The Reef - Long Beach

Long Beach, California, United States

The Reef opened on August 8th, 1958, and was co-owned by George Millay, creator of Sea World. The original restaurant had interior designs by Bobby Mavis, and had "Hula Grounds" with many tikis.

Quote from a 1961 review from the Long Beach Press-Telegram:

"The Reef Is a large place with numerous dining rooms which accommodate thousands of guests each week. Bearing such fancy names as the Coco Room, the Tonga Room (both dining rooms), the Pali Room (large banquet facilities), and the Tiki Room (cocktail lounge), each is smartly tropical in decor. Most of these rooms provide their guests with breathtaking close-up views of harbor shipping and Long Beach’s sweeping skyline. For those who like to dine or sip cocktails In open air the Reef has a long handsome patio which also overlooks the water. In addition the restaurant has a huge turn-park area which can handle groups from 150 to 1500. Tommy Noh, the Reef's lively young manager, directs a staff of 70."

The Reef burned down in 1974, and was later re-built in 1980 by David Tallichet, one of the original partners in the old restaurant.

Tallichet and his company have run over 100 restaurants around the country over the years. The other Polynesian project he is well-known for is the Ports O' Call Restaurant at the Ports O' Call Village.

However, Tallichet re-built the new Reef building in a mining theme, that was popular around the country at the time, with lots of raw wood beams. He was later heard to voice regret that he didn't stick to the original Polynesian theme so many area residents fondly remembered. It's since been remodeled several times and the mining theme has been erased as well. The current restaurant isn't really tiki or Polynesian at all but it is almost 3 times as large as its predecessor and is still run by Tallichet's family-owned company, Specialty Restaurants Corporation, which currently owns 18 other restaurants, including The Castaway in Burbank, Castaway in San Bernardino, the aviation-themed Proud Bird ear LAX and 94th Aero Squadron in Van Nuys as well as Orange Hill in Orange.