Massillon, Ohio, a community just west of Canton and known as hotbed of football, hardly seems like the place one would find a tiki restaurant. However in 1960 a gentlemen named Emil Chapanar opened the Bali Hai. It quickly became Northeast Ohio’s premier tiki/Polynesian lounge. Though not in large city, the restaurant was located midway between Pittsburgh and Chicago on the historic Lincoln Highway.
That made it an ideal stop A popular stop for travelers of that era driving between the East Coast and California.
It was remodeled in 1971 but sadly closed in 1984.
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