Anybody out in Tiki-land ever hear of this place? I found an old swizzle stick here in Jacksonville and was wondering if I should look for this place on my next trip over that way.

Thanks,
JTD

I've lived in Tallahassee about seven years, and I have never heard of Trader Eng's.

They're not in the 2002 phonebook in either the white or yellow pages.

I did find this plate, though.

And someone refers to it here, but that was in 1994 and they say that it's been a few years then.

Philot,
Thanks so much for finding those references. Jacksonville to Pensacola is a very boring ride - Anything to get me off of I-10, even if it's just to look for a building that's probably a strip mall now.

Let the urban archaeology begin!

-JTD

This is a late reply, but I'm just getting around to finding this site. I've lived in Tallahassee all my life and used to go to Trader Eng's on "special occasions", birthdays, etc. The business is long gone, but the building still stands. When Trader Eng's folded in the 70s, it became Lucy Ho's Chinese Restaurant. At that point they did away with the hibachi-style cooking and it became a more traditional restaurant. Lucy Ho's several years ago and it is now the King House Buffet, yet another low budget all-you-can-gorge Chinese/Pizza/Crab Legs type place. It is at 2814 Apalachee Parkway.

They do a decent lunch business, but not much else. I imagine that with the skyrocketing prices of commercial real estate, it won't be long before this one closes and is torn down.

I have some chop sticks from Trader Eng's. If I get my scanner working, I'll post a picture.

[ Edited by: kep1113 on 2005-01-07 09:26 ]

I just found a menu from Trader Eng's while in Florida a few weeks ago. Though there is no mention of the Jacksonville location ( Atlanta and Myrtle Beach, SC are listed on the inside flap ), perhaps this was a chain ? Here's a few menu pics :

Front and back :

Back of the menu reads: " Before your very eyes... at your Hibachi table... by your own personal chef... gourmet delights are prepared to suit your particular taste. Trader Eng blends the magic of the Orient with the pageantry of a Polynesian Luau. Special Trader Eng spices enhance the flavor of this world-famous cuisine. So, relax, sit back and enjoy your evening at Trader Eng's Hibachi Steak House ! "

Closer view of photo on the back, and it looks like a Witco carving on the wall :

Inside of menu:

Closer view of the tropical drinks offered :

On 2005-01-18 10:07, puamana wrote:
I just found a menu from Trader Eng's while in Florida a few weeks ago. Here's a few menu pics :

Closer view of the tropical drinks offered :

AH yes...."in a nutshell" appeals to my pun-y (not puny!) personality!

Awsome! Those drink names are a riot 'The Beach Boy', 'Moonlight in Kaluha', 'Suzie Wong' (heh, heh...he said 'Wong'). Fabulous!

The name "Trader Eng" sounds SO familiar to me, I wonder where I've heard it before?
Probably on TC, or maybe we have a member with that name? Or maybe I've seen some Trader Eng paraphernalia?(I always thought it was spelt paraphinalia, I guess I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years!)

On 2005-01-18 10:46, Tikiwahine wrote:
The name "Trader Eng" sounds SO familiar to me, I wonder where I've heard it before?
Probably on TC, or maybe we have a member with that name? Or maybe I've seen some Trader Eng paraphernalia?(I always thought it was spelt paraphinalia, I guess I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years!)

par·a·pher·na·lia. I think Hilo Hatties was selling "Trader Eng" mugs a few years ago. Assuming the company wasn't around a few years ago, the mugs were fakes. They were made in China and had fake "age-cracks""crazing" to make them look vintage. I only know of modern mugs being made in China-I don't know of any vintage Chinese mugs ever being made-at least not with a "made in China" label on them.

Interesting mrsmiley!
I may very well have seen some at Hilo Hatties last year. Fake crazing, that kills me! I've seen it on faux victorian vases, it's enough to make me climb the wall!

FWIW, the mugs at Hilo Hatties are labeled Trader Pang's, which I heard was fictitious. Also, crazing isn't necessarily intentional fakery. I don't know much about making ceramics, but I think crazing is sometimes done on purpose for esthetic reasons, and also sometimes occurs unintentionally because of the cooling process or the kind of glaze.

We have some cheap Home Depot flowerpots at home that are crazed like crazy on the inside but not at all on the outside (different glazes). In fact it's weird, this one pot makes a little "tink" sound every once in a while, which we imagine is the sound of a new crazing crack in the making.

-Randy

On 2004-04-05 13:25, Tikiwahine wrote:
I bought a Dental Tiki mug from a retail shop last year. I was so excited to be able to purchase some Tiki Farm mugs in the flesh that the serious crazing inside & out didn't bother me.

On 2004-04-09 23:23, smogbreather wrote:
Is your mug yellow? That is actually a "crazing glaze" and after we found that out, we went to a traditional glaze. I made about probably 100 in that glaze color. If it is it yellow, it's a rarer piece! It crazes but doesn't expose bisque so you're fine with drinking from it!
Holden

P.S. it was the yellow one

[ Edited by: Tikiwahine on 2005-01-18 13:06 ]

On 2005-01-18 12:59, aquarj wrote:
FWIW, the mugs at Hilo Hatties are labeled Trader Pang's, which I heard was fictitious. Also, crazing isn't necessarily intentional fakery. I don't know much about making ceramics, but I think crazing is sometimes done on purpose for esthetic reasons, and also sometimes occurs unintentionally because of the cooling process or the kind of glaze.

-Randy

Thanks for for "engs/Pangs" correction. My memory is a little fuzzy as I am now in my GOlden Years! :) I do believe that they crazed the mugs intentionally to make them look vintage.