South Pacific, Newton, MA (restaurant)

Name:South Pacific
Type:restaurant
Street:1152 Beacon St
City:Newton
State:MA
Zip:02461
country:USA
Phone:(617) 332-7250
Status:operational

Description:
Chinese/Polynesian Restaurant with bamboo, murals, some tikis, and mugs.

I was tipped off about this place by sputnikmoss who found an old mug from there.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=22988&forum=5&8

My wife works not too far from here so I picked her up after work and we set off to find hidden treasure!

Hidden treasure is exactly what we found in an unassuming strip mall smack dab in Newton, MA!

From the outside, you'd never ever guess that there was cool stuff within, with the possible exception of the very beat up, but clearly old and funky sign.

And again, when you walk through the door, it's like a tale of two restaurants, the right side (not pictured here) looks like any nondescript 80s strip mall restaurant, for a split second, my heart sank like a stone.

But then I looked to the left, beyond the front desk and small lounge area that seemed to be decorated at the same time as the right half of the restaurant, and I saw bamboo, lots of it.

Then the murals and lamps caught my attention, and the back room.

We were seated and got our colorful menus, and as soon as the waiter came over, I asked if the drinks were served in Tiki mugs. There was a slight language barrier (which I always consider a good sign) and he thought I was asking for a specific drink that wasn't on the menu and he assured me that the bar tender could make anything, once we straightened all that out, he told us, "yes, the drinks are served in tiki mugs, but no, they had none for sale" (then he told me I could just get one at the restaurant supply place in Boston, which gave me a chuckle on the inside a little)

I sat facing a nice mural, and directly above my head was a kind of A-frame overhang that stylistically divided the two parts of the restaurant. Over my head to the right was a Shell Lamp. In front of me and to the right, over a good size table where 3 couples were seated (so I couldn't just snap pictures like a madman) was the only other Tiki lamp I saw.

The food was traditional New England Chinese Food and very tasty! I liked everything, though we only got pretty standard appetizers. The drinks were good and strong but also tasty. I ordered a Fogcutter (Because the mug pictured next to it was the kind that spunikmoss found so very far away) but when it came, there was no name on it and it was actually in a different mug than the picture. I don't remember what my wife Kate had, but she liked it very much.

I'm always afraid to be very obvious with my camera, so my pics didn't all come out as nice as I wanted. I did use the flash now and then which got me the best results, but I didn't want to risk someone telling me to stop.

Once we ordered, I got up and looked around the corner into the back room. This was the highlight!

A longer room, with 3 Shell Lamps down the middle and beautiful, colorful Polynesian murals on all walls. Here in New England, we just don't see this kind of thing very often anymore. I was in heaven.

At the far end of the long room, there was doorway (leading to the ladies room sign and an exit)that had two Tiki poles on either side.

I really loved this place, and will definitely go back again!

I think that back room would be great for a New England Tikifile get together, although parking seemed limited (it being basically in a small strip mall).

I recommend South Pacific in Newton, MA!!!!

[ Edited by: The Granite Tiki 2007-03-16 13:39 ]

Dang, Granite! How did we miss this place? Looks like a winner to me. Gets you thinking that maybe there's more places like this. Nice job reporting and with the pics.

Hell Yes!

Ok, after we have my party, we should schedule a time for us all to go there and take over the joint.

..sbim

WOW! We need to get there soon, as a group! and give it a big Tiki Central yahoooo!
Now I'm starving for Pu-pu too! Good Job Granite!

Can't wait to see those murals! Love the Bamboo and the wood!

[ Edited by: jpmartdog 2007-02-20 07:50 ]

Wow!!

Thanks for the quick report and great pix. I am so happy this place is still open and has some cool stuff. It makes me wonder how many other places are lurking under the cover of the dreaded strip mall! I am still shocked that this discovery all hinged on a mug found 3000 miles away. Ok Eastcoasters now it's your turn, go find a clue for us out here in the West.

I'm eating left over crab rangoon for breakfast!!

pappythesailor put it best "Gets you thinking that maybe there's more places like this"

There must be!!!! And we've got a job to do, finding them, and documenting them for history, and hopefully saving a few along the way by eating and drinking there a lot!

Well I'm all for exploration... However since I don't drink I can only be a scout! I did finally go to Tahiti in Dedham... beautiful doors... was a little excited when I saw those... Not a tiki in sight... just a beautiful mural & a beheaded Vishnu!

Good one, Congrats! As is told in the Book of Tiki, Chapter 17:
"..daring expeditions to remote sites (around the corner from your wife's work?) have been occasioned by the cryptic inscriptions (please post pic!) found on these ceramics....

edited to repair picture links

Here ya go Bigbro!

