Rose Sacharski sits behind a counter watching a wave of customers float into her Hala Kahiki South Seas Shop in River Grove. The gift shop–the only one of its kind in the midwest–is part of the Hala Kahiki tavern, which Rose, who’s now 77, and her late husband, Stanley, opened in 1966. The merchandise includes a coconut bra and a wreath made of Hawaiian wood roses and brown koa sea pods. A southern breeze rolls up from Melrose Park, and enchanting tropical music plays softly in the background.
“Don’t ask me how I do it,” Rose says with a shrug of her ola ola (“very alive”) shoulders. “I just sit down at a table and design the drinks. I really don’t drink. I only take a sip. I just have a knack of knowing what goes with what. This spring I’m putting a drink out with ice cream and beer. I called it a Surprise. Because it is a surprise if you order ice cream and get beer. But it tastes very nice.”
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Polynesian culture washed onto America’s shores after World War II, when soldiers returned from the South Pacific armed with aloha shirts, Hawaiian music, and a thirst for tropical beverages. The vets found a friend in Vic Bergeron, who’d started the Trader Vic’s chain in 1936 with a restaurant in Oakland, which evolved into a Polynesian joint in 1948. Though Bergeron has been credited with inventing the Mai Tai, he admitted before his death in 1984 that he not only copied Don the Beachcomber’s South Pacific decor but borrowed its drink recipe.
Next to Rose sits a replica of the Hala Kahiki in the form of a quilted green, yellow, and brown Kleenex holder. Aunt Bess made the minitavern, complete with “Cocktail Lounge” and “South Seas Shop” doors. The colorful Hala Kahiki business cards are ingeniously designed to be folded in the middle: one side gives the usual name, address, and phone information while the other reads “Gone to p” and “Leave my drink alone,” serving as a tabletop billboard when nature calls.
Witco Decor was the brainchild of prolific whittler William Westenhaver, who created “primitive” raw carvings in dark wood. Well-known Witco clients included Elvis Presley, who furnished the Jungle Room at the Graceland mansion with Witco products, and Hugh Hefner, who accented his Playboy mansion swimming pool with Witco tiki masks.
Rose immediately began decorating. “I had a Girl Scout troop,” she says. “And I had all kinds of flowers and things I used for it. We couldn’t afford to decorate [the bar], so I started putting up flowers and ferns from the troop. People said it looked very tropical. And the bar had a colorful tropical floor. Then we found out the tavern used to be a funeral home.”
The Hala Kahiki has developed a big following, including entertainers and sports stars. A few months ago a half dozen Radio City Rockettes stopped in for a liftoff after a performance at the nearby Rosemont Theatre. And Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey people are regulars when the circus is in town. “Years ago Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita came here,” Stanley III says. “My dad was ‘Stan.’ I guess they could relate. Don Ho? He wouldn’t step in our place unless my Dad paid him ten grand.
