ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Baby ducks meet puppies for the first time..."}]

Smile 26 9 27

<title>Daily Smile: Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026</title>

Baby ducks meet puppies for the first time...

Daily Smile: Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026

 Baby ducks meet puppies for the first time...

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

, which closed its Kapahulu eatery in April, just opened its new location in Waikīkī.

The restaurant is located at 280 Beach Walk, in the former space of Westman Cafe and Bills Waikīkī. Follow the restaurant

signs, and head upstairs for restaurant seating.

The new location features the same menu with all of Side Street Inn’s signature dishes, which are designed to share, family-style, according to general manager Korie Sasano.

“Our fried rice, pork chops, garlic chicken and kalbi are the most popular,” Sasano says. “I think some things that are more ‘hidden’ — that maybe people don’t know about — is the yakisoba and roast pork poke; they’re really good. A lot of people don’t really know about those two (dishes), but when you try it, you’re going to be hooked.”

The roast pork poke ($28) — comprising crispy roast pork tossed in the eatery’s citrus shoyu vinaigrette sauce with sweet onions, green onions and Chinese parsley — and farmer’s salad (half $19, full $28) are highly-recommended appetizers. The colorful salad features spring mixed greens with grape tomatoes, avocado, Maui onions, capers and bay shrimp with red wine vinaigrette dressing and Okinawan potato curls.

“The farmer’s salad is one of our most popular salads,” Sasano says. “People really love the dressing.”

Customers can choose from sizzling boneless kalbi (market price) or bone-in kalbi (market price). Both dishes feature charbroiled Korean-style short ribs, served with kimchi. Meanwhile, Side Street’s signature garlic chicken ($31) features a marinated fried chicken dipped in a sweet shoyu garlic sauce.

The “Works” fried rice ($41.50) can easily feed a group, as it comprises Side Street Inn’s signature fried rice (bacon, Portuguese sausage, char siu, green onions, peas and carrots) with kimchi and lup cheong. It’s often ordered alongside Side Street’s famous pan-fried pork chops ($36).

For groups who want a little of everything, Sasano says Chef Colin’s Classics menu ($195 for four to five guests, $370 for eight to 10) is still available. It includes edamame with Alae salt, farmer’s salad, Side Street’s signature fried rice, garlic chicken, pan-fried pork chops and sizzling boneless kalbi.

“The menu is pretty much the same; I think they’re thinking of doing specials,” she says. “There’s talk of doing happy hour like we did at Kapahulu, too; people loved the small plates. They got to try more (options).”

Side Street’s signature peanut butter crunch ($19) — served warm with a crispy peanut butter layer, chocolate drizzle and Roselani’s vanilla ice cream — is still the eatery’s most popular dessert, Sasano notes. Other options include Mom’s sweet bread pudding ($17); brownie, brownie, brownie ($17); liliko

i crème brulee ($15) and chocolate haupia ($15).

“Everything is homemade; I think that’s what makes it (our desserts) extra good,” she says. “I heard a lot of our staff really love the bread pudding.”

The restaurant is currently waiting on its liquor license and is BYOB in the meantime. Customers are welcome to bring in beer and wine; there’s a $10 corkage fee per person, according to Sasano.

“The corkage fee is for anyone who participates in drinking,” she confirms. “We also offer a 10% 

 discount (with a valid ID) for dine-in, along with two-hour validated parking at the Bank of Hawai

i building (across the street). I know parking is always hard in Waikīkī.”

Customers can call to make reservations; Sasano says the business was able to keep the same phone number from when it was at Kapahulu.

“We always just remind people, if they don’t know we moved, that we’re at a new location,” she says. “We’re just nervous and excited to see how it’s going to be for us — how different the foot traffic is going to be, now that we’re in Waikīkī. We’re still excited to have our regulars come back because we miss them. We hope they don’t mind the ‘trek to Waikīkī,’ as people sometimes say.”

Open 4 to 10 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 4 to 11 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays

Side Street Inn staff 092626

<title>Side Street Inn’s new location is open</title>

The eatery, known for its local comfort food and generous portions, closed its Kapahulu location in April. Side Street Inn’s new location is on Beach Walk in Waikīkī; customers can take advantage of a kamaʻāina discount and validated parking.

Side Street Inn’s new location is open

Christian Shimabuku Headshot

Christian Shimabuku

Sports

In a game in which it never found a rhythm offensively and made multiple costly mental errors, the University of Hawai‘i football team suffered a 27-10 defeat at the University of Wyoming on Saturday. 

