Hula Hut, Wheaton, MD (restaurant)

Name:Hula Hut
Type:restaurant
Street:
City:Wheaton
State:MD
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
I purchased these two Tiki mugs from the Hula Hut years ago (I think they were some of my first ones). I have always wondered where they were from.

I recently came across this postcard on ebay from the Hula Hut located
in Wheaton, Maryland. I am assuming that this is the source of the mugs.

Kind of a painted-up Tiki place with three rooms - the Hula Room, Hilo Room and Hula Room.

Also a matchbook from the place - another version of the Hawaiian Village design that has been copied so many times.

Could not find out much else in the research department.

DC

more clues to the hula hut have come to light in 2009!

there are plenty message boards and blogs about retail, old malls, grocery stores, etc... well this particular one had the following exchange in june 2009:

Joe
June 9th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Does anyone remember the name of the polynesian restaurant at Reedie and Georgia (I think)? It had slanting bamboo torches out front.

[Reply]

AJ
June 10th, 2009 at 5:48 pm

I believe that resturant was the Hula Hut.
Before that there used to be three businesses there. The Wheaton Tavern, A pool hall, and many different transient occupants in the other.

link: http://www.labelscar.com/maryland/westfield-wheaton-plaza

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Reedie+and+Georgia,+wheaton,+maryland&sll=39.360449,-76.647449&sspn=0.014666,0.023324&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Georgia+Ave+%26+Reedie+Dr,+Silver+Spring,+Montgomery,+Maryland+20902&t=h&z=17

another facebook post http://hi-in.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=35718166692&topic=5511&post=49334 locates the hula hut as over the wheaton rental center on reedie drive:

William Robert Wall wrote on December 22, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Worked at Wheaton Rental Center (WRC) from '73-'76 - when it used to be on Reedie Drive, across the street from Dunkin Donuts, and under the Hula Hut.

i contacted mr. wall, and he said that the hula hut was on the sw corner of the intersection (location of the wheaton metro station). he recalls that the hula hut opened in the mid 1960s, and was closed by the time the metro station was built (opened 1990).

[ Edited by: Johnny Dollar 2010-01-06 08:19 ]

Wow. Never heard of it. Time to poll the older members of the family again.

My family owned Fat Man's Pizza from 1972-1997 and we lived in downtown Silver Spring on the DC line until about 19803 If I remember correctly, one of the 3 businesses under the Hula Hut was Velvet Underground. I think that was a head-shop from years gone by. Does anyone else remember that?

a little more scratching around, and now i have a street address for the Hula Hut in Wheaton:

11154-58 Georgia Avenue, Wheaton, MD 20902. This is the site of the current Wheaton Metro station, which was opened in 1990.

apparently the Hula Hut changed names and/or owners in the mid to late 1970s to become the "dim sum"-famous Tung Bor restaurant (see attached matchbook) which then moved to Wheaton Plaza, probably when the property was bought to develop the Metro station.