STORY AND PHOTOS BY BRENDA EGGERT BRADER
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he little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii, it isn’t, but it is the sweetest grass hut around – the Safari’s restaurant in Lake Wales. Owned by a former advertising man, the chef (and elephant owner) is Dave Tesch with his wife, Carmen, of Fort Meade. Why the safari’s name? “Because my wife would always say that the next tour (with elephant Lydia) was going on safari,” said Dave Tesch. “So we decided that would be a good name for the restaurant.”

Dave and Carmen have a concession at the International Market World in Auburndale, so the idea of saving this 1950s-style restaurant was not such a stretch for the couple. Planning on renting the facility, they pitched in, remodeled, added the dining room and decided to open the restaurant themselves. Putting the grass hut together with a dining room dressed in bamboo paneling and lots of plants lends the premises a closer connection with the safari name. Situated near U.S. 27 on West Central Avenue, the Safari is one block from the city and county building. Open Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dave and his wife and staff serve tasty, yet reasonably-priced fare.

Anyone visiting will not want to miss ordering the Safari Burger. It is a juicy, handmade pattie, not frozen, one-third pound beef concoction created on the grill right beside thinly sliced onions. It is served with those onions along with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato on a big four and a half-inch bun. This is served up with a large 24- ounce coke and a bunch of fries in a combo for $5.25. Now, that is mouth-watering, delicious meal and a deal. Selling really well this season are the catfish nuggets. The barbecue pork sandwich is a treat. Just about everything in the line of a sandwich can be had. The Coney Dog is similar to the actual one from Coney Island in Indiana. They also serve chili dogs, Italian sausages, popcorn shrimp, clam strips, and much more. The prices are moderate so the whole family can dine. Plenty of parking surrounds the restaurant and the hut side takes window orders.

Dave opened in October and plans to stay open seasonally until around April. He will be closed May to September when he and Carmen trek on “safari” with elephant Lydia to York Beach, Maine, where Lydia, age 58, gives rides seven days a week all summer long. Answering an advertisement for an elephant ride show, Dave answered the call and has been trekking to Maine every summer ever since. The beach is only a five minute walk from their work, but “we don’t see the beach unless it is through windshield wipers,” said Dave.

Originally from Fort Wayne, Ind., Dave has owned and worked with Lydia for 22 years. Before that, he worked with other people’s elephants for 28 years. Lydia weighs 9,000 pounds and eats about 25 pounds of food a day. What does Dave prepare for her? Grains, including a supplement made especially for elephants and two and a half bales of hay. She lives in her own area on his property in Fort Meade and relaxes until it is time to go north again. “Elephants should have a work program to keep them from getting bored,” said Dave. “In captivity at a zoo, they only live to be around 40 years old. In the wild, they live to about 50-55 years old and in the circus, where there is a work program, they live the longest, about 65 years.” It seems elephants get bored with nothing to do. “Their minds need to work and process doing something, just as they do in surviving in the wild,” said Dave.

What about the restaurant? When you get hungry, just travel back to the little grass shack on Central Avenue. For more information, call 678-9202.

Safari’s Restaurant in Lake Wales is on West Central Avenue and serves the popular Safari Burger.