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Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @HowsDisGuy, with a lesson some of you really need to take.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101

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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

’ new weekend brunch menu is launching this weekend. Brunch is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

While the eatery’s brunch has always been popular, it was time for a menu refresh, according to business owner Samantha Moore.

“I haven’t put anything new on it for a while,” says Moore, who notes that several of the new dishes stemmed from customer feedback.

The Monte Cristo ($16) — which is already available during brunch — features honey glazed ham and Swiss cheese between French toast bread. It’s topped with strawberry jam and powdered sugar.

Both, the Monte Cristo and the eatery’s new rendition of fish and grits — which features sweet grits — were customer requests, according to Moore. Smith & Kings currently offers a Cajun fish n’ grits, comprising herb and cornmeal crusted catfish, Cajun hollandaise, house grits, a buttermilk biscuit and bacon jam.

“We wanted to do a riff on salty grits,” Moore explains. “If it’s a customer’s first time here, they ask if it’s sweet or salty, and we say it’s salty. We wanted to offer the option of having sweet grits.”

The eatery also now has a peanut butter and jelly French toast ($16), which took the place of the crème brulee French toast.

“We were doing the crème brulee, but we got feedback that it was really sweet,” Moore says.

Other new brunch dishes include eggs Florentine — a buttermilk biscuit topped with soft poached local eggs, spinach and Hollandaise — and tomato gravy and jalapeno cheddar biscuits.

“I just wanted to switch things up; we’ve been wanting to do this one (the tomato gravy) for a long time,” Moore says.

Customers can also look forward to new drinks like the brown sugar espresso martini and toasted coconut daiquiri, which were former featured specials.

Smith & Kings’ dinner menu also has a few new dishes, including spinach artichoke dip ($15), honey-soy glazed chicken wings ($20) and a reuben sandwich ($21).

Brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays

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Smith and Kings brunch spread 072826

<title>Smith & Kings is revamping its brunch menu</title>

The Chinatown eatery’s brunch is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Customers can look forward to new dishes like Monte Cristo, peanut butter and jelly French toast, eggs Florentine and more.

Smith & Kings is revamping its brunch menu

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A. Kam Napier

Columnists

The Hawai‘i Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held its 2025 Excellence in Journalism awards on Wednesday night at the Japanese Cultural Center in Mō‘ili‘ili. 

The awards covered work done through 2025 by local media on all platforms — digital, print, radio and television. Hawai‘i's submissions were judged by the San Diego and East Tennessee chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.

Aloha State Daily, which launched in January 2025, is thrilled to have won 14 awards across a wide range of categories, including Best Overall News Site.

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,” by the ASD Newsroom. Judges said, "Great work by a new Internet startup. Aloha State Daily offers comprehensive, continuously updated local content across the Islands."

Lahaina fire survivor Cesar Martinez looks to be part of the solution for housing,

In the News Media division, open to all print and digital:

,” by A. Kam Napier. Judges said, "Aloha State Daily Editor A. Kam Napier promised readers "something to chew on," and his well-written columns achieve that goal."

Column Writing or Blog/Features or Sports

” ASD Staff. Judges said, "The breaking news Tsunami warning coverage is the perfect example of journalists who place their personal safety and worries aside for the good of the public — ensuring that their communities have the information they need to seek shelter and safety during a weather event. The coverage itself is well-organized and robust and is a true testament to the necessity for local journalism."

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Kailua, Kamehameha-Maui win HHSAA football titles

," by Christian Shimabuku. Judges said, "This is a photo nicely conveys the emotion every athlete hopes to feel: victory."

UH looks to capitalize on first Hawai'i Bowl since 2019

,” by Christian Shimabuku. Judges said, "A moment that's so fleeting and worth preserving."

, by Kukaua Medeiros, Salmons and Katie Helland. Judges said, "The winner showed both restraint and cleverness. Each headline created some allure, but also conveyed meaning and some open-ended appeal."

Measles are making headlines but Hawai‘i's top diseases may surprise you

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Outreach team provides medical, social services to homeless in Waikīkī,

" by Salmons. Judges said, "An illuminating first-person look at a vexing community issue."

To see all of Hawai‘i's award winners, visit 

, where the winners list downloads as an RTF file.

ASD best news site award

<title>Aloha State Daily named 'Best Overall News Site'</title>

The Hawai‘i Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists held its annual awards Wednesday night. For our work throughout 2025 — our first year —Aloha State Daily won 14 awards, including best online news site.

