The Lanai, San Mateo, CA (restaurant)

Name:The Lanai
Type:restaurant
Street:4070 El Camino Real
City:San Mateo
State:CA
Zip:94403
country:USA
Phone:415-345-1242
Status:defunct

Description:
The Lanai restaurant in San Mateo was built in 1950 adjacent to the Villa Chartier restaurant which had been in place since 1925. The two restaurants were situated in a plaza that later became know as Villa Square with the addition of the Villa Hotel, which opened in August 1956.

From a 1957 magazine interview with the owner Mr. Emerson Murfee...
"The Villa Chartier, with a seating capacity of 90, was purchased by me in 1944. Since then we have continuously enlarged the restaurant until it now seats more than 750 persons. For a long time I had planned an authentic Hawaiian restaurant. Consequently, in 1950, The Lanai was built adjoining the Villa Chartier. Several years ago a group of us discussed the need for a beautiful, first-class hotel to serve the rapidly-growing peninsula area. Shortly after we purchased the five acres adjacent to the Villa Chartier and The Lanai. We toured the U.S., looking at new hotels, searching for new ideas to serve guests better. We finally opened the Villa Hotel in August 1956 with 225 rooms, all air-conditioned, with radio, television and music."

The Lanai became an icon for residents of the mid-peninsula south of San Francisco, many having fond memories highlighted by several unique features:

• A constantly changing 3-dimensional mural that would gradually shift from night to day and back
• The Side Winder's Fang cocktail
• A collection of Barney West tikis both inside and outside
• An utterly unique "signature" tiki that appeared on the drink menu, a custom mug, swizzles, and the front entry doors
• Private party rooms, the Moongate Room and the Sky Room
• An iconic palm tree neon sign that was echoed in the adjacent Lanai Liquors that was added to the Villa Square

When The Lanai was originally built in 1950, the area in San Mateo was largely undeveloped. In approximately the same mid-50s era, several neighboring features were developed in the area, which became major draws for this part of the peninsula, including the Villa Square with the restaurants and hotel, the Hillsdale Mall, and the Bel-Mateo Bowl.

The Lanai underwent several remodels to increase capacity and also repair roof problems, so in some cases it's difficult to reconcile different photos with stages in its history.

Emerson Murfee quoted again, from the back of the dinner menu, 1960 or later...
"Since that day more than ten years ago when the hand-carved door of The Lanai opened for the first time, we had dreamed of an even more luxurious setting for you to enjoy. And now this dream has come true. The colorful waterfall wall... the exotic orchid plants in full bloom... the authentic luau pit where the suckling pig is prepared for the festive occasion... all have been inspired by the lovely island of Lanai in the fabled Hawaiian group. As you enjoy the food of the Indies, the Orient and Hawaii... as you sip your tropical drink... we wish you well. May you return soon and often to the gentle pleasures of the Lanai."

Unfortunately The Lanai closed in the late 80s (date?). The Villa Chartier restaurant was closed as well, and the Villa Square was broken up into a Walgreens and other stores, with the Villa Hotel and Lanai Liquors remaining. In the intervening time, a second location for The Lanai was opened for a short period (anyone have facts to contribute?) at another location in San Mateo, about 3 miles away on Norfolk Street. Also, the Lanai Liquors has since changed owners and operates under a different name, and the Villa Hotel has been converted to senior assisted living.

There is actually a decent amount of material to post about The Lanai, so I thought (with a little nudge from abstractiki, thanks) that it's about time to finally give it its own thread. I wish I had seen the place myself. My own fascination with The Lanai began when I moved to the area in 2000. We can literally see its former location from our home. The Lanai Liquors tiki was in the BOT, and I used to drive by it every day to and from work. That tiki was created by Barney West, and ultimately when the liquor store changed owners, I acquired the tiki. More on that story later, but first I wanted to post a batch of materials that's already handy from a website I made a few years ago.

First off, the most recognizable postcard for The Lanai :down:

And close-ups...

There's the changing 3D mural :down:

A promotional envelope :down:

And closeup (same mural, different era) :down:

The beautiful dinner menu cover, illustrated by San Franciscan, Don Clever :down:

Side note, as I mentioned over on this thread about the Hawaiian Village in Tampa, this illustrator Don Clever is the same person who did some beautiful images for American President Lines menus. Those images were reused by the HV.

Sample page inside the dinner menu :down:

Note the similarity between these illos inside the Lanai menu, and a Don the Beachcomber menu (BOT p.73)

Here's the drink menu, featuring the bizarre theme tiki :down:

Inside the drink menu :down:

Full-size scans of these menu images are on my website. But here's a closeup of the Side Winder's Fang, since it was their signature drink :down:

The recipe is available in Jeff Beachbum Berry's books, and you can still get an authentic preparation at both Forbidden Island and Smuggler's Cove, here in the bay area. Some years ago a group of us TCers visited a bartender at the Villa Hotel bar, while it still existed as such. His name was Ali, and he had been a bartender at the Lanai. He told us stories about how a crew would come early every day to prepare all the specialty garnishes and ice shells and stuff for the signature drinks. Unfortunately I am a total loser who dropped the ball, and never went back to talk to Ali for more stories, and now he and the bar are both no longer there.

