Wow. I guess we knew it would happen soon, but not like this.
This blog has some info.
http://la.eater.com/archives/2007/04/...
And sorry, about posting the link to the blog, it seems to have to most up to date info about this.
kelela
Apr 30, 2007 01:24PM
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CHOW Pick, posted July 08, 2009
Food Media, posted July 09, 2009
Green, posted July 07, 2009
Wine and Drinks, posted April 24, 2009
OMG!!! We were just there yesterday for a SCARFer Cocktail Hour (With lots of fun had by all!) The staff was pretty much saying that it was 'coming' soon and made a mention of that meeting... Wow... that is kinda creepy to be... among the last... perhaps that explains the few b-listers we saw too... So glad we got in one last Mai Tai...
--Dommy!
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Okay... they just confirmed... Aloha Trader Vics...
http://la.eater.com/archives/2007/04/...
--Dommy!
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One more reason to go to London, or Bangkok, or even Chicago.... Trader Vic's.
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They have one in Seattle now, actually Bellvue.
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Closer still, there is one in Emeryville, in the Bay Area
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The Tradervics.com website says one in San Francisco...and other places that are surprising, such as Destin, FL. Maybe it will come back as a bar/small plates place, hope so, but right now, I lament a place I had many experiences and many celebrations, and I was not one to complain about a lack of anything...how could one after a Mai Tai? Or two?
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NBC 4 covered the closing and reported that a "Tiki Bar" serving the Mai Tai's etc. will open later this week.
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1st Don Ho now trader Vic's??
Aloha and Mahalo
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Where are the Menehunes when we need them?
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Yes sadly Vic's is dead. Evil developers needed to make some more $$$.
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How depressing, another institution bites the dust.
I'm bummed I had reservations a few weeks ago and had to cancel from being sick. Never got to experience the original mai tais.
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Not THAT depressing, read my post above - the original mai tai lives! Well it will in a few days!
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Where is the new place opening?
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Thats just horrible... Thank god they at least have the decency to move Chai over to the lounge...Hes the man
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I'm sorry, but aren't the drinks secondary to the fact that this is a tragedy that a piece (and one of the dwindling few left) of Tiki culture is being destroyed?
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I've been going there 35 plus years so this is tough -- but not overwhelming or unexpected. The hotel project will be held up in planning for years, and one of the stumbling blocks was the move to have Trader Vic's declared an architectural monument for the exterior. If T.V.'s had wanted to stay, it probably could have held on for awhile but I speculate that the developer -- who is spending enormous sums to get this project through (big ad campaign in Beverly Hills, offers to re-construct the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica at a cost of millions of dollars) may have paid off the Trader Vic's people to close the place quickly and quietly to try and make an end run around the conservation groups. From a business stand point it makes sense for the company that runs Trader Vic's. While busy on weekends (crammed on Sunday nights, always a Beverly Hills locals tradition) the place really just eked by during the week -- some hotel guests, maybe some folks coming by the bar after work. The location was very tough -- access was only on Santa Monica and that intersection at Wilshire is one of the worst in the city in terms of volume. Not exactly a spot for spur of the moment dining or drinking. If you look at the Trader Vic's corporate website you can see they're in an expansion mode -- largely in the middle east, but several locations in the U.S. as well -- Vegas being next on the horizon, plus the stand-alone Mai-Tai bars one poster has mentioned. If we're lucky, Trader Vic's will re-locate somewhere in Beverly Hills or West Los Angeles -- there is certainly open restaurant space in the Beverly Hills Triangle where that Japanese tofu spot closed, near the now closed Dutton's bookstore. The food at Trader Vic's was often hit or miss, but when it was good it could be very, very good, and the drinks and atmosphere were always first rate -- though you certainly paid for them. I think -- or at least like to think -- that there is a market in L.A. for this sort of place. A better location may help a tradition to continue or maybe even a new tradition to start.
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Eater LA reports (per the Bev Hilton) that TVic's will remain OPEN; world's best mai tais can be found on the pool level. Salvation!!
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The LA Times reported the same thing today - inside the hotel adjacent to the pool. And that is was scheduled to begin TODAY.
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I have to concur with BHAppeal here. The food wasn't the big draw, but did fit well with the decor.... and is a passing to be lamented. It would be tough to replicate or even relocate the interior. Far too many of LA's great "tiki" establishments -- from Don the Beachcomber to the Luau to Kelbo's, etc., etc., etc. -- have bitten the dust in recent years. Hopefully the T.V. mai-tai will live on?
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