FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Columbia Inn, a Kaimuki landmark, closed suddenly on Sunday. The Dunn family -- mom Marcia, daughter Natassia and dad Mark -- came to eat yesterday and were shocked to see the restaurant closed. The family came at least once a week. CLICK FOR LARGE
|
|
Kaimuki Columbia Inn abruptly closes
The restaurant's shutdown shocks loyal customers
As she has done on countless other Wednesdays, Kathy Johnson called the Columbia Inn yesterday afternoon to order takeout split-pea soup, the daily special, to go with her taco salad.
The phone rang and rang and rang, but there was no answer. Strange, thought the 54-year-old Kaimuki resident, before driving to the restaurant on Waialae Avenue to place the order in person.
Johnson was one of scores of customers who could not believe what they saw outside the family restaurant: two "Restaurant Closed" signs posted on the Columbia Inn's glass door, announcing the business had officially shut down Sunday.
"I'm shocked, very surprised. I had no prior warning," Johnson, a weekly regular, said while staring at the dark rows of seats inside. "I had no clue."
The note told customers that the Columbia Inn was "forced" to close after unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a deal with its landlord to stay open. The landlord also refused a signed offer from a chain interested in taking over the restaurant and keeping most of its 50-plus employees, the sign said.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Columbia Inn closes: The last of the eateries made famous by the Tosh Kaneshiro family closed yesterday. The Kaimuki restaurant quietly posted a sign to the disappointment of longtime patrons. CLICK FOR LARGE
|
|
"We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause you our loyal customers -- many of whom have become like family and we have grown to care about," it read. "We will miss you all and bid you a fond aloha."
For many it was hard news to swallow, especially at dinner time.
"This was all of a sudden," said Patrick Lopez, a Palolo Valley resident who came back to the restaurant with wife Roxanne after the couple found locked doors -- but no note -- the previous day around noon. "The oxtail soup -- that I liked. I went to other places, but it was just not the same as Columbia Inn."
Almost all who came and read the notice gave a second tug on the door. Some peeked inside; others called relatives to spread the news. A small girl walked by, looked at the poster of a burger advertising the kid's meal and said, "That is so sad."
The restaurant's demise came more than six years after the Columbia Inn closed its Kapiolani Boulevard store, after 37 years in business.
Gene Kaneshiro, whose family opened the original Columbia Inn on Beretania Street on Dec. 18, 1941, said the store at the corner of Waialae and 5th Avenue used to be called King's Bakery and Coffee Shop. He said he did not know who had been managing the restaurant.
State business records show that the trademark name Columbia Inn-Hawaii is registered to Alan Casupang. Casupang could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Roxanne Lopez said most of all, she will miss the smell of home-cooked meals.
"It will be hard to find someplace else where you can get the same quality of food. And they are always so friendly," she said. "I always get the saimin combo. I don't even know why I looked at the menu, because I always used to get the saimin combo."
