An Obituary
The Tahitian opened in Pasadena on November 21, 1961, at 137 South Lake Avenue — taking over a building that had previously housed Steve Romer’s Surf Rider, a pre-tiki bamboo-and-surf restaurant that had gone into receivership four years earlier. Death on top of death.
The Pasadena Tahitian was the second of two — the original had opened in Studio City in 1959, co-owned by former Hollywood actor Don Avalier, restaurateur Bill Dove, and French chef Francois Sirgant. The décor came from Oceanic Arts and Sea & Jungle, the two LA workshops responsible for outfitting nearly every serious tiki room of the era. Pufferfish lamps hung from the ceiling. Outriggers crossed the rafters. Firepits, ponds, and waterfalls broke up the dining room. Spurlin Ceramics supplied the coconut mugs.
The cocktail menu ran to a separate section called The Romance of Rum — sixty-plus varieties listed with a printed warning not to sample them in one sitting. The Headshrinker was limited to two per person. A future bestselling novelist named Clive Cussler, then a local merchants’ association officer, took meetings there.
In 1968 the restaurant changed its sign and pulled back on Polynesian food in favor of American fare — a public concession that the tiki craze was ending. It closed a few months later.
The address is now a parking lot between an Italian restaurant and a bank.
