Welcome to Michael F Harrah | Media
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Original Mike’s Media Page

Mike grew up in middle class Whittier and like most California kids in the early sixties loved surfing, playing music (drums) racing cars, motorcycles and boats.  In 1969, just after high school he had enough money saved up to buy a one way (Standby) ticket to Hawaii, traveling with only with a duffel bag and his surfboard he was going to surf for the rest of his life. Big Mike soon realized his workaholic personality just didn’t fit the Surfer dude lifestyle and soon came back.  He started a framing...

23 January, 2019

Profiles of the County’s Most Influential Business People Mr. Big in county’s biggest city Mike Harrah’s 2009 profile in the Orange County Business Journal highlights some of Harrah’s latest accomplishments. Namely, he owns close to 80 buildings, about 4 million square feet in Santa Ana’s downtown.   Harrah has played a key role in revitalizing Santa Ana through restoring buildings, attracting restaurants, art galleries and others.  His One Broadway Plaza project won voter approval in 2005 and is required by city to have 50% of the footage leased before beginning construction.   In the...

23 June, 2009

From Ruins to Restaurant “When Big Mike Harrah, the largest tenant improvement contractor in Orange County, California, spotted what was left of the United Auto Building in Santa Ana, California, he wasn’t repulsed, he was enthused.” Don Weberg of Garage Style Magazine profiles Mike Harrah’s transformation of the first car dealership in Orange County to Original Mike’s Restaurant.  Located at First and Main in the heart of downtown Santa Ana, Original Mike’s is part restaurant, part auto museum and part history.  Given the “Best Restaurant and Bar” award by Dining Out...

23 April, 2009

Originally budgeted at $5 million, the OC Pavilion has been finished with a price tag of $22 million.  Owner and developer, Michael Harrah, designed the theater with himself in mind, hence the $3.5 million sound system and the private dining room with an antique Steinway piano.  While it’s easy to trace Harrah’s passion for music to his passion for building a premier music venue, Harrah has greater motivation.  “It’s part of my master plan to redevelop downtown Santa Ana.” Harrah has said.  As he looks to draw tenants to his...

27 February, 2009

Whether building hot rods or high rises, Mike Harrah only knows how to go full throttle In a profile for Velocity, a magazine targeted at car enthusiasts in Orange County, Mike Harrah shared stories of his favorite car acquisitions. There was his first car, a 1956 Chevy Nomad he bought at age 14 and restored from the ground up—taking it from an immovable heap filled with acorns and sporting four flat tires to a loved machine he drove for nine years.  Harrah also remembered the time he was cited by the...

01 March, 2008

Owner Mike Harrah has always defied convention but his unique vision for Original Mike’s continues to solidify Santa Ana’s place on the dining map.  First a Packard dealership then an empty and condemned building, Harrah has restored this architectural gem and transformed it into a restaurant that brings to mind the all-American den of a rich uncle.  Harley Davidson motorcycles hang from the ceiling. Big fireplaces, two antique bars, satellite sports feeds and all sorts of eclectic surprises greet customers.  The whimsical décor gives Original Mikes an all ages feel...

01 June, 2007

Mike Harrah is a daredevil and a developer. Sometimes, he is both at once. Now, he wants to make a lasting mark in Hawaii Mike Harrah can’t help but make a big impression.  He’s 6’6, 300 pounds and, as numerous writers including this article’s Scott Radway have noticed, he looks like “an oversize, high energy member of ZZ Top.”  At the time of publication, Harrah was looking to make a big impression once again, this time on the Honolulu skyline.  The Pinnacle Honolulu is a 36-story luxury condominium tower located at...

01 May, 2007

He was penniless when he first resolved to buy a jet. Not anymore. Thirty five years after launching his career with nothing but competitive zeal and a carpenter’s tool kit, Michael Harrah is the sole owner of Caribou Industries, a major development corporation which has built and managed restaurants, high-rise offices, hotels, golf courses, shopping malls, convention centers and other properties across the western United States. Harrah’s interest in aviation began in 1976 when he saw a simple, “Learn to Fly--$25” ad, took an introductory flight and was hooked. He worked...

27 January, 2007

The re-creation of an Orange County classic in downtown Santa Ana OC Metro dining critic, Patrick Mott, calls Ambrosia “unapologetically sumptuous.”  Mike Harrah has reopened Ambrosia, the fine dining restaurant which locals remember from its heyday on the Balboa Peninsula, and spared no expense.   Located above Harrah’s $21-million OC Pavilion, Ambrosia is upscale, old school fine dining.  This article details just a few of the menu’s offerings and raves about the perfectly balanced Bibb lettuce salad, succulent filet mignon and French vanilla bean ice cream topped with strawberry slices, caramelized pear...

14 September, 2006

How visionary developer Michael Harrah rescued Orange County’s biggest city from urban blight This article tracks Mike Harrah’s involvement with development in Santa Ana, starting with his first real estate deal in the early 1990’s, a midrise at the corner of Main and 17th street.  While Harrah was excited to finally be involved in Santa Ana real estate, he didn’t realize that a mass exodus from the county seat was quietly underway.  While other tenants considered moving to nearby Irvine, Harrah worked fast.  He plunged into the developing economic disaster scene,...

14 September, 2006
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