Hukilau opening in Palo Alto

I was walking in downtown Palo Alto past a few of the bars there (first NOLA then Blue Chalk), and I was thinking "hey, the downtown bars in Palo Alto do pretty well, what this area needs a tiki bar" and no sooner did I think that, that I saw gated entrance to a buildiing that had reed matting on the walls. I took a quick peek to see what it was but there was no name on the place.

I then spotted a piece of paper in one of the windows .. there was a tiki on it and it said that a Hukilau was opening there.

This was just down from Blue Chalk, off of University a few blocks. (The Trader Vic's in Palo Alto is not anywhere near this...)

Just thought I'd report. Perhaps I'll get pics next time I'm down there ....

~Hanford

Geez. The Blue Chalk. Had a few too many a few too many times there.

That's awesome news about the new Hukilau. Those Stanford students could use a little Tiki-class. I can't wait to check it out the next time I'm up at my Dad's. Good location as well (stumbling distance from the original Gordon Biersch).

I checked out the Hukilau in SF and was very dissapointed.
The only tiki in sight was the one in their logo !!! The rest of the decor left much to be desired, as did (unfortunately) their drinks.
If this Palo Alto opening is part of the same group, I hope its better than SF

Conga Mike do you think if maybe someone could contact them and suggest some added decor it might go a long way to making it more inviting and frequented by the masses if simple changes were made.

Folks, Hukilau is not a tiki bar, and it's not going to be. It's an island bar & restaurant. It serves pretty good Hawaiian food, lousy drinks, and it caters to the Bay Area Pacific Islander community, mostly Filipinos. It's not really a place for Haoles. Good musubi if you've got a craving, though.

Ditto to what Martiki says. If Hukilau is able to open a third location, I'd say their attempt to appeal to the plate lunch crowd (rather than the midcentury Polynesian Pop crowd) is serving them just fine. These places are a dime a dozen out here on the west coast, there are far more of them than our style of Polynesian restaurant.

I figured as much, seeing as how Hukilau seems to never get mentioned or suggested around here ...

Could it be related to the Hukilau in Sacratmento?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=10006&forum=2&1

[ Edited by: christiki295 on 2004-08-18 10:06 ]

I'm pretty sure they're not related. I'll have to check out the Sacto place one of these days.