KAHIKI Columbus, ohio tiki bar restaurant. Lee Henry, The catalog

The building in question was used to house all the controls for the outside lights. The tikis in question were built on sight by Phil Kienz.

The next question was about the Piano Room bar top which was a map of tropical islands, which we believe was created by Coburn Morgan who also did Lee Henry's desktop. The acrylic tops were made by a company called Dangel Creations from New Rome, OH.

Also, the torches of the Large Moais located at the front doors were turned off during the 70's energy crisis from an order from the City of Columbus. We had to install propane gas lines at that time to relight the Moais.

Great questions everyone!

Umeone

[ Edited by: umeone 2009-05-27 15:35 ]

Thanks Umeone!
I love hearing the old lore of these places.

And Bluebay 112 I too would like to see a catalog of
all of the tiki spots.

There is Critiki it has a great collection of pictures
of well almost everything.

I think I myself put 80? Kahiki photos on the Critiki page for
Kahiki.
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/pictures.cgi?loc_id=33#/images/locations/33/1349_large.JPG

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2009-05-30 15:38 ]

Ok here is a bar that wentiki and I got.
Well she found it.
When we went to get it we found out that the guy who owned it
was one of the first bartenders at the Kahiki!
And this was the same line of furiture that the Kahiki used in
the restaurant. Plus it's all MINT!
His house is filled with it! Couches, chairs, Ect....
He liked the Kahiki furniture so well he went and got the same
stuff for his whole house.
Look at the first two chairs in the photos.
The one on the left I got at the Kahiki sale, The right one came from his house.

Here is some booze he had at his bar.
His wife was so nice!
I told her I loved a few of the bottles
and she said she would sell them to me.
Their daughter did not like that idea.
So his wife waited till she went upstairs
and told me to just give her a buck for each.
I gave her ten.
Felt bad taking this guys bar out of his house.
Kinda like the end o' the party.

That was a great find, and a great day. His wife told us the BEST stories about those early years. So wild! She kept bringing out stuff and photos to show us. We thought we would just pick the bar up and leave, but we were there for hours!

:o :o :o :o :o

Nice haul John and Wendy. Those bottles are great!!

Any Lemon Hart left?

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Jeff their WAS booze in the Lemon Hart bottle!
And we did drink it. It was not very good though.

Ok Jeff On to our next adventure.
Jeff calls me up and asks if I have a truck, He knows I do.
I told him that depends on what you want.
He told me that he needed to pick up some instruments from a guy who
played at the Kahiki in The Beachcomber trio.
What a great time!!! These are great people!!
Hey Jeff if you could fill in what I left out that would be nice.
Like one of the conga drums was some famous guys drum. Texas Pete?
No thats the hot sauce guy.

It's so odd that so many of the people and stories of the Kahiki
have kind of fell in Jeff, Wendy and my laps.

Thanks Jeff!

A marimba and two conga drums.
Jeff now owns a MARIMBA!
Man the thing is so sweet!!!

The last picture is a bag from the gift shop I would guess.

Here is Marsh and his wife Nina.

Now I just need to stand on the right side of the marimba before I start playing it!!! :lol:

Thanks for posting those pictures John, and thanks for all your help loading and unloading!!

Marsh Padilla is an incredible guy. He played with his Beachcomber Trio at the Kahiki restaurant from 1961 until 1978. The drum he is playing above came from Cuban Pete. A very famous Mambo dancer who recently passed away in January.

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

That's funny, Jeff.
You are playing the wrong side.
Think of it as a piano.
The sets of 2 and 3 keys are the black ones.

Cool, thanks for the tip Joe.

Here's an early picture of the Beachcomber Trio at the Kahiki.

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

On 2009-07-19 13:50, Tiki Joe wrote:
That's funny, Jeff.
You are playing the wrong side.
Think of it as a piano.
The sets of 2 and 3 keys are the black ones.

Jeff is the Jimi Hendrix of the marimba.

:lol:

I will definitely keep the lighter fluid at bay!!!

:lol:

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Jeff, those instruments are amazing, and they couldn't have found a better home. Awesome slice of nostalgia, just imagine the many ears they have wooed!

Thanks Wendy!!!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Ok so Jeff just left.
Just look what he gave me!!
The first is a label for... Get this, KAHIKI RUM!!!!
Next we have some photos of the wine cellar.
This was another restaurant by Bill and Lee.
The last pic shows Corban Morgan.
Thanks!! Jeff.
Wine Cellar was a great place as well. And BIG!!!

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2009-08-07 11:54 ]

Thanks for sharing, Tikiskip!

Great discoveries. LOVE the label!

That rum makes sense, especially since the Mai-Kai partnered with Don Q. But who knew?!

Hey tikipups Welcome to TC!!!
There is a blinking light at the top right of
the main page when you enter Tiki Central.
This means you have a personal mesage from, well
this time me.
Want to see those photos and talk Kahiki!!
Hope you can make it to the Top with us.

