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[{"type":"text","text":"Give this guy extra treats..."}]

Smile 26 5 22

<title>Daily Smile: Friday, May 22, 2026</title>

Give this guy extra treats...

Daily Smile: Friday, May 22, 2026

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

Business & Tourism

, according to business owner Talia Bongolan-Schwartz. While the business's Kailua store has remained open, the bagel biz is soft opening another Honolulu location in a spot that's close to Ward Village.

Tali’s Bagels & Schmear is opening on Friday, Aug. 21, on Waimanu Street, at the new artist co-working/gallery venue called OurSpace. While the new space is conducive to takeout, customer seating is also available. 

“A bunch of the folks who started OurSpace came from BoxJelly,” Bongolan-Schwartz explains. “They asked us if we would be interested (in coming here) when we were still open at Ward.

“OurSpace is quite new; they’ve got an artist co-working space and they do a bunch of events, too,” Bongolan-Schwartz adds.

During the business’s soft opening, only in-person ordering will be available. The biz still features its most popular menu items, including the b.e.c. ($13.99) — crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, cheddar and muenster — and the OG NYC ($17.99), which features premium lox, classic schmear, local dill, capers, tomato and red onion.

Newer menu items feature turkey, ham and pastrami bagel sandwiches, according to Bongolan-Schwartz.

“We decided to step up the lunch game,” she says. “The biggest difference you’re going to see on the menu is a whole line of Boar’s Head meats and a bunch of homemade sauces — we’re making a horseradish Russian dressing, lemon caper remoulade and spicy brown mustard. We’re slicing the meat fresh, too; none of it’s pre-sliced.”

New options include the deli ($15.99) — Mesquite-smoked turkey, black forest ham, housemade lemon-caper remoulade, cheddar, Swiss, local lettuce, tomato and sprouts — and the Jewish deli ($16.99), which comprises fresh-sliced pastrami, Swiss, housemade spicy brown mustard and house pickles.

Bongolan-Schwartz expects the business’s hot pastrami ($18.99) — fresh-sliced pastrami, housemade Russian dressing, Swiss, sauerkraut and a side of house pickles — to become a customer favorite.

“That is a New York classic, kind of going for the Katz’s Deli (vibe),” she says. “We’re basically going from a bagel shop to slowly expanding into a delicatessen.”

All sandwiches are served on the customers’ bagel of choice; the Everything bagel is the most popular flavor, according to Bongolan-Schwartz.

“We’ll normally have our full assortment of bagels,” she says. “I really like the onion (bagel); it’s a good complementary flavor. I would add onion onto any sandwich anyway, so it kind of cuts out the need for that.”

The biz also features an expanded drink selection at this location. Besides sparkling water and soft drinks, customers can opt for Israeli iced coffee ($7.99) — a cold brew slushie with oat milk, local mac nut syrup and a honey-tahini drizzle — and Shaloha slush ($6.50), which is made with local liliko

Tali’s Bagels & Schmear will be open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays to Mondays (closed Tuesdays). The biz has extended its hours compared to its previous location, which was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“We’re definitely excited to see our old customers,” Bongolan-Schwartz says. “That was important to us — to stay close enough by that people who have been loyal to us for three years at Ward Centre would be able to hopefully just walk over here. We’re excited to see how the new menu does.

“We were nervous about the new menu because we made a lot of cuts,” she adds. “We cut a lot of things off the old menu that are pretty traditional, like our white fish salad, which is a New York deli staple. But I think this menu is going to suit the needs and desires of the people here.”

The biz will eventually do a grand opening. For updates, follow Tali’s Bagels & Schmear on 

Open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays to Mondays (closed Tuesdays)

Talis Bagels owner 081926

<title>Tali’s Bagels & Schmear is reopening in Honolulu</title>

The bagel shop, which used to be located in Ward Centre, is soft opening in its new location on Waimanu Street on Friday, Aug. 21. The business features bestselling dishes like the OG NYC bagel, along with new deli-style creations like the hot pastrami.

Tali’s Bagels & Schmear is reopening in Honolulu

There’s a new local-style Korean plate lunch spot on Oʻahu.

Miss Kimchi Korean Barbecue opened last month in ‘Ewa Beach Shopping Center. It’s in the former space of Elim Korean Barbeque, according to Miss Kimchi Korean Barbecue operations manager Joni Yoon, who says that eatery was open for around 20 years.

The restaurant’s interior has been renovated, and the business prides itself on featuring housemade recipes and generous portions.

The restaurant’s name is inspired by Yoon’s mother, who helped build up Y’Kele Korean Barbecue in the Waikele community.

