Banker George C. Knapp and Realtor Elwood L. Christensen founded KC Drive Inn in 1929.
"They started the first drive-in in Honolulu," Dayton Asato told us, "but when the Depression worsened they couldn’t make it. In 1934 they sold the restaurant to my grandfather Jiro Asato. He had been a cook for them, and even though the price was only $100, he couldn’t afford it. They accepted $10 a month until the debt was paid."
Out of gratitude, Jiro Asato kept the KC name, and when people started calling him KC, he had his name legally changed to KC Jiro Asato.
The original restaurant was in Waikiki at Ala Wai Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue, where the Landmark Building now stands. Open until 3 a.m. on weekdays and 5 a.m. on weekends, KC Drive Inn and the Kau Kau Korner (where Coco’s and the Hard Rock Cafe once were) were the only places open past midnight.
"Because of that, we got all the Waikiki entertainers," recalls cashier Mildred Yoshida, who started working at KC Drive Inn in 1939.
"Gov. Farrington and his family used to come on weekends, but our most important VIP may have been Empress Michiko of Japan, before she married then-Crown Prince Akihito. The first limousine I ever saw," Yoshida said, "pulled in one day with Zsa Zsa Gabor inside."
"In those days we had a surfboard-shaped tray that went from window to window in the back seat of the car. Those things were heavy," Yoshida recalls. "That was before plastic. The plates were china and the cups were glass. We didn’t have plastic until after the war."
"We worked 10-hour days," Yoshida said. "We got 50 cents an hour, and patrons left 5-cent tips, which we divided weekly. The biggest tip I recall before the war was 25 cents."
Yoshida recalls being able to see the lights from the old stadium on Isenberg and King streets. "When the lights would go off, we’d all say to each other, ‘Here they come!’ And within a few minutes the place would be packed."
Wilbert "Bozo" Tsuchiyama recalls smelling teriyaki from KC Drive Inn while driving in Waikiki. "My friends and I would be drawn irresistibly to that delicious aroma. KC had the best shakes in town. The Ono Ono Shake with peanut butter was great, but I liked pineapple and strawberry, too."
Besides the Ono Ono Shakes, KC is famous for its Waffle Hot Dogs, invented by Knapp and Christiansen in 1929.
KC opened a second location at the top of Kapahulu Avenue around 1981 before losing the Waikiki location. For a while it operated restaurants at Holiday Mart, Manoa Marketplace, Moiliili, and two Mr. Waffle Dog locations in Kailua and Waipahu.
The family also operated the Wisteria Restaurant on King Street. It closed in 2004.
At one time they had another in the Kaneohe Bowling Alley.
"Jiro’s wife, Agnes Gusukuma’s two sisters and brother all had restaurants," Dayton Asato said. "Alice Gusukuma and husband Harry founded Like Like Drive Inn. Sister Norma Gusukuma married Sei Tamashiro, and they had Sei’s Family Restaurant in Moiliili until retiring in 1990. And brother Jack Gusukuma ran the Central YMCA Coffee Shop."
"At one time we had franchised Mr. Waffle Dog to a guy in Japan," said grandson Wendell Asato, "but someone embezzled money and they closed."
Jiro Asato died in 1961. His children James, Roy, Elsie, Mildred and Helen continued the business.
Former Kaimuki High School music teacher Darryl Loo remembers how friend Ben Char ate at KC Drive Inn and discovered he had forgotten his wallet at home.
"The waitress said she would pay the bill, and he could pay her back whenever he could," Loo recalls. "He was so impressed he went home and returned immediately to pay his bill. That’s the kind of people they were."
"Hard work, honesty, dedication and a commitment to our customers is what has made KC Drive Inn a success," Dayton Asato said.
"There was a pressure to uphold the legacy of my grandfather and his values."
KC Drive Inn closed seven years ago this week, in 2005, after 76 years in business, citing declining sales and mounting costs. Dayton and others in the family have kept the Waffle Dog makers going, and they can still be found at community events.
———
Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