Swizzles, posted on Bora Boris' "Big Ten" thread :down:

The Lanai "page" on a foldout brochure for the Villa Square :down:

There's lots more to come, please stay tuned for some neat stuff. But that's a start!

-Randy

Randy,

I have been waiting for you to finally post this thread, look forward to seeing more of your amazing stuff on the Lanai.

DC

Here are some items from the Lanai that I have seen on ebay and the internet over the last few years.

Some swizzles with the signature Tiki.

A few different ash tray styles.

This Tiki sold on ebay and was said to be from the Lanai.

A really old matchbook.

Salt and pepper shakers.

Photo album

The mug with the signature Tiki

And the bowl.

DC

I have a few different varieties of matchbooks from the Lanai, all of which feature the signature Tiki.

DC

This temple is killer, Aquari, absolutely wonderful job on this much needed thread. Dusty, great contribution as usual, Mahalo to both of you.

Thanks DC for posting those!

On 2010-10-15 08:19, Dustycajun wrote:
A really old matchbook.

I've never seen that one, and it's definitely old, as suggested by two things. First, earlier materials for The Lanai do not even have a specific numbered street address, other than 40th and El Camino. Second, there's no mention whatsoever of Villa Square, which in all likelihood puts this in the earliest days of the The Lanai, between the opening of the restaurant in 1950 and the opening of the Villa Hotel (and Villa Square concept) in 1957.

One interesting thing I've wondered about is when the palm tree neon sign was added. Namely, was it there with The Lanai from the beginning in 1950? This matchbook suggests that the curving palm tree icon would have been part of The Lanai identity from the beginning. It also appeared on some of their plates. We can see the neon sign in question in the brochure image above, but more on that coming up in my next post...

-Randy

Next I'd like to post some incredible vintage photos of the exterior of The Lanai. Before proceeding, I want to pause and acknowledge the source for much of what I'm posting. A few years ago I met with a manager at the Villa Hotel who happened to have a scrapbook from the whole Villa Square, including The Lanai. This included menus, the envelope and postcard and brochure above, and some photos. He generously trusted me to borrow these (with some collateral) and take them home for some fast and furious scanning. Unfortunately the Villa changed owners and management, first with the Radisson chain and now the senior living, so the contact is lost. But all the same I'd like to acknowledge the guy for letting me capture his materials. And now maybe I can finally make up for sitting on the scans all this time.

The first two of the following images were from the manager guy's scrapbook. I believe he told me these were some early photos around the time of one of the first remodels - I think there was a problem with the roof or termites or something like that. And I think these were also around the time of a major launch event at the new Villa Hotel, for which a photographer had come and taken a bunch of photos.

View of the Lanai looking from 40th. El Camino would be parallel on the right. :down:

During the roofwork, looking at the "first" turret thing from the last pic. :down:

OK, now a little analysis and closeups. First, we can play "spot-the-tiki". In some of these I tried to sharpen the heck out of the closeups, in an attempt to reveal more detail, but you can only do so much without making it worse rather than better. Apologies if I made it worse.

From the far left of the first pic, these tikis have their own little deck. They don't really have that Barney West look in the legs, but it's hard to tell. If those were there from the beginning in 1950, that would be pretty neat because it's relatively early in the scheme of things, in terms of overtly tiki-oriented restaurants. :down:

A look at the two tiki poles on the turrets :down:

Here we see those tile things that are used in many of these temples, and also a little more detail on the poles under the turret :down:

This closeup is from that construction / remodel photo, looking at those poles again, and also the door. The front door famously had the logo tiki carved into it, but this probably is not the "front" door since the main entrance would appear to be under the next turret. :down:

This closeup is for comparison with the image from the brochure posted earlier, showing what looked like a Barney West moai next to the neon sign with The Lanai and the curving palm tree. I squinted and stared, and stuck my nose to the monitor, but I can't make out any tiki kind of object in that little garden where the sign is nestled. MAYBE it's that kind of straight-ish object going up near the right edge, which looks a little too smooth to be a tree trunk. :down:

Here, for reference, is a closeup of that image from the brochure posted earlier :down:

Next, a little analysis comparing the postcard image posted earlier, with the view from the B&W image. Here's the postcard image again... :down:

And here's the B&W closeup :down:

The color postcard shot appears to be later. They've removed the thatch on the entry hut / turret thing. There's some extra little doohickey on the top of the torch coming out of the tiki pole. The palm trees look taller. Also, this closeup helps confirm that the two B&W images were 1957 or later, because it becomes more clear that the Villa Hotel sign appears behind the Villa Chartier sign and marquee.

This brings us to our next photo, from a different source (the "San Mateo" volume from the Images of America series, which is a nice affordable edition if you're into these kinds of things). This is a view from El Camino, giving an alternate angle on the view from the last two shots. :down:

Now if Luigi Troga and his darn janitorial service trucks hadn't been there, we might get a better view! Especially of that large object that has a Barney West tiki kind of ring to it! Anyway, you can cross-reference this with the preceding two pics, to see where the Villa Chartier restaurant and the Villa Hotel were situated. Here's my last shot for now, trying to sharpen the heck out of that tiki... :down:

Still more to come!