[ Edited by: sputnikmoss 2007-07-12 13:06 ]

Wow! These kind of posts are few and far between lately,. Great detective work sputnik moss and granite!

Yes, a really spectacular mural find! Even if this place might be from the 70s, its murals have a timeless vintage quality.
While artifacts like carvings, mugs, menus and sometimes lamps might survive the abolition of a Tiki temple, murals and dioramas are usually irrevocably destroyed, and the cost of them today is often prohibitive for new Tiki Bar owners.

And since it is difficult to reproduce that vintage style, the only other way would be to go for NEW Tiki art, done by contemporary Tiki revival artists. That can work out, ....or not. And even then: My friend Moritz R (BOT cover artist) did some wonderful wall art in the hallway and stage room of the Tabou Tiki in Berlin (for free), and now that that is closed and will be dismantled, it will all disappear.

My new book will have a full double page dedicated to the history of fake Polynesian scenery. Enjoy the existing ones that are still there, where ever you can find them. Fine murals still in situ that come to mind are at the Waldorf in Vancouver, and Damon's in Glendale.

For the "Polynesian murals in odd places" thread I would like to submit this example:

I had to leave straight from the Hukilau this year to a job in Germany, which made for quite a culture shock-
This is what I came from:

Rum tasting with Swanky, Al, the King, and Otto in the back office of the Mai Kai

...and the Mai Kai dancers, so we are talking Polynesian Pop immersion! Then...

..I get off the plane and am being driven straight to a location scout in some Hotel at some lake in deep Southern Bavaria, so THIS was the change of scenery for me from one day to another:

But then, at that hotel's interior swimming pool, I come upon....THIS !:

I swear that stuff just follows me around! This huge tile mural was done in the 70s by a female artist, and is an indication of how, up until then, the Polynesian motif stood for fun and leisure in the hotel industry worlwide.

bigbroTiki - you said a mouthful! As a mural artist who has painted nearly one hundred murals over the last decade in restaurants, you hit the nail on the head. When renovating a restaurant decor or a restaurant space, the mural is one of the first things to be white washed or thrown in the dumpster. Can't tell you how many of my murals have eventually been torn down or painted over. It is usually due to the simple fact that the new owner has a different use or concept in mind. I now urge all mural buyers to go for artwork on panels or canvas that can someday be removed and preserved. Sure it's not a mural in the traditional "fresco" style, but these days businesses/restaurants come and go quickly.

I wonder if the artist of this mural was "known". The style is beautiful, with a meticulous use of foreground details to create the illusion of depth in each panel. I will immediately try to research the painter of these murals. As you say, the style is of an amazingly vintage design. This is a very cool find! It is so funny how some of these small restaurants, especially in our area, just don't recognize what they have on their walls... but alas decor alone, doesn't translate into cash flow.

And by the way, bigbroTiki - if you are going to include polynesian decor/dioramas - you must check out the Kowloon. You probably already have! :wink:

[ Edited by: jpmartdog 2007-02-21 17:08 ]

Great! So we do seem to have a member here who could do the style justice, good to know!

Another great mural that I forgot to mention is the huge mural at Julian's in (or nearby) Daytona Beach, Florida. Does anybody have photos of that?

And here is a fine example of the behind-the-bar diorama at the original Kona Kai in Philadelphia:

It was painted on panels of glass, which were spaced apart for 3-Dimensionality, and thus could be lit individually, allowing for dimming from day to dusk to night lighting effects. Note the shutters for authentic foreground! Also see it on page 141 in the BOT, in the rendering and the postcard.

Somebody should open a seperate "Polynesian mural (and diorama)" thread in General Tiki, so members can shoot and document them for posterity! (Don't wanna derail this one too much :wink: ).

Great photos of this place. Thanks for sharing this and the effort. Great urban archeology.

I had to leave straight from the Hukilau this year to a job in Germany, which made for quite a culture shock-
..I get off the plane and am being driven straight to a location scout in some Hotel at some lake in deep Southern Bavaria, so THIS was the change of scenery for me from one day to another:

But then, at that hotel's interior swimming pool, I come upon....THIS !:

I swear that stuff just follows me around! This huge tile mural was done in the 70s by a female artist, and is an indication of how, up until then, the Polynesian motif stood for fun and leisure in the hotel industry worlwide.

hi,
did you stay in the http://www.bachmair.de/ ?