Aloha State Daily named 'Best Overall News Site'

De Soto 2025

DeSoto Brown

Hawai‘i History

The heavily-trafficked intersection of Kapi‘olani Boulevard and Kalākaua Avenue has hosted a parade of high-profile restaurants since the 1930s, each one representing a particular genre that was popular in the USA at the time.

To begin with, there was no intersection at all here until April 1931, when Kapi‘olani Boulevard — under construction since 1929 — reached Kalākaua Avenue, already a major, established Honolulu street for many years. To save City & County funds, Kapi‘olani initially wasn’t even paved in this stretch until November of the same year, when asphalt was laid atop the crushed coral then in place. Drivers appreciated this new route across town, which was less congested than Beretania or King Streets, and within a few years the triangular lot on the Waikīkī side of the intersection caught attention as the potential site for a “Gateway to Waikīkī” public park. That proposal went nowhere, but soon the property would see its first business.

In 1935, entrepreneur Hanley P. Sundstrom (better known as “Sunny”) opened his Kau Kau Korner Drive In with just two employees. The small open building accommodated some diners seated around its periphery, under a striped canvas awning, but carhops also serviced customers in parked cars.

Business in this highly visible location grew enough for an entirely new $45,000 structure, occupying more leased land, to open in August 1941. Modeled after the well-known drive in restaurants of Los Angeles, this new Kau Kau Korner featured a curved glass-brick façade with a map of the Hawaiian Islands executed in sheet metal and neon lettering. On the second floor, behind the glass bricks, was Sunny’s executive office — and, for a select invited group, illegal slot machines used for gambling! There were now 40 employees, including 11 carhops dressed in snappy red & white uniforms to serve the 100-vehicle parking lot.

Immediately famous on the property was a freestanding neon sign emphasizing that Hawai‘i was the “Crossroads Of The Pacific”, the slogan lettered on the top. On the sign’s pole were wooden arrows pointing to various other locations, both domestic and international, showing how many miles away each one was. This landmark sign was a favorite subject of amateur snapshots for years.

Continuing through the 1950s, the high point of the popularity of drive in restaurants in the United States, Kau Kau Korner’s run came to an end when it lost its lease and closed in February 1960. The new occupant of this location was the successful locally owned Spencecliff Corporation, which already operated a number of very popular establishments on O‘ahu. A crash remodel and enlargement of the existing building disguised it completely and enabled its very quick reopening in September 1960 as Coco’s Coffee Shop, an example of the next big trend for inexpensive dining in America. Open 24 hours a day for a capacity of 190 diners, Coco’s served everyone from families during the daytime to weary nightlife patrons seeking predawn breakfasts. Local celebrities were among its regular patrons, especially those with late-night entertainment jobs or conversely, the ones who started their work days very early.

In turn, Coco’s reached its end on the last day of August in 1986. It was demolished the following month to be replaced by the new Hard Rock Café, which opened in July 1987 with much fanfare. This new business turned its back on the busy intersection that the previous restaurants had openly faced, and disguised this view with trees and foliage. Inside, musical artifacts from its already-famous collection of guitars and other rock memorabilia were prominently displayed along with Hawai‘i-specific historic graphics.

Most notable was the customized 1959 Cadillac suspended from the ceiling above the bar. Owner Peter Morton claimed in an interview that this vehicle had belonged to an “eccentric rancher” on Hawai‘i Island who had used it to carry his surfboards, when in fact it was a stock Cadillac ambulance that had had wooden paneling added to its exterior to serve as a prop specifically for this restaurant. The Hard Rock Café chain was the most prominent of an abundance of theme restaurants that proliferated in the 1980s and ‘90s, and it was notably popular in Honolulu, particularly for tourists seeking merchandise like its T-shirts. For years there was a line at the door waiting for entry.

The Hard Rock Café gradually lost its novelty and chose to move to a Waikīkī site on Beachwalk in November 2010, closer to the tourists who constituted its main clientele. After this, its former building hosted various short-lived tenants until the Honolulu Coffee Company opened there in September 2015, yet again an example of a current trend in American eating and drinking establishments. Their “Aloha” painted mural from 2018, facing Kalākaua Avenue, remains in place although they have moved to King Street in Mō‘ili‘ili.

And this then brings us to 2026 and this location’s newest tenant: Chick-fil-A’s sitdown-only restaurant. There’s a precedent here, which no one today will know about, in that Kau Kau Korner was Hawai‘i’s first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise location, starting in March 1958 before KFC had opened any of its own stand-alone buildings locally. But any chain fast-food restaurant, a type invented in the USA but now international in scope, is historically in keeping with the succession of what’s gone before at Honolulu’s Restaurant Corner.

