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Aku Aku Restaurants, Boston/Cambridge/Worcester, MA (restaurant) |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 4859
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2009-01-28 12:04 pm Permalink
Name:Aku Aku Restaurants
Type:restaurant
Street:
City:Boston/Cambridge/Worcester
State:MA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct
Description:
Aku Aku
A small chain of Chinese/Polynesian Restaurants located in Massachusetts.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 4859
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-28 12:14 pm Permalink
I have collected a few items from the three Aku Aku Restaurants that were located in Boston, Cambridge and Worcester. I recently got a menu that appears to have been used at all three locations. The menu says the restaurants were also "Associated" with the Ho Sai Gai restaurant in Brookline, Mass. Must have been a family thing. Pretty cool little menu with some modern graphic styles.
The cover
Here is the list of locations from the menu.
The drink illustrations
Next I have this great oversized postcard from the Aku Aku in Cambridge. I have posted this beauty before. An old post by Sabu indicated that the decorations for this restaurant were originally located in the Polynesian Village restaurant at the Sommerset Hotel in Boston and were moved to this restaurant by Bobby Seto.
This location is also the scene of the great Jasper White's Summer Shack Tiki destruction crime.
The Tikis
The destruction
Here is a photo of the sign from the Aku Aku in Worcester.
I also have an old matchbook from the Aku Aku. It seems that there were actually two locations in Boston. The older matchbook lists the Boston address as 390 Commonwealth Avenue while the newer menu lists the address as 109 Brookline Avenue. The place must have moved.
Here is another matchbook with the older Boston address posted by Tikisgrl.
The menu and both matchbooks also advertise the Ho Sai Gai restaurant which was located in Brookline. I found this postcard from the from Ho Sai Gai.
DC
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2009-01-28 12:36 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 4859
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-30 6:01 pm Permalink
Found a funny little story on the internet about the AkuAku in Boston.
The Aku-Aku, Cambridge -- Before the second Aku Aku gained famed at Alewife Station, there was the original one on Route 2, near the former legendary and slightly unctious Faces Nightclub. It was so dark in here, we frequently bumped into the walls. The dining room was full of colored lights and phony rivers. The pu pu platters were about the best we've ever had, and the service was somewhat friendlier than at the Alewife Station location. My Dad's friend once ordered a "number one" special at lunch. My Dad said, "Me, too," and got the number two special! It's too bad the Aku Aku left this location. It seems like the building has been vacant dating back to the Sheng Dynasty -- perhaps they could consider reopening a new Aku Aku with all the old school bells and whistles here?
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11549
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-30 6:32 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-30 18:01, Unknown wrote:
....The dining room was full of colored lights and phony rivers.
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Sigh. Those were the days, when "phony rivers" were flowing through Tiki temples all across America!
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RevBambooBen
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2002
Posts: 7784
From: Huntikington Beach
| Posted: 2009-01-30 9:12 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-30 18:32, bigbrotiki wrote:
Quote:
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On 2009-01-30 18:01, Unknown wrote:
....The dining room was full of colored lights and phony rivers.
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Sigh. Those were the days, when "phony rivers" were flowing through Tiki temples all across America!
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I heard the place up the street from Luau has phoney rivers.
Just ain't what it used to be....
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Bamboo Ben
Tiki Bars I've designed/built. Hale Tiki, Kona Club, Forbidden Island, Kon Tiki Tucson,
Don the Beachcomber, Tiki No, Tong Lei Room, Frankie's Tiki Room, Pacific Seas, Longi
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 5218
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2009-01-31 05:16 am Permalink
I wish there were a place around here with a phoney river flowing through it I could ignore and chastise...
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"Mai-Kai: History & Mystery of the Iconic Tiki Restaurant" the book
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3642
From: HELL
| Posted: 2009-01-31 05:46 am Permalink
..reminds me of that famous old-time song "down by the ol' phony river"....or was it swany river?....never mind.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 4859
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-02-02 2:45 pm Permalink
Here is a nice phony river with a Moai Bridge at the Lotus Garden in Greenwood, Indiana.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 11549
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-02-02 11:40 pm Permalink
Sorry, DC, but that looks more like a simple waterfall pond with a bridge over it. The last phony RIVER Tiki restaurant in California was The Islands at the Hanalei Hotel, before it got remodeled. The river started at the big waterfall in the hallway that is still there, and it ran all the way to the other side of the room, making a half circle around the main dining area. This river was crossed by FOUR Tiki bridges.
The Marriot Kona Kai restaurants also had elaborate waterways, crossed by Tiki bridges, seperating the space into SEVERAL dining islands. The last one in Chicago closed in 2007. The whole custom was a common feature in Polynesian restaurants from the 60s on. I believe it got started by the "entering into another reality" concept of the entrance bridge. Does anyone know of ANY Polynesian palace that still has a river running through it?
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-02-03 07:59 ]
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GatorRob
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 20, 2004
Posts: 1784
From: Orlando
| Posted: 2009-02-03 09:55 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-02-02 23:40, bigbrotiki wrote:
Does anyone know of ANY Polynesian palace that still has a river running through it?
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No, this doesn't qualify as a river, but there is water running under the gangplank in the back of the Molokai bar at the Mai-Kai. It took me many visits before I finally noticed it. I believe it's connected to the fountains in the indoor garden. So if you haven't noticed it, next time you're in the Molokai, look DOWN  !
It's all water under the bridge... from Kevin Kidney's Flickr page:
Not the gangplank though. This is under the footbridge in the indoor garden.
Edit: Just realized how off-topic this is getting. Tiki palace water features should be its own thread if it isn't already.
[ This Message was edited by: GatorRob 2009-02-03 10:07 ]
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darrylgonzalez46
Member
Joined: May 25, 2009
Posts: 3 | Posted: 2009-05-25 03:32 am Permalink
i think it is
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Darryl Gonzalez
Boston Restaurants
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 648
From: AB, Canada
| Posted: 2009-06-12 3:11 pm Permalink
Here's a additional matchbook from the Aku Aku which is pretty much the same as Dusty's that he posted above just a slightly different color:
One thing to note is the different address given for the Cambridge, Mass. location which is 215 Concord Turnpike as opposed to the earlier address of 149 Alewife Brook Parkway:
I know Dusty said that the Boston location had a differnt address on a menu as well and that maybe they had moved. Kind of weird for both places in different cities to move but guess so unless there was two locations in each city for a while. Also could have changed the names of the streets.
TabooDan
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Bahama Don
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Jan 14, 2009
Posts: 56
From: Florida/Bahamas
| Posted: 2009-06-25 8:37 pm Permalink
Just thought I'd throw in this thermos from the Aku-Aku.
I found this a few years ago in Jupiter Florida.
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3642
From: HELL
| Posted: 2009-06-26 05:14 am Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2009-06-26 05:17 ]
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 2121
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2009-10-09 1:25 pm Permalink
Here's a couple images of an oversize postcard from the Cambridge Location. I like the logo moai on the back.
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