-Randy

Great job Randy!....now where is that slide I took of that carved door....it's gotta be somewhere...mumble mumble...

Randy,

Awesome job, those old photos are priceless.

Here is an article on the Lanai that I had clipped images of some time ago. Some great photos of the interior and info on the restaurant operations.

I also have a postcard of the Villa Hotel, no Tiki but some pretty cool 1960's mod architecture - dig the design of the wall by the pool.

Wasn't there some kind of Tiki liquor store at the Lanai??

DC

Thanks for the images again DC. There absolutely was a liquor store, fittingly called Lanai Liquors. Later I'll add more on the Barney West tiki that used to reside there, and now sits in front of some weirdo's house.

Here are some more vintage images - these are all from the interior.

Great shot of the mural adorning one of the walls. Note the peanut mug style lamp, coconut mug, and recognizable Lanai ashtray. :down:

Great color image of the dining area, and I think the waterfall :down:

Now for some more closeups. This is the back wall there, again I think that might be a waterfall there with the big shell... :down:

Tiki :down:

For comparison again, note the same scene with the foreground tiki and the background one in the waterfall area, from the postcard posted earlier. :down:

More closeups. Let's look at what they're having at that back table. Looks like he's having something in a peanut mug, blonde #1 is having something in the earring mug, and blonde #2 might be having a Tahitian Rum Punch, containing the red swizzle. :down:

Now the foreground table. One Marlboro guy off to the left is sharing a GIANT Side Winder's Fang with a girl. Another girl is having a Moonkist Pineapple, while Marlboro guy #2 looks at the dinner menu with the waitress. Looking closely at the plates, they seem to have The Lanai's curving palm tree logo right in the middle, but no sign of the logo tiki. :down:

Next a couple more shots from the Images of America San Mateo book, both with the captions as they appear. :down:

Here's that same picture as it appeared on the Villa Square brochure. In color it's easier to see what appears to be a mural on the wall. Maybe it could be the same mural as the first B&W image above. :down:

Next is a postcard. I can't recall, but think this came from Mike tikihula. Since the postcard says 3c postage, that would place it between 1958 and 1963. :down:

The image on the front of that postcard. This is the bar, with the fabulous 3D mural that has the light changing effect. :down:

For reference, here are the other shots of that bar and mural / diorama at different times. Close-up from the Villa Square brochure. :down:

Same image from the envelope. :down:

And once more from the other postcard, which I'm guessing was later. :down:

Last, a couple moire-heavy closeups of the barback diorama. :down:

Still some more to come, but that's most of what I've got for the vintage images.

-Randy

Psycho Tiki D found these 3 Lanai mugs just recently.....(pics are his)

Peanut mugs :

Three hula girls kneeling bowl:

Thought this thread needed these too :)

wow Randy, really outstanding pics!!
love those early exterior shots, fun to see the changes over the years. i remember waking up in that parking lot a few times!
cool to see so many interior shots! fair bit of change over the years as well. i seem to remember a bit more stuff hanging from the ceiling.
man, that sidewinder fang in the fishbowl looks friggin delicious!

thanks for posting all this, i can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeve!

On 2010-10-20 23:36, aquarj wrote:

Here are some more vintage images - these are all from the interior.
The image on the front of that postcard. This is the bar, with the fabulous 3D mural that has the light changing effect. :down:

Still some more to come, but that's most of what I've got for the vintage images.

-Randy

I was mesmorized by that mural--I thought it was the coolest thing! I still kick myself for not going to the auction!! Oof!

Bigbadtikidaddy! Nice hearing from you - wish I could say I used to visit the Lanai too, but for me it's always just been pure imagination.

On 2010-10-15 08:19, Dustycajun wrote:
Salt and pepper shakers.

That's actually the ONLY other pair I've ever seen, besides the pair I have. Not that that really says much - no doubt a bunch of the uber-collectors have doubles. It's one of the few things I got ages ago back when I started looking for Lanai stuff. The funny thing is, I've always wondered if these are actually from THIS Lanai, or another one somewhere. Here's some pics of mine...

Funny thing is, one of these was also broken when I got them, like the ones in DC's pic. I did my best on a crazy glue repair back then. :down:

No discernible marks on the bottom, maybe the remnants of an OMC label? :down:

So the thing is, if you look back at all the Lanai interior pics above, the tables always have just the regular glass S&P, even in the Morse family picture from 1954, which would be the earlier days of the restaurant. Maybe these were made early on and they all broke, or maybe they're really from a different Lanai, who knows. They're not related to the signature Lanai logo tiki on the drink menu, swizzle, and front door. But oddly enough, there's something about these that has an air of Barney West, and THAT ties us in with the bay area and THIS Lanai. Who knows - anybody?

Still some more to come, will put together some stuff about Lanai Liquors later too, but it's really just little bits and pieces.