1 Kau Kau 48 16x9

<title>Honolulu's restaurant corner</title>

With its high traffic and visibility, the corner of Kapi‘olani Boulevard and Kalākaua Avenue has attracted a series of legendary eateries over the decades. ASD history columnist DeSoto Brown revisits them all — Kau Kau Korner, Coco's, Hard Rock Café (much of the latter's building now serving as the home of Chick-fil-A's only sit-down restaurant).

Honolulu's restaurant corner

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ASD Staff

Daily Smile

This is Bruno and Rocket. Rocket insists on making a grand entrance. Bruno is happy to help with that...

Smile 26 7 30

<title>Daily Smile: Thursday, July 30, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Thursday, July 30, 2026

Arts & Entertainment

The afternoon tea, which used to be once a month, is now from 2 to 4 p.m. Seatings are available at 2, 2:15 and 2:30 p.m.  

Mu‘u or alohawear — complete with lei or fresh flowers — is encouraged but not mandatory.

The afternoon tea — which starts at $55 per person — starts with a choice of Hobbs Tea from Kaua‘i, housemade vanilla scones, and a choice of iced tea, a specialty mocktail or mimosa. Hobbs Tea choices include hibiscus, earl grey, chai, mamaki and more.

The housemade vanilla scones are served with POG jam. 

The tea features a variety of savory and sweet treats. The savory selection includes a gougere (with ham, Parmesan and black truffle); ham and cheese spiral (cheddar cheese and housemade parmesan aioli); cucumber dill sandwich (dill cream cheese and housemade shokupan); and chicken salad croissant with cranberry and almonds.

Desserts include an ube macaron with ube cream cheese filling; guava fruit tart with guava curd and a sugar cookie crust; and dream cake with chocolate chiffon and whipped cream.

Guests can enjoy live music during afternoon tea. The August line-up includes performances by Grant Kono, Po’okela Wood, Lina Robins and Ka’ula Krug.

u and Mimosas is now every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m.

Kaimana Beach tea spread 072826

<title>Mu‘u and mimosas afternoon tea is now every Saturday</title>

Kaimana Beach Hotel’s afternoon tea is available weekly starting at 2 p.m. The experience costs $55 per person and guests can enjoy a variety of sweet and savory baked goods, along with live entertainment.

Mu‘u and mimosas afternoon tea is now every Saturday

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

The United States Tennis Association's Hawai‘i Pacific division is going straight to local schools in an effort to grow the game in the Islands. 

The program began in March, free of charge to the schools. Schools that partner with the USTA contact the organization through one of the school's administrators or teachers, then USTA Hawai‘i Pacific director of recreational tennis Alana Larcombe provides the school with a lesson plan in addition to two introductory sessions. 

"We realized that the issue with bringing in more children to tennis is not really the lack of courts or anything like that, it was more the exposure," Larcombe told Aloha State Daily. "We just wanted to be known that tennis is accessible to everyone. I think there's a common misconception that it's typically for the upper class or country clubs, and we just want to ensure that children of all ages from get a chance to hold a racket and play some tennis."

Larcombe also says Hawai‘i public schools seeing an end to federal pandemic funding in the fall of 2024 was a motivating factor for the USTA. Physical education departments across the state received less funding as a result.

Each school that participates in the program will also receive 30 rackets and 72 tennis balls (36 red tennis balls and 36 felt tennis balls), rolls of tape, bags and chalk. The plan is for the supply of equipment to be replenished every three years for each school in the program. 

Tennis courts are not required for schools for the USTA to set up shop, as classes have taken place in parking lots, gyms, volleyball and basketball courts, and other places where there is space on each respective campus. 

So far, Larcombe and the USTA have visited Ka‘ewai Elementary School, Enchanted Lake Elementary School, Sergeant Samuel K. Solomon Elementary School, John H. Wilson Elementary School, Hahaione Elementary School, and Nanakuli High and Intermediate. 

"They've gone absolutely awesome," Larcombe said of the sessions. "I've got some amazing feedback from teachers. I think it's so beautiful to see the kids when they realize we're playing tennis. They just light up, and by the end of class, they're just on the floor exhausted, but definitely with a smile."

As for the upcoming school year, USTA Hawai‘i Pacific has partnered with 16 more schools and hopes that number increases by the end of the year. 

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101

Kady Pascual

Social Media & Marketing Manager

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Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Skanking 101

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media & Marketing Manager

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