Hahn-a-Lula, Orihula - Friday January 26, 2018

Hahn-a-Lula’s story began in 1961 when newlywed dairy farmers Cliff and Judy Hahn and Cliff’s brother Ken and his wife Barb purchased the Orihula Ballroom, originally built in the early 1900’s, as a part-time venture. According to their website, “It was a large hall with no insulation and two coal furnaces for heat. The only running water was in the bathrooms and one line to the ‘bar.’ The ‘bar’ was plywood on a frame painted pink. The ‘kitchen’ consisted of a counter, a refrigerator, a very small grill and a pop tank. No water! The floors were rough cement.”

In 1966 Cliff and Judy sold their farm and bought out Ken and Barb to run the place fulltime. Over the years the Hahns have transformed the old wooden ballroom into a banquet hall, restaurant and resort. The original wooden dance floor remains but the pink plywood bar is long gone.

We arrived around 6:00 and found a couple of seats at the bar.  It was pretty quiet for a Friday night, but not unusual for this time of year, especially since the area snowmobile trails were closed due to the absence of snow. The dining room was only about half full so we decided to have an Old Fashioned at the bar before dinner. The barroom features a U shaped bi-level bar (elevated barstools on one side and chairs on the other) and a few tables scattered about.  A number of mounted fish adorn the walls. Free popcorn is a plus. Ryan, a third generation Hahn, was behind the bar as usual. (Note this was not our first time here. Hahn-a-Lula is close to our home base so we’ve been here several times before for drinks and/or dinner.) Ryan has the unique ability to be friendly and attentive to his customers and extremely efficient at the same time, even on a really busy night. Our Old Fashioneds were excellent.

The hostess led us to our table when we were ready and our waitress arrived soon after we were seated. Hahn’s features a Friday night seafood buffet that looked really good but we decided to order off the menu. We both had perch, Ann the half order and the full order for me. For future reference, half order = full order and full order = double order. Dinner came with a fresh baked loaf of bread, soup and salad bar, and a taco bar for those who think that a soup and salad just isn’t enough.  The salad bar was full and fresh. Vegetable was the soup of the day. Crackers, cheese spread and liver pate were included as well. We skipped the taco bar as we wanted to save room for the main course, which did not disappoint. The perch was excellent, lightly breaded and cooked to perfection.  We ended up taking half of it home, and needless to say, once again there was no room for an after dinner drink.

Hahn-a-Lula, located on the Wolf River between Fremont and Tustin, is a bit out of the way but well worth the trip.