Once located at 950 South Palm Canyon Drive, Aloha Jhoe’s was a Palm Springs tiki bar and restaurant that opened in 1961 and was known for its stunning décor.

Perhaps that’s not surprising since the restaurant was created by Lyle R. Wheeler, a Hollywood art director who won five Academy Awards for Gone with The Wind (1939),  Anna and the King of Siam (1946), The Robe (1953), The King and I (1956) and The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and was nominated for many others.

Also on board was carver and set designer Jim Casey who did the famous sculptures at this mini tiki playground in the desert and who also worked for Disneyland and Pacific Ocean Park.

The murals inside were created by the famous California artist Millard Sheets and the talented Hollywood set designer John DeCuir who worked on The King and I (1956), Cleopatra (1963) and Hello, Dolly! (1969) also contributed.

The influential desert modernist architect William F Cody designed the building which had originally been The Springs restaurant, followed by Paul Cummins Huddle.

Twelve-foot-high tiki sculptures, including the large Royal Tiki God named Aloha Jhoe, were the main features of the Polynesian décor in the restaurant’s four exquisitely styled rooms that served Cantonese food and tropical drinks.

The whole place was said to have been inspired by the hit film South Pacific that had been released in 1958.

There was nightly entertainment, and food was served by extravagantly dressed and hatted servers. The theme was ' where the tiki gods are appeased nightly.' 

Aloha Jhoe's was owned by the esteemed restaurateur Milton F Kreis who sold the lease of the tiki bar and restaurant to Sherman’s Deli in 1968.