“She came out of retirement to teach me how to build a restaurant around a community in ‘Ewa Beach,” Yoon says.

The eatery, which features local-style Korean plates, offers a variety of entrees — ranging from kalbi and spicy pork to barbecue beef and meat jun — and combo plates. Combo plates come with a choice of four vegetables, two pieces of mandoo and two scoops of rice.  

The Mama’s special ($16.79) — comprising kalbi, meat jun and chicken — is the most popular combo plate, according to Yoon. Other customer favorites include the ‘Ewa Beach special ($26.79) — with kalbi, beef and chicken — and the seafood special ($25.79). The latter includes fish jun, fish katsu and shrimp tempura.

The eatery’s meat jun and kalbi plates are bestselling singular entrees.

Customers can substitute the rice for an extra veggie option. Choose from homemade banchan like kimchi, cucumber kimchi, choy sum, japchae, and shoyu potatoes.  

The business is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; customers can order for dine-in or takeout.

“Our customers are literally the best — the most fun, the most kind, and most loving,” Yoon says. “They’re what makes me get up and come in every day.”

91-919 Fort Weaver Road No. 102-A, ‘Ewa Beach

Miss Kimchi Korean Barbecue meat jun 081326

<title>Miss Kimchi Korean Barbecue is now open in ʻEwa Beach</title>

The local-style Korean plate lunch spot is open in the former place of Elim Korean Barbeque. Choose from popular plates like Mama’s special, kalbi plate and seafood special.

Miss Kimchi Korean Barbecue is now open in ʻEwa Beach

, known for its affordable bentos, just opened its third location on Young Street. This store is in the former space of J-Shop.

U-Kitchen offers a variety of musubi, bentos, bowls and curry. The menu is the same here as its downtown Honolulu store, according to business owner Yudai Fukuda.

Popular bentos include butterfish ($13.99), mochiko chicken ($10.99) and chicken katsu ($10.99). The musubi selection ranges from salmon ($2.99) and spicy tuna ($3.19) to unagi ($4.79) and mentai mayo ($3.29).

U-Kitchen’s original location is in Kalihi; its downtown Honolulu store, which is in Topa Financial Center, is currently closed due a power outage in the building, according to Fukuda. He says the downtown Honolulu store — 

“Our peak time (at that location) was from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.,” he says, nothing the shop’s popularity with the downtown Honolulu lunch crowd.

He says that Topa Financial Center was supposed to reopen on Aug. 24, but says the re-opening was delayed further after Hurricane Lala.

U-Kitchen’s Young Street store is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays. Customer parking is available in the shop's lot.  

Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays, closed Sundays

U Kitchen Young Street worker 081826

<title>U-Kitchen opens a new bento and musubi cafe</title>

The business, whose original location is in Kalihi, just opened a third location on Young Street in the former J-Shop space. The business’s Downtown Honolulu store has been temporarily closed since July 23, according to U-Kitchen owner Yudai Fukuda.

U-Kitchen opens a new bento and musubi cafe

Arrasmith Portrait

Perry Arrasmith

Government & Politics

Columnists

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Your vote matters. "}]

Until a tie results. Or, actually, with the thanks of a tie. 

When enough voters vote (or fail to vote), ties sometimes happen. When ties occur in statewide elections, it falls on Hawai‘i’s Chief Election Officer to settle the score. 

The current officer, Scott Nago, publicly drew the names of candidates locked in tied votes from a box on the afternoon of Saturday, August 15. It was posted publicly on the State Office of Elections’ YouTube 

Through Nago, candidates were selected by a drawing (in this case). The basis of this authority lies in 

, or state law. “In case of the failure of an election by reason of the equality of vote between two or more candidates,” Section 11-157 of state law finds, “the tie shall be decided by the chief election officer or clerk in the case of county elections by lot.”

For Republican Senator Kurt Fevella, this was the 

 of defeat. Former State Representative Bob McDermott had tied with Fevella by a vote of 1,212-1,212. McDermott won the drawing. He will now be the Republican nominee for a State Senate seat in ‘Ewa.

For Republican Representative Kanani Souza, this was also the 

 of defeat. Souza tied with Sheila Medeiros, who had tied with Souza by a vote of 842-842. Medeiros won the drawing too. She will be the Republican nominee for that contested House seat in Kapolei. 

In at least two instances, we know now that an election could be decided by a coin or the drawing of a name from a box, not a vote. Maybe next time. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Reason This Happened"}]

The basis of this system can be traced, at least in statehood, to a 1970 

 that provided that candidates subject to a tie would need to agree “in a signed statement to the use of a lot.”