-Randy

On 2010-11-07 22:02, mrsmiley wrote:
I was mesmorized by that mural--I thought it was the coolest thing! I still kick myself for not going to the auction!! Oof!

Hey, next time we see you, remind me to help you out with that (kicking yourself, I mean)!

Just kidding. As a former local, if you ever run across any old geegaws or pics from visiting, by all means please share em!

-Randy

Hi Randy,

I think that the salt & pepper set did indeed come from the Lanai in San Mateo. Perhaps it was just an item offered in their gift shop and not necessarily used in the restaurant.

In this old photo-folder from the Lanai, you can see a very similar tiki (arm position the same, thick thighs), hanging on the rock wall:

And in this poor photo of the remodel in 1959, you can see Lou Sawyer hanging another similar tiki above the waterfall feature.

Clif and Lou Sawyer deserve a whole thread to themselves (which I'm working on) :wink: Besides the Lanai, they also did the Polynesian decor for the Pago Pago in Tucson, the Moongate in Los Angeles, the South Seas in Anchorage Alaska, and the Bikini in Phoenix, among others.

A couple more of the strange Barney West tikis outside the Lanai:

On 2010-11-07 22:02, mrsmiley wrote:

I was mesmorized by that mural--I thought it was the coolest thing! I still kick myself for not going to the auction!! Oof!

same here Bruce! I should have gone to the auction. I knew about it & was planning on going & just flaked out. kills me to think about it now.

Hi Randy- I've seen those shakers before. I think they are crazy cool, dont have them, would love to have them & I personally hope they are, but I'm not sure they are from this Lanai.
I cant confirm it by any means, just my gut feeling.
The absence of any other markings & the different font vs. the bamboo lettering on the logo throws up a red flag for me.

Sabu- I do like the whole strange tiki style/Barney West connection, that feels kinda plausible....but then again, didnt the Pub Tiki use the same style shakers as well?
Just my 2 cents & I hope I'm wrong!

OK Randy, time to get the Lanai Liquors portion of this thread started. I picked up one of the brochures for the Villa Square that you posted the pictures from. It also has a little photo of the Lanai Liquors.

Now lets see what you have!

DC

Alright DC, here comes another installment!

First off, interesting comments everyone about the S&P, and thanks Sabu for the great information in those pics. Very interesting about Clif and Lou Sawyer. I wonder if that 1959 date means that The Lanai was mostly tiki'd up later in the 50s. If it was tiki early in the decade, that would definitely make it one of the earliest to go tiki as opposed to just tropical / polynesian. Most evidence suggests that the weird logo tiki on the doors, etc. came early in the restaurant's history, but it's hard to know if that was all the way from the beginning in 1950.

Also, that is INDEED a very strange looking Barney West tiki with the ball shaped head topped with a headdress. And I wonder if that moai is the same one that was out front under the Lanai neon sign. Fun to see those pics, even from that source, with the owner Emerson Murfee.

So, I'm going to post some stuff about Lanai Liquors. DC, you beat me to it with that scan from the brochure, but I was going to do higher-res, so I'll go ahead and show it anyway. From the Villa Square brochure... :down:

This image originally had me confused, because the more recent Lanai Liquors looked nothing like this. But then I read the caption, which says "...between the Villa Chartier and The Lanai..." This is NOT where it was later when the Barney West tiki lived out front. That later location up until 2004 was right on 41st Ave, as opposed to being inside the Villa Square. So at some point it moved, perhaps around the time that The Lanai became a Walgreens in the late 80s.

Going back to the images on the brochure, here's a closeup again from the panel dedicated to The Lanai restaurant. :down:

That's actually the Lanai Liquors there to the right of the restaurant entrance here. So, someone staying at the Villa Hotel could drink and dine at The Lanai, and stop in for some booze on the way back to their room! Great concept! Looking at the images, in fact, you can partially see a neon sign on top, just as you can in the circular image above. Hard to tell, but I think that same neon sign moved WITH the Lanai Liquors when it relocated to 41st Ave.

Just to get oriented on how things were, I marked up this partial rendering of the Villa Square that appears in the brochure. Unfortunately they EXCLUDED the Lanai Liquors and The Lanai from this rendering, but The Lanai was off to the left... :down:

Here's an old photo from the Villa Hotel. :down:

If you want to orient this with the rendering above it, this would be just over the pool area, looking in a straight line right-to-left in the rendering. At the far end of the building on the right, you can just make out the rock wall Villa Hotel sign that I pointed to in the rendering. I was surprised that you can't see ANY evidence of The Lanai, Lanai Liquors, or even Villa Chartier in this image. They must all be off to the left out of view, because you would almost certainly see those tall tiki torches on The Lanai turrets. BTW, that hillside in the background is all houses now, and also the Bel-Mateo bowl would be almost directly ahead and to the right.

