Comments on: Trader Vic’s Coming to Florida Panhandle

By: Chef Juan Palerm

Chef Juan Palerm — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:16:42 +0000

Well, sad to say but the Tiki experiment failed in Destin FL. Bad location, bad advertising, bad ownershipand bad economy all led to the failure. The food was great, the view beautiful, the drinks awesome. A little more clarity for you. There was no clear direction by the ownership who have no idea how to run a restaurant. This led to high turnover of employees, up and down business levels and a complete undermining of the philosophy of Tiki and Trader Vics. I, the former chef, have decided to live in Prague and am starting a personal chef business. Hope all is well in the land of Tiki

By: Ulan-Darkhan

Ulan-Darkhan — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 03:54:30 +0000

Hi,
It does have a Plain-Jane exterior sadly. I stayed in the condo back in February. I will give a brief description of the local. The entry is a drab columned concert sidewalk. Then a set of glass doors flanked by two rather nice blackened wooden tikki. The style was of undetermined poly-somewhere origin. A spares side hall leads to the traditional trader vic open dinning area with large dug out canoe on the ceiling and numerous booths and tables and chairs. The bar was a “c” shape with a traditional long plank off to the side. A small band was playing Jazz and Marvin Gay music. A rather lame covered patio was outside. Even though it seemed vacant of the thundering beats of native drums and the flaming spears I had a good time. The exotic drinks and my exotic date kept my interest. Sadly one of the few hospitable oasis of traditional folk kitsch left in the area of Florida. Alas the exotic flowers of Florida are being crushed some even before they can be planted.

Fare well Faraway Friends
Ulan-Darkhan

By: Chef Juan Palerm

Chef Juan Palerm — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:43:32 +0000

What attracted me to Trader Vic’s is the worldwide atmosphere, dedication to scratch cooking and great original drinks. The ambience is tropical, fun and entertaining, while maintaining the fine dining appeal. That is why we are more expensive than, let’s say TGIFriday’s. We are a fine dining restaurant and bar. I din’t know what the problems are for the other locations, but I believe we have found solutions to many problems of any restaurant trying to make it out there and I am always willing to listen to suggestions and pass it on to , not only corporate TV, but our ownership as well. Please let us know what we can do better. Sincerely
Chef Juan

By: MrBaliHai

MrBaliHai — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:52:12 +0000

Vic’s really seems to have a problem figuring out what constitutes the core of their appeal, don’t they? I wouldn’t go there just for the food and drink, because it’s far too expensive. It’s all about ambience.

Well, like you said, at least the Palo Alto Vic’s knows they’ve got a problem and seem willing to fix it. Let’s hope the other new locations do the same.