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Mauna Loa, Mexico City, Mexico (restaurant) |
virani
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 17, 2003
Posts: 1434
From: Volcanic area of France
|  Posted: 2006-04-03 7:11 pm Permalink
As I'm in Mexico city right now (leaving for Acapulco tomorrow), I had to check out the location in San Jeronimo street. And well, it turns out it's closed now for a few years. I only saw a sign "Mauna Loa Plaza", but the owner of a store close to it confirmed the closing...
[ This Message was edited by: virani 2006-04-03 19:11 ]
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Formikahini
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 22, 2002
Posts: 1491
From: Houston, Texotica
| Posted: 2006-04-04 2:01 pm Permalink
AAAAAAaaaagggghhhhh!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2008-07-12 06:14 am Permalink
Aloha Amigos!
I took this picture 3 years ago in Mexico's most beautiful Polynesian bar ever. Mauna Loa, my parents used to take me there when I was a kid. It was huge, fancy and famous... With live dancing and music, very spectacular. It was in the Plaza Mauna Loa which was an office and commerce complex, with tiki columns, waterfalls and more tikis everywhere... The example I show, was on the outside, the specimen is made of concrete and painted white probably after the Mauna loa closed, ashamed of it's exotic origins.
Now it's a Dancing place called "Must" and before that it was called "Kapital".
Does anyone know where that kind of tiki comes from? Who produced it? Do you have any item from the bar?
I want to know...
Please help.
Z
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-07-13 12:06 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2008-07-12 06:14, Zeta wrote:
....It was in the Plaza Mauna Loa which was an office and commerce complex, with tiki columns, waterfalls and more tikis everywhere...
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Damn! That sounds great! Is there anything else left of that complex today? Maybe some modernism fans in Mexico City would have material about it...
That Tiki's eyes remind me of the Laguna Beach Outrigger illustration on page 301 of Tiki Modern, or that Kona Pali Apartment post in the lower right of page 223 of the BOT. I would attribute the style to Andres Bumatay, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tikis for the Mauna Loa were carved/sculpted by local Mexican artisans. Mexican craftsmen were sometimes even hired to contribute their skills to American restaurants, like at Ren Clark's Polynesian Village in Texas.
Quote:
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On 2008-07-12 06:14, Zeta wrote:
Do you have any item from the bar?
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Z-man, did you see this thread before?:
http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=27442&forum=2
It starts out about a Mauna Loa in Canada, but most important to me is the fact that it later made me realize that the Mauna Loa Mexico logo Tiki (which is seen on the menu, matchbooks and swizzle stick) is based on a VERY important Tiki in early modern art history! 
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-13 00:17 ]
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2008-07-15 9:07 pm Permalink
Okay, I am doing a picture post test, but here is a picture of one of the rare headhunter style mugs from the Mauna Loa in Mexico City.
Bottom of Mug:
It's good to see that the cement tiki that was in front of the restaurant has lasted up until now.
Cool bit of Tiki history.
[ This Message was edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-15 21:51 ]
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2008-07-15 9:40 pm Permalink
Oh, and just noticed there isn't a picture of the restaurant in this post so might as well get one on here. And yes...live Flamingo's in the center area!!
And here's a drink Stir Stix from this location:
Most of my collection is in storage right now but there are quite a few pieces from the Mauna Loa, Mexico City location, out there in TC collections. We should try to get more pictures of the different items posted here in this post so they can be viewed all together and more easily. Please put them here if you can.
Thanks, on behalf of the Mexican Government!
Mahalo, TabooDan
[ This Message was edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-15 21:49 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-07-17 3:02 pm Permalink
From a couple of posts above:
Quote:
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On 2008-07-13 00:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
...but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tikis for the Mauna Loa were carved/sculpted by local Mexican artisans. Mexican craftsmen were sometimes even hired to contribute their skills to American restaurants, like at Ren Clark's Polynesian Village in Texas.
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How soon does one forget: I myself wrote this in the Book of Tiki, page 249, (about Milan Guanko):
"...and Ren Clark's Polynesian Village...for which Guanko and two Mexican carvers, Juan Razo and Fidel Rodriguez (WHO HAD ALSO OUTFITTED THE MAUNA LOA IN MEXICO CITY) carved over 200 Tikis..."
I knew there was something like that...but forgot how dead on it was.
Now, how about an exterior of the restaurant and Mauna Loa Plaza!
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-17 15:05 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3935
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2008-07-17 7:16 pm Permalink
TabooDan,
Nice pics of the mug, I think you have the picture posting system figured out. I have a couple of those postcards and I never realized that the Flamingo area held LIVE birds! That is magnifico!
Bigbro is right, we need someone to post an exterior of this place. Who's got one??
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TabooDan
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 18, 2004
Posts: 641
From: BC, Canada
| Posted: 2008-07-17 10:35 pm Permalink
Okay, here's the only picture I can find so far of a Mauna Loa in Mexico City but am not exactly sure of location. You can see the red and yellow banner on the right with the name and something (carving?) to the left of the banner but I can't make it out.
TabooDan
[ This Message was edited by: TabooDan 2008-07-21 21:54 ]
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2008-07-23 12:57 pm Permalink
Aloha a todos!
Did any other bar used that Marquesas Picasso tiki? Why they used that one? Maybe they got inspired by this old book:
Arte de los Pueblos Oceanicos.
Madrid 1931
Z
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2008-07-24 01:38 am Permalink
1 Mexican tiki mystery
Quote:
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On 2008-07-17 15:02, bigbrotiki wrote:
From a couple of posts above:
Quote:
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On 2008-07-13 00:06, bigbrotiki wrote:
...but I wouldn't be surprised if the Tikis for the Mauna Loa were carved/sculpted by local Mexican artisans. Mexican craftsmen were sometimes even hired to contribute their skills to American restaurants, like at Ren Clark's Polynesian Village in Texas.
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How soon does one forget: I myself wrote this in the Book of Tiki, page 249, (about Milan Guanko):
"...and Ren Clark's Polynesian Village...for which Guanko and two Mexican carvers, Juan Razo and Fidel Rodriguez (WHO HAD ALSO OUTFITTED THE MAUNA LOA IN MEXICO CITY) carved over 200 Tikis..."
I knew there was something like that...but forgot how dead on it was.
Now, how about an exterior of the restaurant and Mauna Loa Plaza!
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-07-17 15:05 ]
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What else does anybody know about Juan Razo and Fidel Rodriguez ? Do you think they have a facebook account? Or if they visit tiki central often?<---(little joke) I'm going to make them a Monumento en Mexico! Sven? Anyone? Where are those 200 tikis? There's probably hundreds in Mexico too... Locked in a forgotten basement. Or being sold in a mercado. Hopefully in a collector's collection somewhere. It's all a mysterie.
There's (at least) three more mexican tiki enigmas right now... But they belong to other forums too...
Any guess?
Z
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2009-01-13 10:56 pm Permalink
Hola amigos! I took this picture last Friday...
The Tiki on the entrance that I posted on this thread some months ago is gone now.
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2009-01-13 11:03 pm Permalink
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Zeta
Grand Member (2 years)
Joined: Feb 13, 2007
Posts: 2030
From: Atlantis/Basque Country/Spain/Mexico
| Posted: 2009-01-13 11:08 pm Permalink
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10566
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-14 10:03 am Permalink
Great work, Zeta, even if so little remains...now that last Tiki is gone, too. Did you find any surviving personnel of this place? Anything about the MANU-KAI?
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