The Rainbow Warriors fell to 1-3 in a year that began with 

After both teams exchanged field goals to begin the first quarter, Wyoming began to systematically pull away from UH. 

Another field goal, combined with a Markell Holman 1-yard rushing score, gave Wyoming a 13-3 lead at halftime. 

The 'Bows got the ball to start the third quarter and shaved nearly 10 minutes off the clock but had nothing to show for it after turning the ball over on downs at the Wyoming 1. Hawai‘i appeared to force a Wyoming three-and-out and punt, but a costly mental error kept the drive going when two players wearing No. 8 in Tama Uiliata and Matteus Ioane took the field for the Rainbow Warriors. Two players wearing the same number in the same play is forbidden in college football, and Wyoming was gifted a first down.

Wyoming capped off the 99-yard drive with Holman's second touchdown of the day, an 18-yard touchdown run with 14:52 remaining that stretched the home lead to 20-3. 

Hawai‘i cut Wyoming's lead to 20-10 on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Devon Tauaefa with 12:11 left. After forcing a Wyoming punt, the 'Bows got into field goal range, but Sean Olvera-Harle's 54-yard attempt was shanked far to the fight. 

The Cowboys put the nail in the coffin with a Samuel Harris 18-yard touchdown with 1:46 remaining for the game's final score. 

Though it was a moot effort, Hawai‘i called timeout with four seconds remaining at the Wyoming 14, setting up for one last score. UH quarterback Micah Alejado was sacked for the third time on Saturday before he was able to attempt a pass. 

Alejado completed 28 of his passes for 44 yards for 226 yards, averaging just 5.1 yards per completion. 

Wyoming's balanced offensive effort in which it passed for 204 yards and ran for an additional 183 kept the 'Bows off balance. 

 was one of the lone bright spots for the team with a game-high 10 tackles, including a sack and a forced fumble. 

Hawai‘i will return home to face San Jose State, a program it has lost five straight matchups to. Kickoff between the Rainbow Warriors and Spartans at the Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex is set for 6 p.m. on Oct. 3. 

Micah Alejado 092626

<title>Hawai‘i football out of sync in lifeless loss to rival Wyoming</title>

The Rainbow Warriors lost the Paniolo Trophy with a 27-10 defeat to the Cowboys on Saturday.

Hawai‘i football out of sync in lifeless loss to rival Wyoming

Katie Helland Headshot

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

Aloha Spirit

The Pacific Island Film Festival, which recently wrapped up in New York City, provided a space to showcase films, including several filmed in or about Hawaiʻi. The festival, which ran from Sept. 17-20, featured 28 films, representing 10 island nations from across the Pacific.

One of those films was the documentary “Lahaina: Voices of Change,” directed by Ty Sanga, and produced by Angie Laprete, who was also the producer of 

 and more. “Lahaina: Voices of Change” explores how one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history displaced thousands of people and claimed lives.

“It was actually really important to be able to screen our documentary ‘Lahaina: Voices of Change’ in New York City for Pacific Island Film Festival because that's the reason why we made this documentary,” Sanga told Aloha State Daily. “It's three years later, and we're still dealing with the ramifications of the fire, and a lot of families are still struggling to get by. Hawaiʻi is a small island in the Pacific and to be able to get our stories out there — to put a face to these stories in New York City — that’s our goal is to get more advocates to come along and help us on this journey because when we're talking about global warming ... it needs to be everyone involved, not just us here in Hawaiʻi”.

One of the firefighters who responded to the Maui wildfires was at the screening, he said.

“He shared his first-person experience with the audience, and I think that just made it real,” Sanga said. “They’ve seen the footage on social media or in the news. And now that's three years ago. We're in a super El Niño

 right now and climate change is real and it's happening. Lahaina was one of the first voices, or places, to experience that so we had a really captivated audience that made it special. Hopefully, we just need more advocates that are fighting for our ʻāina, our land, not just Hawaiʻi [but] everywhere they’re at, in their own communities, because that's how we truly make a difference.”

The festival gives films a chance to reach families living in the diaspora and find new audiences, he said.

Also featured in the festival was the short 

 “What We Carry,” which stars Lindsay Watson, who is also its director and writer. Laprete is the producer. The short, which Watson hopes to eventually develop into a full-length feature, explores the experience of a woman who had multiple miscarriages and is ready to abandon her dream of motherhood when she discovers a secret.

“I wanted to be able to tell a universal story with Polynesian faces,” Watson told ASD. “I wanted the world to be able to see us as more than just their vacation, [or] as paradise [or] people who work in hotels and work at the airport. And even in the casting world too, as more than the hula dancer, the bartender, the dancer. To see a muscular, tatted up Polynesian man, who's a flawed husband, and a Hawaiian wife, who is going through something that many women in this world have gone through.”

The short includes a mostly Polynesian cast and had a budget of $25,000, which was covered by a 

grant from the Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge

. Watson, who currently lives in Los Angeles, was born and raised on Maui.

After the screening of “What We Carry” at PIFF, which was the film's New York debut, a woman who normally doesn’t like movies told Watson she cried through it and loved the film.

“She, again, also had no connection to the culture of Hawaiʻi and this story still resonated with her,” the director said. “That to me is the power of film is connecting cultures and connecting places that have no other way of being connected.”

“What We Carry” was filmed almost entirely in Kāneʻohe

, mostly in the house of Watson’s grandmother, who passed away about a month before filming started.

The festival was a chance to take a story filmed in Hawaiʻi to new audiences, Watson said.

“The number one thing is being able to take our film across the Pacific — across the country,” she said. “That's something most people don't even have the opportunity to do.”

Recently, more Pacific Islanders are sharing their own stories.

“And I think it's all because of access,” Watson said. “For so long, there wasn't access and education and connections for a lot of Pacific Islanders to tell their own stories. There were only a few of us in this industry, and there's power in numbers.”

The existence of the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival, as well as programs such as the International Cultural Arts Network, the Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti and the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment —  which were designed to increase Pacific Islander representation in Hollywood —  brought the AAPI community together and helped them get a seat at the table, she said.

PIFF partnered with AMC+ Streaming so five films from the festival can stream to even larger audiences. Three of those films have ties to Hawaiʻi, including “Hawaiian Soul” directed by ʻĀina Paikai; “Aikāne, directed by Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson; and “The Arrangements” directed by Sonny Ganaden.

“Dasher,” from Director Alexander Bocchieri

 and Writer Bryson Chun, who worked on the television series “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.,” as well as “Remathau: People of the Ocean,” a documentary that features Nainoa Thompson, among other titles.

Lindsay Watson

<title>Filmmakers reflect on bringing Hawaiʻi to New York</title>

The recent Pacific Island Film Festival, held in New York City, included stories filmed in Hawaiʻi, which reached audiences almost 5,000 miles from where the cameras rolled.

Filmmakers reflect on bringing Hawaiʻi to New York

Business & Tourism

a free concert from Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra featuring guest performers, such as Keola Beamer, 

 held on Saturday, Sept. 19, welcomed about 3,000 attendees, according to representatives of the symphony and Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows, which is operated by Highgate Hawaiʻi.  

, this was the symphony’s first appearance on Maui in 10 years. The outdoor performance under the stars of Kā‘anapali celebrated the resilience and courage of Lahaina, Kihei and Kula.

ICYMI: A encore broadcast of the free concert will air at 7:30 p.m. this Sunday, Sept. 27, on Hawaiʻi News Now.

Before the concert, more than 20 Maui-based businesses participated in the Mākeke at 

, an open air space under a century-old Banyan tree that is part of Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows. Vendors did not pay to participate in the market, which means they were able to keep all proceeds from sales, organizers said.

Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows, operated by Highgate Hawaiʻi

Hawaiʻi Stage, which is owned and operated by a subsidiary of Hawaiian Council

, constructed a stage and provided lights and amplification; and Hawaiian Airlines donated the airfare to get the musicians — and their instruments — to The Valley Isle.

Mele for Maui

<title>Mele for Maui gets encore broadcast on Hawaiʻi News Now</title>

Did you miss the free concert featuring Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra’s first performance on Maui in a decade last weekend? This Sunday, you can catch the encore broadcast of the event, which features guest artists, such as Keola Beamer, Amy Hānaiali‘i and John Cruz, on Hawaiʻi News Now.

Mele for Maui gets encore broadcast on Hawaiʻi News Now

The golf course beside Royal Lahaina Resort & Bungalows will come alive with music from the Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra and guest artists, such as Keola Beamer, 

in the Mele for Maui concert this Saturday, Sept. 19.