The system placed faith in a candidate’s ability to find an amicable solution to a tie. In democracy, however, passion can overrun such stability. When bitter rivals fail to agree, chaos ensues.

That happened in 1988. In the case of that year’s primary election cycle, Democratic Rep. Romy Cachola faced former Democratic Representative Connie Chun in a race for a State House seat in the communities of Kapālama and Foster Village. In a primary election on September 17, each candidate received 1,795 votes. 

“Oddly enough,” Jerry Burris of the Advertiser observed, “the tie could have been avoided if every voter in the 39th had been paying close attention. Some 173 persons cast blank ballots and four punched a puka for both Cachola and Chun.” 

Neither candidate could agree on the method to settle a tie. A previous court ruling had declined to weigh in on the question of how to settle a tie where both candidates refused to compromise. The then-Lieutenant Governor, Ben Cayetano, also knew that the law provided little direction (lieutenant governors used to oversee elections).

The House seat would lie vacant if no candidate was selected, leaving then-Governor John Waihe‘e with the political football of filling the ‘vacancy’ that resulted from this political impasse. Since there were no other candidates from another political party in that seat, it seemed reasonable to have both Cachola and Chun jump into a rematch in the general election of Tuesday, November 2, 1988. 

Given the complex nature of this race, the election itself was more of an advisory exercise. Cachola prevailed over Chun by a vote of 2,917-2,840. On November 9, 1988, Waihe‘e made an appointment. He picked Rep. Romy Cachola over Chun. 

 which spelled out the exact procedures for settling a tie. However, given that these procedures heavily relied on in-person voting and precinct results, they were phased-out by 

 of the 2019 legislative session. The law quietly removed the recount procedures in the event of the tie, and fully vested the authority in the “chief election officer” or the county elections clerk (in the event of a county election).

This is where history throws us into the present predicament. Unlike 1988, there will be no run-off elections between Souza and Medeiros or McDermott and Fevella. This is due, in part, to the simplicity of the 2019 law. 

There is also no convoluted procedure to recount the votes, nor will a court arbitrate any disagreement where the two candidates cannot settle on a method to break a tie. 

After 4,108 votes were verified and two ties faced confirmation, an election officer functions as a referee and picks two winners. There is no debate. It is settled. 

And that’s a republican form of government. If we want to refine it, the 2027 legislative session (with perhaps Medeiros and/or McDermott as new members) will be the arena for debate. 

Tie breaker election drawing 16x9

<title>Election ties and the game of a box</title>

In Hawai‘i's recent primary elections, two tied races were decided with, essentially, a lottery. ASD political historian Perry Arrasmith explains how this came to be legal and when it's been used in the past.

Election ties and the game of a box

 just opened today in Waimalu Shopping Center. This is the business’s third and newest location. It features a full-service, sit-down dine-in experience, along with a takeout window. 

The biz is celebrating its grand opening tomorrow, Aug. 15, with a lion dance at 11:30 a.m.

Customers can expect a variety of manapua, along with dim sum, peking duck and plate lunches; this location features an expanded menu.

The business’s Hong Kong-style dim sum selection was crafted in partnership with its sister restaurant, Mei Sum Dim Sum. The dim sum menu comprises spring rolls ($4.95), potstickers ($6.35), shrimp pork hash ($6.35), half moon dumplings ($6.35), shrimp dumplings ($6.35) and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"The business’s classic char siu manapua is a bestseller."}]

Besides manapua and dim sum, customers can choose from a variety of local-style plate lunches. Entrees include ginger fried chicken, kalbi ribs, garlic butter shrimp, hamburger steak and more. Seafood and steak combo plates are also available. 

Island Manapua is re-branding its other two locations in Mānoa and Waipahu as Aloha Manapua.

“Over the years, we’ve grown from being a neighborhood manapua counter into a gathering place for families, friends and our community,” states Christy Tong, owner of Aloha Manapua. “Rebranding as Aloha Manapua celebrates our local roots, our commitment to serving our community, and the relationships we’ve built with our customers. While our name is changing, our dedication to the food and service our customers know and love remains the same.”

The ‘Aiea store will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. For the rest of August, customers can take advantage of a 10% discount.

Aloha Manapua shrimp dim sum 081426

<title>Aloha Manapua is open in Waimalu Shopping Center</title>

This is the business’s third and newest location; it’s celebrating its grand opening Aug. 15. Customers can enjoy its signature manapua, along with dim sum and plate lunches. The business is featuring a 10% discount for the rest of the month.

Daily Smile: Friday, May 22, 2026

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