Fu-Lama Gardens, Schaumburg, IL (restaurant)

Name:Fu-Lama Gardens
Type:restaurant
Street:1233 E. Golf Road
City:Schaumburg
State:IL
Zip:60173
country:USA
Phone:(847) 882-1166
Status:defunct

Description:
Description: This Chicago-area Polynesian restaurant opened in May of 1975. It featured a dining room that could seat 250 and a Blue Dolphin Lounge. Exotic cocktails were served, including the Volcano Fizz, Hawaiian Sunset, Aku Tiki and Lost Horizon. The initial ads for Fu-Lama Gardens contained the striking image of a Witco fountain…

The Daily Herald June 20, 1975

Here is an article on Fu-Lama Gardens, following its opening…

The Daily Herald August 8, 1975

The last paragraph of the article states a fundamental irony that holds for many of Tiki’s lost temples…

Starting Friday, August 15, 1975, Fu-Lama Gardens began featuring Polynesian dancers in the dining room and, later in the evening, in the lounge…

The Daily Herald August 15, 1975

On Friday, September 12, 1975, the Haole Hawaiians Trio began their run at Fu-Lama Gardens…

The Daily Herald September 12, 1975

And here’s an ad with the new show…

The Daily Herald September 17, 1975

To be continued…

-Tom

Fu-Lama Gardens was the site of a Fall 1975 fashion shoot; unfortunately, the newspaper microfiche is so bad that one can’t infer much about the décor…

The Daily Herald September 1, 1975

When it comes to cooking, make sure your wok is an iron one, according to Fu-Lama Gardens owner, Robert Eng…

The Daily Herald October 23, 1975

Here is a review of the food served at Fu-Lama Gardens and also the Kona Kai at the Chicago Marriott Hotel… the “Tiki Nests” at Fu-Lama Gardens sound intriguing…

The Daily Herald November 14, 1975

In this section, we learn that there really is a large Witco fountain at the restaurant entrance…

This article highlights specialty drinks at some of the local area Chicago bars and restaurants… Fu-Lama Gardens’ Pina Colada seems rather tame against the Pussy Bumper from Fiddler’s Restaurant and Lounge…

The Daily Herald June 19, 1976

So, what happened to Fu-Lama Gardens? I don’t find any further mention in the news archives after 1976… it just vanished into obscurity so complete that it didn’t even make it into Tiki Road Trip. I’m hoping one or more of you Tiki Centralites is in possession of some bit of flotsam from this lost temple.

Searching on the address, I found that a House of Hunan restaurant occupied the same location in more recent times, though it evidently closed circa 2008.

-Tom

Any possibility their local library keep old phone books? Many do. If so, just find out when the listing disappeared.

http://www.oldtelephonebooks.com/pages/links

I has always wondered about this place after spotting this matchbox some years ago.

Nice bamboo font.

DC

Outstanding, DC! A physical confirmation that Fu-Lama Gardens once was...

Good tip, TikiTacky... but requires boots on the ground, so, if anyone's in the neighborhood and so inclined, go for it. I'm about 1200 miles from the area. It would be nice if these old phone books were digitally archived and searchable.

-Tom