Kapu-Kai

Rancho Cucamonga, California, United States

This Polynesian paradise consisted of the Kapu-Kai Coffee Shop with an attached bowling alley. The bowling alley also boasted an Outrigger cocktail lounge and Tahitian Fire Room. The complex stood on the corner of Foothill and Vineyard and was active from 1962 to 1969.

What shut the Kapu-Kai down was the Great Inland Empire Storm & Flood of 1969, which by the storm's end had caused over $500 million in damage, killed 60 people, and damaged and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.

The ruined buildings of the Kapu-Kai held on until 1994, after which they were bulldozed, according to Charles Phoenix’s “Cruising the Pomona Valley.”

Nobody could figure out an economical way to salvage the unique structure.

The name "Kapu-Kai", Phoenix says, translates to "Forbidden Sea" which is appropriate when one considers the flood of water that brought its demise.

That corner is now famous for having two Starbucks outlets, one at the edge of the parking lot and a small one inside the Albertsons.

Years later, Bosko was able to trade for one of the salvaged interior tiki support poles from the Kapu-Kai which he installed at his home bar (The Kapu Tiki Room) and was actually married beneath in a ceremony conducted by noted mixologist Beachbum Berry.