Above and left photo and menu are from the original Luau on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Below is a photo of the new Luau on Bedford Drive in the same city.
LUAU CLOSED
The New Luau opened to the public for dinner on Friday night October 24th.
369 North Bedford Drive
Tel. 310-274-0090 (reservations advisable)
A new Luau is open on Bedford Drive in Beverly HIlls however, it will not be a 100% tiki-type operation and will lean more to Balinese decor laced with Asian-influenced cooking with a menu put together by Mako Tanaka from Mako, Beverly Hills. There will be, I am happy to report, some tropical drinks based loosely on old recipes from the original Luau. There is no relationship whatsoever to the original Luau on Rodeo Drive that was opened in 1953 and was a popular celebrity hangout throughout the 50’s and 60’s, which closed in 1978. The Luau was owned by Steve Crane who was one of Lana Turner’s husbands. Their daughter Cheryl Crane became infamous due to stabbing her mother’s boyfriend gangster, Johnny Stompanato to death, although it was deemed justifiable. According to latest reports Ms Crane (an admitted lesbian) is currently a real-estate broker living with her female companion in Palm Springs. A decade earlier the same Rodeo location housed “The Tropics” owned by Harry Sugarman also popular with celebrities in the 40’s.
Regarding the comment below from Susie: flattery will get you everywhere! No, not really, but I do think the cause she is plugging is a good one so I allowed it to fly. K.M.
Tags: Steve Crane's Luau Beverly Hills, The Luau Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills
i went by Luau on opening weekend as my Beverly Hills neighbors and I are always hoping for a local fun hit…unfortunaltly this is definitly not it! They were rude, tacky and there were more bag rugs on the heads of there in sweaty “in crowd” then at ABC Carpets! i hope the owners wake up and realize what this area needs and make some quick changes across the board – they should take lessons from GJELINA in Venice on how to open a restaurant -or call me for a free consultation! good luck. lafinds@aol.com
You can get better food at any local corner Chinese or Thai restaurant, and the waiter won’t try to sell you dishes like a used-car salesman with a bad gambling habit. What wasn’t greasy was soggy, or else it was dry (horrible ribs) or tasteless (was that some kind of fish in that banana leaf or was it toilet paper?). The joke of it is, the decor is actually, in its own way, more tasteless and stupid than the original tiki decor was, which at least had some energy. On a recent Saturday night the place was filled with Hollywood types eating this garbage (God love em, still supporting the economy).
Man – my experience was completely the opposite from what the previous two reviewers had. The short ribs and bacon-wrapped chicken melted in my mouth, the crab rangoon with yuzu sauce was amazing, the martinis were perfect, and it wasn’t noisy or crowded for the two hours I was there until a birthday party of 30 came in at 9pm … cool understated tiki music, and how can you not love the flotilla of puffer fish lamps?
I’ll be interested to see what this is like when I visit California again. My grandfather worked at the Tropics then the Luau for 30 years before it was sold and torn down.
You seem like a very intelligent person. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with all of us.