Cap’s Place, Lighthouse Point, Broward County, Florida

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Just north of Fort Lauderdale is one of the most unique historic restaurant experiences in the country. What makes Cap’s Place so unique, other than its history, is that to reach the restaurant you need to take a boat. You can use your own boat to get there, or you can drive to their dock in the middle of a suburban neighborhood and take their ferry over to the restaurant. It is a lovely ride on the inland waterways, especially at night when it’s quite romantic.

Cap's boat 1

the arrival of Cap’s ferry

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image by Capsplace.com

Cap’s Place originally opened as Club Unique, a supper club, casino, and speakeasy built on a beached barge in 1928, and run by Captain Theodore “Cap” Knight, a local rum runner, with his wife Lola. Many celebrities and important figures dined there over the years, including Winston Churchill and President Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII, when they were having secret war meetings at a nearby estate. The bar and dining rooms were filled with nautical artifacts collected by Cap, including a carved wooden bowsprit from a Spanish galleon (in photo below and still in the bar today). The bartender in the photo is Al Hasis, Cap’s friend and business partner since the beginning. The gambling was stopped in 1951, Cap passed in 1964 at ninety-three, Lola passed in 1989, and since then the Hasis family are the current owners. The restaurant was listed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1990.

image by Capsplace.com

Upon arrival you walk up Cap’s dock onto their private island where there is a patio dining area, a bar, a restaurant, some smaller buildings, and some cats roaming around.

image by Capsplace.com

The history is apparent inside, with the original wooden floors and the wooden walls covered with old photographs and nautical decor.

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Cap's photo

Cap's dining room

Cap’s dining room

One of their specialties since the beginning is hearts of palm salad, which is made with Sabal Palms grown near Lake Okeechobee. Their menu is focused on local seafood.

hearts of palm salad

hearts of palm salad

The next time you are in Fort Lauderdale, check out Cap’s Place for a unique and historic dining experience. Just be sure and get precise directions from the restaurant’s web site (or call first) because it can be hard to find the ferry dock (and don’t expect a taxi driver to be able to find it – something I learned the hard way!).

Cap’s Place
Cap’s Dock is at 2765 N.E. 28th Court, Lighthouse Point, FL
Phone (954) 941-0418
Open Sun – Thurs 5:30pm – close (call first)

Johnny Harris, Savannah, Georgia

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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

Canlis, Seattle, Washington

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One of the most beautiful modernist restaurants in the country, Canlis still retains many features from its original late 40s design by architectural firms Wimberly & Cook and
Tucker, Shields & Terry for restaurateur Peter Canlis (who had previously opened the Canlis’ Charcoal Broiler in Waikiki, Hawaii, in 1947). Opened in 1950, Canlis’ Charcoal Broiler (now just Canlis) in Seattle was the ultimate in swank, with a soaring roofline, rock walls, and a porte-cochère, de rigueur in the 1950s for arriving in style in your Cadillac.

Canlis' Restaurant Seattle WA

postcard by hmdavid on Flickr.com

At one time there was even a small illuminated tiki to greet you as you drove up, and other tikis in the restaurant and on the grounds.

In the 1950s Canlis featured an open kitchen, charcoal broiled steaks, mahi-mahi flown in from Hawaii, and fresh local oysters served by Kimono-wearing Japanese waitresses in a dining room filled with rock walls, an open beamed ceiling and massive plate-glass windows overlooking Lake Union.

vintage postcard by dustycajun, tikiroom.com

In the late 1990s I visited Canlis. Although I was impressed by the building, the contemporary decor from a 1996 remodel didn’t go well with the modern design of the building. We were on a budget which didn’t allow for dining there (it was perhaps the most expensive restaurant in Seattle), so we just had a cocktail in the lounge and vowed to return another time for dinner. Alas, it was before digital cameras so I don’t have pictures. The good news is that a few years later they remodeled again and the redesign is much more appropriate for the space. The decor is simple, highlighting the incredible rock walls, wooden beams, and expansive windows. They honor the amazing building by showcasing a vintage photo and a recent one on the restaurant’s web site. It’s still owned by the Canlis family, who seem to really care about their history, food, service, and customers. Reports are that the food (Pacific Northwest cuisine) is better than ever, though still very expensive, so save your money for a special night out “old style” when you are visiting Seattle. Oh, be warned: there is a dress code. Gents, wear a jacket (but why not wear a suit and tie?); ladies, wear a dress. Personally, I love that they still have a dress code.

