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johnny quongs hawaiian - salt lake city |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10605
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2008-05-10 08:58 am Permalink
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On 2008-05-10 00:45, Koolau wrote:
I wonder what kind of drink was served in that mug? Remember, this was Salt Lake City in the 1960's - that ad, postcard and matchbook are conspicuously missing the word "bar". Would be interesting to know if they had a whole series of non-alcoholic tiki drinks, ala the Hawaiian Punch Pavilion at Sea World.
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You mean...the tropical cocktails might all have been virgin in the Mormon capital? As a foreigner I am not knowledgeable about the intricacies of the liquor laws of that state, but it would be a curious footnote to Polynesian pop mixology history if indeed all these potions below (courtesy of Sabu from the above link) would have been non-alcoholic versions:
...and will we ever find out what was in a "Johnny's Hawaiian FI22" !!?
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-10 09:00 ]
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4815
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-05-10 1:31 pm Permalink
That Google image is for one of th elocations, so maybe the other is more intact. Google maps had no idea where that street address was. It must have changed since then.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10605
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-05-11 05:47 am Permalink
I asked the bum, and even he did not have any knowledge of the liquor law situation back then in S.L.C....has it changed since? Could all these cocktails really have been virgin? Was that maybe the reason why the place only lasted 8 years, the Polynesian food being the proverbial fish out of water without proper potion power? C'mon, SOMEONE here has to know about Salt Lake restaurant laws...!?
By the way, did anybody notice where Johnny swiped his menu cover Tiki from ?:
Straight from the United Airlines menu Tiki... (the original sculpture of him is standing in the Bishop Museum, I believe):
This menu cover was just mentioned here on TC, both menus can be enjoyed as full page illustrations in TIKI MODERN. 
United Airlines clearly based the best example of its travel agency Tikis on this guy, too, here is Swanky's complete set up:
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-11 05:48 ]
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pa'akiki
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Mar 26, 2005
Posts: 70 | Posted: 2008-05-11 10:22 am Permalink
I have a letter from the Polynesian Salt Lake City dated March 12th 1969 saying that they do not serve Polynesian drinks because the state law of Utah prohibits serving malted liquor. signed Benny Chan Manager. This should solve the mystery
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 3394
From: HELL
| Posted: 2008-05-11 10:30 am Permalink
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On 2008-05-11 10:22, pa'akiki wrote:
I have a letter from the Polynesian Salt Lake City dated March 12th 1969 saying that they do not serve Polynesian drinks because the state law of Utah prohibits serving malted liquor. signed Benny Chan Manager. This should solve the mystery
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hmmm..no rum at the tiki hut....explains why all of them in that state went down the tubes and closed....it's just not the same...*sigh*
..also explains why it's so hard to find items from these salt lake bars.....back in the day, only drunks got randy and stole mugs ...sober folks rarely stole the drink mug for a souvenier, so not many ended up in house holds.....just a theory anyway.....
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[ This Message was edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2008-05-11 10:33 ]
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Turbogod
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 14, 2002
Posts: 1219 | Posted: 2008-05-12 12:39 pm Permalink
I got a Johnny Quong's SLC on Ebay about 5 years ago. It wasn't nearly that much and as BigBro stated, it wasn't painted, nor did it look like it ever had been painted.
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Psycho Tiki D
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 1784
From: The river Styx, can you pay the toll?
| Posted: 2008-05-12 12:58 pm Permalink
Having lived first-hand in the alcohol dry state of Utah in my youth, most bars that served drinks (yes, even then there were bars) did so by bringing you a glass, your mixer and a mini bottle of the liquor of your choice.
You then mixed your own drink!
Beer and wine were different, not deemed hard alcohol, so this could be served to you at a bar.
After the Olympics a few years ago, Utah loosened up on the laws and allowed bars to mix drinks. You can purchase beer and wine in most stores, but hard liquor is sold through state govenment liquor stores. Most counties are not allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays, including beer and wine at the local stores.
PTD
[ This Message was edited by: Psycho Tiki D 2008-05-12 13:13 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10605
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-05-12 1:50 pm Permalink
Wow, Thanks for the info. Johnny's must have gone through LOTS of mini rum bottles then. Maybe each table had its own Hamilton Beach mixer? 
