COURTESY BUBBA BURGERS The staff of Bubba Burgers in Hanalei met well-known "Bubba" former President Bill Clinton. From left are Kaz Swanson, Alison Swanson, Clinton and Gabe Avalon.

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Clinton gets red carpet
at Bubba’s on Kauai

Bubba visited Bubba Burgers in Hanalei, Kauai, yesterday.

The Bubba in this case is former President Bill Clinton, who goes by the nickname. He took pictures with the employees and got a shirt with the slogans -- "We cheat tourists, drunks and attorneys" and "We relish your buns" -- and a hat.

Clinton, wife U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and their family left Kauai after a week-long vacation on Kauai's North Shore.

One of Bubba's employees, Gabe Avalon, spotted the Clinton party eating breakfast next door to the restaurant and said, "Bubba, you got to come to Bubba's," manager Alison Swanson said.

"He was really nice," Swanson added.

Clinton, who has been known to eat a hamburger or two, came too early to get one of his namesake burgers.

The Clinton family, including daughter Chelsea and what some reports say was her fiance, had been staying at a private residence in Haena with members of the Secret Service from Honolulu and their own detail in tow, said Al Joaquin, Secret Service special agent in charge of the Honolulu office.

Besides Bubba's, the Clintons stopped at a number of North Shore eateries and took in some of the famous views along the Na Pali Coast. The Clintons were also spotted golfing at Princeville.

Clinton last visited Kauai in 2002, when he spent a day campaigning on four islands for Hawaii Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mazie Hirono, who lost to Gov. Linda Lingle. Sen. Clinton also toured Kauai in 1993 while the Garden Island was recovering from Hurricane Iniki.