town. Next stop was the Tiki Ti.

So after that Adrian showed me La Luz De Jesus art gallery and the Good luck bar just around the corner from the Tiki Ti. We called it a night and headed back over to the Bahooka for one last look. I had a great one day trip. Mahalo Adrian for hanging out and Aloha to Bahooka.

Its quite a dialogue when you intellectual giants get together.
Stay Tiki and Aloha!!!

[ Edited by: forgotten tikiman 2013-03-10 11:16 ]

[ Edited by: forgotten tikiman 2013-03-10 23:25 ]

Just a few random shots from the mug release party.

Even though they've heard the news, the Bahooka faithful have still lined up, hoping that the doors will open at noon.

forgotten tikiman, good for you making that extra effort & that long drive
from Pismo (Your timing was perfect in hindsight)
Adrian is not just good people, he's great people!
looks like you had a time of it.

Even though they had already closed, Sotally Tober and I thought we'd stop on by.
Ran into Tiki Al and a few others milling about (with heads hung low) in the parking lot.
Bahooka will be missed.

Pulled this off the web site, so if and when it is shut down, we still have it for posterity's sake here on TC.

When the rustic door opens you have entered your own fantasy… Surrounded by countless fish tanks, it feels like an underwater paradise. With an abundance of Tiki art and naval memorabilia you are now a native in a native land.

The first fish to greet you is Rufus, a thrity-three year old Pacu who has been featured numerous times in newspapers and magazines. Johnny Depp, a famous actor, starred with Rufus in the 1997 movie Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. In a rare interview, Rufus said, "I like carrots, kids, and good looking women!" He is a character!

When you're ready to be seated, the friendly host or hostess will guide you through the trailed maze to your own private booth, each containing its own treasure of ambiance. The menu is an assorted collection of island recipes gathered by the founder, and Rufus's namesake, Captain Rufus. Keep in mind as you're making your ordering decisions, if you come to the BAHOOKA and don't try the ribs, you haven't really been to the BAHOOKA...
As for the drinks… We're often asked the definition of Grog. A Grog is an alcoholic beverage named after a British naval officer, Admiral Vernon, who introduced the drink (rum and water) in 1745.

BAHOOKA means shack; Aloha means many things: love, friendship, good wishes, farewell. The BAHOOKA has been welcoming friends like you since 1967.
As you crossed our threshold, you became shipwrecked on a deserted Island. Or such is the illusion we at BAHOOKA hope to create. It is more than an illusion; it is the inspiration and dreams of a group of people who have gathered all these castoffs so uniquely arranged to create an unusual atmosphere for your dining pleasure. We have created a shack for you. A place where you can enjoy delectable Polynesian ribs and exotic drinks. Our ribs are marinated in our secret formula and slow baked in our Polynesian ovens. Our drinks are concocted from the nectar of the islands gods. Both food and drink are prepared fresh daily for you under the matchless guidance of one of our associates. The food and drinks will speak for themselves, but the surroundings may warrant some explanation.

When the BAHOOKA was in the planning, we scanned the islands to gather much of the decor for our restaurant. Once you enter the BAHOOKA, you feel as if you've left the mainland. The structural bamboo in building has been imported from the Philippines and hand wrapped by the BAHOOKA natives. All lamps were hand crafted from castoffs, port holes, parts of ships, etc., and sprigs of imagination. Globular lanterns are actual glass floats from Japanese fish nets. Blow fish, dried and hollowed, hang with lights. On our ceiling, 400 lights blink at you like distant stars. The tortoise shells are from giant tortoises of the South Pacific. As you are seated for your Island meal, you will find yourself surrounded by exotic fish from over 100 aquariums. *Including a giant Pacu that eats carrots (ask to see him crunch on raw carrots!). Our bar top is a aquarium with turtles inside. At the far end of the dining room, our nautical section, note the beacons of "Port" and "Starboard", the ships flags the mast and, last but not least, the wreck of an old Spanish galleon. On our warrior wall you will note native weapons, spears, etc. And did you ever see such unusual fish tanks? Some you will recognize as old time hand gasoline pumps. Here again, imagination and creativity prevail.

