When the
Dunn Clan moved to Temple City in 1959, there was no Bahooka Family Restaurant
two blocks away. That changed in 1976 when the restaurant that opened in 1967 in
West Covina, moved to its current and final location on Rosemead Boulevard.
It has enjoyed a long and prosperous
run there, but that is about to come to an end on March 10th. The owners are
throwing in the towel and have sold the place to someone that is interested only
in the location, liquor license, and the over 100 fish tanks, but not the
Hawaiian/Polynesian motif.
There have been conflicting reports
as to the exact reason for its closure. One is that the family has health issues.
Another has some employee evoking the "let's blame the President and
Obamacare" statute and the reason that I believe, is that the owners are
just ready to retire.
Whichever reason you choose to
accept one thing is for sure. When the doors do close the owners will be
leaving with a tidy little nest egg thanks to the cat being let out of the bag
that the Bahooka's days are numbered. The joint has been jumping ever since the
word got out.
Not unlike the morbid curiosity that
accompanies the death of a celebrity there has been a constant stream of
mourners lining up at the door to say their final goodbyes.
When we drove past last Sunday there was a line of easily 50 people
waiting to get in for the lunch service. When we drove back by an hour and a
half later there were still people waiting to get in.
Anyone who has eaten there, and has
taste buds, will tell you that this phenomenon is due solely to sentimentality
towards the atmosphere of the place and not the food. Which, to be kind to the
deceased, can only be described as fair.
It was that very sentimentality that led my
wife and I to make the two block pilgrimage a couple of weeks ago after hearing
the news of its imminent demise. We wanted to refresh our memories as to why we
didn't go back more often to some place so close. After we
had read some posts on the Internet and Facebook by people moaning about
its closure we felt as though maybe we had been ignoring it unjustly.
Our memories had not been betraying us.
The food and drinks were what we had remembered. The food was just so so and
the drinks, even though they tried, were nowhere near the caliber of say Don
the Beachcomber. As a matter of fact,
being a bit of a rum snob myself, I know I could have made a better Mai Tai at
home.
The one thing I could never
duplicate was the vibe of the place which is what everybody is going there to
get a final taste of. The dust covered plastic parrots, tikis, foggy fish tanks,
and assorted shipwreck memorabilia that hangs from every inch of available
ceiling, makes you feel like you stumbled into an unfound section of
Adventureland at Disneyland. It is what is
truly special here and what will really be missed.
It is joining the ranks of places
like the Temple Theatre and The Shrimp Boat that have faded into the sunset.
Places that people of my generation grew up with and remember fondly and miss
every time we pass where they used to be.
Hopefully whatever is replacing the
Bahooka will be able to fill the void that it will be leaving, but I doubt it.
As the crowds are proving, good food
and drink is not always what you crave.
Bill Dunn has been a published opinion columnist for 15
years. Any comments can be sent to
either our exalted editor at tmiller@beaconmedianews.com
or to Bill directly at
dunnsinferno@casegod.com You can also
find Bill on Facebook at : www.facebook.com/WhenAllisSaidandDunn
