One of the last great tiki temples Kowloon to be demolished

The current Kowloon will be replaced with a mixed use development with a smaller, more modern Kowloon that will pay "some homage" to the former location.

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/03/30/kowloon-redevelopment-update/

Seats 1,200!!!! Even the proposed 300 is a big restaurant, I hope the maintain the same character on a scaled down size but it doesn't look hopeful.

Although the Kowloon was and is the largest Tiki / Chinese restaurant to have existed in the area, it doesn’t quite deserve the “tiki temple” moniker. If you’ve been to the Mai Kai, the Kahiki, or any of the Trader Vic’s within living memory, the Kowloon isn’t really the same. That being said, it’s the closest thing to a tiki establishment still in existence in New England, now that all the old school joints, large and small, have gone away (RIP Bali Hai).

If you’re in the vicinity, it’s definitely worth stopping in. I will this summer, when we head north on vacation. 🗿

Now that the family feels safe to travel again, I think I will have to take some of my built up vacation time and take a trip North. Can't let this one slip into history without seeing it at least once!

I knew the day would eventually come, but still hate to think about it - Driving Route 1 was depressing enough last time I visited. Odds are good that I won't have a chance to go back before these changes start happening and I'll have to just enjoy the memory.

While it certainly isn't in that Mai Kai league, the building is impressive and is a huge part of the experience. As much as I love those chicken fingers, 'Kowloon' in a "freshened up" regular restaurant space is going to be meaningless to me.

Interesting. It sounds like the changes are still a ways off, so maybe I can still visit before all the unfortunate changes.

Spike recently visited Kowloon and discussed a bit of its future in this week's episode of The Breezeway Cocktail Hour:

The greatest tiki palace in the North East [Kowloon]
https://youtu.be/sdhoYlnpy7Q

We are planning on going to Boston for our anniversary this August and visiting.

We went about 4 years ago on a big road trip, NY Via Cape Cod Detroit, Chicago etc on a big loop doing as many Tiki places left( My favourite places Were Hala Kahiki and Chin Tiki),This is a great place but i cant see how they keep it open, there was only a couple of people in there when we visited and the inside didn't look too well looked after but what a amazing site from the outside

Also they recently did a thing on the local news - found via Instagram.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/maria-stephanos-one-on-one-with-family-behind-saugus-kowloon-restaurant/39960073

Spike's Breezeway MeetUp was on a Sunday night at 7pm. I arrived at 4:30pm to make sure things were organized and settle into my hotel (next door). I was blown away that at 4:30pm on a Sunday the parking lot was packed with cars. When I did the final headcount for our party, seated in the boat area, we had 35 people. We only used half the boat area and a party of at least 20 people were seated parallel to us in the boat area having a big birthday thing. The main dining room was just full of folks. I do not know how busy it should be or not, but I was blown away. It was the only time I've been there. I was also amazed how many staff it must take to keep the place functional when you have multiple big parties of people and yet, somehow, food and drinks came out reasonably quickly.

On the one hand I can say "yeah this place is too big to stay open for much longer" and yet somehow for 50+ years it has managed to keep packing people in.

[ Edited by nflourish on 2022-05-11 12:08:42 ]