Here's something I wrote five years ago for the excellent Tolkien newsletter
Beyond Bree (if you are a Tolkien fan, you really should subscribe -- see below):
Bombadil in Hawaii
by Dale Nelson
On his honeymoon in 1981, a friend took a moment to mail me some information about Tom Bombadil's Food and Drink, a restaurant on Alii Drive, Kailua, in Kona on the island of Hawaii. The decor included "wooden murals of scenes from the LOTR trilogy," Rosario said. He enclosed a leaflet printed on textured gold paper: "Tom's History featuring The True Story of the Discovery of Pizza," credited to Phineas Feathertree, "Grand Archivist of the Western Reach and Official Historian for Tom Bombadil's."
The arch little account mentions J. R. R. Tolkien as having "documented" the "chronicles of the One Ring of Power." It continues: "Our brief history takes place in the region around the Shire, legendary habitat of Hobbitfolk and other strange creatures." The Shire "was in turmoil -- suffering an influx of foreign creatures such as Men, Grimmits, Yelches and even an occasional Gollabog. The voracious Grimmits had been glathering (sic) in from the dreaded Old Forest, raiding graineries (sic) and vegetable patches." Discussing the trouble at Nippo's Inn and Out House, four hobbits decide to do something.
They sneak up on a group of napping Grimmits, but are ambushed by Grimmits in the trees, who throw "fist-sized bunion nuts" at them. The hobbits flee. Eventually they hear something. "'Verily!' pronounded (sic) another" of the hobbits in response to one's expression of surprise. It's Bombadil, who tells them that Grimmits and Yelches are easily dealt with:
"'Grimmits love grains, roots and vegetable greens,
Whilst the meats are the food of the Yelches.
Merely mix all this fare like the way I prepare,
And they'll devour each other to belches.'"
The narrator tells that, sure enough, the Grimmits and Yelches fought over Bombadil's pizza, and that was the end of them.
The leaflet is copyrighted 1977 by E. Todd Ellison. The restaurant emblem is a pair of stout boots.
Rosario also sent the menu. The sandwiches have names such as The Middle Earth, The Rivendell, The Pride of Gondor, The Grey Havens (cheeses, alfalfa sprouts, etc.), and Misty Mountains. Other menu offerings include include "a proud, heroic pizza," called the Aragorn, a sausage-and-mushroom pizza called the Shadowfax, etc. and salads such as the Lady of Lorien.
The menu is copyright 1980 by Middle Earth, Inc.
Bombadil's seems to have been in business well into the 1990s, but is gone now:
Tom Bombadil's Pizza in Kailua-Kona - Island of Hawaii Forum - TripAdvisor
I wonder what happened to the murals. (end) [(c) 2019 Dale Nelson]
