This is an archive - these pages are no longer updated!
Some information will be out of date.  Some of this writing goes back to 1995.
See Tiki Road Trip (2007 edition) for the most up-to-date information.

Bahooka

Rosemead, CA

November, 1999: During my brief stay in Los Angeles in September of 1999 (while rehearsing to go on tour with Royal Crown Revue), one of my main priorites was to get to Bahooka in Rosemead.  Although I had it on fairly good authority that Bahooka was not the sort of Tiki Palace that would compare to Mai Kai (in Florida) or Kahiki (Columbus, Ohio),  I was still excited to go there due to a series of really friendly letters I had received from Samantha, one of the owners. Although I only found a few actual Tikis in Bahooka, the general atmosphere, the extreme hospitality shown to me by the owners, and the high quality of the drinks and food makes it a must-visit if you are Tiki Trekking through Southern California. What did we find at Bahooka? You can bet we dug up some history... And the drinks!    Full review of Bahooka is available in Tiki Road Trip.   Before my own visit to Bahooka, Andrew Rosenfeild made these suggestions : Ask for  the waitress named GoGo if you visit Bahooka.   A somewhat tattered, but still proud, tiki-themed restaurant deep in the heart of exotic Rosemead, just east of downtown L.A.,  Bahooka has been in buiness since the early 60's.  Looking from the outside like a Denny's with an over imaginative landscape planner(+ the ss minnow replica in the parking lot), Bahooka does not disappoint upon entering.   The interior is just what you hope, lots of dark carved wood, fish nets, tiki accoutrement, and lots of fish tanks.  If memory serves, the bar was in fact an aquarium, with some mighty impressive(re: big) residents.  COOL!.   After being led through a maze of rooms and bamboo, we were at our booth(!) and met the infamous GO-GO.  And GO she did, bringing lots of great tropical drinks and mostly mediocre food.   The main attraction to GO-GO is that she will accomodate almost any "flaming" request you may have.  Meaning, if you want it on fire, GO-GO is your gal.  "Flaming"drinks?  Kids stuff!  We are talking "flaming" clam chowder, drinking water, salad--whatever you want.   After a couple of Mai-Tai's things can get very interesting.  The food is mostly in the fried rice, fried shrimp, vein, not great, but edible.   But, you are not there for food, you are there to drink mai-tai's and too try not to set the place on fire, and of course, for GO-GO.  Call ahead to make sure she is still there. ...Sorry Andrew, I forgot to ask for Go Go or anything flaming... but hopefully readers of these pages will get some flambe next time they go to Bahooka... Dana Sixty adds this mixed review of the Zombie... By the  way, the Zombies at the Bahooka are pretty damned nasty! Wow - those suckers  really pack a wallop! They rival those at the (sob!) Kahiki. No, really!  Unfortunately, GoGo wasn't working there when we went. Damn! Greg writes: I am a new patron to the wonderful underwater world of Bahooka's in Rosemead. My three friends and I went last Saturday evening and had the time of our lives. Being a serious 60s collector/buff, I enjoyed reveling in the total retro tikiness of it all. I did not find it to be a dedicated island-hop/tiki treasure trove, but rather a nautical adventure with a short stop on the Hawaiian coast as it were. This did not disappoint me, as I will take what I can get in this wasteland of 2001 Greater Los Angeles. Personally, I loved the food... the sliced ham was excellent, the fried shrimp yummy, the barbecue chicken flavourful and the drinks were effective. In fact, I was crossed-eyed and laughing half way into my Cosmo...WoWzA. But, most of all, the living aquatic fauna was the prime attraction. Can you guess how many aquariums there are in Bahooka's? One Hundred and Four! I loved it. We will be returning regularly. Places of such interest deserve our support, unless you are satisfied propping up Red Lobster and its ilk. Heave Ho! Nancy adds: I was so excited to find your review on Bahooka.  I had been a regular in the early 90's but had forgotten the name of the place.  I  lived in Simi Valley at the time (a good 50 miles) and couldn't get there as often as I'd like.  Let me tell you - they have the best ribs in the world!!!  The ribs are so good that the people I worked with on graveyard shift at Gibraltar Savings (now defunct) would send someone to get ribs for lunch.  Over 50 miles for RIBS!!  But it was worth it!   I live in Tucson now, and when we go to visit family in Simi Valley (traveling on the San Bernardino Frwy)  I knew it was in one of those towns, but not remembering the name of the town, I felt I'd never find it.  We are going to California next month & you can place bets on        where I'm going! (a different) James says: Wow, It was great to read that the Bahooka is still going strong. In 1982, when I was 13, I moved to L.A. from England with my family, and we lived fairly close to the Bahooka (Agnes Avenue in Temple City, to be exact). We loved going to the Bahooka - I'd never consumed blue liquid from a large wooden bowl before! After only 8 months in L.A., my dad got transferred to Canada, which is where I've been ever since. I do miss L.A. and I'm hoping to come back again someday and bring my wife with me so we can pay the Bahooka a visit. Thanks for the memories! (another) Greg pipes in with: We went to the Bahooka Restaurant yesterday, June 18, 2003, and we were very disappointed. After reading all the testimonials from different sites about the outstanding ribs and drinks, we were looking forward to trying the place out. All I can say is that the ribs are some of the worst I have ever eaten. A McRib sandwich would have been tastier. They were very dry and tough to chew. The place itself has a nautical flair to it and pulls it off nicely. The tiki style drinks were good too. Just stay away from the food.

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