Post #336861 by WooHooWahine on Sat, Oct 6, 2007 8:36 PM

Eatery celebrating milestone
By Jennifer McLain Staff Writer

ROSEMEAD - It's the only place in town where umbrella drinks, a carrot-eating fish and tiki torches are the norm.

And Bahooka Family Restaurant co-owner Suzanne Schneiders thinks that's only part of the charm to this family establishment.

"I just think that it is the atmosphere that people love," said Schneiders, a Covina native. "I tell people it's a cross between the Tiki Room and the Pirates of the Caribbean."

Bahooka, at 4501 N. Rosemead Blvd., has been a San Gabriel Valley staple since 1967, when former Covina residents Betty Twigg and her brother, Jack Fliegel, opened the restaurant in West Covina.

"They wanted to do something different," said Schneiders, now a Rancho Cucamonga resident.

They came up with a Polynesian theme, but super-sized.

The restaurant serves big portions of ribs, shrimp and steaks, and has a bar full of sweet alcoholic drinks.

But it is the decor that is most memorable to its customers.

Ship remains, fishnets, dried blowfish, Polynesian crafts and more than 100 aquariums fill the restaurant.

The idea was an instant success. The 13-table restaurant in West Covina eventually grew, and in 1972 a second location - which

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seats 300 - was opened in Rosemead.
Forty years later, the children of Twigg and Fliegel have kept the restaurant going, and are now celebrating its success with an anniversary weekend in November.

"It's different," said general manager Pat Kenealy, who started 37 years ago as a bartender. "And one of the reasons it's stayed open so long is it is a family restaurant."

Eventually, the West Covina location closed. The Rosemead restaurant, however, has remained.

"We hear a lot of people say, `Wow, that place is still open?' Schneiders said.

Schneiders walked throughout the restaurant Thursday night, pointing out everything that gives Bahooka its character, from her favorite fish to the longtime waiters to her uncle's souvenir purchases from around the world.

Of course, there's more to the restaurant than the atmosphere, Kenealy said. A 40-year- old family recipe for the salad dressing, the ribs and the 60 bar drinks are also big attractions.

The restaurant has attracted locals, Hollywood stars and world travelers.

Diners included Kirstie Alley, Oscar De La Hoya and David Hasselhoff. Recently, Jim Carrey filmed "The Number 23" in the restaurant, and in 1997, scenes for the film "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" starring Johnny Depp, were shot there.

Ontario resident Stacey Fliegel, a co-owner, said she remembers running around the restaurant when she was a child. Working there for nearly 30 years, she has seen a lot of familiar faces come through the doors. As the owners hope for another 40 years of success, Fliegel looks to the customers to keep it going.

"It's not that business is falling off," Fliegel said. "But once in a while, you need to walk down memory lane and remember how you got to where you are."

The restaurant will have an anniversary celebration Nov. 10-12. For more information, call (626) 285-1241.

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