Hey Jeff,
Just got back from the liquor store.
Look at the new rum they stock!!!
I will get you a bottle.

You found a bottle of Kahiki rum?! NICE!!!

got ya alex!!

No this is my replica of the
old Kahiki rum.

But it is a copy from the original label.
Looks nice I think.

Don't do that to me man!! :)

Seriously though, it looks awesome! Great job!

Holy Crap!!!!!!

That is freaking awesome.

I almost thought you actually found a bottle somewhere!!!!!!

Thanks for saving one for me!!! :)

Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff

Here are some nice interior shots from September of 1968. Enjoy.
Sorry for jamming up the thread with some wrongly ID'ed photos and thanks for every ones help. I have contact the Ohio Historical website to let them know of the mistake in the identification of the photos. I have Moved the Photos Here. Thanks.
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=33782&forum=2&start=last&

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2009-09-02 05:16 ]

Nice pictures!!
But I think they may be from Don the Beachcombers
not the Kahiki.
I say this because of the green table lamps.
Plus there are OA polls in that shot.
The Kahiki polls were kind of mexican looking.
Cuz they got em in Mexico.

Now we got a mystery. These are from the Ohio Historical Society. Here is the description for the photos.

"Five photographs, taken in September 1968, show the interior of the Kahiki Supper Club in Columbus, Ohio. Lee Henry and Bill Sapp opened the Polynesian-style restaurant in 1961. Visitors to the Kahiki, shaped like a Polynesian long house, entered through two large Easter Island figures. Inside the restaurant, diners were seated in grass huts around a large tiki figurine or in the "rain forest" that included a simulated thunder storm. Although listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the restaurant closed in August 2000 and was demolished soon after. The slides measure 2" x 2" (5.08 x 5.08 cm)."

You maybe on to something Skip. Here is a close up of pic #1 and those look like DTB shakers to me.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2009-09-01 15:46 ]

This is definitely not the Kahiki. We know that because of the wood carvings, the table top light, the chair and booths, and the shakers are all wrong. Our guess is the Lanai or maybe they could also be a Steve Crane Luau.

Tiki-Kate has the table top light and maybe she could shed some light as to where it came from.

OK. Lets see if this link work to go directly to where I found the photos.
http://omp.ohiolink.edu/OMP/NewDetails?oid=3670031&fieldname=xml&results=10&sort=title&searchstatus=1&hits=1&searchmark=0&searchstring=tiki&searchtype=kw&format=list&count=1
I will post this in locating Tiki also. To see if anyone else has an ID. The link has been corrected and now is the Kon Tiki page. Thanks everyone for your help.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2009-09-26 06:52 ]

Also posted this over on Trav's thread on General Tiki. The pictures are from the Kon Tiki restaurant at the Sheraton Gibson Hotel in Cincinnati, Ohio. Explains the confusion a little bit.

Here is a postcard I have from the Kon Tiki.

DC

When I saw these pics my first thought was that the interior was designed by George Nakashima. The reason I say that is because George loved to use those half round green vinyl booths in his designs. George and his design partner Florian Gabriel did the design work for Steven Crane and the Kon Tiki chain. I think these photos are from the Kon Tiki that was located in Cincinatti, not far from Columbus and cold have easily been mistaken for the Kahiki by someone who didn't know anything about tiki restaurants.

Here is a postcard for the Kon Tiki in Cincinatti.

But let's take a look at the pics/details and try to develop some hard evidence.

Diagonal bamboo trim on the wall appears to be the same.

The screening and the roof structure with the extended bamboo poles appears to be the same.

This one is a little harder to make out, but the table top green tiki lamps appear to be the same.

And the tiki appears to be the same. Kind of difficult from the angle in the shot and the plastic foliage is a little different.

My money is on the Kon Tiki Cincinatti. There was also a Kon Tiki in Cleveland which may have also had the same interior decor, so that is a slight possibility too. However, I don't think it would match this closely.

Zulu

DC - sorry for the duplication, I was working on my pics while you posted your postcard.

Zulu

Zulu,

No worries, thanks for that exhaustive research and comparison on the postcard and the photos.

Or Got Rum also posted this info on Trav's other thread about the mystery photos.

PS - The Kona Luanii room is looking awesome!

DC

I have those table top green tiki lamps DC.

Mr. Leitwein was the commercial contractor
who built the Kahiki.
(shawnee construction I think it was called)
He also built the Grass Shack, Top of the Isle,
And the Desert inn in Columbus Ohio.
As well as all of the Hustler clubs.

I was told this by Mr Leitwein.
He said that the first contractor quit
shortly after starting the Kahiki. (Jack Liberatore was his name)
This may be the reason you can not find the blue prints.
Also Mr. Leitwein does not have the blue prints or anything
else from the Kahiki.

Mr. Leitweins Birthday is on Sept 22.
I think he will be 86.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2009-09-04 14:00 ]

Just a little side note. I contacted the Ohio Historical Society and told them about the mistake with the labeling and posting on the Kahiki page. It has been corrected and is now the Kon Tiki page.