Entrance, image by Canlis.com

Dining Room, image from Google.com

Bar, image from Google.com

Cocktail Lounge, image from Google.com

Canlis
2576 Aurora Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 283-3313
Open for dinner only, Mon – Fri, 5:30pm – close, Sat 5:00pm – close, closed Sundays

The Sycamore Inn, Route 66, Rancho Cucamonga, California

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

Last week we visited the Magic Lamp Inn along a short but still relatively intact section of U.S. Highway 66 in San Bernardino County. As we continue down the road heading east from the neon genie’s lamp with flame coming out of the spout we pass an outlet of Vince’s Spaghetti, which opened in 1984. The original location of Vince’s in Ontario dates back to 1945 and is still owned by the original Cuccia family, making it a must for the time travel explorer!

A bit farther down the road as we approach the intersection with San Bernardino Road the spectacular neon sign of the Sycamore Inn comes into view.

Sycamore Inn, Route 66, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

The Sycamore Inn stands on a historic site that was an oasis of trees next to a creek on the old Santa Fe Trail. In 1848 an inn and tavern was built on the site called the Mountain Inn (hence “since 1848″ is on the Sycamore Inn’s sign). Eventually it was destroyed by fire and in 1920 a new building was built among the sycamore trees with a dining room and bar on the first floor and hotel rooms upstairs. This is the same building that is the Sycamore Inn today. The building looks like an old chalet from the Alps, with a large porch in the front and a veranda on the second floor. In 1939 it was renamed the Sycamore Inn as a restaurant only, and its use as a hotel was discontinued. In the heyday of Route 66 the Inn was a popular stop by people traveling to Palm Springs and Las Vegas, including many Hollywood celebrities.

Image by The Sycamore Inn

On the inside is a large bar and lounge with deep red banquettes, an old stone fireplace, and a semi-circle bar in deep red vinyl.

Image by The Sycamore Inn

Image by The Sycamore Inn

The main dining room is large with walls of wood and wallpaper, wooden beams on the ceiling, and tables with club chairs in the same deep red as the upholstery in the bar.

Image by The Sycamore Inn

The menu is strong on beef, with eight varieties of aged Prime steak plus prime rib. They have an extensive list of wines by the glass and the bottle, and table side soufflé offered for dessert. The prices are pretty high, along the lines of higher end ala carte steakhouses, but they have happy hour every night until 8PM featuring inexpensive dinners available in the lounge and on the veranda as well as half-priced wines-by-the-glass, cocktails, and appetizers in the bar.

The Sycamore Inn
8318 Foothill Blvd., Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91730
Telephone: 909.982.1104
Email: finedining@citivu.com, info@thesycamoreinn.com
Open Mon-Th 5:00pm – 9:00pm, Fri & Sat 5:00pm – 10:00pm, Sun 4:00pm – 8:30pm, happy hour nightly until 8pm

Magic Lamp Inn, Route 66, Rancho Cucamonga, California

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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

The Big 4, Huntington Hotel, San Francisco

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I used to avoid hotel restaurants. In the past I have found many to be overpriced and not that great. There are exceptions, like here and here and here…and HERE! OK, I’ve been all wrong about hotel restaurants. Many great historic restaurants still exist in hotels and some are well-preserved.

I’ve heard about The Big 4 restaurant in the Huntington Hotel for years, usually described as very expensive and stuffy. It was a regular restaurant on the annual Dine About Town prix fixe menu event in San Francisco. But I never made it there. Well, I finally went because a friend informed me that it is threatened since new owners took over the Huntington.