Now a little more modern history with Lanai Liquors, including a little personal history. Unlike the lucky folks who were from right around this area and went to The Lanai, I never did, and first moved nearby in 2000 after the restaurant was long gone. What a great thing to find a local liquor store with an old tiki out front! In that way, Lanai Liquors was actually my introduction to The Lanai. The Book of Tiki came out later the same year in 2000, and it includes a photo of the tiki that lived out front of Lanai Liquors. Wow! Now there was much more info, including even the name of the carver Barney West and the history of this local spot! (BTW, note in the earlier photos above, there is no evidence of a big tiki out front, so I wonder if that came from the restaurant (inside? outside?) when it closed and the liquor store moved.) Back before the liquor shop was in peril, it was actually a great source for old spirits that were no longer distributed. I still have a bottle of Lemon Hart Jamaican gold rum from there, which was already long since gone from most shelves at the time I got it.

In 2002, the owner of the liquor store decided to sell the big Barney West tiki because his business was in trouble. I lucked out and managed to get it. This old thread is a time capsule of that moment. When I purchased it, I took some photos the day and night before we would be moving it, to document how it was "in situ". These appear on a little moving slideshow we made (linked on my Lanai website), but here are some of those images...

View from 41st Ave. The big box on the right is the Walgreens that replaced the Lanai. :down:

One of the shots of the moving crew. :down:

Life goes on for the tiki. In 2006 I got him tented to kill off some nasty termites with an appetite for vintage pedigreed tikis. :down:

Closeup of the tiki, 2010. Made to "last a lifetime" per the carver himself! :down:

In 2004, the Lanai Liquors officially closed and became Philip's Liquors. As detailed in this thread, the great neon sign for the liquor store, which had been the sibling to a similar sign for the restaurant, disappeared. Fortunately, we learned its fate later. Unlike The Lanai's neon sign, which was simply destroyed and trashed, a local collector purchased the Lanai Liquors sign just ahead of the wrecking ball, and had it moved to his warehouse area with plans to restore it. We learned this by catching a chance glimpse of it on a back road in an industrial area.

Here's where we spotted it. :down:

That's about all I know on the Lanai Liquors. Another sad story, but thankfully the sign and the tiki were preserved. Wish I had more info on the liquor shop of yore back in the glory days of The Lanai! Here's a pic of the same spot, just a couple days ago...

-Randy

Great contribution, Randy! Love the night shots of the store!

Another great post aquari. This thread is shaping up even better than I anticipated. That sign and the tiki are awesome.

The Lanai was truly an awesome place. The Diorama was amazing, changing from sunset to sunrise. I tried to get pictures of it, but with my primitive camera in the eighties it didn't work. Here are some photos I took outside. Sorry for the quality, it's a photo of the photos.

Thanks for posting those tikidon! In a way, The Lanai looks particularly like an anachronism next to 80s people.

-Randy

Here are a couple images of a large sign from The Lanai.
It measures 10'x6' with the word LANAI cut out of the middle! Inside of the letters is neon and the whole thing is framed in bamboo that must be 3" in diameter.

I'm not sure if this is from the original location or the Lanai "2.0" stripmall chinese buffet. In any case, this sign did reside for a while in a Mexican style grill (along with original Lanai chairs and tables) in Belmont and was sold when they closed. It has now resurfaced near Sacramento in a posting on Craigslist which is where these pics are from.

Aloha,
:tiki:

Wowser, thanks for posting that Royale! I remember the old thread talking about the place that had this.

Incidentally, here's a pic I took in 2002 of the "2.0" location when it was a Chinese buffet. I used to eat there for lunch with co-workers sometimes, and they had a little fountain area in the back by the restrooms, but no other signs of a polynesian place. If you look at this photo, it almost looks like the CL Lanai sign could fit in the little rectangular area cut into the lava rock on the right. Unlikely though.

Somewhere I have a more recent photo - it looks even more bland now, with all the lava rock facade gone.

-Randy

I always wondered about the steer horns hanging above the bar at the Lanai, they seemed so out of context for an old school Tiki bar.

Then I saw this Philippine Buffalo horn carving and I got it, that's what they were.

DC

This photo of the Lanai with a table setting and the wall mural went for sale on ebay a while back. Still no sign of the Tiki Lanai salt and pepper shakers on the table.

DC

I think that photo (and the identical one on pg. 1) were professional shots taken around the time of the remodel. The one I posted from the collection of the Villa Hotel guy was about 8x10 if I remember right.

BTW, having seen the posts about the period when the Hawaii Kai was briefly called the Lanai around 1961, I'm guessing now that those S&P shakers were more likely from that Lanai in NYC. That would explain why they use the lettering style on the back that is unrelated to the San Mateo Lanai logo.

Also by the way, anyone else notice the ebay auctions already directly quoting this thread? The postcard image just posted above with the steer horns was from an ebay auction that pasted a bunch of text from here (which incidentally violates ebay policy). Oh well.

-Randy

Randy, it is always a joy when I get to view this amazing thread again....especially now when I can add the MISSING LINK!

On 2010-10-17 06:29, bigbrotiki wrote:
Great job Randy!....now where is that slide I took of that carved door....it's gotta be somewhere...mumble mumble...

