Don the Beachcomber to close Sunday in Sunset Beach; new location being sought
Renowned tiki restaurant Don the Beachcomber will close Sunday night after nearly 10 years at its Sunset Beach location, the restaurant announced Friday.
Owner Delia Wu Snyder wrote in a message on the restaurant’s Facebook page that it is closing “due to increasing rent obligations.”
However, she said she is looking for a new location.
Snyder, who with her husband opened the restaurant at 6278 Pacific Coast Hwy. in 2009, denied rumors in March that the business was closing for good.
She could not be reached for additional comment Friday.
“It has been a difficult journey to come to this decision,” Snyder wrote in the Facebook post. “While this is a short goodbye for now, it is not forever. We have been diligently working on finding a new home, which we will be announcing shortly.”
Music promoter Christopher Burkhardt of Stellar Shows told the Daily Pilot in March that Don the Beachcomber was about to close and that he had moved his acts to other sites in Orange County and Long Beach.
“It’s the music people follow, not necessarily the venue, although Don’s was a very unique, iconic space and will be missed,” Burkhardt said.
Plans for the property are not clear. Online rumors have claimed the 15,000-square-foot restaurant would be torn down and replaced with condominiums.
In 2015, city officials considered rezoning the 10.7-acre lot that includes Don the Beachcomber to potentially allow condos but ultimately decided against it.
The first Don the Beachcomber opened in Los Angeles in 1937. Ernest Raymond Beaumont Gantt, who later changed his name to Donn Beach, founded the chain. Aside from Sunset Beach, the only other current Don the Beachcomber is in Hawaii.
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.
