You find tikis in the strangest places, like Milwaukee, Wisconsin...

Been meaning to get shots of this up for a while, finally took pictures right before we got blasted with 5 inches of snow today and -25 windchills...

My wahine and I have been in this neighborhood for almost two years now and it took me until last spring to find this about two blocks from our flat...

Here's the house... how good is your tiki sense?

After driving down this street more and more, I noticed something on the porch...

He looks cool in the summer months, the owner (s) have an airplant in his mouth...

A front view...

Over to the other side of the porch is another interesting little tiki...

I have yet to ring the doorbell and find out the story on this tiki... was he made by the homeowner or someone else? I'll have to find out this spring. He does look like the tiki on the Witco Fountains the more I look at him... maybe inspired by it, I doubt that it is one...

Strange finding these here, in Wisconsin of all places...!

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2003-02-11 19:41 ]

Looks like the remains of a Witco tiki fountain.....

wasn't The Fireside in Wisconsin? perhaps its a witco relic from there..

Well, there was a local tiki bar called the Mai Kai
mentioned on Tiki Bar Review Page
http://home.earthlink.net/~tikibars/tikimaikaimilw.html
that closed a while back, I don't know if they had a Witco fountain or not... yes there is a place called the Fireside in Wisconsin... its a music and dinner theater but I've never known it to have any tiki...

Now I've really got to ask the owner where they got a Witco tiki... here's another shot of the one at Hala Kahiki in Chicago...

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2003-02-11 22:39 ]

The Fireside at one point was WAY tiki

Where is Fireside?
I mean ,exact address and phone numbr?
Is it worth checking out, even if it has been De-Tikified?

Here's some data on Mai Kai:

"Mai Kai, 5630 W Lincoln Ave, Milwaukee, WI (414) 321-4401

As of June of 2001, Mai Kai has been replaced by our dread nemesis, a sports bar. Located too far out of the center of town to attract whatever hipster scene Milwaukee might have, the poor Mai Kai was lucky to last as long as it did.
The bar was de-Tikified in October of 2000, when the old owner (who had owned it since 1973) sold it to the new owner, Michelle Manzella. She still pours a mean Mai Tai in a brandy snifter (at $7), but has no interest in keeping anything Tiki alive.
There are a few vague traces of Tiki left - the front entrance is still a fifteen foot tall A-frame style with two big torches sticking out of the sides like antennae on some alien bug. Even more intriguing (or more pathetic) is that if you look carefully, you can still see where a huge Tiki Mask or shield and large wooden letters spelling "M A I K A I" were removed from the front of the building. They had hung on the side of the place for so long that the sun bleached the paint all around them, leaving ghostly images. And that's all that remains! "

On 2003-02-12 01:57, fatuhiva wrote:
The Fireside at one point was WAY tiki

I have a smooth black Moai mug from the Fireside. You had to be pretty into tiki to order up some OMC moais for your joint.

-martin

The Fireside is a supper-club, or as they put it, "Restaurant and Playhouse" in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Between Chicago and Madison. It still exists as far as I know, though not in a tiki state. They have had different shows through the years and at one point (guessing late 70's- early 80's) it was a Hawaiian review. Besides the Moai mugs, they used the glass goblets like the ones from Disney's Polynesian Village, only clear.

There is a record album which documents the show . It's actually pretty cool. It says, "Dick Klopcic and John Malo presents... HAWAII CALLS... at the Fireside Staring Blue Pau." Our copy of the LP is even signed by Blue!

The back on the record goes into great detail describing the tiki experience wonderfully, "To many people, Hawaii is a state of mind... a never, never land... a must see before one passes on... yes, even a Paradise. A land of endless white sand beaches and crystal water... Dick Klopcic, a true restaurateur and entrepreneur, has brought this illusion, this dream to the many people in the snow belt cities by bringing Hawaii to the Fireside Restaurant." The record is pretty cool, reminds me of the show at the Mai Kai, a little more "loungey".

We stopped at the Fireside a few years back and though the building has a cool vaulted/A-frame vintage modern style ala Kahiki there is not really any evidence of tiki there that we could find. The only remains we could unearth were a glass tiki goblet filled with matches behind the bar and a bartender who had been there long enough to remember the old Hawaiian show. I can't remember what the production was at the time of our visit, but as we were leaving, a bus load of seniors were being dropped off to eat and see the show.

from time to time there is an old postcard from the Fireside on ebay from it's tiki days.. it looked pretty modernist-tiki cool. It had some wild mod-style "flames" street sign that I think incorporated a tiki somehow. there is a slight possibilty that this postcard was in the BOT, but i'm not sure- anyone care to search thru it?

OK, its not in there- I looked. I'll keep my eyes open

Well, this tiki has turned from something neat to see down the block into something I need to know the history of... if you'd all like I will let you know the story behind it, like I said, tiki here is unheard of these days!

On 2003-02-12 22:32, boutiki wrote:
The Fireside is a supper-club, or as they put it, "Restaurant and Playhouse" in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Between Chicago and Madison. It still exists as far as I know, though not in a tiki state. They have had different shows through the years and at one point (guessing late 70's- early 80's) it was a Hawaiian review. Besides the Moai mugs, they used the glass goblets like the ones from Disney's Polynesian Village, only clear.