The concert, which is free to the public, will be HSO’s first appearance in a decade on The Valley Isle. The 

symphony was recently named the state orchestra

, which its conductor Dane Lam hopes will mean more stops on Neighbor Islands.

“It’s very significant for HSO because we haven't been to one of the Neighbor Islands for over a decade, so this is a real return for the orchestra, and we hope it's the start of really comprehensive touring around all of the Neighbor Islands as time goes on,” Dane Lam, HSO music and artistic director, told Aloha State Daily. “When this orchestra was reformed from the ashes of the old Honolulu Symphony, the name Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra was deliberately chosen to reflect the fact that we serve the whole state, and so to come in and celebrate the people of Lahaina and their courage and their resilience through music — through mele — it means a lot to us.”

, is constructing a stage and providing lights and amplification; and Hawaiian Airlines is donating the airfare to get the musicians — and their instruments — to The Valley Isle.

“They've been incredibly, incredibly generous," Lam said. 

“It's an incredible group effort to bring this together."

The concert has lawn seating and attendees are encouraged to bring low-back chairs or blankets. There is space to accommodate thousands of guests, the conductor added.

“We're doing a range of music,” he said. “We're doing some classics. We've got some Brahms, and we've got some Hawaiian music from our own composer in residence, 

. We have a special new commission by Sean Hickey, who for many decades has spent significant time on Maui, and it's a tribute to Maui's natural world and how it's different from anywhere else on Earth. And then, of course, we've got some amazing guest artists like Keola Beamer, like Amy Hānaialiʻi, who are going to be joining us on stage to share this. It's really Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra's gift to the people of Lahaina and to Maui.”

Getting the full orchestra — which consists of more than 60 musicians, plus their instruments — on a plane to Maui is “logistically complex,” the conductor added.

“For example, when a cellist travels with their cello, string instruments are very expensive, so violinists and violas will travel with their instruments, but they normally will fit in the overhead locker. Of course, the cello is too big to fit in the overhead locker, and so it necessitates the purchase of an extra seat,” Lam said. “You get a seat for Mr. Musician, and you get a seat for Mr. Cello.”

Other instruments, including basses and percussion, are sometimes borrowed from musicians who already have the instruments on Maui.

As part of the Maui visit, Lam will also be flying over early to work with musicians at Lahainaluna High School.

“I'm really looking forward to that,” he said. “Just to meet some of the next generation of musicians.”

Lam, who conducts symphonies all over the world, is no stranger to meeting new musical groups. Whether it’s a professional symphony or a high school one, the principle is the same, he said.

“You walk in, and you start conducting whatever music you've prepared, and you analyze and you appreciate what comes back at you,” he said. “And then you just work on ways to bring the picture of the music that's in your head that you have formed from what the composer has written — you bring the picture of what you hear in your head closer to the picture of what you hear coming at you from the musicians. It's a lovely experience. I'm really looking forward to meeting all the young musicians at Lahainaluna.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Music brings people together, he added."}]

“When it’s all said and done, something that we all share in common is the ability to appreciate music, to be immersed in music, and that's what we're looking to do with this concert — to really uplift people, to celebrate the people of Lahaina, and to bring people together,” Lam said. “Because there are very few experiences in the world today where you are sitting or standing shoulder to shoulder with other people from different walks of life and experiencing something that is greater than yourself. And by that, I mean the music. It's going to be very humbling to bring that to Lahaina.”

Can’t attend in person? Watch the live stream from Hawaiʻi News Now. 

<title>Buckle up, cellos! HSO heads to Maui</title>

Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra, which was recently designated the official state orchestra, will make its first appearance on Maui in 10 years with a free concert, Mele for Maui, on Saturday, Sept. 19. The outdoor performance under the stars of Kā‘anapali celebrates the resilience and courage of Lahaina, Kihei and Kula, and features guest artists such as Keola Beamer, Amy Hānaiali‘i and John Cruz.

Buckle up, cellos! HSO heads to Maui

Now, let's all enjoy watching Bowser the Bulldog play with the door-stopper thing...

Daily Smile: Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026

Daily Smile: Friday, Sept. 25, 2026

Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026

Most read

Daily Smile: Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026

Authors

ASD Staff

Reporter

More in Daily Smile

Daily Smile: Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026

Daily Smile: Friday, Sept. 25, 2026

Daily Smile: Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026

Daily Smile: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026

Most read