Johnny Harris, Savannah, Georgia – CLOSED & DEMOLISHED

Recently someone asked me if I had been to Savannah, and I answered with a hearty “YES!”. I stayed there on my Georgia road trip in 2005 (also see earlier posts here and here) and was quickly charmed by the town, with its lovely tree-filled streets of historic homes, its riverfront setting, and with my lodging choice, the Thunderbird Inn, which was restored by the Savannah College of Arts and Design (SCAD).

Thunderbird Inn 1
Thunderbird Inn 2

 

Johnny Harris restaurant is located in Savannah on old U.S. Highway 80, which before the Interstate Highway System traversed the entire country from San Diego, California, to Tybee Island, Georgia (much of the old highway still exists in San Diego County and is a great time-warp drive that I highly recommend). Named after the founder who opened a small barbeque shack in 1924, the restaurant opened at its current location in 1936. Johnny Harris passed away in 1942, but his partner Red Donaldson took over the restaurant and it’s still run by the same family.

Johnny Harris 2

The main dining room is a large circular space with a high domed ceiling with illuminated “stars”, a bar in the center (above photo), gorgeous partitioned wooden booths below a mural around the outer wall, and tables and chairs in the space between. A lot of people could eat in this room, but when I went for dinner it was pretty quiet.

Johnny Harris 3

plenty of privacy in the wooden booths

The restaurant has a diverse menu but it specializes in barbeque. I had their “famous” fried chicken & BBQ pork combination plate. The meal was served with a small bowl of a South coastal specialty, Brunswick Stew, a traditional tomato-based meat and vegetable stew, wedge fries, homemade dark bread, and coleslaw. The highlight was their tangy barbecue sauce. It was so good that I brought home a bottle of the stuff.

Johnny Harris meal

If you are ever in Georgia, a visit to Savannah is a must. It has some of the charms of New Orleans but without the party atmosphere. And when you go you should visit Johnny Harris. The BBQ isn’t the best in Georgia, but eating good food in such a beautiful, classic dining room makes it worth a visit.

Why not do a U.S. Highway 80 road trip across the country from San Diego to the Atlantic coast in Georgia? I pretty much guarantee you will have a better time warp experience than you would driving most of Route 66 (mostly swallowed up by I-40). Take out your road atlas and look it up. US 80 is pretty much intact across the eastern half of its route across the country. In Georgia and Alabama it exists far from any interstate highway, which I have found helps to preserve old places (restaurants, motels, etc.) because they don’t have the competition they would near an interstate where chain motels and restaurants pop up like weeds. In Mississippi, Louisiana, and east Texas it closely parallels I-20 but it still exists separately. West of Dallas it was merged into I-20, though it probably exists in most towns and cities as “Old Highway 80”. Road trip! Let’s go!

Johnny Harris
1651 E Victory Dr, Savannah, GA 31404
(912) 354-7810
Open Sun-Thu 11:30am – 9:30pm, Fri-Sat 11:30am – 10:30pm

Magic Lamp Inn, Route 66, Rancho Cucamonga, California – CLOSED

Part one of a two-part journey along a small part of Route 66 in San Bernardino County, California.

I’ve driven most of what’s left of Route 66 in California and the stretch through the ‘Inland Empire’ of San Bernardino County is one of the most boring stretches, with mile after mile of chain stores and restaurants, ugly shopping centers, and suburban tract homes. But there is a short segment on Foothill Blvd in Rancho Cucamonga that is well worth a drive for a good meal, especially after dark.

Magic Lamp Inn

This daytime shot I took in 2008 gives you a bit of an idea how this stretch of road looks. On the right (South) side are the Magic Lamp Inn (which is just out of view), followed by historic Vince’s Spaghetti, which opened in Ontario in 1945, then later at this location in 1984 (but the building looks much older). On the left when I took the photo there was an old fruit and vegetable stand, which may be gone now, followed by a low Spanish style building, which is now a sushi restaurant, and then at the intersection with San Bernardino Rd. stands the lovely and historic Sycamore Inn, which deserves a post of its own (to follow later).

But I recommend you drive it at night.

Magic Lamp Inn, Route 66, Rancho Cucamonga, CA


The incredible neon sign still has a flame coming out of its spout!

 

Magic Lamp Inn entrance from parking lot

 

The Magic Lamp Inn opened in 1955 but the building was a restaurant since the 1940s and retains its rustic charm, with lots of brick and stone, and a unique Spanish tile roof with tiles of different shades of red arranged in a variety of interesting patterns. It really must be seen in person to be appreciated!

