Owner of Pee Wee Drive
Inn loved work

When he first opened shop on South King Street in 1966, Nobuo Watanabe had no real hankering to run an eatery. It was just a business.

But 29 years later, after making his Pee Wee Drive Inn a prized local landmark, he was heartbroken to sell to new owners.

"He had the hardest time saying goodbye to that place," said Florence Watanabe, his wife of 57 years.

Watanabe, who opened Pee Wee Drive Inn the same year Zippy's started its first location down the street, died Dec. 29 at Straub Clinic & Hospital. He was 78.

Watanabe was born in Honolulu and attended McKinley High School. He met his future wife at a school dance.

Into his 30s, Watanabe worked full time at his father's car repair shop. But in the late 1950s, his father bought the future spot of Pee Wee Drive Inn.

The site was too small for a car repair shop, so Watanabe waited a couple of years and then offered to buy the land for a small restaurant.

Even after Pee Wee Drive Inn opened, Watanabe kept up his work at his father's repair shop. Florence Watanabe said that for years her husband would drive to the eatery early to prepare things, go to work as a repairman, then visit again at lunch.

Eventually, he came on full time at Pee Wee. His wife, sons and sister-in-law also all held positions there over the years.

Watanabe's signature fried mahimahi sandwiches and barbecue burgers attracted people, and the eatery's hospitality kept them coming back.

"We worked together," Florence Watanabe said. "I looked like the boss. ... He was really at ease. Opposites attract."

In 1996, Nobuo Watanabe was forced to retire and sell the business, partly because of illness.

He never returned to check up on the place once he had left, Florence Watanabe said. "We would pass there," she said, "but he didn't really want to stop. I guess he didn't want to call up the memories."

Watanabe is survived by wife Florence, sons Layton and Neil, and sister Miyeko Budnick.

Private services were held Thursday.