Well, I still have not found that slide yet....BUT I recently went thru some old photo prints & negatives, and found some snapshots that I had forgotten I took. Among them were THIS photo of your Barney West Tiki in Situ, taken in 1994 (the same time I took the slide photo that ended up in the Book of Tiki):

AND, taken during the same expedition, two shots of the Lanai's brief re-incarnation in the 60s mini mall:

One interior, and one of the ENTRANCE!:

Finally the physical evidence of the Lanai's logo "Tiki"!

The above pic is a zoom-in of THIS photo:

This place was in the corner of said mini mall on the Foster City side of the 101. Besides the lava rock and the door, it was very plain, as you can see by the sliding glass window. But the interior was all bamboo-ed out, with a little waterfall, and ONE Tiki - as it becomes clear now, half of the roof top pole from one of the huts:

The brass plaque looked pretty sharp, so I tried to zoom in it...

...but to no avail, and further attempts to enhance focus and contrast...

...just made it fall apart. I think it says something like its title ("Lanai Tiki"?),"from Lanai Rooftop 19??","Donated by ??????","199?"

Now THE question to clear up is WHAT is that strange logo carving based on? The tongue and the swirls on the elbows and knees are reminiscent of Maori style, but the head shape, eyes, ears, and body with raised arm are sooo un-Polynesian...more Asian?:

Or is it a Kava Kava man? It doesn't have the caved-in chest though....

Bigbro,

Nice to see those photos from your archives. I don't remember hearing about the second incarnation of the Lanai. You only took two pictures when you were there?? Arghh!

So, there was a door with the carving of the logo Tiki, that is really cool. This was not the door at the front entrance, at least not facing the exterior.

Maybe the relief image was on the inside of the front door? The hinges are on the opposite side in the menu drawing and they look very similar to the ones shown in the photo of the front door. Or, was this door located somewhere else in the original Lanai?

DC

Yippee! Great to see some new content here, especially the front door photos. All the more interested to see that slide you've been telling me about for years, Sven! A little more comment, speculation, and rumination...

First off, about the second location. DC - we were just talking about it on the previous page. That's what we were referring to as "Lanai 2.0". And bigbro, I think you meant 80s as opposed to 60s, for that location, right?

On 2011-01-31 14:08, aquarj wrote:
...here's a pic I took in 2002 of the "2.0" location when it was a Chinese buffet. I used to eat there for lunch with co-workers sometimes, and they had a little fountain area in the back by the restrooms, but no other signs of a polynesian place.

Somewhere I have a more recent photo - it looks even more bland now, with all the lava rock facade gone.

Now, I was trying to orient this with Sven's pic...

On 2011-05-06 15:22, bigbrotiki wrote:

This place was in the corner of said mini mall on the Foster City side of the 101. Besides the lava rock and the door, it was very plain, as you can see by the sliding glass window. But the interior was all bamboo-ed out, with a little waterfall, and ONE Tiki ...

Looks to me like that photo shows that the Lanai 2.0 entrance door was off to the right side of the exterior in my 2002 photo. So the entrance moved. But it really makes sense because just inside that door is an area of the building that had a rock waterfall / fountain thing. With the China Harbour floorplan though, that was just kind of an empty unused back area that you passed through on the way to the restrooms, and it looked kinda stripped down, unused, and out of place. But now it's clear that with the Lanai 2.0 entrance over on that side of the building, you would have entered straight into the area where the fountain thing was.

As to where the doors were on the original Lanai (1.0), I would assert that they were quite definitely at the front entrance. DC, please note that the picture you referenced is not showing the front entrance at The Lanai... :down:

On 2010-10-17 00:28, aquarj wrote:
This closeup is from that construction / remodel photo, looking at those poles again, and also the door. The front door famously had the logo tiki carved into it, but this probably is not the "front" door since the main entrance would appear to be under the next turret. :down:

Although I don't have any photographic evidence of that door at The Lanai front entrance, it was often referenced. Even the dinner menu (which I can post sometime unless someone beats me to it) refers to the tikis carved in the front doors. My impression is that there were two.

Finally, as for the style of that tiki, it sure is odd, isn't it? bigbro, I've got no insights to add to yours. I've often thought that this unusual style may have been because of the early timing in the poly-pop evolution, since it was most likely carved around 1950. Anyway, really great to finally see that door!

BTW, the person who was once selling this tiki from the Lanai interior actually did not sell it at the time...

On 2010-10-15 08:19, Dustycajun wrote:
This Tiki sold on ebay and was said to be from the Lanai.

It was fun talking to him a while ago, and he said he was involved in the construction of the Lanai 2.0. He may still have that tiki for sale.

-Randy

[ Edited by: aquarj 2011-05-06 18:07 ]

On 2011-05-06 18:03, aquarj wrote:
Yippee! Great to see some new content here, especially the front door photos. All the more interested to see that slide you've been telling me about for years, Sven!
First off, about the second location. DC - we were just talking about it on the previous page. That's what we were referring to as "Lanai 2.0". And bigbro, I think you meant 80s as opposed to 60s, for that location, right?

The slide is just a full shot of the door. There was so little otherwise that captured my interest - THEN!

