DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM The Rodrigueses have owned and operated "Andy's Sandwiches and Smoothies" at 2904 E. Manoa Road since 1977. Andy and Norma bake 32 loaves of bread a day for their freshly made sandwiches.

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Couple treats
customers as family

Andy and Norma Rodrigues'
sandwich shop is also a place
for family gatherings

Tucked in the lush Manoa Valley, a quaint sandwich shop has customers lining up out the door waiting to reach the glass counter, greeted with warm smiles by the owners, Andy and Norma Rodrigues, who serve fresh, custom-made sandwiches and salads.

For 28 years, the Rodrigueses have owned and operated a food establishment called "Andy's Sandwiches and Smoothies" at 2904 E. Manoa Road, across from the Manoa Marketplace.

To the couple, their customers -- new and old -- are treated as part of their family.

Andy had been working in construction when a friend told him that owners of a Manoa plant shop were eager to sell their business. Norma was a homemaker raising their two older daughters, Debbie Kay Young and Sharolyn Rodrigues.

Andy and Norma, who are both health-conscious, saw a need for a sandwich shop in the community and opened the establishment on July 13, 1977.

Both work about 80 hours a week, getting up at 5 in the morning and working until midnight.

The couple, who are devoted Seventh-day Adventists, spend their Saturdays -- the only day the shop is closed -- at a church in Kaneohe where Andy teaches youngsters and Norma is an organist.

"After church, we go home and go into comatose," said Norma, 61, bursting into laughter. "We recharge our batteries."

Their daughter, Mandy, and her husband, John Bourne, also help at the shop.

"He's my right-hand man," said Andy.

A few years after the Rodrigueses opened the shop, Manoa Marketplace opened. Eventually, McDonald's opened nearby, followed by more restaurants at the shopping center.

"The more restaurants come here, the busier we get," Andy, 63, said.

The couple's strong working relationship reflects their steadfast 38-year marriage that is filled with laughter.

Andy said he rides his mountain bike and reads books to relax after work. Asked what Norma's hobbies were, Andy jokingly replied, "She scolds me."

Norma said she enjoys tending to their yard and fishing. She poked at her husband's impatience when it comes to fishing, saying that her husband prefers to buy fish at the market. "Andy wants the fish waiting for him in the water," she said.

The Rodrigueses first met at the Hawaiian Mission Academy, where both attended school. But they didn't start seeing each other until Andy returned to Honolulu in 1966 after years of service in the Army.

The couple married in 1967. Along with their two older daughters, the Rodrigueses had two more children, Mandy and Marci Gurrola. Collectively, the couple has eight grandchildren with another on the way next month.

Festive family gatherings are held at the shop, where they shove six small, wooden tables together with a tablecloth thrown over it to eat together.

"We have Thanksgiving here," Norma said. "This is like our home. My family doesn't call me at home, they call me here," she said with a laugh.

Over the years, the Rodrigueses have grown a relationship with many of their regular customers.

A number of former students, mostly from area schools that include Punahou School, St. Francis School and the University of Hawaii, continue to stop by. "We've seen them grow up, get married and have kids," Andy said.

"Some of them, we know their whole life story," Andy said.

Many not only come in for the food but to catch up with the couple they fondly call aunty and uncle.

Customers also identify 20-year employee Debbie McGuire, who works at the combined salad and sandwich counter, as aunty.

The Rodrigueses said they are grateful for the customers who come to the store that keep their business thriving.

"When you think about it, it's the customers' store," Andy said. "If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have a store."