Behind the front window at 3553 Waialae Avenue, a dim sum cart still stands among the rotating tables, with small dishes of shoyu set out as if lunch were still going. Civil Beat's reporter saw that scene in late September, more than a month after part of the ceiling at Happy Days Chinese Seafood Restaurant came down on Aug. 18 with customers and staff inside. Today is Oct. 4, which makes it 47 days. The sidewalk along Waialae is still fenced, and so is the sidewalk around the corner on 11th Avenue.
Most of the coverage has focused on the smell. The bigger question for anyone who walks this stretch is what happens to the corner itself. The answer depends on one decision that hasn't been made yet, and the businesses beside the fence are carrying the wait.
Twenty-Five Years on Waialae
Happy Days opened in August 2001 in the space that had been the New Hong Kong Restaurant. Its owner, Lisa Ng-Lum, had spent 22 years at Sea Fortune on North King Street in Chinatown, first as a waitress and then as a manager. When Sea Fortune closed in 2000, she and her former boss started the Kaimuki restaurant together. In a 2011 Star-Advertiser profile, she talked about the regulars who followed them from Chinatown:
"9/11 happened right after we opened. We were lucky, though, because our old customers knew we had come here, and they followed us, and then we got new customers. It's a good location and the people are so nice, like family."
That was a quarter century of crimson lanterns, chandeliers, and weekend dim sum. Lacey Mendoca, a server at Koko Head Cafe, told Civil Beat her family ate at Happy Days for years. Losing a corner like that leaves a real gap in Kaimuki's restaurant scene. The fact that its future is still undecided matters even more.
Why the Dining Room Waits on One Decision
The building is 91 years old. It belongs to SIS Ventures LLC, which is registered to Lynn and Cynthia Kajioka as co-trustees of the Kajioka Joint Trust. Happy Days is the tenant. Davis Pitner, a spokesperson for the city's Department of Planning and Permitting, told Civil Beat that the property owner, not the restaurant owner, is the one who has to decide how much repair is needed or whether to demolish. Lynn Kajioka told the paper the matter is "stuck in insurance," and that the owners "know the smell, and we've been hounding people."
Several things are happening at the same time, and one of them holds up the last step:
- Partial access to the kitchen. On Sept. 24, DPP said contractors could go into the kitchen area only to remove spoiled food.
- Kitchen cleanout. Any Hour Water and Fire had hoped to finish by Friday, Oct. 2. That day, the crew told KHON2 it could take several more days. A large walk-in freezer upstairs was more than half cleared, and workers in respirators had to take breaks every 10 to 15 minutes.
- The repair-or-demolish decision. While the kitchen was being cleared, the Department of Health said on Oct. 2 that the owner was still working with its insurer and contractors, and that demolition was one possible outcome.
- The dining room. Food in the main dining room stays where it is until that decision is made, because the structure isn't safe to enter. After that, the Department of Health says it will coordinate with DPP and other agencies to remove the rest.
There is one more open item. State Rep. Jackson Sayama, who represents parts of Kaimuki, told KHON2 that the Department of Health and DPP are also checking the ceiling for asbestos.
The street closures trace back to the same structure. On Aug. 20, the city closed 11th Avenue between Waialae and Harding after inspectors found a collapsed interior truss and a parapet wall leaning toward 11th. At the time, the city said it had no timeline for reopening. Civil Beat later described the roadway closure as lasting "for days." The pedestrian fencing has stayed up much longer than that. The city's Sept. 29 update said the Waialae sidewalk would stay closed until DPP judges the area safe. As long as the building's future is undecided, the fencing has a reason to stay.
The setbacks have added up. The collapse came a few days after Hurricane Lala brought heavy rain across the islands. Then in mid-September, while a small cleaning crew was working, a larger section of roof fell in and left the back of the restaurant open to the weather.
The Neighbors Carrying the Wait
The businesses around Happy Days have stayed open the whole time. These are the ones named in recent reporting, with what each has described:
| Business | Location | What's been reported |
|---|---|---|
| Sugarcane | Next door to Happy Days | Owner Kennedy Kramlick told KHON2 that staff and customers have dealt with the smell for weeks, along with trash and debris around the building |
| Himalayan Kitchen | 1137 11th Ave. | A worker told KITV the smell cut into foot traffic on the side next to the Happy Days kitchen |
| Oasis Salon | Second floor of the building behind Happy Days | Stylist Kylie Umebayashi said all three stylists had their slowest month yet, though she couldn't pin it on a single cause |
| Koko Head Cafe | 1120 12th Ave. | Server Lacey Mendoca told Civil Beat that "something has to be done" |
Kramlick told KHON2 that people as far as two blocks away have told her they can smell it. Umebayashi's chair looks straight into the restaurant's kitchen window. One client sent her a message saying she had meant to book an appointment but is "super sensitive to smell." Neither business caused the problem, and neither has any say in when it ends. Lost appointments and fewer people walking by are what the wait costs them.
None of these businesses is closed. Himalayan Kitchen's listing on KaimukiHawaii.com shows two standing offers: a free garlic naan appetizer with a regularly priced dinner entrée, and half off a wrap or lunch plate when you order a second one at regular price.
Oct. 16 Puts Foot Traffic Back on the Side Streets
The next scheduled evening for this part of Kaimuki is the Third Fridays Kaimuki Halloween Special Edition, on Friday, Oct. 16, from 5 to 9 p.m. Organizers say it isn't a block party. Streets stay open, there are no vendors on the street, and some stores may not be open for the full four hours.
Many of the participating merchants are within a few blocks of the fence. Himalayan Kitchen, at 1137 11th Avenue, is on the October calendar. So is Via Gelato at 1142 12th Avenue, one street over. Duk Kee Chinese Restaurant at 1146 and Hale Vietnam at 1140 are on the same stretch of 12th, and both appear in the merchant directory on the same page.
Along Waialae, Verbano Italiano Ristorante at 3571 and Coffee Talk at 3601 are both listed. Kaimuki Dry Goods, at 1144 10th Avenue, is listed for anyone still putting a costume together. Over on Koko Head Avenue, Jose's Mexican Cafe and Cantina at 1134 offers $5 Grande Margaritas from 6 to 9 p.m. on Third Fridays. A few doors away at 1142 Koko Head Ave. is The Honey Bar from Mānoa Honey & Mead, which opened in June and is described as Oʻahu's first mead cocktail bar.
Walking from 12th Avenue to Koko Head Avenue takes you past the corner at 11th. The sidewalk fencing will likely still be up on the 16th, so plan to cross where it's open.
Signs to Watch For
What happens next starts with three things. The first is a notice that the kitchen cleanout is done, which was still pending as of Oct. 2. The second is the result of the asbestos check. The third, and the one that settles everything else, is the owner's decision to repair or demolish. The dining room can't be cleared until that decision is made, and the Waialae sidewalk stays closed until DPP deems the area safe. As of this writing, reporting hasn't shown whether Happy Days itself will come back. Civil Beat tried to reach Lisa Ng-Lum by phone, email, and in person without success.
Rep. Sayama summed up the frustration on the street to KHON2: "It impacts everyone day to day. Hopefully we can get it wrapped up soon."
If you own property near 11th and Waialae and want to know how a long-vacant or rebuilt corner could affect it, Seiko Ono can look at your situation with you, discreetly and in English or Japanese. Request a confidential consultation.
