Maui Brewing taking Jimmy Buffett’s spot

Jimmy Buffett’s at the Beachcomber will give way to Maui Brewing Co.’s first Oahu brewpub at the Holiday Inn Resort Waikiki Beachcomber in the fall of 2016, officials announced.

The new restaurant will open in the Waikiki spot in partnership with restaurateurs Bill Terry and Chris Thibaut and Outrigger Enterprises Group, after a multimillion-dollar renovation beginning in spring 2016.

Maui Brewing Co. was founded by Garrett and Melani Marrero in 2005.

Musician, recording artist and celebrity restaurateur Jimmy Buffett opened his restaurant in 2008.

The 22,000-square-foot restaurant on Kalakaua Avenue above Macy’s replaced the Hibiscus Cafe and the Don Ho and Blue Hawaii showrooms.

For a time the restaurant was the venue for Saturday morning broadcasts of the Perry and Price Show on KSSK-FM 92.3/AM 590.

Big Isle burger called among best in U.S.

Village Burger in Waimea on Hawaii island serves hamburgers that are among the best in America, according to users of TripAdvisor.com.

The online travel portal analyzed online reviews to determine the nation’s top 10 burger restaurants and Village Burger, the only Hawaii restaurant on the list, was ranked No. 8.

The top three were Hops Burger Bar in Greensboro, N.C., at No. 1, followed by Black Hills Burger and Bun Co. in Custer, S.D., and Nic’s Grill in Oklahoma City.

The analysis of user reviews took into account the quality, quantity and ratio of reviews mentioning burgers submitted over an 18-month period. Featured restaurants have at least 100 reviews, and have 10 or fewer locations.

Kaiser Permanente will open clinic in Lihue

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii plans to open a medical clinic on Kauai in January.

The Lihue Clinic will be located at 4366 Kukui Grove St., on the ground floor of the Kukui Grove Health Center. Construction is scheduled to begin in September.

The clinic will be staffed by two primary care providers and offer lab and pharmacy services. It will also have telehealth capabilities to allow patients greater access to specialty care services.

Kaiser said it will maintain existing contracts with Kauai physicians, which means its 2,400 members on the Garden Isle will have the option of continuing to receive care from their current provider or changing to a primary care physician at the new clinic.

Auto celebrity to speak at gathering

Barry Meguiar, president of the California-based car-care products company bearing his name and host of “Car Crazy” on the Discovery Channel’s “Velocity” series, will keynote the monthly Auto Lunch Bunch gathering at noon Wednesday.

Meguiar will talk about his latest automotive-related adventures, including observations made during a trip to Cuba.

The late Janis Joplin’s song “Mercedes Benz” inspired this month’s Kars at the Kurb display.

It will feature a 2016 Mercedes Maybach S600 from Mercedes-Benz of Honolulu. The car features a 520-hp, V-12 bi-turbo powerplant and a price tag of $196,925. Individual owners will exhibit a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 380SL, a 2007 SLK55 AMG and a 2009 CL63 AMG.

The luncheon will be on the second floor of the Hawaii Yacht Club at 1739 Ala Moana Blvd. Cost is $15. Reservations are required and can be made with Ed Kemper at 225-2965 or via email at edracers@aol.com.

July 4 holiday promises to be lucrative

Americans continue to open their wallets wider for travel, with U.S. vacationers expected to spend $15.8 billion during the upcoming July 4 weekend, a 1.7 percent increase over last year’s holiday, according to the U.S. Travel Association.

The trade group estimated that vacationers will spend an average of $378 each on holiday trips this year, up from $374 in 2014.

The association did not estimate the total number of travelers for the upcoming weekend, but it cited a forecast by AAA that said 41.9 million Americans will travel for the Independence Day weekend, a 0.7 percent increase over last year.

A majority of holiday travelers, about 85 percent, will drive to their holiday destinations, according to AAA estimates.

The good news for July 4 road warriors is that the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.76, down from $3.67 per gallon a year ago.

The U.S. Travel Association used the annual July 4 forecast to press elected officials to invest more in maintaining and upgrading roads and airports.

“Barbecues, picnics and road trips are staples of American summer vacation, but it seems being stuck in traffic jams and delayed on the tarmac are becoming equally a part of the tradition,” said Roger Dow, president of the trade group.

On the Move

» Bank of Hawaii has named two new vice presidents:

— Joe Francher, an engineering manager, has been promoted to vice president of corporate facilities. Before joining the bank in 2014, Francher was operations manager for General Growth Properties and president and general manager for Hawaii Instrumentation & Controls. From 1986 to 1996, he was chief building engineer and facilities operations manager for corporate facilities at Bank of Hawaii.

— Carl Kobayashi has been appointed manager and vice president of Model Risk Management. He previously served as an independent consultant for Bank of Hawaii. Kobayashi also worked in the finance department for Intuitive Surgical and National Semiconductor in Sunnyvale, Calif.

» AT&T has named Shane Crowder director of sales. He will oversee company-owned stores as well as national retail and local dealer sales channels throughout the state. Crowder has worked in various positions at AT&T for seven years.

Ship Ahoy!

Thursday’s ship arrivals and departures: