Tiki-Jo at the Miramar Hotel , Santa Monica, CA (restaurant)

Name:Tiki-Jo Miramar Hotel
Type:restaurant
Street:Wilshire at Ocean
City:Santa Monica
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
Another installment of the early Santa Monica Tiki/pre-Tiki establishments. Here is a really well lit postcard from the Tiki-Jo dinning room and bar at the Miramar Hotel.

Here is the matchbook.

In addition to the Tiki-Jo, there was the Tahiti South Seas, the Bamboo Room at the Windemere, and the Zanzibar in Santa Monica, as well as Bambu Hut and Tropic Isle down the road in Venice.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2009-09-10 21:53 ]

Tiki-Jo had a Tiki menu as well. Found this image on the internet, first time I have seen this menu. Anybody out there got this one? Would love to see the inside of the menu and the drink list.

DC

WOW, I want that menu! Talk about Tiki Modern! Glad you opened this thread, DC, this is a very under-researched location.
Of course the educated Book of Tiki reader knows that this Tiki was carved by Eli Hedley (page 67, sorry for those missing page numbers) Another one of those Tiki interiors that I chose to not use in the BOT because, after that great Tiki, it is a little underwhelming in its TYPSY factor. However, that tree in the bg warrants a closer look!

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-06-15 10:11 ]

Bigbro,

I missed that Eli Tiki in the BOT, what a beauty.

There were a few Tiki masks behind the bar

It looks like Tiki masks hanging on the tree, but hard to tell.

DC

That would be cool! And I love those glass ball dividers, O.A. has one of those.
Funny that the menu cover artist chose to omit the Tiki's mouth, and instead included arms - which do not exist on the carving!

I had no idea there were so many tiki establishments in Santa Monica area
in the 60's ....I would liketo find out more about these places.
Santa Monica was my stomping ground in the 90's.
DC you never cease to amaze me with your posts.
BTW Tropic Isle was in Culver City.

On 2010-06-15 19:00, 1961surf wrote:
BTW Tropic Isle was in Culver City.

1961 Surf,

Thanks. There was a Tropic Isle in Venice - must have been another one in Culver City.

See more here:
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=33895&forum=2&hilite=tropic isle

DC

Sorry about that DC ...I thought you were referring to this one.
Great looking matchbook.Would love to see interior shots of this place.

I do remember the thread about that location now that I see the matchbook.
Who was first Curt or Mannie ?

Another recent score:
A vintage 35mm Ektachrome Transparency depicting the street entrance to Tiki Jo in Santa Monica!
I'm assuming the vantage point of this camera was from Palisades park, and that the street in front is Ocean.

Dig those cars and the Tiki to the right of the entrance!!!

Jon Paul,

Another great find. That Tiki outside of the Tiki Jo looks like the famous Milan Guanko Gilligan's Island curse of the Tiki Tiki as discussed in the previous post by Bigbro (which I have added your photo to for comparison):

On 2010-10-05 22:07, bigbrotiki wrote:
This is just too cool, I had to put the three next to each other, in order of evolution:

From apartment Tiki - to mass produced table top Tiki - to T.V. star - to Kirby's Tikiyaki pendant! The story of a Milan Guanko carving. :)

I have had this guy for years, and knew of the Gilligan connection, but always thought it to be just a Guanko-STYLE Tiki -not the exact copy of an existing one!

I had thought that the picture I posted of the woman standing next to the Tiki was from an apartment building, but it sure looks like it is the same one in front of the Tiki Jo! How cool is that!

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2011-06-03 15:32 ]

Sure does! Great find, guys!

I think that the tree rock tiki art was done by my aunt Flo Ann. I'll look into

the Eli portfolio for the pic.

Would be great to get a clearer picture of that piece!

Scanner is down so you get a pic of a pic...

Sure looks like the Tree in Tiki Joe...

( the others are examples of her work. maybe someone knows where they are also?)

I'm pretty sure that Eli decorated all of Tiki Joe and

not just the tiki. :)

Such cool stuff, Ben! I love that he used his daughter's work!.

I bought a small orange-red resin starburst by her at Exotical over ten years ago. Unfortunately, the Cali sun has bleached and cracked it over the years...

quote]
On 2011-06-06 12:43, RevBambooBen wrote:
Scanner is down so you get a pic of a pic...

Sure looks like the Tree in Tiki Joe...

( the others are examples of her work. maybe someone knows where they are also?)

I'm pretty sure that Eli decorated all of Tiki Joe and

not just the tiki. :)

I found this color postcard of Tiki-Jo on cardcow.com I'm sorry if this was already posted, but my computer isn't allowing me to see all of the pictures on this thread.
http://www.cardcow.com/165007/tiki-jo-polynesian-restaurant-santa-monica-california/

Tikilongbeach,

the photos you are posting are already on the threads. Wonder why you can't see the photos?

Here is a great napkin that Kiara recently posted in the Collecting Napkins thread.

