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Business

Sudden closure hits Chinatown bar and bakery

Erika Engle
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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / 2014

Bethel Street Tap Room, at 1153 Bethel St., closed down unexpectedly Wednesday due to a lease dispute.

Bethel Street Tap Room, which houses a bar and restaurant as well as Let Them Eat Cupcakes, was “forced” to close Wednesday, according to Kawehi Haug, co-owner of the bar and owner of the cupcake business.

The Bethel Street Tap Room Facebook page informed followers of the closure and referred them to the bar’s website, where Haug described being “apparently tangled up in a legal lease battle between the primary leaseholder of the space and the landlord.”

“And as subletters, we have no recourse,” she wrote on the website.

City records show the fee owner of the property is 1149 Bethel Street Development LLC, whose officers include several members of the Fullard-Leo family. It is a kamaaina family well known for its former ownership of Palmyra Atoll and other land holdings.

A family representative could not be reached Monday, and no representative of the building’s property management firm was available for comment.

Bethel Street Tap Room opened in late 2014 to positive reviews. It opened for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday, offering hoagie-style sandwiches, burgers, dips and sweets, coffee that was cold-brewed and pumped through the bar’s beer-tap system, and full bar service. Live music also was a regular feature.

Whether Bethel Street Tap Room will reopen, and the time frame of any possible reopening, remain unclear.

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On the Net:

>> betheltap.com

3 responses to “Sudden closure hits Chinatown bar and bakery”

  1. mikethenovice says:

    Most of our buses on O’ahu pass through Chinatown. I always make it part of my day.

  2. allie says:

    sorry to see any business close

  3. honomann says:

    Welcome to business as usual in Hawaii.

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