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The Bahooka is closing their doors March 10th |
bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
|  Posted: 2013-02-22 2:34 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2013-02-21 16:00, 20th Century Man wrote:
....We asked our waiter where the regular menus were and he said in the two days since the word went out the restaurant was closing virtually ALL OF THEIR MENUS WERE STOLEN....
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That's pretty funny...WHY !? Those menus were really not such great examples of Tiki art. I think it was more the regulars there that took them, the families that have been coming there for years who wanted some memento from the place they loved, Tiki or not.
And it's those regulars that kept the place afloat. The Tiki community had its events there, but very sporadically over the years. They certainly weren't the place's bread & butter. Bahooka always had a very pragmatic relationship with us Tikiphiles: Glad to take their events and parties, but beyond that, it was not their world. They were working class proprietors with a working class clientele, we were the artsy fartsy nerds. And that was fine with me.
I also do not condone the taking of anything until it is up for sale by the owners. Those ladies have slaved behind a hot stove all their lives and they deserve every penny they have coming to them.
Last Tuesday: Ribs and Yams with Scott and Josh (and Martin McIntosh behind the camera) 
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Hiphipahula
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: May 27, 2006
Posts: 2376
From: The Valley! Female, leo,fav color pink.
| Posted: 2013-02-22 8:01 pm Permalink
I was asked on Facebook today about my visit to Bahooka last night and two of my friends asked, what was your favorite cocktail when you visited Bahooka?. One friend said "I want to know because I never found a cocktail there I liked" before I knew it I had written a goodbye letter so I will share it for those interested.
"I love Bahooka, it was always a package deal for me, an extraordinary venue and it will be missed by so many, it's neighborhood, tikiphiles, visitors and vacationers. I don't think I considered the cocktails as a reason to go there or be there in more resent years. The cocktails are very commercial and rounded out to sell in mass and volume and Bahooka is very good and successful at what they do and in part it's because they understand that fine line. Here is a successful, exotic venue, a Tiki Palace of sorts NOT losing money per se and closing, a great loss for all, people want Chili's and TGIF and Olive Garden! It has made it tough for tiki venues and mom and pop shops for years as we already know, damn corporate America.
I have a vintage Bahooka menu a gift from Tom Morgan (Trader Tom)from 1972 when they were located on Francisquito and Sunset. This menu has 64 Cocktails as today's menu does BUT! most are LOST Bahooka original cocktails we have never seen or tasted before! Trader Tom and I were about to embark and study all of this menu when Tom relocated to Portland.
So in the end, I have no favorite cocktail at Bahooka, if I have a cocktail I have a "Grenade with the pin pulled" or a "Tropical Itch" a Diet Coke most often because of a long drive home. Sometimes I partake in a "Honey Bowl" with others and then complain about the salad bowl it was served in 'wink' 
I will miss it as dearly as any of you, so many fun, fun times spent with so many of you.
My dearest memory will always be the Book of Tiki 10 year Anniversary mug release party. Sven Kirsten asked me to make Jeff Beachbum Berry's "Tiki Reviver" a cocktail created by the Bum for the celebration of the BOT and the mug for over 200 people. I will always be humble and feel honored to have been asked and included in the evening and i'll tell ya, that's better than any memory prize I could purchase to take home.
Goodbye Bahooka I'll miss ya... a lot."
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Hiphipahula
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: May 27, 2006
Posts: 2376
From: The Valley! Female, leo,fav color pink.
| Posted: 2013-02-22 8:09 pm Permalink
As to the Menu crisis, last night management told us, we pulled the menus back as NOT to be stolen. You can BUY a colored cover menu for $10 or black & white for $5 also you can BUY a parrot for $20 .
People have stole menus for years we know that so this was smart on Bahooka's part. Good for them.
P.S. Yes, some of us did buy menus and/or parrots
TOO Many Rumors, every employee & even mgr. owners tell different variations of what will happen. We have to wait and see what happens in the BUYOUT, some items have been bid on if the items are left behind Said Management. Most likely there will be a public auction. When the end comes we will know.
hiphipahula.com/
[ This Message was edited by: Hiphipahula 2013-02-22 20:17 ]
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tikijackskeleton
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Dec 30, 2012
Posts: 34
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2013-02-22 9:59 pm Permalink
Heads up, tomorrow on KPCC 89.3FM at noon, Offramp will be doing at least a segment on it.
http://www.scpr.org/programs/offramp/
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20th Century Man
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Feb 21, 2012
Posts: 27
From: Thousand Oaks, CA
| Posted: 2013-02-22 11:53 pm Permalink
Kelly, thank you so much for getting the truth about the "The Great Bahooka Menu Robbery." It's a relief to know there are still menus available for sale even if I can't get out there again to buy one before they're gone. I only brought the topic to everyone's attention because three of the staff (apparently not informed by management) told us they had been stolen. Wish I'd known they were for sale when we were there.
