The Whaling Bar before it was demolished for the expansion of Cafe La Rue, 2013.
Bartenders Pat Torano and Vince Clark, 1953.
The bar stood side-by-side with Cafe La Rue in the hotel, and was decorated with nautical antiques from whaling vessels from the 1880s, and murals by painter Wing Howard, who modeled them after old Currier & Ives lithographs. Howard’s main painting is called “The Whaler’s Last Stand,” and is depicts a boatload of sailors harpooning “that intangible malignity” in island waters. It was the second he painted. The first from 1949 was a nudie deemed too risqué by La Jolla socialites.
Bartender Pat Torano worked there for years before opening up his own steakhouse (Torano’s) in La Jolla in the 1950s. And later, Rey Arcibal became revered for his famed cocktail ‘The Whaler’ — a potent shake of brandy, creme de caçao, Kahlúa, triple sec, Bailey’s and vanilla ice cream.
The Whaling Bar was demolished for the expansion of Cafe La Rue in 2013. The bar was reopened in 2024 by SDCM Restaurants (The Grass Skirt, Captain’s Quarters), with the salvaged whaling murals somewhat intact — notably displayed in the Wing Howard Lounge. And today the bar serves a modified, mini version of Arcibal’s ‘Whaler.’
La Jolla
La Valencia Hotel
1132 Prospect Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
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La Valencia Hotel in 1943.
Wedding on the patio, 1950s. Photo, La Valencia Hotel, colorized.
Whaling Bar and Cafe La Rue, La Valencia Hotel, 1953. Photo, San Diego Magazine, colorized.
Cafe La Rue, 1953. Photo, Charles Schneider | San Diego Magazine.
La Valencia Hotel menu, 1957, featuring The Whaling Bar.
The Wing Howard Lounge, Whaling Bar, 2024. Photo, SDCM Restaurants.
Hello,
Thanks for the article, have you heard anything About when the Whaling Bar is going to reopen?
Thank you,
Arturo
Arturo, according to SanDiegoVille, The Whaling Bar is set to reopen sometime in the summer of 2022.
From the latest pictures OF RETURNING THE wailing Bar BACK TO THE cozy and Classy bar THAT it was im DISAPPOINTED, it still looks Like a makeover of th cafe la rue…a big disappointment ,after waiting years ……!