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Bali Hai, San Diego, CA (Restaurant) |
freddiefreelance
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 15, 2003
Posts: 2983
From: San Diego, Ca.
|  Posted: 2004-04-30 12:07 pm Permalink
Shelter Island's the Trifecta, the rest of San Diego is it's own Win, Place, & Show card of Tiki.
I have pictures of some of the random street Tikis from SD county, mostly N. County, that I'm planning on posting as soon as I get my scanner working...
_________________
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., Th.D., D.F.S
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PolynesianPop
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2341
From: Corona, Ca
| Posted: 2004-04-30 2:06 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-04-30 10:46, Tiki Bird wrote:
...also Mr Tiki hopefully will be a great addition in the gas lamp district. |
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I mentioned before in another post somewhere that I saw the architectural plans and a bunch of the tikis being made for Mr Tiki while at Bosko's house about a month ago. Based on what I saw, there will be no compromise as to the quality of this place. Bosko even said that the owners are putting a lot of money into the place to do it right. I can't wait for it to open.
Pretty soon, we'll be able to set up a San Diego Tiki Bar Crawl...
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Poly-Pop *
Bartender, make mine a glass of WATAHHH!!!!!
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freddiefreelance
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 15, 2003
Posts: 2983
From: San Diego, Ca.
| Posted: 2004-04-30 2:58 pm Permalink
PolyPop, There's already a San Diego Tiki Bike Tour in PB, run by Marc Menkin ((858) 488-2209, I think), & I'm thinking about a Spam Musubi crawl around Mira Mesa (4 plate lunch places within 10 minutes of my work, plus Jollibee!)(OK, there's no Musubi @ Jollibee, but you can get Tuna Pie!).
_________________
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., Th.D., D.F.S
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PolynesianPop
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2341
From: Corona, Ca
| Posted: 2004-04-30 3:14 pm Permalink
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On 2004-04-30 14:58, freddiefreelance wrote:
PolyPop, There's already a San Diego Tiki Bike Tour in PB, run by Marc Menkin ((858) 488-2209, I think), & I'm thinking about a Spam Musubi crawl around Mira Mesa (4 plate lunch places within 10 minutes of my work, plus Jollibee!)(OK, there's no Musubi @ Jollibee, but you can get Tuna Pie!).
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Yeah, but I'm talking about a Tiki BAR Crawl.... Bali Hai, Islands Room and Mr. Tiki (once it opens). Hotel for out-of-towners to stay at could be Humphrey's...Bus could pick up/drop-off there and a Home Bar Tour could be coordinated for the following day...
Just a thought...
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Poly-Pop *
He who dies with the most broken mugs WINS!
[ This Message was edited by: PolynesianPop on 2004-04-30 15:14 ]
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2004-04-30 6:58 pm Permalink
[quote]
On 2004-04-30 15:14, PolynesianPop wrote:I'm talking about a Tiki BAR Crawl.... Bali Hai, Islands Room and Mr. Tiki (once it opens). Hotel for out-of-towners to stay at could be Humphrey's...Bus could pick up/drop-off there and a Home Bar Tour could be coordinated for the following day...
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Excellent idea.
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Tiki Bird
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 25, 2003
Posts: 850
From: Cerritos, Ca.
| Posted: 2004-04-30 8:48 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-04-30 14:06, PolynesianPop wrote:
Pretty soon, we'll be able to set up a San Diego Tiki Bar Crawl...
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I'm in!
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ModMana
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 05, 2002
Posts: 263
From: San Diego, CA
| Posted: 2004-05-01 01:36 am Permalink
I'm all for a San Diego Tiki Crawl! I'll even volunteer to throw a tiki shindig at our house as part of the tour.
ModMana 
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sirginn
Grand Member (8 years) 
Joined: Oct 20, 2003
Posts: 271
From: Sunset Cliffs , CA
| Posted: 2004-05-02 8:56 pm Permalink
Hit the Bali Hai last weekend for some drinks after some job interviews. It never disappoints. The Hanalei hotel was pretty cool too, lots of tikis
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-05-08 01:23 am Permalink
I had dinner at Bali Hai last Thursday night and lunch last Friday ($6.95 buffet...easy on the wallet for a guy budgeting a cross country drive and a few mugs for friends). They have some nice Bishop Museum style tikis in the gift shop, but I was surprised by the lack of logo merchandise. Aside from the mugs, the shot glasses and a ball cap, there was nothing that said "Bali Hai"...not even a postcard. The giftshop manager told me that they were considering pitches from several t-shirt companies and that at least one of the designs featured Mr Bali Hai. I was also told they are not planning to attach the bone to Mr Bali Hai's nose because children tended to try to stand on it. I shot pics of all the tikis I could find and will post when I finally get home to my scanner.
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-05-11 02:53 am Permalink
A few pics from early May of 2004; exterior night view:
The goof by night:
...and by day:
Mr Bali Hai by night:
Interior view at night:
This sculpture resides outside near Mr Bali Hai:
Two sculptures beside the stairway:
Two pics of restroom door hardware:
I also shot photos of all of the interior tikis as well as the views out the windows. If anyone asks, I'll gladly post them.
[ This Message was edited by: tikijackalope on 2004-08-16 18:18 ]
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2004-05-11 7:02 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-05-11 02:53, tikijackalope wrote:
I also shot photos of all of the interior tikis . . . If anyone asks, I'll gladly post them.</font>
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Excellent photographs and, yes, I'd love to see photos of the interior tikis.
