Grand opening of Trader Vics LA

Ditto on all sentiments posted here.

Awesome. Congratz to John V on a job VERY well done !

Tikiyaki Orchestra rehearses 2 minutes from here, so it looks like we'll be stopping in post-rehearsal often, and it's also been designated as the official "band meeting place" from now on. :)

Looks like Marty Lush has a new floor to pass out on. :o

I've already posted my hearty congrats to the Big Kahuna himself -- John V...

But now let me add my congrats and a heaping dollop of high praise to Tikiarch -- your design absolutely ROCKS!!! (And please keep posting more of your beautiful pics!)

The buzz on this place in the tiki community is red hot, and you had no small part in that, sir! So please pat yourself on the back and have a Mai Tai or two (or three!) for a job so very well done!

I, for one, can't WAIT to go back!

Cheers & Maholos :drink: :tiki:

well I don't know how, or why But I guess I did get an invite to go to the opening last Fri nite. but it was sent to my old AOL e-mail account, which I don't use anymore, and only check once or twice a month.

so I dropped the ball,
and would like to thank John, for the invite.

I didn't make it sunday after all,
I was pretty wiped out from the weeknd.
but I am thinking about heading up there Tues.
for the Tiki Tuesdays.
does anybody know what that all entails?

Jeff(bigtikidude)

On 2009-05-02 09:53, bigbrotiki wrote:
Sure are! Tiki Diablo's work at its best! ...

Tiki tourists Tiki Kate, Joe Banks and Ojaitimo

They're beautiful. The more of his work I see the more I like and appreciate it. Is the Maori his work as well?

Tikimecula had a thread running with the door handles he carved - looks like they went on the front door.

Damn fine work Danny,

Whoever did the railing out front did a really nice job as well.

Great candid pics Ojaitimbo!

Otto, were you practicing your Ku face?

Al, is that Scorpion Bowl tart, or what?

Everything looks and sounds wonderful. Can't wait to visit it!

Didn't make Friday, we were actually at the Luau in Beverly Hills (great food, drinks, decor, a bit too "LA" vibe-wise, though, especially the loud rock/techno music) and swung by the new poolside TV's in Bev Hills (I liked it!) Here are some pix from Saturday night, though. I was more "Will the Ill" that weekend, almost decided not to leave my bed, but this totally made the trip worthwhile, what a gorgeous job, kudos to John and staff. Great running into TCers John and CeCe, Gene, Mike and William. Aloha! Will the Thrill

[ Edited by: AquaZombie 2009-05-04 20:41 ]

OK I'm going tonight,
I think that JonPaul and Marie will be going too.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Bump,
I will be there at &;30 or 8 ish.
I don't think JP and Marie are gonna make it now.

but I think Coco Joe and Rein (sp?) are gonna be there then too.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

Sadly I won't be able to make it - though tonight is a good night - no events at the Staples Center.

We went on opening nite (Saturday) -- earlyish (since we had a party to attend later in the eve).

Loved the decor and the drinks, tho our second round was stronger than our first. We were too early for the music, unfortunately, so I definitely want to go back and get the "full" experience. Also, would be nice if TV's validated parking. $5 for 90 mins isn't so bad, but the $5 for each add'l 30 mins (or fraction thereof) is highway robbery!!!

Obviously, if you go on a Sunday or late enough on a weeknight (and there is no concert at Nokia or Staples), you'll score some sweet free street parking.

They've really done a fantastic job with the interior! A great early 41st birthday present to me!

Otto and I drove down Friday for the Pre-grand opening.
here are some highlights...
Met the Ku Bar on the way down. They were heading for Bamboo Bens.

So we had lunch, and continued on our way.
We got there a little early and took some shots of the exterior.

Then after visiting the bar for a couple drinks, we were given a tour, including the kitchen...

the famous oven...

and the production bar...

after returning to the main bar for a refresher, we sat down to dinner and entertainment


My Drinks were replenished before they were fully drained...

Which may explain why I was on stage...

Then it was time for some dessert, and coffee grogs...

Al really liked the tahitian snowball...

Then it was back to the bar for a couple more "Big Kahunas", after which King Kukulele and I took the stage and did a few too many toons as the night wound down.
All in all it was an awesome time.

http://www.tikiking.com Neat Tiki and Ukulele Stuff

[ Edited by: Tiki King 2009-05-06 09:16 ]

Funny, I can tell all the people who were at the bamboo Ben Nooner by the sunburnt faces. :oops:

went last night for the 1st tiki night at Trader Vics.
had a From Scratch Mai Tai, tasted good, but seemed a tad light on the rum.
had a Navy Grog, tasted great, but they used 1 oz. light 1 oz. gold, and 1 oz dark rum. Isn't it supposed to be 3 oz. dark rum? hmmmmmmm???
had the Big Kahuna just to get the mug, the drink was not to my liking at all.
too light to much grenadine, and too much sweet stuff in it.
after 1/3 of it, I asked him to pour it out.
I got a headache from it.

the Decor is great, but a tad on the light side.
but I don't think a New TV's will ever look like the old ones.
Not Crazy about the flat screen TVs playing sports,
but being how close it is to the Sports complex, I'm sure that's a must have there, will just have to live with it.

the Food, off the Hook amazing as always at any Vics.
kudos on that.

I will def. be back many many more times.

as for parking, I didn't look for free street parking, but a block away.
there was a unlimited parking time, for 7 bucks flat rate.

Jeff(bigtikidude)

I went there yesterday at 4 pm. I had the best time, drinks were good and cheap, 3.00 off all regular drinks, 2.00 off all beer and Mai Tais were 5.00. Happy hour 4-6 every day. Sorry key board is hard to use since I have a broken arm

Ahhhh that beautiful tiki.

thats me behind it with my cast.. :(

just flawless

some of the glassware, I bought one of the mai tai glasses says 75th anniversary on it..

oy, augmented?

another tiki by the exit.

outside display.

outside view, kind of interesting artwork.

Architect William, me, my lawyer

William took us on a tour of the kitchen

and the back bar!

It got pretty hot in the dining room when the wahines showed up

Hey, Paul, is it hot in here? Or is it just those wahines?

Architectural preservationist John English

You want me to go where? (alternate caption: Check out those cool wall tiles next to the front door!)

Decor copped from the TV warehouse. You can't get these anymore!

We stayed at the Figueroa Hotel

Swung by Saturday's opening night around 10 pm... met Chicago's old and LA's new GM, Pallava, at the hostess stand.

He set us up with a table and we sampled some of the drinks.

Staff was very friendly and a pleasure to talk to in addition to placing orders.

Drinks were great!

All in all, a great job with the decor and the space! Very much like Chicago, but still different in many ways.

The addition of Danny and Andy's work is testimony to the great talent here at TC.

Congrats LA, enjoy your new Trader Vic's!

Hope to be back again in August!

Only downer of the night was the $53 parking ticket we got for parking on Francisco Street. It was so dark there we never saw the sign.
Garage validation like Chicago has would be sweet.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2009-05-08 02:14 ]

On 2009-05-08 00:10, Otto wrote:
We stayed at the Figueroa Hotel

So Otto, how was the Figueroa Hotel? I haven't been in there for a while, but I remember it as one of the coolest theme (not Tiki) re-model jobs I have ever seen. And the fact that it's practically across from Trader Vic's, and one can just stagger to one's bed after sampling the concoctions there makes it a natural for any visiting out-of-towners...n'est pas?