Luau doesn't have much to offer to a tikiphile—it's simply an inexpensive all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet, with no tiki at all to be seen inside (not even a bar!). What Luau does have, however, is one really fabulous example of classic midcentury graphic design in its beautiful sign.
just across town and Luau were both owned and operated by the Dunn brothers, Jimmy, Roy and Stanley. Luau used to have a tiki bar, and drinks were served out of tiki mugs. The Leilani and Luau both had the same mugs printed up, with both names on each: a black moai mug, and a three-face bucket mug.
The Luau is, as you said, nothing but an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet now. I visited it one time several years ago, just to see the tiki-ness of the place. It was almost non-existent. While the sign is cool (and I'm not even sure it's still there. I'll have to go back and make sure), I did get a glimpse of the former bar area. At the time (nearly 20 years ago) it was being used as a storage area. The bar looked untouched and gorgeous---just not a room for the public to use any more. It was curtained off from the dining area. There was also a door on the street to the bar area that read, at the time, "tiki room" or something like that. It's too bad this place didn't last or make a cool comeback now that tiki is much more en vogue than it was when i visited all of those years ago.
The Luau is, as you said, nothing but an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet now. I visited it one time several years ago, just to see the tiki-ness of the place. It was almost non-existent. While the sign is cool (and I'm not even sure it's still there. I'll have to go back and make sure), I did get a glimpse of the former bar area. At the time (nearly 20 years ago) it was being used as a storage area. The bar looked untouched and gorgeous---just not a room for the public to use any more. It was curtained off from the dining area. There was also a door on the street to the bar area that read, at the time, "tiki room" or something like that. It's too bad this place didn't last or make a cool comeback now that tiki is much more en vogue than it was when i visited all of those years ago.
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