 

entrance to the Magic Lamp Inn

 

Inside is a large cocktail lounge, then past that there is this wonderful fireplace seating area. Notice the massive cactus outside in front of the window.

gorgeous firepit in the Magic Lamp Inn

The fireplace after dark looking through the front window.

firepit at the Magic Lamp Inn

 

The food is traditional steakhouse fare, featuring USDA Prime beef, and most dinners come with a fabulous relish tray, delicious cheese bread (a specialty of the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire), vegetable, and choice of potato.

relish tray at the Magic Lamp Inn

Around the bend is a visit to our next stop, the Sycamore Inn.

Magic Lamp Inn
8189 Foothill Blvd  Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
(909) 981-8659
Open for lunch Tue-Fri 11:30am – 2:30pm
Dinner Tue-Th 4:30pm – 10:00pm, Fri & Sat 5:00pm – 10:30pm, Sun 4:30pm – 9:00pm
Bar open Tue-Fri 11:30am – close, Sat 5:00pm – close, Sun 4:30pm – close
Live music and dancing Wed-Th 7:30pm – 11:00pm, Fri & Sat 8:00pm – 1:00am
And the dreaded karaoke Tuesday and Sunday 6:00pm – close

CLOSED – Bahooka Ribs ‘n’ Grog, Rosemead, California – 1976-2013

This blog is primarily intended to celebrate classic and historic restaurants that still exist, but occasionally I will be mentioning a restaurant that is gone or recently closed.

As you may have heard, another original Polynesian / Tiki restaurant closed its doors for good last week. Southern California lost three classic Tiki restaurants in the last few years: The Islands in San Diego (gutted by the Crowne Plaza Hotel chain in 2007), the Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach (also gutted in 2007), and Trader Vic’s in Beverly Hills, which was the oldest Trader Vic’s (open since 1955) left in the country when it closed in…you guessed it, 2007. All three carried on in name only as bland “tropical” restaurants. Now the fabulously unique Bahooka in Rosemead has entered the Tiki history books. In case you’re counting (and why wouldn’t you be?) that leaves only three original Polynesian / Tiki restaurants in Southern California (Damon’s, Don The Beachcomber , and the Bali Hai).

Why does a place like the Bahooka, that started in 1967 (in a long-gone original location in Covina, California) close after over 45 years in business? Did business decline in the past ten years? Every time I went it didn’t seem very busy. Could it have held on a little longer if the food and drinks were better? I may have gone more often if it wasn’t just the atmosphere that made me want to visit. Apparently the owners needed the money so they put it on the market and it sold quickly. I guess they have every right to sell a place they have kept going for 35+ years.

In the last three weeks since the announcement that they would close was released they have done massive business, with lines forming an hour before they open at noon and waits for a table reaching to 3 and 4 hours. When I was waiting in line to say goodbye on a recent Sunday morning I wondered when was the last time many of the people there had visited. I know my friends who are into Tiki bars went occasionally, but the Tiki crowd isn’t enough to keep a large restaurant in business. I must say the staff was incredibly patient and friendly dealing with the onslaught of customers, but the drinks were worse than I remembered (I always thought they were mediocre) and the food wasn’t very fresh tasting. I’m glad I got to see it one last time but I felt bad that I’ve only been a handful of times since I first ate there in the late 1990s.

In case you have never been, the best way I can describe it is a huge, labyrinthine maze of over 100 fish tanks built into floor-to-ceiling dark wood walls and partitions separating the many intimate tables, with interesting details such as a large jail door, chains anchored to the wooden tables, Tikis here and there, numerous hanging lamps and decorations, signs, and artifacts covering every bit of space. There was a small bar with a large fish tank actually built into the bar counter. Near the hostess stand there was a large tank that contained an ancient (in fish years) pacu named Rufus who liked to eat carrot sticks.

This is what the Bahooka looks like now:

black

Visit your local Tiki bar or restaurant now, and seek them out in every town you visit, because they need the business and you never know how long they will remain.

 

CLOSED – Julian’s, Ormond Beach, Florida

This blog is primarily intended to celebrate classic and historic restaurants that still exist, but occasionally I will be mentioning a restaurant that is gone or recently closed.

Le Continental just learned of the closure last year of Julian’s, a Polynesian supper club in Ormond Beach, Florida, north of Daytona Beach. Julian’s opened in 1967 and was still owned by the same family when I visited with some friends on a Florida road trip in 2002. It was sold in 2006 and yet again in 2011, but it closed in the summer of 2012.

Here are some photos I took in 2002.

Julians5

Julians4

The decor was a very unique bold striped pattern on the walls with illuminated colorful masks of stylized Polynesian design, Witco wall hangings (see Sven Kirsten’s book Tiki Modern for info on Witco), and modern teak wood panels separating the sections of the dining room and lounge area.

Julians2

Julians1

Here is a photo of the bar with it’s small stage and the large mural on the back wall of the restaurant. When I visited there was live entertainment provided.

Image posted in 2008 by GatorRob on Tiki Central

The restaurant is up for sale. Hopefully someone will buy it and continue the 45-year-old restaurant that is practically unchanged inside and out since 1967.