Inspired by Florida's famed Mai-Kai restaurant, Bill Sapp and Lee
Henry opened the Kahiki Supper Club in 1961. Patrons lined up for hours
to see the celebrities who dined there--everyone from Betty White to
Raymond Burr.
Sapp and Henry set out simply to build a nice Polynesian restaurant and
ended up establishing the most magnificent one of them all. Outside, two
giant Easter Island heads with flames spouting from their topknots stood
guard while customers dined in a faux tribal village with thatched huts,
palm trees and a towering fireplace moai. One wall featured aquariums of
exotic fish and another had windows overlooking a tropical rainforest
with periodic thunderstorms. For nearly forty years, the Kahiki was the
undisputed center of tiki culture.