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The Islander, Los Angeles, CA (restaurant) |
Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
|  Posted: 2009-01-19 12:37 pm Permalink
Name:The Islander
Type:restaurant
Street:385 No. La Cienega Blvd.
City:Los Angeles
State:CA
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational
Description:
A classic tiki temple - The Islander restaurant in Los Angeles.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-19 12:41 pm Permalink
Saw this great postcard from the Islander on ebay, won by KC. Nice interior shots.
Here are a few other items from the Islander
Some additional images from the Life Mag photos.
DC
[ This Message was edited by: Dustycajun 2009-01-19 12:43 ]
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-19 12:57 pm Permalink
Here is another postcard from The Islander.
DC
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10558
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2009-01-19 3:02 pm Permalink
Hot damn, thanks for copying that first postcard, DC, I have never seen interiors of that phenomenal place. I wonder what that back wall on the upper right was embedded with...probably also Abalone shells, like the ramp outside. Not much in terms of Tiki carvings, wonder where that big guy in the LIFE photo stood. Nice to see all the images in one place. Here's a close up of the Covarrubias concept-like map on the back of the matchbook:
The figure's head dress on the upper left points to the source, the "Igorot" carving on the Covarrubias Tiki map:
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-01-19 15:03 ]
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tikiyaki
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: May 18, 2004
Posts: 2676
From: The Exotic Port of REDONDO BEACH, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-19 7:12 pm Permalink
Wow, this place is an amazing example of Tiki A Frame Architecture. And those rickshaws...amazing.
There is now an Acapulco Restaurant in this location, and from the looks of the satellite pics, some of those tall palm trees are still there.
Whatan amazing place.
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Bora Boris
Mr. Unreasonable
Joined: Mar 25, 2005
Posts: 2401
From: Boogie Wonderland
| Posted: 2009-01-19 7:28 pm Permalink
Correction Tikiyaki, it used to be an Acapulco ~ Former Islander location on La Cienega for rent
The last time I drove by it was still for lease.
If you say "WOW someone should buy that place and fix it up!" you owe me Ten Bucks!
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blowtiki
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Apr 26, 2003
Posts: 18 | Posted: 2009-01-20 4:41 pm Permalink
Wow, I went to a recreation of a Hell House (a fundamentalist Christian version of a haunted house) at that spot in October of 2007. It had a big maze like floor plan, so I'd imagine it was a remodel job. It's sad to know I was tromping through a vanished Tiki site.
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Chub
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 26, 2005
Posts: 258
From: Detroit, MI but now in sunny Los Angeles
| Posted: 2009-01-20 9:51 pm Permalink
The transformation of the building to what it is today is both shocking and disturbing to me.
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2009-01-20 9:57 pm Permalink
Old question, but why in the HELL would anybody want to transform this building from its cooler former self in to the boring, generic, depressing thing it is now? WHY? Why are some people's imaginations so friggin bankrupt that they just want to dismantle something so creative and interesting looking. Speaking of imagination, this country and culture have lost most of theirs. And also.... Ah hell...now I'm just getting pissed and rambling. Forget it!!
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ron-tiki
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Feb 24, 2007
Posts: 337
From: los angeles
| Posted: 2009-01-22 07:59 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-20 21:57, donhonyc wrote:
Old question, but why in the HELL would anybody want to transform this building from its cooler former self in to the boring, generic, depressing thing it is now? WHY? Why are some people's imaginations so friggin bankrupt that they just want to dismantle something so creative and interesting looking. Speaking of imagination, this country and culture have lost most of theirs. And also.... Ah hell...now I'm just getting pissed and rambling. Forget it!!
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it's called the 1980's
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 3916
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-22 09:21 am Permalink
Here is another postcard from the Islander. Another great exterior shot of the place at night. A bit odd to have the rickshaw superimposed on the roof. Also shows the rickshaws lined up outside the restaurant. Does anybody know the deal with these. Were they used to transport the guests to and from the parking lot?
This is the back of the card. What a description of the food and beverages!
DC
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Mo-Eye
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 17, 2006
Posts: 600
From: Costa Mesa, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-22 10:05 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-22 09:21, Dustycajun wrote:
Here is another postcard from the Islander. Another great exterior shot of the place at night. A bit odd to have the rickshaw superimposed on the roof. Also shows the rickshaws lined up outside the restaurant. Does anybody know the deal with these. Were they used to transport the guests to and from the parking lot?
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I'll have to look for my source, but I remember reading somewhere, that yes, the rickshaws were used to transport guests from the valet parking underneath, around the lagoon in the front, to the front door of the restaurant.
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donhonyc
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jan 13, 2003
Posts: 1173
From: The Quiet EAST Village
| Posted: 2009-01-22 7:13 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2009-01-22 07:59, ron-tiki wrote:
Quote:
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On 2009-01-20 21:57, donhonyc wrote:
Old question, but why in the HELL would anybody want to transform this building from its cooler former self in to the boring, generic, depressing thing it is now? WHY? Why are some people's imaginations so friggin bankrupt that they just want to dismantle something so creative and interesting looking. Speaking of imagination, this country and culture have lost most of theirs. And also.... Ah hell...now I'm just getting pissed and rambling. Forget it!!
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it's called the 1980's
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Indeed! In retrospect the 80s had some cool things going on, but even back then I remember thinking "how did things get so damn boring so fast?" No wonder the 60s had their first big revival then.
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Tiki Shaker
Grand Member (4 years) 
Joined: Jun 28, 2008
Posts: 688
From: Oceanside, CA
| Posted: 2009-01-22 7:22 pm Permalink
The eighties were strange. It was like some kind of really cheap pseudo deco/Bauhaus rip-off. I hated it when if first happened and I currently hate the resurrection of it that I've been noticing.
blah.
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Sabu The Coconut Boy
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Aug 20, 2002
Posts: 2784
From: Carson, California
| Posted: 2009-01-22 7:33 pm Permalink
An old polaroid:
Beside the Tiki Room at Disneyland, my most vivid memories of Tiki growing up in Southern California were of driving by the Islander on La Cienega on our way to church each Sunday. The sight of those torches flaring at night on our way to and from Sunday-evening meetings were a vivid memory that later spurred me to get back into tiki in the 90s.
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