Mr. Lee’s beloved burgers, fries live on at new eatery

This column about a now-closed restaurant has a silver lining.

While Lee’s Drive-In has shuttered its Kaneohe walk-up window after some four decades in business, new tenant Local Boy Sushi serves the burgers and fries that "Mr. Lee’s," as it was known, made famous.

If states were measured by how nostalgic their residents are about food and the establishments that serve — or no longer serve it — Hawaii would win, right?

Just mention Andy’s Drive-Inn in Kailua, Big-Way Burger in Wahiawa, Perry’s Smorgy or any other now-gone purveyor of foods in which we found comfort, and you’re sure to engender a wistful sigh.

Normally when someone starts their own restaurant in long-standing restaurant space they’ve purchased, it’s an out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new affair, which is to be expected.

However, brothers Erik, Isaac and Joe Pantastico knew Mr. Lee’s had for decades drawn customers from around the island with those burgers and cheeseburgers, whether regular or deluxe, with or without a side of crinkle-cut fries.

LBS operations commenced just days before Thanksgiving, and after about a week of "Proudly serving Lee’s Drive Inn (sic) burgers and fries," as seen on a sign at the window, "we were glad we kept it," said Erik, the operating partner.

"There’s so much history behind that …it was hard to just not continue."

Customers have thanked him for continuing to serve the burgers, including customers in their 50s who say they’ve eaten them since small-kid time, or customers in their 30s who have told him, "‘My grandpa used to bring me here.’ … It’s been a really good decision for us."

Customers contemplating a cross-island trek for a burger and fries should call first to make sure the quick-service operation hasn’t closed for a catering job that day. Just to be clear, dining in is not an option, as the operation serves from a walk-up window.

While the space was long referred to as Mr. Lee’s, it had been run by Linda Chui and her husband for years, and they were ready to retire, Erik said.

In addition to their predecessor’s signature fare, Local Boy Sushi serves its own signature dishes, including a smoked-salmon salad and Erik’s take on spicy ahi, among others, all from recipes Erik crafted.

LBS offers fresh, never-frozen fish and other seafood items and uses genjimai brown rice in its sushi and bowls, he said.

Rice-and-fish bowls cost from $7 to $9 and include a small drink, while smaller junior bowls sell for $3.50.

Hand rolls cost $2 or $3, and sushi packs range from $8 for a 20-piece veggie set up to $14 for a 10-piece ahi pack.

Platter prices are comparable to or less than what you would find elsewhere, ranging from $20 for a 78-piece veggie platter to up to $40 for a 36-piece spicy platter or 56-piece ahi platter.

The famed burgers range from $2.50 to $3.50, and fries are $2.

Other offerings include house-made desserts. Erik makes bread pudding, sweet potato hau­pia pie and LBS fruit mix daily. The fruit mix is a serving of fresh fruit topped with li hing fruit cream.

Through the management of the Yim Building in Kaneohe, where Pah Ke’s Chinese Restaurant, Aloha Yarn and a State Farm office also are located, the Pantasticos chose the Lee’s Drive-In space in which to expand a catering business that had been flourishing since 2009, since right after Erik and Isaac catered their sister’s graduation party.

Following the graduation, "from word of mouth, after a while we’d gotten enough business to start looking for a place," Erik said.

By the time they left Genki Sushi, both Erik and Isaac were kitchen supervisors. Isaac was studying accounting while working at Genki, works full time as an accountant now and is the money guy in the business. However, he also will throw down in the kitchen as he can, as well as for catering gigs, Erik said.

Joe handles "anything to do with computers," such as Web design, email, social media and the like, said Erik.

The family moved to Windward Oahu about 10 years ago from Naalehu on Hawaii island, and this enterprise by the brothers is the first for the Pantastico family, Erik said.

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