Luau Hut - at Luke's Chinese Restaurant

Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Luke's Chinese Restaurant opened in 1951 and was located in the Edwin A. Smith Building, in Providence, Rhode Island.

Owned by Tin Cheung Luke with his son, Henry.

In 1963, the Lukes converted the upstairs dining room into a Polynesian themed restaurant called the “Luau Hut”, which served tropical cocktails and exotic dishes. The Luau Hut was decorated with straw wall covering, bamboo polls, and gigantic shell light fixtures. Downstairs the decorations were modest. People ate in formica covered booths.

Popular in the 1970s, it started to decline in the 1980s and closed by the 1990s.

*Color photo below shows the nearly 7' long Luau Hut sign which resides in the collection of Gregory Theberge, in his beer room, since 2021.