Ige’s 19th Puka to close; Hung Won has new owners

Ige’s 19th Puka’s last day of service will be Jan. 18 after 10 years of serving local favorites and hosting local entertainers.

Owner Ronald Ige was reluctant to confirm closing plans in September, but Monday told TheBuzz, "Don’t be sorry, I’m very happy."

"The lease is up and it’s tiring, running a restaurant."

In addition to being tiring, he said electrical and other costs for the 8,000-square-foot restaurant were going up. "And it’s a no-brainer. When the lease came up, I wasn’t going to renew it, no way."

Entertainers have expressed sadness over losing the venue at which to perform, he said, so each has been scheduled throughout the coming weeks, until closing night.

It was a good run and "we had great fun," he said.

Most of his 30 or so employees are part time, and many are students, while for all but one other, the Ige’s gig was their second job.

Ige is not getting out of the food business, however.

He will continue to run his catering business behind Cutter Ford in Aiea, at 98-025 Hekaha St. in Harbor Center, which he described as a walk-up, plate-lunch place.

"At age 57 I just look forward to working down here (at Hekaha Street). I’m going to feel like I’m retired," Ige laughed.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

By the time you read this, Hung Won Seafood Restaurant in Kaimuki will have undergone an ownership transition welcomed by auspicious fireworks that also rang in the new year.

Victor and Lai Wa Lee bought the Hung Won restaurant 18 years ago from George and Yin Ping Kwok, who had run the restaurant for some 28 years prior, Diane Lee quoted her mother as saying.

The Lees have operated the restaurant nearly every day since, Diane said.

The Lee family slightly altered the name to Hung Won Seafood Restaurant when they took over, and expanded the business when an adjacent wedding dress boutique closed, she said.

Since the stove was propane-powered, the restaurant could keep cooking by candle or lantern light during blackouts, when Diane Lee recalled lines out the door.

It was open most days, including Christmas, under the Lees’ ownership, but occasionally the restaurant would close for a week or two for family travel to China, or, in 2008, for the college graduation of a certain server who worked there off and on during summer vacations or other school breaks.

"When I would come home and waitress at the restaurant, customers would ask me how I was doing," Diane Lee said.

The popular and long-lived Kaimuki restaurant served its share of celebrities, from Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor and her husband, Cleveland Indians catcher Matt Treanor, to the University of Hawaii football team and coach Norm Chow.

The restaurant has been popular for several dishes, including its very large stuffed crispy gau gee and won tons.

The buyer, Hung Won Chinese Restaurant Ltd., will keep the name and most of the recipes, Lee said.

The new owner could not be reached, but Lee said, "My mom recommended they keep the menu because we have so many loyal customers."

One of those customers gave Lai Wa Lee a card containing $50 and instructions that the money is to be spent "only in Las Vegas," Diane laughed.

Lee said some longtime customers have expressed reservations about coming back if her parents no longer own the business, "but my mom keeps saying, ‘No, no, you have to come back even if we’re not running it. We want you to support local business,’" she said.

The new owners will add dim sum items and breakfast service, she said.

Lee is happy her parents are able to retire but calls the transition bittersweet. She will miss seeing the longtime customers and will miss "the free food" and compliments every time she would take a restaurant dish to a potluck. "Now I have to buy (something)," she said.

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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com, or on Twitter as @erikaengle.