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South Pacific Restaurant, Chicago, IL (restaurant) |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 1812
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2008-06-30 5:56 pm
Name:South Pacific Restaurant
Type:restaurant
Street:28-30 West Randolph Street
City:Chicago
State:IL
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct
Description:
This is an old restaurant in Chicago that served American, Cantonese and Chinese food.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 1812
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2008-06-30 6:06 pm
I found this menu for the South Pacific Restaurant in Chicago. I had never heard about this place on TC or anywhere else and was wondering if anybody has any other information?
Here is the menu.
Check out these drink names from the menu. Pretty creative stuff before Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic came up with all of the modern day standards.
The choices seem to be either wanton lust with exotic women or lost at sea on a deserted island!
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 2994
From: HELL
| Posted: 2008-07-01 07:10 am
chicago was host to not only the big names in tiki like vics, kona kai and the beachcomber, but also alot of little "one-off" places like south pacific, tradewinds, the polynesian, tong's tiki hut, jimmy wong's, pago pago, shanghai-lil's, shangri-la (which is where the cook and the decor of chef shangri-la came from), sneaky tiki(aka paradise club), cyril's house of tiki and many more...it's amazing to think of what a hot bed of tiki this town was back at it's peak of polynesian themed places...you couldn't hit all the places in one weekend of drinking, but it would have been fun trying...
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Jeff Central
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 23, 2002
Posts: 1283
From: Columbus, Ohio
| Posted: 2008-07-01 08:03 am
Quote:
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On 2008-07-01 07:10, Tipsy McStagger wrote:
chicago was host to not only the big names in tiki like vics, kona kai and the beachcomber, but also alot of little "one-off" places like south pacific, tradewinds, the polynesian, tong's tiki hut, jimmy wong's, pago pago, shanghai-lil's, shangri-la (which is where the cook and the decor of chef shangri-la came from), sneaky tiki(aka paradise club), cyril's house of tiki and many more...it's amazing to think of what a hot bed of tiki this town was back at it's peak of polynesian themed places...you couldn't hit all the places in one weekend of drinking, but it would have been fun trying...
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Great news!!! 
Now where's that blasted time machine?
Cheers and Mahalo,
Jeff
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Swanky
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 03, 2002
Posts: 4170
From: Hapa Haole Hideaway, TN
| Posted: 2008-07-01 08:48 am
If not for the Chicago Don's and Trader Vic's, we would not have the Mai Kai and Kahiki and probably 50 more Polynesian restaurants across the east and south east.
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 7827
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2008-07-01 09:26 am
Arrrgh, each time I get reminded of THE Tiki crime of the decade, the razing of the Chicago Trader Vic's, I get mad. A minute of silence please...
Chicago was THE classic Old World-style bustling metropolis were the concept of the tropical hideway as escape from the concrete jungle really hit the spot and flourished. Three of ten restaurants on the page below are South Seas themed:
These ads are from a 1958 Schubert Theatre stage bill.
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Tipsy McStagger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 21, 2004
Posts: 2994
From: HELL
| Posted: 2008-07-01 12:04 pm
ahhh yes..honolulu harry's waikiki....almost forgot!!
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uncle trav
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 27, 2005
Posts: 1193
From: Kalamazoo
| Posted: 2008-07-01 2:57 pm
Thought I'd add this from my collection.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 1812
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2008-07-01 5:24 pm
Tipsy - You, of all people, could have done Chicago in one weekend. It's all in the planning. You start at Don's for Lunch on Saturday and work your way through three or four more spots the rest of the day. On Sunday, its up early for Brunch at Trader Vic's and that gives you the rest of the day and night to knock of the other 4 or 5 locations. Think of the challenge!
Uncle Trav, thanks for posting the matchbook from the South Pacific, I knew there had to be some other items from this place out there. I have never seen a postcard??
Bigbro, A moment of silence will be offered over tonight's Mai Tai in honor of the Traders demise.
In keeping with a broader Chicago theme, here are postcards etc. from a few other restaurants that were mentioned by Tipsy and Bigbro.
Trader Vic's Palmer House with the nice Tiki by Barney West
Kon Tiki Ports Papeete Room, Macao Room, Singapore Joes Tavern and Saigon Room in the Sheraton Hotel
Shangri-La Restaurant postcard and drink menu
Shanghai Lil's
Nobody mentioned the Tropics Restaurant in the Chicagoan Hotel
Honolulu Harry's Waikiki Restaurant oversized postcard. I have a lot of paper from this place so I will make a separate post under Locating Tiki.
The Windy City, my kind of town.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 1812
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-07-05 6:19 pm
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2009-07-05 18:20 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 1812
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-09-29 7:07 pm
Another matchbook from the South Pacific.
The bar looks like it was called the Guam Outpost and the owner was Harry Eng.
DC
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 1812
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2010-04-11 09:24 am
Here is a cool little ashtray from the South Pacific that was on ebay.
DC
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Grand Kahu
Grand Member (2 years) 
Joined: Jul 31, 2006
Posts: 94
From: Dallas, TX
| Posted: 2010-04-11 09:38 am
Interesting - the address is right next to - an part of the same building as - the Oriental Theater (c. 1926), so they would have had a whole exotic theme going on in the day...
GK
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Grand Kahu
Tied by my Mai Tai...
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