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TikiPhil
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 149
From: Riverside, CA
| Posted: 2008-09-11 8:42 pm Permalink
Another Johnny Quong's Hawaiian mug on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Unusual-TIKI-Mug-Johnny-Quongs-Hawaiian-Salt-Lake-City_W0QQitemZ350097806688QQihZ022QQcategoryZ29460QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-06-06 06:36 am Permalink
Just to help figure out dates for this place, this boring ad was run Oct 12, 1964.
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-06-06 06:45 am Permalink
I spoke too soon on this. Just found confirmation that the Hawaiian opened in 1961. Found a 1983 ad for the place that states they have been there for 22 years.
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Psycho Tiki D
Grand Member (5 years)
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 1784
From: The river Styx, can you pay the toll?
| Posted: 2010-01-27 06:32 am Permalink
Tiny Outrigger bowl I found last Monday...
This one is marked for Johnny Quong's The Hawaiian Salt Lake City Utah. Does anyone else have one of these?
For size comparison.
PTD
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krisbaker
Member
Joined: Dec 18, 2009
Posts: 1 | Posted: 2010-02-10 6:17 pm Permalink
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On 2008-05-09 03:14, bigbrotiki wrote:
How great to discover a mug that I never knew existed! And that Frank didn't have yet !? Now that means something. I have seen this bugga before in a generic form, but never with that paint, and with the OMC sticker and that restaurant stamp.
The menu cover from the Hawaiian is also in the BOT, and the cool architectural model on the opening page of "The Tiki and its Temples" chapter in TIKI MODERN was done for The Hawaiian/Tiki Hut. That e-bay info about it is really interesting:
"The building is still there, with the recognizable mast soaring high....but it's in terrible condition now."
Now WHO is gonna go there and photograph that place, it sounds like a great example of Tiki Devolution !?
I wish I was home so I could post more images of the Tiki Take Out delivery vehicle fleet Johnny's had: Ford Mustangs that said "Tiki Hut" in the same type than the menu on the side...
Here's a matchbook from another of Johnny Quong's businesses, the Beachboy, also an A-frame!:
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2008-05-09 03:15 ]
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OK, guys. I just found your forum....and that's my (old) eBay listing you've quoted.
I see you've already found The Beachboy. In the mid-1960s, it was similar to the Hawaiian, with the rainstorms, thunder, and menu.
Here's what the building looks like right now:
http://snurl.com/uc05w [maps_google_com]
[ This Message was edited by: krisbaker 2010-02-10 18:18 ]
[ This Message was edited by: krisbaker 2010-02-10 18:20 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3951
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-02-19 4:33 pm Permalink
Two Johnny Quong mugs on ebay recently, the odd little Tiki..
and a generic Otagiri Coconut with the nameplate that could be filled in for the restaurant.
DC
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tikicoma
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Jan 16, 2010
Posts: 262
From: city of destiny
| Posted: 2011-07-20 12:12 am Permalink
I guess I'm the only person on Tiki Central who will admit to having been the the Hawaiian. I think it was the summer of '63 maybe '64 and after visiting family in Utah we joined a family friend at the Hawaiian. To the booze question, the drinks in the tiki mugs were all virgin, at that time only clubs allowed you to mix your personal booze with their mixers and you had to be a paid member or their guest, and this was a restaurant not a club. We had 4 or 5 different mugs at our table with that many different fruit drinks in them, mine came in the coconut and I felt gypped because the other mugs looked cooler. When you entered you went down a short hall which had the band on the other side, right passed the band area the room opened up like a great hall. Our host had reserved our table in the only intimate setting I remember, a large hut surrounded by a short wall, and yes the lightning, thunder started then the rain fell from the thatch eves into the short wall, totally cool! The band, uke, guitar, upright bass, steel guitar and others I can't remember (I think it was a 6 piece) came back from a brake and I went up to them to ask if they were Hawaiians and the leader told me that they were Samoans (pretty sure the didn't say Tongans), what they played would have been call Hawaiian music back then though. I can't remember the decor but I do remember the A-frame entrance and the Hawaiian sign to the right. On another tiki note the day before I had collected my first 2 tiki mugs, PMP handled tikis that I won at Salt Lakes Lagoon amusement park.
aloha and sorry about being so long winded, tikicoma
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