El Torito was a TIKI Bar ?!?!!?

"When Larry Cano's Air Force hitch was up in '54, he thought he'd get himself a bar.

The one-time law student-turned-fighter pilot didn't have much expertise in the restaurant business beyond washing dishes in a mom-and-pop joint in East L.A. He was 30 years old and had come to Van Nuys with the Air National Guard, armed with plenty of desire but little practical experience. But he had a few recipes and knowledge of an exotic-sounding foreign drink known as tequila, so he bought out a closed Polynesian restaurant on Ventura Boulevard in Encino.

Drawing on his Mexican-American heritage, he remade the place into a little restaurant he called El Torito." Hey, at least in didn't become a SPORTS BAR!!! :)

PS- anyone have a clue of what restaurant the took over? 1954, Ventura Blvd Encino.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/10491485.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp&1c

Possible original address;
El Torito Est. 1954 Menu Locations Map
16817 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA 91316
818 784-5925

mrsmiley......not sure what would have been there and closed in 1954. The Bora Bora was at 16240 Ventura Blvd. Pucci's had a Polynesian exterior also on Ventura Blvd. in Encino. The Tahitian was at 12010 Ventura Blvd. but further east in Studio City. What a great street that would have been to crawl in the 50s-60s ending up at the Aku Aku motor hotel on Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills afterwards.

bongofury,
I had no idea there used to be that many "tiki" places in the Valley! I wish it were still like that.

Has anyone ever seen a visual of Pucci's in Encino?

Cool! Is El Torito still open?

Wow, so Larry was the Donn Beach of margaritas...that's pretty cool.

Zeta, El Torito is a huge chain of Mexican (and I use that term lightly) restaurants here in the western U.S. They are now owned by a corporation called "Real Mex" (ha ha ha) that owns Acapulco, Chevy's, On The Border, El Paso Cantina, and pretty much every other bad Mexican food chain on the planet.

On 2008-05-24 13:12, BC-Da-Da wrote:
Has anyone ever seen a visual of Pucci's in Encino?

Cool Story.

Tiki Shaker posted this small menu card with an exterior drawing of Pucci's.

The address was at 16065 Ventura Blvd so it was close.

DC

Valley Cue Magazine, 1959

I got a matchbook from Pucci's. I'm thinking this was the Polynesian spot that turned into the first El Torito.

DC