Bali Hai, July 1964
I hope you are in the mood for a Hurricane or a Mai Tai, and maybe some Martin Denny or Les Baxter tunes, because we are visiting the Bali Hai tiki bar, operating since 1954 on Shelter Island in San Diego. From Wikipedia: (Shelter Island) is actually not an island but is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. It was originally a sandbank in San Diego Bay, visible only at low tide. It was built up into dry land using material dredged from the bay in 1934. It was developed in the 1950s and contains hotels, restaurants, marinas, and public parkland. Notice the stern (?) visage of Mr. Bali Hai to the left - there is a statue of him as well, restored by Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily in 2001. The sign to the right says "Exotic Cantonese Dinners : DANCING TONIGHT : Polynesian Floor Show".
Up on the roof, a fearsome (but friendly?) fellow known as "The Goof" surveys the landscape below. Apparently there had been another "Goof" on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, and this example is a copy of that one.
Here's a great photo of Alice Hudson, who apparently was instrumental in bringing The Goof to the Bali Hai restaurant. A replica of a giant Tiki statue known as the “Goof,” which had long stood atop Christian’s Hut in Balboa, was hoisted to the roof of the elaborate new “Tiki temple” on Shelter Island, constructed from timbers hauled down from backcountry San Diego mountains. You can read an extensive history of Shelter Island's Bali Hai HERE.
EXTRA! EXTRA! Mike Cozart sent along a photo of the Bali Hai restaurant, taken shortly after its renovation. It looks wonderful! Thanks Mike.
8 comments:
As your question mark indicates, I'm not sure Mr. Bali Hai's visage is stern. He looks sort of suspicious (note the droopy eyelid)... or maybe just bored. Perhaps he has a bad case of ennui? "Exotic Cantonese Dinners" Dinners prepared by exotic Cantonese chefs?
The Goof: Somehow I don't think he's friendly. Those teeth are made for stripping the flesh off anybody, or anything, that comes within striking distance! No wonder they put him way up high on the roof! He makes Disneyland's Killer Swans look like amateurs. And those piercing eyes! Nope... not friendly at all, says I.
An exotic Saturday Road Trip. Thanks, Major.
Bali Ha'i may call you,
Any night, any day,
In your heart you'll hear it call you,
"come away, come away . . ."
The Bali Hai is one of my favorite restaurants in San Diego. My parents went there on one of their first dates in the early 1960’s. It was restored/ renovated several years ago and the design one many awards . It kept the best of the vintage Tiki but modernized but still looks cool tiki mid century modem in every way. They also feature some of their 1950’s - 1960’s menu items. The water views are everywhere as the vintage structure is “in the round” . My family still dines there and during the spring and summer months a group of my Orange County friends gather and we take the train down then go to the Bali hai brunch and sip tiki cocktails all afternoon then take the train back to OC.
Still kicking myself that Mrs. Chuck and I never ate here when we lived in SoCal. Aside from Disneyland, San Diego was our other “Laughing Place” when we were able to scrape enough young newlywed money together to get away for a weekend. Money was tight, and there were more economically feasible options. I also remember once making sandwiches in the Disneyland parking lot.
Thanks for sharing, Major!
Wow...if you go down the Bali Hai/Christians Hut rabbit hole you are sure to find a bevy of information: worthy of a very interesting hour or two. Christians Hut was born out of necessity: the cast and crew of Mutiny on the Bounty needed a bar/restaurant during the filming on Catalina Island at the Isthmus, also known as "Two Harbors". Clark Gable had an apartment above the bar. Here is a great article:https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic_id=41769. For those of you who make it to Catalina, the Isthmus is the very low key alternative to Avalon on the other side of the Island, and perfect for hiding out and writing a book. The new bar at Two Harbors is where Natalie Wood + Co. got a bit sloshed before returning to the Splendor and that will start an entire rabbit hole of it's own. The link that Major provided is also full of intrigue and it's own rabbit holes: I highly recommend it as well. Bali Hai apparently was a spin off of Christians Hut, simply named "The Hut" and after some transference of power, and remodels, (and scandals) became the Bali Hai that has endured today. That this restaurant is still around really amazes me, and as I go to San Diego once or twice a year, this was a great travelogue to inspire me to visit. "The Goof" is I'm sure another rabbit hole, that I don't have the time for at the moment, but I'm looking forward to it....Thanks Major!
I've always wanted to go here. I remember ads for this place in the Disney News magazine and dreaming of exotic food. I was too young to imagine cocktails.
I remember reading about the Goof somewhere before, but the details are not as sharp as his teeth.i don’t find him particularly inviting as a mascot. That black and white photo is amazing!
Tiki for me has mostly been Trader Vic’s in Emeryville, not the original Oakland location, but venerable enough in its own way. There’s a new place in Napa that is very well done too.
Great photos, Major, I’m glad you posted these. Thank you!
JG
Hi folks, sorry about yesterday, I was gone all day, and by the time I got home I was way too pooped to pop (whatever that means).
JB, Mr. Bali Hai can be both stern and bored AND suspicious. He contains multitudes. The Goof, on the other hand, can’t help that he did not receive proper orthodontia. The poor guy was teased at Goof School!
TokyoMagic!, gosh I’m crying!
Mike Cozart, I used to live in San Diego, but was a small child, so my parents hardly ever took us out for cocktails. Maybe once or twice, TOPS. We certainly never went to Shelter Island, sadly. As always, it would be a blast to see the place at the peak of the Polynesian/Tiki craze. Late 50s? Early 60s? I can’t remember the last time I made it down to San Diego, but it has been decades.
Chuck, I wonder if Bali Hai was popular (in general) with military folks, since there are so many in San Diego? I’m sorry you and Mrs. Chuck didn’t go, but making sandwiches in the Disneyland parking lot is kind of a fun memory!
Bu, boy those were the days - the movie cast and crew needed to “get their drink on” to the point where a real bar and restaurant was created. I plan to go to the isthmus of Catalina and finish my book, “Blogger! My Life As America’s Most Famous Internet Celebrity”. To be published by Doubleday! Something happened to Natalie Wood? Maybe that’s why she never writes, never calls. If you ever go and visit The Goof, I hope you tell us all about it!
JG, my mom told me that she and my dad went to Bali Hai - during that time that we lived in SD. I’m sure it was hard to get away very often, with several squirming kids (my sister was born in San Diego). Still, I’m glad they had some time to get away, if only for an evening. I wonder if my grandparents did the babysitting? I love that The Goof is kind of scary, rather than cutesy! I was just in Portland and we had plans to go to The Alabi, a famous local Tiki bar, but it was so crowded that evening that we wound up going elsewhere. We had fun, but there were no rum-filled fruity drinks to be had.
I had the good fortune of vacationing in San Diego in about 2008 and luckily discovering the Bali Hai on our first night there. We loved it so much we ate dinner there every night for the rest of our vacation! I will definitely consider it a must-do whenever I have a chance to revisit San Diego.
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