Dang! We have Tiki agents everywhere! It sure was:

X-ept I wasn't STAYING there (wish I would have!), but just scouting it, as a possible location for a TV movie:

Sven at work in the fatherland....(still in proper attire though)

But now, really, let's leave Bavaria behind, and return to the SOUTH PACIFIC! (Apologies for derailing this further, Granite)
And someone start that MURAL thread!

Great points being made about the murals. I posted a rather odd location here once, the Bremerton Naval Station Library. It has a gorgeous mural dating from the 30's to 50's with topless wahines and sailors in a tropical paradise. I left there in 95 or so and have long worried that political correctness in the military will have it painted over due to the topless Polynesians. I believe anyone can get a pass to go to the library there. I hope one of our WA members will photograph it some time. Bremerton is about 40 min's from Seattle and had some tiki apt's as well.

ST

On 2007-02-20 05:42, Suffering Bastard in Maine wrote:
Hell Yes!

Ok, after we have my party, we should schedule a time for us all to go there and take over the joint.

..sbim

Sounds like a great plan to me!

On 2007-02-21 19:23, Ojaitimo wrote:
Great photos of this place. Thanks for sharing this and the effort. Great urban archeology.

I knew that B.S. in Anthropology would pay off sometime!!! hahaha. No really....I had a feeling when I found that mug it might be something good. You guys will have to find out when this place opened. From some of the reviews it sounds like it's been there since the 1960s and my mug looks it too, although those murals look pretty 70s. Keep us posted!

I'm definitely going to go back during the day and properly display it's location.

Then everyone will understand how it went unnoticed by everyone but the neighborhood customers.

The South Pacific is cool. WAITIKI went drinking there with DJ Jimmy B and Brother Cleve. Unfortunately, I've been banned from the place because I drank everyone under the table. By my own people (the Chinese). Such is life. Gurgle gurgle

My wife and I went back last week! (I have a great excuse to drop her off, and then pick her up from work now)

More pics!

She's going to kill me for this but:

[ Edited by: The Granite Tiki 2007-03-16 13:20 ]

It's Kate!

This is a very cool-looking place!

You guys are the best. You couldn't be more right about the South Pacific (affectionately known around Newton, MA as the "So. Po.","SoPac" and "The Po"). FYI, the place has been around since the 50's and used to be a hot spot, jammed to the gills on weekend nights. The sign outside is the tallest neon sign in Newton and grandfathered out of zoning laws that were designed, in part, to prevent the proliferation of others like it. It's a source of pride to the regulars in the bar who comprise a group of the funniest and most down to earth people you will ever meet. Many in this pack of regulars have been friends for decades.

FYI, in late August 2007, word spread through the pack that a group had come to the restaurant as some type of club that was interested in tiki bars. Upon leaving they gave a tiki to the management which hangs today in the back of the bar. It may have been you guys. I hope it was. Either way, you'll be pleased to know that everyone said the group was good people and, more importantly, that one of the regulars hung his N.E. Patriots hat on the tiki (prior to game one) and announced that he would not retrieve it until the Patriots were Superbowl champions. It sits atop the tiki today and the Patriots haven't lost since it went up (16-0). If it was you guys, thanks. If not, do you know who these people were?

Come back soon and often. PLENTY OF PARKING IN THE BACK (down the side street at the east end of the strip mall).

You guys are the best. You couldn't be more right about the South Pacific (affectionately known around Newton, MA as the "So. Po.","SoPac" and "The Po"). FYI, the place has been around since the 50's and used to be a hot spot, jammed to the gills on weekend nights. The sign outside is the tallest neon sign in Newton and grandfathered out of zoning laws that were designed, in part, to prevent the proliferation of others like it. It's a source of pride to the regulars in the bar who comprise a group of the funniest and most down to earth people you will ever meet. Many in this pack of regulars have been friends for decades.

FYI, in late August 2007, word spread through the pack that a group had come to the restaurant as some type of club that was interested in tiki bars. Upon leaving they gave a tiki to the management which hangs today in the back of the bar. It may have been you guys. I hope it was. Either way, you'll be pleased to know that everyone said the group was good people and, more importantly, that one of the regulars hung his N.E. Patriots hat on the tiki (prior to game one) and announced that he would not retrieve it until the Patriots were Superbowl champions. It sits atop the tiki today and the Patriots haven't lost since it went up (16-0). If it was you guys, thanks. If not, do you know who these people were?

Come back soon and often. PLENTY OF PARKING IN THE BACK (down the side street at the east end of the strip mall).

Thanks for bringing the pictures of that mural room up again, what a fantastic place, a real time warp.
:) -Happy sigh-

[ Edited by: The Granite Tiki 2007-03-16 13:20 ]

Hey, It's Kate again! March, April, May, June... Hey, Granite what did you guys do after you got home that night?