As for a short history of BAHOOKA...
The names have been changed to protect the guilty…
Rufus T. Somethingorother had a love for the ocean, native women, and Grog (Grog probably first). On one of his reasonably assumed intoxicated adventures, Rufus found himself on an island somewhere in the South Pacific. As fate would have it, two days after his arrival he was caught having his way with the King's youngest and most favored daughter, Penelope. The punishment of such a crime was death by booga-booga, which is a most torturing way to go.
When Rufus saw the guards approaching his jail he thought it would be his last day on earth. When the door of cell 515253 slid open and Rufus saw the guardsmen kneel and bow to the floor he thought he was having one of those hallucinations again. It turns out that Princess Penelope told her father that Rufus had actually saved her life and was a very brave man; the witnesses, Googie and Gau Gau had very active imaginations because Rufus had only been trying to give Princess Penelope mouth to mouth in order to revive her.
That night. The historical night. The King had a feast in honor of his daughter's hero. While sitting across from the King, at the very moment just after the past and before the future, Rufus bit into a pork rib that would become the second most famous rib to mankind. Ahhh, the spectacular conception…While Salsa dancing with the King's cousin's husband's niece he was secretly told that Googie and Gau Gau were the ones who had the secret recipe for the preparation of the pork ribs. By this time all the native girls were referring to Rufus as Don Juan Hercules and he had no problem convincing Googie and Gau Gau to set sail with him the following morning.

Well, it sounds like a happy ending; however, it was a bit tragic. It is estimated that about sixty-nine miles off the coast of California, a strong gust of wind blew the mast of the boat causing it to slam in Rufus's face. Googie, thinking Rufus to be dead, screamed, "Where do we go?!"
Rufus, completely misunderstanding, replied, "It's only a nosebleed!" and, like a sack of yams, fell out of the boat never to be heard from again.

Finally reaching the shore, Googie told Gau Gau that Rufus said to go to Rosemead, so here we are!

© 2002-2013 Bahooka Family Restaurant

On 2013-03-10 19:12, Capt. R.H. Falernum wrote:
Even though they had already closed, Sotally Tober and I thought we'd stop on by.
Ran into Tiki Al and a few others milling about (with heads hung low) in the parking lot.
Bahooka will be missed.

I did the same thing today around 3ish on my way to the Tonga Hut. There was a hub of activity while I was there. Cars coming and going, folks taking pictures and sharing stories. It's hard to believe that Bahooka is no more. :(

Last weekend Birdgirl and I made the pilgrimage from NYC to pay our respects to the Bahooka (and see it for the first time too). BigBro was kind enough to join us for lunch and walk us around the place.

We took a ton of pics but none as great as those already posted by others, so I will only inflict a few on you...

Ruffus (I think that's the right spelling) greets Birdgirl with a kiss...

The ship behind the bar...I hope it finds a good home

BigBro sets up another masterpiece

An old menu - check out those drink prices!

the big kahuna!

Farewell Bahooka - I am glad we got there once.

Nice! In that last shot you really get to see the scale of that Ku Tiki!

I have one last piece of eye candy to share before the sea settles over the sunken ship: This was a test glaze for the Bahooka mug that I as a traditionalist kinda favored, but the other was chosen by the client.

I am glad to have one as a keepsake now. It's got extra quake hold under it :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-03-11 19:07 ]

On 2013-03-11 19:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
Nice! In that last shot you really get to see the scale of that Ku Tiki!

I have one last piece of eye candy to share before the sea settles over the sunken ship: This was a test glaze for the Bahooka mug that I as a traditionalist kinda favored, but the other was chosen by the client.

