Honolulu: The old neighborhood - Rainbow Drive-In, W & M Burgers, Zippys, the Crack Seed Store, a failed attempt at Leonard's and a host of others

I realized on one of our recent trips back to Hawaii that I never did show the Missus my old neighborhood. When we first met, I'd taken Her to a couple of my favorite places to eat, but I'd never really went into detail about it. I consider myself very lucky to have grown up in the Kaimuki/Kapahulu area and it holds a very special place in my heart. Back before our trip to China, I hadn't been back to the area in over a decade and I had wondered how the area had changed. We didn't have much money and my Mom never did learn to drive so everything was either Da' Bus or footmobile for us. In that way, the set-up of Kaimuki was just perfect, even though it's situated on a hill, the main drag, Waialae Avenue is perfect for walking. According to the Historic Hawai'i Foundation's site:

"Kaimuki is a naturally dusty, dry area that wasn’t heavily populated during pre-contact times because of a lack of water supply."

When development started, the main pipe was located along what is now Kaimuki Avenue. Like many now urban neighborhoods, Kaimuki was designed as a suburb, a place where people would live, then commute to Honolulu for work. When the H-1 freeway cut through Kaimuki, the neighborhood became very connected.

Because Kapahulu was literally right down the street, I've always considered it my neighborhood as well. So it was only right that we start our day at Rainbow Drive-In.

Kapahulu sure has changed....Alex's Drive In is long gone, as is KC Drive In (tho' they were never the same after they moved from the Ala Wai) and Love's Bakery has been gone for a couple of decades so is Kapahulu Theatre. But all through that Rainbows has endured and is apparently going strong. I did wonder if things had changed much......I used to recall getting chili here for under a buck.

One thing I noticed right away was a sign that explained the food....say what? Who needs an explanation of Chicken Cutlet.....Loco Moco maybe...why?? When I jokingly asked what was up? The lady at the window told me, "aaah, it's for all da' tourists eva' since the Obama thing." Oh.... I do recall:

“I’m going to get a plate lunch. I might go to Zippy’s. I might go to Rainbow Drive-In. I haven’t decided yet...." Circa 2008.

The Missus wanted a chili dog......while I grew up eating the chili here, I wasn't a big fan of the hot dogs Rainbow uses. It is skinless with a real mystery-meat texture, which strangely reminds me of eating cold Vienna sausages. But whatever, it's what the Missus wanted:

For some reason the chili struck me as being on the sweet side.....I'm guessing my tastes have changed quite a bit since I last had this.

I got a BBQ Beef Sandwich. No it's not slow smoked brisket on a bun......this is a Teriyaki Style Beef sandwich. Local style teriyaki (BBQ) is more salty and less sweet than what is the norm on the mainland.

From the photo you can tell that the meat is not the most tender, but it's what I grew up eating. It's also much better than most of the L&L stuff. For some reason, I've gotten to appreciate the role of lettuce in these type of sandwiches, it seems to cleanse and refresh the palate. Love the mayo and onions too.....

Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave
Honolulu, HI 96815

There are just two requests that the Missus has when in the area; one of them is Leonard's. I still remember the pure bliss on Her face the first time I took Her to Leonard's for malasadas.

Unfortunately, it seems like Leonard's is a major tourist stop nowadays.....two tour buses pulled up as we arrived and there was a line out the door.....

The Missus decided that it just wasn't worth the wait.....so we moved on to Her other favorite stop in the area; W & M Burger.....

Located right off Waialae Avenue, with half a dozen parking stalls, this little joint is a big part of my younger days. This location is actually not the original, I'll have that a bit later on in the post. W&M always seemed on the expensive side when I was a kid, but luckily, one of our neighbors used to work there....so she'd often bring home a ton of burgers at the end of the day. The parking is absolute "horrors", so we always plan our trip to arrive before it gets too busy for lunch. You can take your chances in the City Mill parking lot next door, but leave someone with the car, or hope you have some luck. Just to digress; the location of City mill was where I had my first taste of pizza as a kid; at a place called Chico's Pizza......

Actually, the woman working the counter I recognized from way back when......

The burgers at W&M are basically teri-burgers made from a "secret" blend of soy sauce etc...... Since we were on what was basically a crawl, I ordered a Deluxe, no mayo/sauce/etc, and some fries "extra crispy"......

The Missus wasn't too fond of the fries extra crispy, so I think I won't order it that way anymore. But that burger was a spot on taste of my youth......

It's one of the few things that the Missus says tastes exactly the same as the first time She ate one.

In a nice distraction move, the Missus told me, "don't you have to take a photo of the front." Which I did, only to turn around and find Her chomping away at that burger........slick move......

 

W & M Bar-B-Q Burger
3104 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

Next stop was right up the street. Dating myself, I'll tell you that this was Crown Drive-In when we first moved from Palolo Valley to less than a block from here. But just a short while later it became.....

I believe that this was the second location for Zippy's (McCully was the first). It is also kitty-corner from my elementary school...Ali'iolani.

Which, except for missing the huge, rickety, auditorium looks basically the same.