Randy, in '94 that mall looked kinda dated - 60s or early 70s style. The roof was flat and ended where the glass windows of the Chinese place end in your picture, I think - maybe even lower, because in my photo of the corner, there is an overhang roof with a beam and the neon sign attached to it. They must have renovated it after my visit, adding the height, and in the process "renovating" away the Lanai 2.0 :(

To become their logo, that door must have had a special meaning to the owner, maybe a good luck thing?....do you have any bio info on him? All I found was a court case with this info:

"In December of 1944, Murfee desired to purchase the Villa Chartier, a restaurant and bar located in San Mateo County.....Murfee proceeded to operate the premises under this lease-option agreement. Between December of 1944, and July of 1947, he expended over $50,000 in improvements."

Was he a Pacific War veteran? Did he have any other ties to Asia/the Pacific? I just can't believe that such a unique design was completely made up and came out of the whimsical imagination of some artist.

On 2011-05-06 19:49, bigbrotiki wrote:
To become their logo, that door must have had a special meaning to the owner, maybe a good luck thing?....do you have any bio info on him?

My feeble attempts at learning more about Emerson Murfee have yielded very little. Mostly that quote on page 1, from the 1957 magazine interview, where he gives dates and recounts his yearnings, "For a long time I had planned an authentic Hawaiian restaurant." Murfee is kind of a unique name / spelling, so I thought I might encounter more, but I didn't. Cool how Sabu found some archive pics with Mr. Murfee next to Lanai tikis.

BTW, I mentioned that the dinner menu refers to the front door. Referring back to that text (from page 1)...

*Since that day more than ten years ago when the hand-carved door of The Lanai opened for the first time, we had dreamed of an even more luxurious setting for you to enjoy. And now this dream has come true. The colorful waterfall wall... the exotic orchid plants in full bloom... the authentic luau pit where the suckling pig is prepared for the festive occasion... all have been inspired by the lovely island of Lanai in the fabled Hawaiian group.

As you enjoy the food of the Indies, the Orient and Hawaii... as you sip your tropical drink... we wish you well. May you return soon and often to the gentle pleasures of The Lanai. -Emerson Murfee*

Note that this suggests a few things. First, that the handcarved door was there at the beginning of The Lanai in 1950. Second, that this menu is from 1960 or later. And third, that there was at least one expansion in those first 10 years, perhaps with a particular milestone or re-launching in 1960. For a sense of the capacity resulting from the expansion, note that one of the pages in the menu also has a footnote, "The Luau Room, the Lanai Room and the Tapa Room are available for LUAU and other PRIVATE PARTIES and BANQUETS from 10 to 100."

On 2011-05-06 15:22, bigbrotiki wrote:
ONE Tiki - as it becomes clear now, half of the roof top pole from one of the huts:

The brass plaque looked pretty sharp, so I tried to zoom in it... but to no avail, and further attempts to enhance focus and contrast... just made it fall apart. I think it says something like its title ("Lanai Tiki"?),"from Lanai Rooftop 19??","Donated by ??????","199?"

Fortunately TikiCentral has been around long enough now that the archives here are themselves a historical reference! As Mike TikiHula posted in 2004, it turns out that your sharpening brought you very close to an accurate read, bigbro!

On 2004-08-23 13:15, TikiHula wrote:
We were at the San Mateo County Fair this weekend which was having a tropical theme this year. In one of the buildings we saw an old 7 foot tall tiki with a gold plaque on it. Turns out it's the rooftop tiki from the Lanai! It used to have a torch coming out of his head and was removed after it started a small fire. It now belongs to the niece of one of the women who works at the fairgrounds. Unfortunately she wasn't there, but it sure was an unexpected surprise! (BTW, the original Village People put on an awesome show there Friday night) :D

The plaque reads "Torch Tiki, Old Lanai Rooftop 1952, Donated by Lar Caughlan, 6-4-92"

So with Mike's photo links long expired, it's great to see the photo of this tiki, as found in situ in "Lanai 2.0". That fills in an interesting connection in the life of that rooftop tiki that I didn't know before. I wonder where it is now.

-Randy

A burning question confounding many tiki historians might be:

"If I were at The Lanai and I wanted to drink something other than rum-based tropicals, could I have ordered any fine wine?"

Well, to answer this question woven into the very fabric of our civilized society, here is The Lanai's wine list.

Unfortunately another artifact I've seen and photographed, but don't own.

-Randy

On 2011-05-06 18:03, aquarj wrote:

BTW, the person who was once selling this tiki from the Lanai interior actually did not sell it at the time...

On 2010-10-15 08:19, Dustycajun wrote:
This Tiki sold on ebay and was said to be from the Lanai.

It was fun talking to him a while ago, and he said he was involved in the construction of the Lanai 2.0. He may still have that tiki for sale.

-Randy

The Tiki is back on ebay, this time for $1,500! He also advertises that he has bowls and furniture from the Lanai obtaine when it closed.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270758976601&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:US:1123

DC

There was a photograph of the bar at the Lanai Restaurant that showed two sets of horns on the wall. The post said that the one on the left was Water Buffalo horns that were etched and were from the Philippines. Does anyone know what happened to them? How much they sold for? Where they are now?