We're really looking forward to joining the ohana for the grand farewell on March 10!
Thanks again!
Glenn
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2457
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2013-02-23 6:29 pm Permalink
Well, they've started to sell off the flotsam and jetsam. 
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lunavideogames
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 09, 2012
Posts: 353
From: San Diego
| Posted: 2013-02-23 6:56 pm Permalink
Dibs on the flotsam, how much are they asking?
That is very bad news... No hope for the place staying open then? :.(
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MauiRose
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 28, 2009
Posts: 163
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2013-02-24 8:33 pm Permalink
I went last night (four hour wait for walk-ins at 7:30) and they had a table set up near the entrance selling some items:
$1 stickers
$5 paper menus (real menus were all gone, they said)
$10 plastic lunch special menus with Party City Tiki on front
T-shirts
$20 plastic parrots (I snagged the last one they had out...but there are still many more hanging about the restaurant, so it's possible that they might be selling more of them on other nights. I don't know for sure, though.)
$25-$35 Watneys plastic red barrel and pub-style mirrored signs, and a license plate
[ This Message was edited by: MauiRose 2013-02-24 23:06 ]
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bigbrotiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 10561
From: Tiki Island, above the Silverlake
| Posted: 2013-02-24 10:42 pm Permalink
MAN I hope those Watney's Red Barrel mirrored signs are not gone... 
[ This Message was edited by: bigbrotiki 2013-02-25 11:28 ]
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HelveTiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 23, 2010
Posts: 128
From: a tiny little Island in Switzerland
| Posted: 2013-02-25 05:42 am Permalink
this is sad news...
I was at the bahooka only once, back in 1996.
but i'll never forget the time I spent there.
sad, sad, sad...
_________________
 
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2457
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2013-02-25 3:32 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2013-02-22 14:34, bigbrotiki wrote:
And it's those regulars that kept the place afloat. The Tiki community had its events there, but very sporadically over the years. They certainly weren't the place's bread & butter. Bahooka always had a very pragmatic relationship with us Tikiphiles: Glad to take their events and parties, but beyond that, it was not their world. They were working class proprietors with a working class clientele, we were the artsy fartsy nerds. And that was fine with me.
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Case in point... So what happens when 2 artsy fartsy Tiki nerds (namely HB Tiki and myself), who poached a booth just to drink and kvetch, are asked by a patched member of the Mongols (outlaw) Motorcycle Club to move so he and his family can have dinner ??...
They move !!
So I guess that's fine with me too.
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lava
Member
Joined: May 23, 2012
Posts: 9 | Posted: 2013-02-25 5:56 pm Permalink
Went to Bahooks last sat. at 6pm. tried to make res but the phones ring without answer. I tried several times, and I mean a lot. 100+ over the day.
Got there and it was a 3 hr wait at the most optimistic. We bailed kinda pissed they didn't answer the phone!
I figure they had no reservations left to give out but why not answer the phone and say so. You would know what to expect before you did the drive. Or an answer machine with a "we are full up" msg. But I guess thats beating a dead dog, and the dog named Bahooka is almost dead.
Now if a restaurant can book up for a 3 hr wait why can the thing be sold instead of closed? Its a shame to plow down a unique place like this only to build something that could be built anywhere.
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tikiskip
Grand Member (6 years)
Joined: Nov 26, 2005
Posts: 2085 | Posted: 2013-02-25 7:18 pm Permalink
"patched member of the Mongols"
I thought they could not by law wear those patches?
_________________
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JOHN-O
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2457
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2013-02-25 7:31 pm Permalink
Tiki bars are a lawless place !! And if you really want to see anarchy, show up on March 10th.
I'm already getting kind of scared.
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chrisandsarahb
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 22, 2009
Posts: 510
From: Cucamonga, CA
| Posted: 2013-02-25 7:41 pm Permalink
I'm with John-O! I'm nervous if I can even shoot/film it on March 10th and do it justice. Put yourself in their shoes, its gotta be crazy beyond crazy around there. Who wants to answer the phone? Forget about it...
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