I am glad to have one as a keepsake now. It's got extra quake hold under it :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-03-11 19:07 ]

Killa mug Sven Wanna trade for a Trader Sam's barrel mug with only one small chip?
Cheers

On 2013-03-11 19:06, bigbrotiki wrote:

I have one last piece of eye candy to share before the sea settles over the sunken ship: This was a test glaze for the Bahooka mug that I as a traditionalist kinda favored, but the other was chosen by the client.

That's a really nice piece of candy, cheers to the photographer! :)

[ Edited by: A Frame 2013-03-11 23:21 ]

On 2013-03-11 19:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
Nice! In that last shot you really get to see the scale of that Ku Tiki!

I have one last piece of eye candy to share before the sea settles over the sunken ship: This was a test glaze for the Bahooka mug that I as a traditionalist kinda favored, but the other was chosen by the client.

I am glad to have one as a keepsake now. It's got extra quake hold under it :)

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-03-11 19:07 ]

ya know, sven, i kinda like the final production glaze better. it just seems more unique and more fitting to the design.

i usually don't collect new mugs (outside of munktiki), but i just had to have one of these Bahooka mugs. a fine tribute to the joint...

I wish they had made your bowl, Sven.

I wanted to add this picture of Tiki Kate to this thread, since she dearly loved the Bahooka. Even while undergoing chemo she still had the spirit to climb the pillars in the back parking lot and pose in front of the life boat.

Miss you Kate......

More Eye Candy!!

Here's some photos from our various visits to Bahooka...

Manuel and fish share a moment:

Dave and Rebecca from Purple Orchid and Manuel:

Darlene in her natural habitat:

Chico and us!

The last shot of us on the last night Bahooka was open, just before closing, and moments before Chico told us the staff just found out they would not be open on the 10th... Farewell Bahooka, you will be missed!

Nice "mood" shots, guys - Mahalo!

Rule #1 dont take for granted what you have,On our US trip last year we didnt get there thinking we'll go next year(big mistake!) but we have happy memories of a great place, Best time was when we went with Friends Bonnie and Joe and we got Go Go serving us, Everything was flaming including a diet coke.

Oddly, I only have a handful of photos from the Bahooka. That may be partly because while Val and I had been to Bahooka a number of times, we never made it to an actual event that was hosted at Bahooka. Rather than dwell on what I could have done, here's some of the artifacts I do have.

Bahooka ahead!

Close cocktail

(SDAEH)

Don't forget to look up.

See?

Grainy cocktails

Farewell, Bahooka.

kevin

A couple from my flickr set.

And a couple seconds of Rufus video. ( http://www.vimeo.com/subaquatic/rufus )

These were taken during my visit on 30 December 2010.

Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas !

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2013-03-18 03:42 ]

Thanks for all the photos, everybody! This thread is forming into a little virtual Bahooka. :)

Under the circumstances, this is really good news:

http://www.lamag.com/citythink/askchris/2013/03/21/tiki-paradise-bahooka-to-be-reborn

Better to have it all in one cool place than scattered in the winds.

Déjà vu I've heard that before.
This will be good.
Beats A Walgrens drugstore.

And this place has been very well documented!
Thank you, and good job all!

-==--==--==--==-Google "Tiki bar lights" To find TIKISKIP-==--==--==--==-

¦:-·:''"":·.-:¦:-**-:¦:-·:''"":·.-:¦

Here's the full text from Chris Nichols' L.A. Magazine Blog:

"Bahooka, the epic tiki shipwreck restaurant in Rosemead, served their final mai tai on March 9th. By Christmas the labyrinth of tikis, boats, and artifacts from the islands will be reborn inside another landmark, Clifton's Cafeteria. "I ended up buying all their marquee items," said Andrew Meieran, owner of Clifton's. The boatloads of decor date back almost 50 years, some to the first Bahooka location, and will grace a 21st century version of Clifton's original Pacific Seas Cafeteria, an over-the-top island paradise that was long ago replaced with a parking lot. "We'll have the tikis, the gas pumps, the canoes. The diving helmet is a beautiful thing. It was used to collect donations for the City of Hope. One of our messages is social responsibility, so it will be used for that." Thousands of tiki fans waited up to four hours for their last Bahooka meal during the final weeks and soaked up the ambiance for what they thought was the last time. "We're taking a little Southern California legend and fusing it into the Clifton's legacy," said Meieran."We're losing one and somehow it's all coming back together."