Did the Bali Hai change its front doors and add bamboo lounge furniture downstairs?
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tikijackalope
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 23, 2003
Posts: 814
From: KS/MO
| Posted: 2004-05-11 9:16 pm Permalink
christiki295 wrote
Quote:
| I'd love to see photos of the interior tikis. |
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Hey Sven, good product placement:
They have several of this one:
When you buy a mug, be careful to check them for slight chips around the rim, the lid and the base:
The view from my table at lunch; the irony of watching what I assume to be a warship sail past a fake Polynesia that was partially born of war in the real Polynesia was not lost on me:
Quote:
| Did the Bali Hai change its front doors and add bamboo lounge furniture downstairs? |
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I don't know about any changes in the front door since I've only been there once, but the interior I shot was upstairs in the glassed-in area. I peeked at the downstairs areas but didn't notice the furniture.
[ This Message was edited by: tikijackalope on 2004-05-11 21:27 ]
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Tiki Bird
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Sep 25, 2003
Posts: 850
From: Cerritos, Ca.
| Posted: 2004-05-12 09:47 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-05-08 01:23, tikijackalope wrote:
I was also told they are not planning to attach the bone to Mr Bali Hai's nose because children tended to try to stand on it.
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Thats unforturnate. Would have like to to see Mr. Bali Hai complete.
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freddiefreelance
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 15, 2003
Posts: 2983
From: San Diego, Ca.
| Posted: 2004-05-17 7:00 pm Permalink
I found an article on the history of the Bali Hai, it's relation to Christian's Hut, & the Goof:
http://www.thelognewspaper.com/special/specialview.asp?c=75572
‘Goof’ On The Roof At Bali Hai
Thursday, September 25, 2003
By Karen Scanlon -
Shelter Island had taken shape like some odd elongated balloon. Palm trees begged for by Port Director John Bate lined the earthen roadway, and the landfill had settled so that construction of buildings could begin.
On the east end of the “island,” the first restaurant was underway - known then as Christian’s Hut (the name taken from the mutineer Fletcher Christian of Her Majesty’s ship the Bounty), or simply, The Hut. Today, it is the Bali Hai.
This Polynesian-style Tiki “temple” was built, owned, and operated in1953 by Alice Hudson. A hefty load of logs to raise the structure came from the nearby Julian mountains. “Tiki,” according to Polynesian mythology, refers to the first man, or his personification. He somehow evolved as the “god of artists” - thus the decorative architectural features infused by a cultural Tiki fever.
At the time, San Diego’s Hut was the third such establishment sired by the first on Catalina Island in 1935 near the set of the movie “Mutiny on the Bounty.” The bar, favored by star Clark Gable, was moved to Newport Beach when filming finished.
However, The Hut did not survive on Shelter Island. Hudson offered the place to neighbor Jack Davis for $60,000 cash. “But I couldn’t come up with that much cash at the time. Big mistake,” he admits.
Purveyors were given shares of stock instead of payment. By 1955, accountant Tom Hamm of Los Angeles was sent by business mogul William Kirk to the ailing restaurant to “look at the books - and he never left,” says Hamm’s daughter Susie Baumann. Tom Hamm became manager and eventually bought out stockholders.
By now, other business ventures and public amenities had appeared on the barren landfill and lured more visitors to Shelter Island - and to Bali Hai. The Tiki temple’s exotic birds, Polynesian floorshow, food-and-drink menu, its own dock, and flawless view of San Diego Harbor charmed the growing population.
“All this local wood, from Julian - you couldn’t duplicate this building today,” Susie Baumann says. The restaurant has been owned and operated by Susie and Larry Baumann since 1975.
A Polynesian concept for Shelter Island would help restore a playful spirit to San Diego, following the busy port activities of World War II. The South Pacific was out of reach for most mortals, so primitive effigies carved in wood, rum concoctions, and flowered shirts were emulated at home.
As for that Tiki trickster and charmer, “Goof” on the roof - he remains a mystery. But that’s his real name. “The Goof” became a recognizable symbol for Tiki fun seekers.
Shelter Island’s first establishment stands alone at the northeast edge (far left). Its Goof - the muse of restaurant builder and owner Alice Hudson - arrives by “woody” wagon at the construction site of Christian’s Hut (now Bali Hai), 1953.
Photo by: Courtesy Larry and Suzy Bauumann
_________________
Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Freelance, Ph.D., D.F.S
[ This Message was edited by: freddiefreelance on 2004-05-17 19:28 ]
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k'eli
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Feb 24, 2004
Posts: 25
From: laguna
| Posted: 2004-06-02 5:07 pm Permalink
Yes the Bali Hai is a fantastic "Home Away from Home" bar/restaurant. Although some if not all of the tikis are bad replicas of the originals. The "mini tikis" as referred to by christiki295 are actually Meneheunes - 'com on get with the language and culture if you are going to talk about tikis and all. Most of you don't know what you are talking about and don't have the slightest actual appreciation of the true art/culture of the tiki.
Most of you on the TC website are only out for the "drinking" and trying at the same time to act like you really enjoy the "tropical/paradise" atmosphere. Your commentaries are so "frat/sorority" worded it is shameful for one of the true "Hawaiian" heritage to even acknowledge this. The crawls that you have are so in the "college" days.
Actually I know that if you are considering this as a stop on the "crawl" you will not be accepted. It is a respectable restaurant and bar - not for the "college" crowd.
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