Yes, we'll be back to the So Po ASAP!

Timbres, it was indeed us, the New England Tikiphiles.

See this thread:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=26115&forum=4&81

Your math is close pappy, very close! :)

Newton South Pacific is awesome!

That's me waving under the sign for human scale...
I think I remember there was a really cool primitive bird lamp in the reception of the restaurant... Am I right? Or was I drunk?

Yeah, that was there last time I was there.

Wow! That mug was one of my first thrift store scores. I'm still amazed that a mug found in Portland OR helped "rediscovered" this place!

[ Edited by: sputnikmoss 2009-05-22 08:25 ]

Found this great picture taken by Vidaliaa.

Here's the vintage paper placemat:

The second location in Malden, at 275 Eastern Ave, is now the Sun Kong Chinese restaurant. One of the reviews says they still serve a scorpion bowl in the bar. Has anyone checked it out to see if any of the decor is left?

Sabu,

Great place mat, those are hard to come by.

I picked up a matchbook from the South Pacific advertising both the Newton and Malden locations.

Close up of the dancing girls under the moon.

DC

[ Edited by: Dustycajun 2010-08-16 16:50 ]

I still haven't been to this place! Yes, I'm ashamed of myself. I have no excuse. It's not much more than a half hour away from me.

Go Now!

On 2010-08-16 18:10, The Granite Tiki wrote:
Go Now!

Yes, dear!

Though some of my photos are a few years old (!!) I'm glad to report that my most recent drive-by by the South
Pacific showed they were still open for business. I did snap a few photos of the giant vintage sign, and while the neon wasn't lit up, the yellow background looked pretty cheery in the sunlight~

http://www.retroroadmap.com/2012/04/10/tiki-room-hidden-in-suburban-boston-south-pacific-newton-ma/

(also a big thanks and shout out to the folks on the 2007 NETT who visited The SoPa and videotaped the cool mural!)

I have some terrible news. It appears the South Pacific is closed. They have a sign on the door that says: Thank you for your years of patronage.

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2012-09-23 02:52 ]

I just heard the news myself and am so so so bummed. Looks like they've already gutted the place as well.

There's a Facebook Page for anyone who wants to mourn along with me.

https://www.facebook.com/southpacificmemorial

Anyone wanna meet up at the Bali Hi?

[ Edited by: modbetty 2012-10-02 14:58 ]

AAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

Whaaaa...? Isn't that the place with all the great murals lining all the walls? What happened to all that wonderful art? There's a lot of mourning about the food, but these murals were/ are singular - are you sure the were removed/ destroyed? It's worth checking their fate, they should be preserved.

I don't have high hopes for the interior at all,based on the photo of the gutted kitchen posted to the FB page on 9/27. Sounds like the local folks can't get any additional info about the closing either. First Pago Pago and now SoPa, say it ain't so, Massachusetts!

On 2012-10-04 11:36, modbetty wrote:
I don't have high hopes for the interior at all,based on the photo of the gutted kitchen posted to the FB page on 9/27. Sounds like the local folks can't get any additional info about the closing either. First Pago Pago and now SoPa, say it ain't so, Massachusetts!

Pure assumption, I say. The kitchen equipment might have been sold as a whole to some other Chinese operator, or taken by the family to open a new location, who knows. That stuff is generic and more re-usable. The urban archeologist does not accept certainty of annihilation of a place until proven otherwise.

I've heard stories like "...and the place stood locked up with all the decor inside for half a year until a new owner threw it all away"

And I've heard stories of "... this place was completely gutted within a day" - which one do you choose to believe? :D

There is enough love for this place out there when looking at this thread - now put your professed love into action and go there and talk to neighbors and research how you can get inside.

On 2010-08-16 17:24, Big Kahuna wrote:
I still haven't been to this place! Yes, I'm ashamed of myself. I have no excuse. It's not much more than a half hour away from me.

On 2012-10-04 12:19, bigbrotiki wrote:
...now put your professed love into action and go there and talk to neighbors and research how you can get inside.

Big Kahuna, you have your Tiki marching orders. Dude, you're our closest TC agent. Step up !!

When you visit So Ca at the end of the month, you can either be greeted as a hero or as a zero. :D

I have been there since that post & can attest the murals are (were) awesome. I will take a drive over there before the end of the weekend to see what's up. I'm not optimistic. They had some nice carved poles & a bunch of vintage lamps. I hope they didn't all end up in the dumpster! At least when Pago Pago closed, I was able to score some stuff at the auction. The Northeast Tiki is fading fast.

[ Edited by: Big Kahuna 2012-10-04 13:34 ]