I believe that Chris as a staunch preservationist, lover of Bahooka, and acquaintance of Meieran had much to do with this happening.

I stopped by on Easter to take some pictures of the outside & parking lot, and got some snaps of the interior since some workmen were disassembling parts of the interior (Pictures are Big):

Anti-Aircraft Gun
Landscape shot of AA Gun
AA, Anchor, Palms, and Entry
Bouy
Life Boat
Two Life Boats, no waiting!
Back Wall
Disassembled Dorade Box
Fishing Boat in the truck
Back Parking Lot Dorade Box Detail
Inside by Daylight!
Inside by Blurry Daylight!
Ceiling & Float Lamp by Daylight
Empty Fish Tank
A Few Remaining Barrel Lamps
A Few More Barrel Lamps
Unmounted Barrel Lamps
Has anyone here seen this sign in daylight?
Open Fire Exit
Back Wall in the Back Parking Lot
Palms on the Side of the Building
Sign's Gone
Yep, Gone
Yep, sign's really gone
Where they hid the sign
Palms by the Entryway
"Closed Forever"
Entryway Signs
"U.S.N.S. WACISSA"
Front Elevation & Greenery
"Banquet/Catering http://www.bahooka.com"
Dorade Box & "Bahooka"
"www.bahooka.com" and Hibiscus
Front Wall Detail
Other Front Dorade Box
Reverse Front Elevation & Dorade Box

Thanks, Freddie. Those are great pics!

Just blurry Cell Phone pics, but that's what I specialize in! :P

Bittersweet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoENyObpa7U

This was filmed for a Travel show on Canadian TV before the Bahooka's announced closing. (Thank you to Crazy Al for posting the video on YouTube.)

Left to right: Kevin "Tiki Bong" Bullat, Pat "Palika" Enos, Jim "Tikiyaki" Bacchi, Lucas Vigor

http://soundcloud.com/lucas-vigor/sets/set-3/

"yer jus not tuned into the series of tubes yet, let it soak in".

[ Edited by: lucas vigor 2013-08-30 13:20 ]

Does anybody have an update on the status of what will be going in its place? Was the "Asian Restaurant" that was gonna go there just a front to appease the owners and customers, for what in reality was some kind of real estate flipping deal? Is the money paid for the property "real" or just on paper?

Not that it will change anything, but I'm curious nevertheless.

I grew up and live about 20 minutes away from Bahooka and was a loyal customer. After it closed, I went about once every three weeks just to keep an eye on it and to see what's going on. I was there yesterday and today and became pretty good friends with one of the new owners. It was bought just a few weeks ago and it is indeed going to be an Asian restaurant again. The new owner wants to keep a big chunk of the Bahooka menu and is going to add Chinese food. He estimates that they are going to open in July, 2014. All of the décor inside is pretty much gutted out already, although I was able to secure the last remaining parrots, barrel lights, and Drambuie box lights. Oh, and the fiberglass float lights. It took several trips in my little Toyota pickup, but it was dang worth it. The fish are doing fine, especially Rufus. As an "urban archaeologist", I rescued as much as I can.

The big ones are pretty heavy!

On 2013-03-10 19:12, Capt. R.H. Falernum wrote:
...
Bahooka will be missed.

what a terrible desaster and sad end .

On 2013-03-11 11:10, leisure master wrote:
...

did that new place ever open ?

any news regarding what happened to RUFUS ?

Pan-Chinese Moonlight Bar Replaces Beloved Bahooka in Rosemead