Aloha Room, Portland, OR (restaurant)

Name:Aloha Room
Type:restaurant
Street:Heathman Hotel -731 Salmon
City:Portland
State:OR
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
This one is covered on a few different posts but does not have a spot on Locating Tiki so I thought I would start one. The Aloha Room was located in the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon and had a really great mural depicting King Kamehameha at a hukilau with Diamondhead in the backdrop. I have a few postcards of the interior featuring the mural.

I really like this Tiki planter, could have doubled as a mega six-person scorpion bowl.

Here is a postcard showing the exterior of the hotel in the 1950's

I picked up one of the nice feature matchbooks from the Aloha Room

There was a Lanai Room which was a combination gift shop/bar.

There is also another version of the matchbook with black background.

And finally here is a great menu from Mimi Payne's website from the Aloha Room. Uses the same Drummer/Hawaiian Maiden motif as the matchbook.

So this is where the graphics of the Scorpion Bowl and Missionary's Downfall shown in the Book of Tiki come from, I had always wondered about those and figured they were table drink cards. Some other cool drink graphics on the menu as well.

DC

Good Stuff DC,

The Hotel's website says that they discuss the hotels history with their guests. I would encourage any TC'er in the local area to pose as a guest, and get the scoop on this Tiki Temple.

"Hotel guests are also encouraged to join us in our specialized library every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 for complimentary wine, guest author anecdotes, Heathman Hotel history, and Portland attraction inside tips."

Here is a paper coaster I have...

Abstract,

Nice research on the hotel history session, it would be great to check it out and see if they had some old photos and history on the Aloha Room in the hotel library.

Sputnikmoss,

Nice coaster, I have been looking for one of those. I have seen another style as well.

The Aloha Room also used the swizzles with the hula girl on top in assorted colors.

DC

(As posted originally in Portland Kon Tiki and other defunct Portland tiki bars)

From the 1957 restaurant guide book Be My Guest In The Pacific Northwest by Bill Spiedel. Jr.

*We in the Pacific Northwest have practically adopted the Hawaiian Islands as our own. Both the convenient overnight flights and the luxurious five-day cruise lure thousands of vacationers.

It is not surprising then to find the handsome Aloha Room, in the Heathman Hotel, filled with smartly dressed Portlanders- many of them leaving for or arriving from "The Islands" and celebrating the occasion in the sophisticated Polynesian-Hawaiian atmosphere of the Aloha Room.

The room is bedecked with articles representing the best of South Seas culture, which were acquired by Mr Heathman in his travels for use in the room and for sale in the adjoining gift shop.

Decor centers around a full-length mural, in resplendent tropical tones, depicting the arrival of King Kamehameha at a festival of the sea- "The Hukilau". The beautiful flower lei is seen everywhere as it is the age-old symbol of "Aloha".

General impression of the room is aquamarine with the dominating mural on your left as you enter, and a multicolored sheen of water cascading into a miniature tropical garden behind the bar.

As you become accustomed to the subdued lighting you commence to notice some of the finer details such as gracious, friendly waitresses dressed in sarongs- black, translucent tabletops inlaid with gold ferns and shells- hurricane lamps on carved wooden bases- brilliant red Anthirium and Ginger, flown in each week from the Islands, together with Vanda orchids which are presented to the ladies.

I do not wish to create the impression that the room is laden with bric-a-brac from the South Seas. What might be thought of as souvenir items are found across the hall in the Lanai Room- a combination gift shop and cocktail lounge. In the Aloha Room itself the South Seas atmosphere is deftly achieved by using accessories of museum-like quality.

The Aloha Room is very popular for after-theater and after-symphony parties- Portlanders are enthusiastic theater and symphony patrons.

Exotic South Seas cocktails, served in equally exotic containers, are one of the many enjoyable features. The menu offers a selection of curried, Hawaiian and Polynesian dishes which are served on trays of carved monkey-pod wood, surrounded by condiments and kept hot at the table. Another favorite is the Hawaiian Fruit Salad, served in a fresh pineapple hollowed out in the shape of a canoe.

Many guests have developed an avid taste for these featured Hawaiian and South Seas dishes. However, for those who prefer less exotic fare, the menu includes delicious entrees of a more familiar nature.

All in all, the Aloha Room is delightfully conductive to adventures in dining...and if you can't get away to Hawaii at the moment this can be a pleasant substitute.*

The Heathman Hotel is alive and going strong (tres swank) and according to the friendly concierge I once spoke with they have absolutely no history of the hotel on hand. We can only hope the bits and pieces of the Aloha Room wound up in numerous Rose City basement bars and rec rooms.

PS: Be My Guest In The Pacific Northwest is a great book for anyone interested in NW restaurant history or restaurants of the late 50's. Bill Speidel's writing is so detailed it's pretty much the next best thing to having gone there. "Guest" is a companion book to Speidel's 1955 "You Can't Eat Mount Rainier!" (and later "You Still Can't Eat...") which featured recipes from NW area restaurants. Both books have great line drawing illustrations by Bob Cram. Some of the drink recipes made it into Beachbum Berry's "Intoxica" as did a few of Bob Cram's illustrations (uncredited, I think).

I recently obtained one of the nicely illustrated menus from the Aloha Room. It had a smaller wine menu stapled to the inside with the same cover graphics that could be scanned as one scene:

The cover art is signed by Georgia Lee, anybody heard of her before?

I also scanned the cool drink descriptions from the inside of the menu.

This one is interesting in that it references Skipper Kent's in San Francisco.

DC

Found this online

Was lucky enough to pick up a pair of these Aloha room cloth placemats at Tiki Kon this year. There was another set that I didn't buy in coral.

Look like they're made to match Sputnikmoss' coaster. It'll look great framed with the postcard, matchbook cover and swizzle I have from there on it.

aloha

Here's a box from a deck of cards from the Aloha Room that sold on Etsy recently:

They had pictures of the dining room on the back of each deck

[ Edited by: Cavemoai 2015-08-06 16:02 ]

A little newspaper ad for the Aloha Room at the Heathman.

And another coaster variation.

Tikidon, that photo in the ad showing the inside is awesome!

DC