Bahooka to Close

As a non-drinker, I could not care less about their drinks, though I admit they were interesting in their presentation. As was the restaurant itself, which for me was one of its main attractions. It is one of those relatively rare restaurants with a true personality (and a cannon right outside). And while I will agree that their food wasn't the greatest, I've always liked their ribs.

What I did NOT like was Mr. Twigg's weak attempt to blame the restaurant's failure and closure on Obama. As if their failure to make it work was somehow Obama's fault. What about "taking personal responsibility"?

What about:
* Painting over the "Katherine B. Sherwood" with "www.bahooka.com"? (And doing it so badly you can still see the original lettering underneath.)
* Not upgrading the old plastic name signage outside?
* Amateurish, ugly art and lettering about their fish tanks and tiki atmosphere painted on the corrugated metal roofing facing Rosemead Blvd.? (Thankfully, that abomination was painted over about a year or so ago, but only after a couple of years of embarrassing badness.)
* Not working harder on the food?? Bahooka has always had a great rep for drinks and atmosphere, but never a particularly strong one for food. And if you're a restaurant, at some point the food starts to matter. Especially for us nondrinkers.

The restaurant was not unsalvageable, but just be brave enough to admit you weren't up to the challenge; don't blame it on someone who has nothing to do with your problems.
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I second the hope that the new owner decides to retain its strengths and work on improving its weaknesses.

When I first read they were closing, I thought I'd make a trip back, for old time's sake. Then I read his lame attempt to blame Obama for his closing. Heck, if he's going to be a Richard about it, then he can stuff it. Good riddance, you moronic pinhead.

They should have added some Asian food. The whole theme is tikis and Polynesian, which is kind of like... Asian. Their menu was more like Carrows or something.

They should at least have had the range of pseudo-Hawaiian and pseudo-Asian foods:

egg rolls
crab rangoon
hawaiian pizza
hawaiian burger
teriyaki burger
kalbi (korean ribs)
huli huli chicken
teriyaki chicken
pineapple upside down cake
pineapple fried rice (in the half pineapple)

The stuff is just sugar, soy sauce, and ginger on top of the regular meat. That or a piece of pineapple. I'm sure most of these were invented by white people.

Come on. You can get some of these things at Mexican restaurants. Why not a Pacific Islands one? I hope the next owners seriously consider keeping the decor, because that's the main attraction there.

The other things the next owners could add are slightly more exotic foods, like Hawaiian food, mahi mahi, shark, tuna steaks, taro root, ham steaks, spam fried rice, fried banana, mashed banana, Filipino adobo, Filipino lechon (roasted pig), shrimp soup, smoked fishes, corned beef hash, fried spam and eggs, coconut curry, coconut jelly, macaroons.

And the ribs of course.

Oh yeah and raw fish if they can handle it.

Breadfruit?

I think it's gelling: a real Polynesian menu within a kitsch menu. There aren't a lot of Hawaiians and Samoans and Chamorro and Marshall Islands people here, but there are SOME, and some can drive up from Long Beach.

The changing demographic is the obvious reason why they'd lose business. And they NEVER advertised. So how can they complain if people stop going? Especially now, when we know the owner's a putz.

Well, the demographics changed a couple times in their history, and it's been around half Asian in Rosemead for around 15 years.

The main thing that's changed, in my opinion, is that mainstream tastes have changed. Look at how well expensive Chipotle burritos are doing. Fast food is adding fancy burgers. People want more gourmet-type foods, even for things like pizzas and burritos.

Even tacky places like Hooters and other breastaurants have okay food.

I hope Clearman's is reading this comment.