Bob Brooks Seven Seas - Hollywood

Los Angeles, California, United States

Bob Brooks 7 Seas night club was a pre-tiki establishment (although they did have both physical tikis and tiki graphics in their menu and advertising...so a case could be made they they were full-blown tiki earlier than many think), originally opened at 6904 Hollywood Boulevard by Ray Haller in 1935. Capitalizing on the popularity of the South Pacific as a dream vacation destination, Haller borrowed ideas from the popular Don the Beachcomber club a few blocks away and decorated the 7 Seas with a collection of tropical plants, nautical items, lava rocks, and other items of decor that fit the Polynesian theme. The most notable feature was a corrugated tin roof upon which nightly tropical rain storms--complete with thunder and lightning effects--rattled with considerable realism. Don the Beachcomber "borrowed" this idea.

When Bob Brooks took the club over a few years later, he upped the ante by stealing some of Don the Beachcomber's bartenders (including Ray Buhen of Tiki-Ti fame) along with their recipes for exotic rum drinks for an extra $10 a week which was a lot back then. Brooks also added an authentic Polynesian floor show, which was unique among South Pacific-themed clubs at the time. Another factor adding to the 7 Seas' popularity was its proximity to Grauman's Chinese Theater. Movie-goers had only to cross Hollywood Boulevard for an exotic climax to their evening on the town.

Another highlight of the 7 Seas was that Bob Brooks had several Edgar Leeteg paintings hanging up from his visits to Tahiti. These were removed in the 1950s after Leeteg's death when their value suddenly skyrocketed. However, he hired a Leeteg protege to make duplicate replacements.

Under new ownership in the 1960s, the popular night spot became the Seven Seas Supper Club. By the 1970s, however, the 7 Seas was declining into nothing more than a seedy bar. To make matters even worse in the early 1980s, owner Eddie Nash was tried with porn star John Holmes for the "Wonderland" killings and for drug trafficking through his nightclubs, including the 7 Seas. Today there is nothing left of this one-time Polynesian paradise but picture postcards, matchbook covers, and memories.

*NOTE: Bob Brooks had a second Seven Seas location in Las Vegas at the Nevada Biltmore, but it was short-lived, lasting just from 1942-1944.