I purchased a delinquent storage unit and from all I can tell I have this piece, or one identical to it. I'm not familiar with this type of item and am looking for any information I can get.

Thanks,

Fastedy

Fastedy, it's quite easy to upload and post pictures on this site, if you could take a couple of photos and post'em, we could confirm the find.

Found these yesterday, didn't realize until this morning they were from the Lanai...

Later,

PTD

Spotted another postcard from the Villa Hotel.

That had a inset photo of a Polynesian floor show that must have been at the Lanai restaurant. Can't quite figure out what they are dancing on? Almost looks like a piano bar!

DC

Just looking back at this thread, maybe a couple things to add regarding the two posts above...

On 2011-10-28 05:03, Psycho Tiki D wrote:
Found these yesterday, didn't realize until this morning they were from the Lanai...

FWIW, I've reached the conclusion myself that these were almost certainly from the "Lanai" in NYC that later became the Hawaii Kai. Discussed here. But that's my take, and still not proven.

On 2011-12-22 08:19, Dustycajun wrote:
Spotted another postcard from the Villa Hotel.

That had a inset photo of a Polynesian floor show that must have been at the Lanai restaurant.

Actually there's a chance that was at the Villa Hotel. I don't have a definite explanation for that inset image. But I do know when I was talking to the oldtimer manager guy at the Villa a few years ago, he mentioned that there was a polynesian cultural group that held a convention of sorts at the Villa Hotel for many years running. I think he said it was a Tongan group. So when I first found one of those postcards, that was the explanation that I imagined. Namely that it's possible this postcard was related to the ongoing relationship the hotel had with the Tongan clientele. Or it's possible that since Emerson Murfee owned both the Villa and the Lanai, and was a fan of polynesian culture, that it was just an idea to have some kind of luau entertainment at the Villa. Or it could still be something at the Lanai, that's not out of the question either.

Well, maybe I haven't cleared up anything at all!

-Randy

Thank you for the wonderful source of tiki history to be found on this website. Came across this at an antique store in Healdsburg. Found out on this post that it was a table lamp from the Lanai so I thought it only appropriate that I share it with other lovers of tiki history.

[ Edited by: lancelink 2012-07-16 15:18 ]

What a terrific find. The Lanai signature mug has always been a favorite of mine. We tried for years to find one. I even posted a request at every antique store in San Mateo with no luck. Not a single call.

So I made the mug. Each of my three tikis were different and had the Hawaiian words for eat drink and be merry under them.

After all this work I got a phone call and we were able to purchase the original. Wash your car it rains.

That phone call was so wonderful because it came from someone who got the mug at the restaurant. This is a terrific thread. Wendy

I picked up a souvenir photo holder from the Lanai at the paper show that had this photo inside.

Looks like a prom date night, no drinks but they were smoking.

DC

On 2012-09-25 17:46, Dustycajun wrote:
I picked up a souvenir photo holder from the Lanai at the paper show that had this photo inside.

Looks like a prom date night, no drinks but they were smoking.

DC

neato! it looks like sal mineo, jackie-o, ron perlman and patsy cline all hangin' out for a nite of booze and smokes.

Hola! I joined just so I could chime in on this thread since the dear departed Lanai has so many wonderful memories for me :)

Ill post more later, but very quickly wanted to mention that Lanai 2.0 (that wasnt the actual name but it escapes me at the moment) was located in the Parkside Shopping Center, a strip mall located on Norfolk Street at what is now called Fashion Island Blvd but what I still call East 19th Avenue. The shopping center has been there since the 1950s I believe. The current tenant in the old 2.0 space is a pawn shop, back when I was a kid it was a Bank of America branch.

Only went there a couple times - they unfortunately closed rather quickly. If you ever try to get to the center, you would know why, while it is right next to the 101, there is really no direct exit and especially for out-of-Towners is hard to find :( they would've done better opening in downtown San Mateo I think.

The taqueria that also displayed Lanai relics was located in Belmont - street name escapes me at the moment, just a very unassuming out of the way tiny strip mall which is located directly behind the Ralston Ave Arco - AM/PM right off the 101. Again a matter of a poorly chosen location. I did eat there at least once but again they didn't last long.

More later just wanted to fill in a bit - OH and on B street we have a tiki bar that just opened last year (Downtown Tiki Bar) - I will have to remember to ask the owner if his decor is from the Lanai!!!

[ Edited by: Jurneeka 2013-05-02 16:28 ]

Just ran across this on a friends FB page and boy does it bring back memories I am referring to the Lanai in San Mateo I moved to San Mateo about the time it was built and lived about a mile away . It not fair to mention the Lanai w/o a word about Bernard Who sometimes seemed like a grouch till he got to know you than he always found a table for us no matter how packed the place was. So I lift my Mai Tai to you my friend where ever you are. And also the Villa hotel had my daughters confirmation brunch there. Good old days when I was in my twenties now coming up on 85 it has been one hell of a ride Aloha Ikele