Restaurant Row focus shifts as another eatery closes

Another restaurant at Restaurant Row has been vacated, and the site might cease to be an eatery.

Stonegrill closed July 25 after about 2 1/2 years in the spot. Its concept centered around a sort of portable yakiniku setup in which diners would cook their chosen protein on a searing-hot stone to their desired doneness, but it also served breakfast, plate lunches, salads, burgers and other simple fare to eat there or take out.

The oddly configured 1,510-square-foot space has had its share of relatively short-lived restaurants, beginning with Tony Manzo’s Italian restaurant and including a Caribbean-themed restaurant.

Some "great concepts have survived in some pretty odd places," including Alan Wong’s and Roy’s, said Larry Taff, executive vice president of Hawaii operations for Pacific Office Properties, which owns the building. Stonegrill was, he thinks, "a concept that didn’t get a lot of traction with the audience." POP is reviewing the space for other possible uses.

When Waterfront Plaza opened in 1988, developer Bruce Stark envisioned the entire first floor occupied by various eateries, hence the Restaurant Row nomenclature.

Some people bemoan the absence of favorites from long ago and more recent times.

The loss of Touch the East, in the spot now occupied by Bonsai restaurant and nightclub, is lamented by Honolulu-based sushi aficionado Erik Stone and Jared Kuroiwa, PBS Hawaii vice president for digital networking.

It was "one of the first local sushi places to do the tricked rolls that were all the rage in L.A., and the quality of the fish was very high," Stone recalls.

The restaurant "opened my eyes to the wonders of food and service when I was 18," Kuroiwa said. "They didn’t treat us like kids."

Sunset Grill lived up to their "way too many wines" slogan, said Jocelyn Collado, senior communications manager for the state Office of Information Management and Technology.

Meanwhile, Jeong Ku Hwang, account executive at Sheila Donnelly & Associates, misses the more recently departed Pasta et Basta, by Donato Loperfido. "A couple times a month I would eat there," noting that diners had the option of bringing their own wine.

Times have changed, and the high failure rate of restaurants — not just at Restaurant Row, but everywhere — has Pacific Office Properties moving in a different direction.

"We’re not going to try to maintain the whole ground floor as restaurants," Taff said.

"Our master plan all along has been to keep from (Bambu Bar) down to the (South Street) corner as restaurants, and then we’re looking at more medical or services offices for the rest of the ground floor."

The Pasta et Basta spot, which went on to house the short-lived pizza- and pasta-focused reincarnation of Castagnola’s, will not be home to another restaurant, Taff said.

Since the opening of Surgicare of Hawaii, Hawaii PET Imaging and other health care industry businesses, others have expressed a desire to locate near them, Taff said.

While more space will be devoted to medical services, there are no plans to re-brand the property to get away from the Restaurant Row name. Restaurant Row has a high, top-of-mind recognition factor that is difficult to come by, Taff noted.

And several of the restaurants are doing well.

The quick-service Wiki Wiki Express, a sister restaurant of Loco Moco Ewa Beach, has survived since "2001 or two," said Eric Wong, co-owner. A line regularly forms at breakfast and lunch, and the two to three staffers inside pump out plates quickly, serving everyone from typical office workers to high-profile, newsmaking judges and lawyers.

It is not a cash cow, but "it covers our bills and makes us a little extra, and we’re happy," Wong said.

"Destination restaurants" including Vino Italian Tapas & Wine Bar, Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas and Ruth’s Chris Steak House "have done well," Taff said.

He estimates their sales are up 20 percent over last year.

Reach Erika Engle at erika@staradvertiser.com.