The Tropics - at Ala Moana

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

This is the second Tropics restaurant opened by Peaches & Tony Guerrero. They also operated The Tropics at Waikiki.

Tony Guerrero was an "Island Boy". In the 1930's he went to Hollywood and acted in several movies. While there he meet the beautiful Peaches Jackson, who was pursuing her career in the movies. Tony co-owned his first bar/restaurant, the Hawaiian Hut, in Hollywood. When he sold it they moved to Hawaii. In 1940 they bought a waffle place and made it into the first Tropics restaurant (at Waikiki).

It was situated opposite the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

The Tropics at Waikiki flourished and became an institution for visiting Hollywood stars to hang out at. It was eventually renamed "The World Famous Tropics at Waikiki".

In 1952, Peaches and Tony went to Paris to study at the Cordon Bleu, opening this second restaurant upon their return to Hawaii, the Tropics Ala Moana. This restaurant was as successful as the Tropics and the special house dressing became so much in demand that it was eventually bottled and to this day, Tropics Salad Dressings are popular on the West Coast and of course, in Hawaii, where they are made.

Dates are unsure for the close of The Tropics at Waikiki (still in business as late as 1955) but it became the Royal Lanai by the early 1960s.

This Ala Moana location existed until 1958 when the property was bulldozed to make room for the Ala Moana Shopping Center.

Why the Ala Moana location chose a wolf in an Aloha print cabana set as their mascot is unknown, but it was undoubtedly some sort of inside joke. This was, after all, pre-tiki times and the tiki iconography had not caught hold as the default for most mascots and advertising.

Tony died in 1985 and Peaches in 2002.