I should have ordered chili and rice, but for some reason went with the chili-loco moco......

Man, the chili tasted terrible.....very bland, but almost rancid......

I also had a piece of the fried chicken, which tasted much better than the last time I had it.

I don't quite know what to say....maybe bad day for the chili and good day for fried chicken. Oh well.......

Zippy's
3345 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

This is, of course, one of perhaps a zillion locations.....

After this I drove up to Palolo to check out my Intermediate (now called "middle") school....Jarrett. It's a sign of the time I guess, as now there's a fence going around the school.

 We drove out of Palolo Valley via 9th avenue and I pointed out what we called the "Jade Building" which we considered kinda swanky for this area when I was a kid. It was pretty much the only high rise in the area. Here are some photos from Jade Circle taken by Ian Lind from his blog. Funny thing is, Ian's wife Meda actually taught a class I took....small blogging world, huh?

On the corner of 9th avenue and Waialae was one of the most important businesses to us. It was a small IGA market called Zane's Market. This market used to deliver groceries if you bought over a certain amount. Since we had no car, it was godsend.....

Right across the street is the original location of W&M Burger.

A bit further up the street is Kaimuki Park, where I wasted a good deal of time as a kid......

Right across the street was my favorite saimin stand Tanoues, now long gone, of course...but the memories remain.

Man, the facade of the old Queen Theatrewas still there. I remember watching movies there when I was a kid...until they started showing porn films, in Kaimuki! Yikes!! Eventually, the place was raided, then shut down. The place is now 75 years old, I'm hoping that it is somehow restored...... unlike Kaimuki Theatre, which used to reside here:

Kaimuki Inn used to be here......

All those places are gone....but as we turned the corner on Koko Head I saw a familiar sign....

What is crack seed you may ask??? It's basically what we called preserved, salty and sweet preserved fruits that the Chinese brought to Hawaii. The most well known being Li Hing Mui. This place has been here for as long as I can remember.

Even more funny, the same guy is still running the place....I'm thinking for over the last 30 years or so??? He was very friendly....though my recollection of him was as a pretty tough, no-nonsense guy. Maybe time has muddled my memory, or he's mellowed over the years?

Of course I got some olive peel (aka Olive Cake) and rock salt plum......

Turning to cut through the municipal parking lot, the Missus chuckled when I told Her that the first place I had "Mexican food" (using a very broad definition here) was indeed at a place called Jose's.....

I was surprised and rather pleased to see that Victoria Inn was still alive and kicking:

Only to read that they just closed on December 12th.

After this, I thought the Missus had enough and it was time to head on back. As I gassed up the car, there was one more building I pointed out to the Missus. In that spot was a Food Pantry, which I thought was an odd location on Harding and 11th avenue. I think they still have their offices there. There are quite a few more places...but I think this is more than enough for a post...... And if you actually stuck around to the end...well, thanks so much for reading!

One last thing....if you've spent anytime in Hawaii since 1981, I'm sure you'll recognize this one - Kanipoli Slack Key. Always makes me smile when I hear it:

 

Thanks for indulging me!

Comments

[Mike]

Hi Kirk - we were in your old stomping grounds just a bit after you were. We had better luck at Leonard's - they were pretty quiet when we went (in the evening). On the other hand, we tried to go to the Rainbow, but it was closed for renovations the entire week we were there.

I wish I'd known about W&M Burger - my Honolulu teri-burger experience ended up being at Teddy's Bigger Burgers. Not very good.

[Carol]

Hey Kirk! I loved this post! I went to Jefferson Elementary for a few years before we moved to Hawaii Kai but I've never driven down there the times I've been back. I don't know if I would even remember much with the exception of some photos I have (May Day performances mostly, remember those??).

Oh, malasadas! We always try to get there early early so we miss all the tourist buses. Glad to see the crack seed store is still there since that's where I'll be going to get my 2-ton worth of rock salt plum!

Thanks for taking us on a tour of the past.

[Dennis]

Thanks for sharing Kirk! This was a great read.

[Sandy]

Nice story about your old 'hood. Is the Crack Seed Store the same as the one that was at the Ala Moana mall? I was sad to hear that the mall store closed; I really liked their li hing mui ginger. This past summer, I boght some from other stores, but it didn't taste as good.

I've had the chili loco moco at Zippys which was tasty. I hope yours was a random bad experience. And I've never seen that long of a line at Leonards! Do you prefer Leonards over Champions for malasadas?

[kat]

OMG! Chico's what a flashback! loved their pizzas, fried chicken and steak fries!

[Jack]

Thanks for sharing Kirk. It brings back a lot of childhood memories...

[Catty Critic]

Hey, Hawai'i posts! I was just going thru my pictures of my last visit to the Big Island and thinking, man, I gotta go back soon but maybe take Husband to a different island.

Aw Zippy's... was never a big fan of the chili but Portuguese Sausage!