DC

Dustycajun,
I'm not sure why I can't see the pics. I'll assume my friend that I let use my computer last week did something screwy. If I right click the picture icon for each photo and click on 'show picture' I can see what has been posted. I just figured that out.

Nice shot of the back of the Miramar in 1974 from the Los Angeles Public Library.

The Miramar Hotel seen across Wilshire Blvd. and 2nd Street, Santa Monica.

I wonder if the Tiki-Jo became the Jamaican Room?

Eric Clapton's cover of I shot the Sheriff was realased in July of 1974 so I'm sure it was in heavy rotation for all of those "Irie" Santa Monicans! :lol:

Tiki Jo had a Kona Kai style swizzle.

DC

Does ANYBODY know WHO won that Batwing-sunglasses-lady-posing-with-the-Tiki photo on e-bay shown below? I would love to use it for my next project.

On 2011-06-03 15:30, Dustycajun wrote:
Jon Paul,

Another great find. That Tiki outside of the Tiki Jo looks like the famous Milan Guanko Gilligan's Island curse of the Tiki Tiki as discussed in the previous post by Bigbro (which I have added your photo to for comparison):

On 2010-10-05 22:07, bigbrotiki wrote:
This is just too cool, I had to put the three next to each other, in order of evolution:

From apartment Tiki - to mass produced table top Tiki - to T.V. star - to Kirby's Tikiyaki pendant! The story of a Milan Guanko carving. :)

I have had this guy for years, and knew of the Gilligan connection, but always thought it to be just a Guanko-STYLE Tiki -not the exact copy of an existing one!

I had thought that the picture I posted of the woman standing next to the Tiki was from an apartment building, but it sure looks like it is the same one in front of the Tiki Jo! How cool is that!

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2011-06-03 15:32 ]

There is a Tiki-Jo matchbook for sale on etsy ($10) that has a different inside than what Dusty Cajun posted.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/120773087/vintage-tiki-jo-polynesian-restaurant

A few Tiki-Jo items that I tried for on ebay recently.

A different menu with the Eli Tiki.

And a brochure.

With a photo of the Tiki-Jo.

DC

Ah Gecko made his mug from this big tiki. Now that I've seen your post I like the mug even more, Wendy

Got this newspaper ad from Domenic Priore
I think it is from the old Evening Outlook newspaper that was bought by The Daily Breeze
Seems like someone in Santa Monica could go to the library and check local history or someone in Torrance could go to The Daily Breeze and check The Outlook archives
for
Kailani Polynesian Combo
and/or Ami Lani

then try to look them up?

Screens grabs from the 1966 movie Harper starring Paul Newman that show a pair of Tikis flanking the entrance to the Miramar Hotel posted by Sweet Daddy Tiki.

And a photo I saw advertising the opening of the new Miramar and the Tiki Jo.

DC

This email came to me today! Pretty cool.

" Hi, Ben,

I caught an old blog by you regarding the Tiki Joe Room at the Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica. I tried to join the site but was refused because of my AOL mail account.

I just wanted to tell you that I worked there in 1967-68 as an entertainer (guitar-vocals) and really enjoyed it. I met some really interesting folks there. We had fire dancers performing nightly outside the large windows in the restaurant, the Maitre De was Filipino as were most of the waiters. Quite a few of our steady customers were celebrities. It was actually my second professional gig. I started out at "The Brass Bell" a few blocks south of the Miramar owned by Gus Wolf.
That's where I met one of my regulars, Arthur Lake (Dagwood Bumstead) who invited my wife and me to a party at his house on the beach just north of the pier. He lived next door to Mae West and was married to W.R. Hearst and Marion Davies daughter, Patricia van Cleve who was our hostess/bartender. One of Tiki Joe's favorite drinks was "Navy Grog" invented by Don The Beachcomber who also invented the "Zombie"
Santa Monica was beautiful in the sixties and I miss those great days. The only reason I was in the LA area in the first place was because I met my best friend in the Navy in Vietnam, Peter Altmann. His mother was the subject of "Lady in Gold" as portrayed in the movie. They lived on Elm Street in Beverly Hills across from Danny Thomas and because of those famous paintings my friend is a multi-millionaire today.
Thanks for posting those pictures of the old Tiki Joe Room as it brought back fond memories. Remarkably, I'm still playing in a band once a week here in San Diego at 72.

Regards,

Bruce Robbins "

Very cool. Where in S.D. and in what band does he play, I wonder.

With a little help with this thing called Google, GROG find on the interwebs he plays in a duo called Take Two.

https://www.facebook.com/BruceRobbins/app/2405167945/

Another shot of the entrance flanked by the Milan Guanko tiki:

Another photo of the great sign and the Guanko Tiki our front of the Miramar.

And an ad from the Tiki Jo Grand Opening on July 23, 1959.

DC

Photo of the Tiki Jo sign out in front of the Miramar hotel building.

DC

Photo of the Tiki Jo sign out in front of the Miramar hotel building.

DC

Here are a couple more screen grabs showing the exterior from the 1966 Paul Newman movie "Harper"

[ Edited by arriano on 2023-04-25 13:35:11 ]