There is a record album which documents the show . It's actually pretty cool. It says, "Dick Klopcic and John Malo presents... HAWAII CALLS... at the Fireside Staring Blue Pau." Our copy of the LP is even signed by Blue!

The back on the record goes into great detail describing the tiki experience wonderfully, "To many people, Hawaii is a state of mind... a never, never land... a must see before one passes on... yes, even a Paradise. A land of endless white sand beaches and crystal water... Dick Klopcic, a true restaurateur and entrepreneur, has brought this illusion, this dream to the many people in the snow belt cities by bringing Hawaii to the Fireside Restaurant." The record is pretty cool, reminds me of the show at the Mai Kai, a little more "loungey".

We stopped at the Fireside a few years back and though the building has a cool vaulted/A-frame vintage modern style ala Kahiki there is not really any evidence of tiki there that we could find. The only remains we could unearth were a glass tiki goblet filled with matches behind the bar and a bartender who had been there long enough to remember the old Hawaiian show. I can't remember what the production was at the time of our visit, but as we were leaving, a bus load of seniors were being dropped off to eat and see the show.

Hey Boutiqui thanks for the data.

I want to go check it out some time... do you have the address?

Wanna take a road trip?
:)

lAKE sURFER SEZ: "yes there is a place called the Fireside in Wisconsin... its a
music and dinner theater but I've never known it to have any tiki."

I recently got some paper drink coasters from The Fireside. Very cool design, but these were not tiki.

lAKE sURFER SEZ: "yes there is a place called the Fireside in Wisconsin... its a
music and dinner theater but I've never known it to have any tiki."

I recently got some paper drink coasters from The Fireside. Very cool design, but these were not tiki.

lAKE sURFER SEZ: "yes there is a place called the Fireside in Wisconsin... its a
music and dinner theater but I've never known it to have any tiki."

I recently got some paper drink coasters from The Fireside. Very cool design, but these were not tiki.

Now here is a Wisconsin Tiki mission from bigbrotiki:

I first spotted this matchbook on the restroom wall of King Neptune's (before it got cleaned up) in Sunset Beach (the women's restroom was wallpapered/glued with BUTTONS, the men's with matchbooks):

The Leilani at 18615 W. Bluemound Road in Brookfield, Wisconsin

Apparently a restaurant AND motel, it was a modern A-frame with Tiki & torch signage.
Back then (mid 90s), I actually got ahold of someone by phone (SU 6-8070 on the match book, but I guess I called information) who told me he had slides from way back when the Tikis were being carved for it. I always regretted that I did not follow up on this contact.

Now young men, go forth and seek out the remnants of the LEILANI !

Hey! Good call bigbrotiki! I've talked of this place with a fellow lake surfer about, yes, tiki bars of old in Milwaukee... I remember seeing the outside and marveling at the tikis and torches and also when they tore through the place... a big pile of rubble... I was younger and not so wise in the ways of Polynesian Pop...

This is what became of the once huge a-frame... it is now just an ugly concrete restaurant with big windows...

Bluemound Gardens Restaurant
11703 West Bluemound Road
Wauwatosa, W I 53226
(414) 771-3000
fx (414) 771-3001

The motel is just a refurbished Days Inn... sigh...

I did some digging and found a few pictures online of what it has become... I have no idea if anyone has pictures of the long lost urban paradise... thank you for spurring my memory, though...

There is another long lost Wisconsin tiki bar in the pages of The Book of Tiki... Judges Beyond the Reef in Brookfield, WI... sorry, I'm only 33 and have no memories of this one...

Aloha!

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer on 2003-02-19 23:25 ]

Damn....figured it would be gone. Lake Surfer, do you remember WHEN they tore it down?
Are there any sources (local paper, library?) for pictures of the place in the area?

If it's in your vicinity, go to the Motel and see if the guy who ran the Leilani still works there, I talked to someone at the motel back then who told me about the slides. Maybe if he doesn't work there anymore, they know how to get ahold of him, it being a samll town. Dig for stuff. I bet they had a great menu. You're on a mission.

Mid 90's I figure... the location is on the other side of town... only about 8 miles or so from home... I'll do some more digging... I'll try to stop by the hotel, though with it being a chain I don't think the staff will have any idea of the history...
I let you know...

Mid 90's I figure... the location is on the other side of town... only about 8 miles or so from home... I'll do some more digging... I'll try to stop by the hotel, though with it being a chain I don't think the staff will have any idea of the history...
I let you know...

On 2003-02-20 22:42, Lake Surfer wrote:
I'll do some more digging... I'll try to stop by the hotel, though with it being a chain I don't think the staff will have any idea of the history...

Don't give up too soon ! Be tenacious! Ask for the manager! Show them the BOT, that always breaks the ice. Make 'em feel the mystery!

Stumbled across this old post looking for one other old post of mine...

but a few updates:

The Witco fountain tiki is gone... we moved to Shorewood from the old neighborhood and driving by the house this summer I noticed both the tikis are gone...
I don't know what happened to them but the Witco was in bad shape... too bad... I would have taken it if the owner got rid of it.

And Sven... the pictures found on this page are of the Leilani hotel and restaurant...

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=6606&forum=1&vpost=63698

I still haven't gone by and asked the hotel management about it but now that I am thinking of it I may go to Wauwatosa and see if there is any record of it whether in the library or city hall or something... about time I do some investigating!