[James]

As usual, your posts made me nostalgic and hungry! I went to Iolani and went to Rainbows, Leonard's and that Zippy's all the time. Rainbows has always had my favorite mac salad, and I love Leonard's plain malasadas (just sugar, I don't even like the cinnamon ones).

I remember when Keo's was on Kapahulu - and strangely, now that it's in Waikiki, it looks almost the same inside.

The Queen Theater picture reminds me of all the old movie houses that have shut down over the years - Royal, Kapiolani, Waikiki 1-2-3, and especially Cinerama. There was nothing like them!

[James]

And that song always reminds me of the Channel 2 News!

[Kirk]

Hi Mike - Rainbows and W&M are pretty much solid, old school places, no pretense. I'd pick W&M over Rainbows though, it has aged better. Nothing frou frou about either spot.

Yikes, Carol May Day.....

Hi Dennis - I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

Hi Sandy - I believe you're referring to Crack Seed Center? They aren't affiliated as far as I know.

Hi Kat - Actually, I enjoyed the fried chicken at Chico's much more than the pizza!

Thanks Jack! This was a fun one to do.

Hi Rosa - If you like to eat, it'll have to be Oahu.

Hi James - There is no other Malasada to me other than the "original"! Man loved those theaters, Cinerama and Varsity come to mind, though I have a special affinity for Liberty where I saw all those Bruce Lee flicks. If you'd like a story about Keo's, I have one in this post:

http://mmm-yoso.typepad.com/mmmyoso/2010/12/madison-lao-laan-xang-williamson-st-location.html

And I swear, I got chicken skin when I heard Kanopoli Slack Key at the end of the KHON news......

[Kyle]

Awesome post. Miss seeing Hawaii related posts on food. It's
been pretty sparse since Hawnpake passed. You missed my fav
Hawaiian-Korean restaurant. Kim Chee II. Meat jun and big
bone kalbi. Always mean to try the neighboring restaurants
but always end up at Kim Chee. Had WM on my last visit and
they are as consistent as In n Out.

[Kirk]

Hi Kyle -I actually used to eat there quite often....yeah, no photos because I didn't stop on that side of the street...Queen Theater photo was from the car. Don't worry though, I'm sure I'll do another post on the area next time I'm home.

[Alyssa]

I loved hearing about your old stomping grounds. It's funny how what we knew growing up was always the best, but then as we grow older, we realize there's so much better!

[Kirk]

Hi Alyssa - I'm glad you mentioned that...it's so true! Though, if I never left Hawaii, I might still have those opnions.

[kyle]

BTW, looks like I will be forced to try Champions for malasada since Leonards is a tourist destination. Leonards should make a killing. I saw them on three different travel/food related shows. Also, been reading that this is the year of the donut.

[Kirk]

Hi Kyle - I'm thinking if you go early in the am you'll be fine. I've never had a great malasada later in the afternoon at Leonard's. I didn't care much for Champion, it was really dense and heavy. Let me know what you think.

[jay zablan]

Aloha Kirk,

Somehow while surfing for a kimchi pancake recipe I ended up on your blog and started reading...brought back some old memories of Kaimuki/Kapahulu area, although I am originally from Kaneohe. Actually, I went to Kaimuki Community Church for kindergarten before moving to Kaneohe.

I worked at Kaimuki Cue for a year and a couple of my dear friends grew up in the area. One of them (Aki)went to Kaimuki HS and was a partner at Hawaiian Brian's Billiards. Another friend, B. Maru, owned Bob's Hawaiian Style Chicken (rotisserie chicken fund-raiser business) and I came back home to help him back in 1999. He told me of paddling down the Ala Wai as a kid with his board to surf in Waikiki, he, he. I guess that was at or before they brought in the electric rental boats near McCully. I was in HS when I took a girl out on one those boats, "making out" like crazy and the boat got stuck near the wall at the Ala Wai blvd. Had to stick my foot in mud halfway up my calf to push out of it.

I have good memories of the manapua shop across the street from the crack seed house, sorry to hear it closed, too. I remember trying to be "inobtrusive" as a teenager with my friends skulking into Queen theater to spock June Wilkerson in her x-rated briefly nude movie, ha, ha. What a waste, had to wait the whole movie before we when spock anything.

Kaimuki was/still is a great little town. I enjoyed your "food adventures" and speaking of southern cal, I really miss that style of Mexican food, having lived in LA a couple of years. Too bad Hawaii can't brag about good Mexican food, as that is one ethnic cuisine lacking here, IMHO. Anyway, keep up the great reviews!
Mahalo, Jay

[Kirk]

Hi Jay - Thanks so much for sharing, I really enjoyed your stories! I do appreciate your comment. Kaimuki will always be my "old neighborhood", it was a great place to grow up, even though I didn't realize it at the time! So you're living in the Islands right now, right? Actually, I know Brian Hashimoto...sort of....though I don't think he'd remember me after all these years. Mahalo again and take care!

[Ray Fujimoto Lawler]

Does anyone remember the name of the drive-in that was on the location of the Waialae Zippy’s?

[Kirk]

Hi Ray - When we first moved into the neighborhood in the 60's it was Crown Drive-In.