Trader Vic's is a restaurant chain headquartered in Emeryville, California, United States. Victor Jules Bergeron, Jr. (December 10, 1902, San Francisco - October 11, 1984, Hillsborough, California) founded a chain of Polynesian-themed restaurants that bore his nickname, "Trader Vic". He was one of two people who claimed to have invented the Mai Tai. The other was his amicable competitor for many years, Don the Beachcomber.
Video Trader Vic's
Beginnings
Bergeron attended Heald College in San Francisco. On November 17, 1934, using $500 in borrowed money, Bergeron opened a small bar/restaurant across from his parents' grocery store at San Pablo Avenue and 65th Street in the Golden Gate District of Oakland. He named it Hinky Dink's. As its popularity spread, the menu and decor developed an increasingly tropical flair, and Hinky Dink's soon became Trader Vic's. In 1940 the first franchised Trader Vic's opened in Seattle, Washington. In 1950, Bergeron opened a Trader Vic's location in Hawaii and in 1951 at 20 Cosmo Place in San Francisco.
Maps Trader Vic's
Expansion
During the Tiki culture fad of the 1950s and 1960s, as many as 25 Trader Vic's restaurants were in operation worldwide. They all featured the popular mix of Polynesian artifacts, unique cocktails, and exotic cuisine. The chain of restaurants grew and is credited as one of the first successful themed chains, a marketing model that many other restaurants followed. In 1972 the original location in Oakland was closed and replaced by a bayfront restaurant in nearby Emeryville, now considered the chain's flagship restaurant. In the 1980s and 1990s, the chain began to shrink as a younger generation had little connection to the chain's tiki theme. Poor locations or less trendy addresses took a toll on the chain's popularity. While many of the original locations have closed, Trader Vic's once again has grown to 19 locations around the globe. As of 2012 there are four Trader Vic's restaurants in the United States, three in Europe, eight in the Middle East, and three in East Asia. The Trader Vic's Corporation also franchises restaurants and bars under the names the Mai Tai Lounge, Trader Vic's Island Bar & Grill (which opened in 2010 in Sarasota, Florida, and shuttered in 2013 - where the company experimented with a Hooters-like concept but not a true Hooters knockoff), and Señor Pico, which take the total restaurant count up to 27.
Headquarters
The company is headquartered in Emeryville, California.
At times the company had its headquarters in several locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Corte Madera and San Rafael.
According to the Trader Vic's website, the Mai-Tai was invented by "Trader Vic" Bergeron in 1944 in Oakland, CA.
Restaurant locations
In addition to the current locations below, Trader Vic's has several future locations planned. A restaurant is planned for the Swiss-Belhotel Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The hotel and restaurant are expected to open in 2015. A Trader Vic's was also planned for the Corbin Park development in Overland Park, Kansas, although opening was delayed when the Corbin Park developer filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Construction activity began resuming in 2012; however, a new completion date for Trader Vic's has not been announced.
Current locations
Former locations
Books of recipes and stories
- Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink (1946)
- Bartender's Guide by Trader Vic (1947)
- Trader Vic's Kitchen Kibitzer (1952)
- Trader Vic's Pacific Island Cookbook (1968)
- Trader Vic's Bartenders Guide (1972)
- The Menehunes (1972)
- Trader Vic's Book of Mexican Cooking (1973)
- Frankly Speaking: Trader Vic's Own Story (1973) (ISBN 0385031750)
- Trader Vic's Helluva Man's Cookbook (1976)
Books published by third parties
- Trader Vic's Tiki Party!: Cocktails & Food to Share with Friends
- Cocktails of the South Pacific and Beyond (with a detailed early history of Trader Vic's original location)
In popular culture
The song "Werewolves of London," a Top 40 hit co-written by Warren Zevon and appearing on his 1978 album Excitable Boy, contains the line "I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's," presumably referring to the chain's London location.
See also
- Trader Joe's, which was inspired in part by the success of Trader Vic's
References
External links
- Trader Vic's company website
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