I didn't even know it had ever existed.
The old
Idle Hour bar in North Hollywood is being refurbished. It's supposed to open early next year on Vineland, though I'm not sure where.
I used to know the guys who have added it to their growing chain of watering holes. Back in 1993 they took over
Cacao, a West L.A. coffeeshop that had opened only two or three years before; it was they who made it over in tiki style you see in the pictures. Twenty years on, it still looks almost exactly the same and is still going strong--the last of the 1990s-era independent cafes that used to be scattered all along Santa Monica Boulevard between Centinela and Sawtelle Avenues.
Here's an exterior shot of Cacao I took for my blog several years ago:
and the interior:
(Both own work)
Bobby and Alastair no longer run Cacao, but it's telling that the subsequent owners have seen fit to keep everything as it was. And for those of you who live out North Hollywood way and are looking for a cool new place to knock back a few, you'll be in good hands.