The Big 4

The Big 4 Restaurant opened in 1967 in the Huntington Hotel on Nob Hill, which started as a luxury apartment building in the 1920s but was converted to a hotel in 1945. The restaurant is named after the Big Four entrepeneurs from Sacramento (Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who started the California Republican party (strongly anti-slavery, they were instrumental in getting Lincoln elected) and later started the Central Pacific Railroad (part of the first transcontinental railroad), which greatly expanded into the Southern Pacific Railroad conglomerate. Eventually the Big Four moved to San Francisco, where the railroad’s headquarters were, many or all of them living in mansions on Nob Hill. Though the Huntington Apartment building probably was named after Collis P. Huntington, he didn’t own it as he died in 1900.

 

Big 4 creature

The restaurant is very dark and opulently furnished in dark woods and medium green leather upholstery and is filled with 19th Century antiques and artifacts from early California history, collected by Newton Cope. It was difficult getting good photos in such a dimly lit restaurant, but I didn’t mind as I love dark restaurants. The atmosphere is very cozy, not at all stuffy, and it truly seems like a restaurant that is older than it is.

The bar

The bar

 

The food I would describe as classic American food with gourmet touches, and usually there is a wild game dish on the menu. I had the smoked wild boar chop with corn-cheddar spoon bread and roasted apple. The chop was superb – lightly smokey and pork-like but more tender than most pork chops that I’ve had before. Not at all gamey (if you worry about such things). I had excellent shoestring fries as well.

Big 4 dish

 

The service was impeccable – friendly, helpful, and attentive. They have live piano entertainment every night as well. California and railroad history buffs will love this restaurant! I am definitely going to return to the Big 4!

 

The Big 4
1075 California St, San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone: (415) 474-5400
Open for Breakfast: Mon – Fri 7am – 10am, Sat – Sun 7am – 11am
Dinner: 5:30pm – 10pm daily; Bar: 4pm – 12am, daily

Where to get the best corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick’s Day (or any day)

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Drinking green beer in a phony Irish pub seems to be a popular way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the U.S., but I don’t go for that. Instead I’ll be drinking a Guinness with some Guinness beef stew and capping it off with a dram of Irish whiskey or perhaps a Tom Moore Cocktail (a Manhattan with Irish whiskey).

Corned beef and cabbage is a dish I really love, so I have it year round. Here are a few suggestions of where to enjoy the classic Irish-American dish this Sunday or anytime of the year.

Every Thursday my favorite restaurant in Marin county, Marin Joe’s, serves corned beef and cabbage for lunch as the daily special and it’s a winner. Tender, succulent, and juicy meat, with cabbage that isn’t too soggy, and plenty of food for $14. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are serving it on St. Patrick’s Day as well. It’s not an Irish pub, but I love the original mid-century googie coffee shop-style interior and exterior. I will probably be posting about Marin Joe’s again in the future.

MJ-cornedbeef

 

The recently refurbished Tom Bergin’s is the oldest Irish pub in Los Angeles. It started in 1936 on Wilshire Blvd. as “The Old Horseshoe Tavern and Thoroughbred Club” and moved to it’s current location at 840 S.Fairfax Ave. in 1949 and was renamed “Tom Bergin’s Horseshoe Tavern.” I went before the 2012 takeover by the owner of popular Dom’s and Little Dom’s restaurants but from what I’ve read they did not mess with the historic feel of the place. It probably will be packed on St. Paddy’s Day but they serve reportedly good corned beef and cabbage every day.

Tom Bergin bar and grill

Photo by The Jab, 2009

 

In New York City you can’t go wrong if you head to Neary’s in midtown for corned beef and cabbage, served every day since 1967. The decor appears to have not changed much since that time, except for the addition of many photos of celebrities who have dined there.

Beannachtam na Feile Padraig! (Happy St. Patrick’s Day!)

Marin Joe’s
1585 Casa Buena Drive, Corte Madera, CA
Phone 415.924.2081
Open Sun 4pm-11:30pm, M-Thurs 11am-11:45pm, Fri 11am-12:45am, Sat 5pm-12:45am

 

Tom Bergin’s
840 S. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA
Phone (323) 936-7151
Open 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

 

Neary’s
358 E 57th St, New York, NY
Phone (212) 751-1434
Open daily 11:30am – 12:00am

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

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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 [previously Sam's], 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.