Nice work Uncle Trav! Getting things like that fixed always feels good.

Found this great image on the Columbusmusichistory.com web page. A great shot with lots of good stuff to find in the picture.

Here is the caption.

North High School student Sally Ruault entered a Dan Dee Potato Chips contest in 1966 and won first prize: dinner with the Dantes at the Kahiki restaurant. At the table from left to right: Miss Dan Dee Potato Chips manager (name unknown), unknown lady, Dave Workman (Dantes, lead guitar), Carter Holliday (Dantes, bass), Shana McCabe (Miss Dan Dee Potato Chips), waiter, Sally Ruault, unkown lady, Lynn Wehr (Dantes, rhythm guitar5), Barry Hayden (Dantes, vocals), Joey Hinton (Dantes, drummer)

Great pic Uncle Trav...is that Drew Carey on the left? Maybe he really meant Columbus ROCKS!

Tikiskip,

Just went through the entire post and really enjoyed it. Thanks for all of the great research.

This rather rare Kahiki matchbook sold on ebay recently. I must admit I have never seen one quite like this before. Great renderings of the building an the Moai.

DC

I bid on it DC ...you know the outcome .

Glad you like.
And thank you for posting that matchbook!!!
I have one of those somewhere.
So that makes like 4 different matchbooks for the Kahiki?
That is the cool thing about kahiki, they had TONS of different
Mugs, napkins, matchbooks, ECT.....

Not much going on in Kahiki land.
New stuff comes slower to light as we
have seen so much.
A tiki peep and I went to the Windward passage for dinner last night.
Well this person had found a cool Hitiki cannibal statue.( Long live the beaver god!)
People at the bar were calling it the beaver god, Man we had fun!
Hitiki sold stuff to the Kahiki gift shop.
They don't want to post it because when stuff is posted people go dam I
just saw four of those at goodwill and passed em up cuz they were like a buck each.
I see that point, and that's cool.
I'm kinda over the collecting mode at this point and just want to out
as much info about the Kahiki and all tiki for that matter.
Sooo... we start talling about the Kahiki. and this guy tells us he knows who has the blueprints
for the Kahiki!
Well tiki peep and I went whaatt?
It's is just getting odd how many times this happens to me.
Will let you know if we find anything.
Tiki peep most likly has the thing framed and in their home by now.
Jeff you missed a good night!!!

It would certainly be interesting to see more of Jack Hite's Tiki work...and those blue prints. :)

I will post pic's of the Blueprints if we find them.

And check this out.
I am going to be there and will be helping decorate.
Will have some lights there, and some will be for sale.
So if you go and you see me there stop and say hi.
This will be a nice event.

http://www.thehillsmarket.com/inside_the_hills_market/2010/04/kahiki-day-at-the-hills-market.html

True fans know that Kahiki never left; their delicious and popular frozen food products are sold throughout the United States. But it's been ten long years since the restaurant closed her doors, and for one day, The Hills Market will bring back some of the magic with Kahiki Day.

A Taste of Kahiki | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Free

• We will demo Kahiki products and other Polynesian-style foods throughout the store. From Kahiki's famous egg rolls to ham and pineapple hors d'oeuvres, we'll be offering a taste of island life.

• Matt Thomas, developmental sous chef for Kahiki Foods will be conducting a variety of live cooking demonstrations in our Wine Department.

• Constance Begue will host a Summer Ale sampling in the Wine Department.

Kahiki Dinner | 6 p.m. | $35 | R.S.V.P.

In the evening, our Veranda will be transformed into a Kahiki themed tiki bar by Hills Own Floral Shoppe, complete with live music by nationally known ukulele and guitar player Francis Llacuna. Our tiki bar will serve three authentic drinks, borrowed directly from Kahiki's extensive drink menu.

The $35 includes a three course meal featuring Kahiki’s appetizers, chicken and seafood dishes made by The Hills Market and a choice of one tropical drink that comes with a commemorative tiki mug to take home. Additional drinks, wine and beer will be available at our cash bar.

For dessert, Columbus' own Jeni Britton of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams will be preparing a unique Kahiki-inspired ice cream.

Jeff Tsao, son of the Kahiki Supper Club founder and current director of R&D for Kahiki Foods, will be on-site during the dinner conducting cooking demonstrations throughout the

Reservations are required for the dinner, and seating is limited. Reservations can be made by contacting us at 614.846.3220 or e-mailing us.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2010-04-08 19:20 ]

Met Kay oliver she was a bartender in the 80s.
I remember Skip and Jim said that she was the only person at that time that
could make the navy grog mix. She even can back and made it for them after she
no longer worked there. (Pic #1)
This is Kays daughter Wendy she was a mystery drink girl for some time. (pic #2)

Just found this out.

Nevermind.

[ Edited by: tikiskip 2010-06-14 14:40 ]