Every year brings sad news that another local restaurant institution has succumbed to changing times. The year opened with the closure of The Willows, which would have been marking its 75th anniversary.

Observing from the Bay Area where he spent 11 years as a computer engineer, Chris Iwamura didn’t want the restaurant his grandparents built, Rainbow Drive-In, to suffer the same fate.

“While I was away I thought of all the places I love, the places I grew up with that are no longer around, Wisteria, Chowder House, even Hee Hing, where my family went every month. I came home in 2015 knowing it was something I had to do.”

Now the third-generation CEO of Rainbow Drive-In, he returned home and started working on his MBA degree at the University of Hawaii to help lead the company into the future. In addition to expanding Rainbow Drive-In’s reach via franchise operations in Pearlridge Center and Liliha, he’s helping other local small businesses grow, via a second concept started by his uncle Jim Gusukuma five years ago, Hawaii’s Favorite Kitchens.

Those favorite kitchens are Rainbow, Poke Stop, Shimazu Shave Ice, KC Waffle Dog and Lin’s Hawaiian Snacks. You can also pick up a Hawaii Nostalgia T-shirt featuring some of Hawaii’s iconic businesses and destinations.

HFK sits next door to the original Rainbow Drive-In off Kapahulu Avenue, and was intended to offer fare different from, but complementary to, Rainbow’s menu of local plate lunches and drive-in standards. It was meant to address several issues, from kitchen capacity, to customers’ evolving tastes, to not wanting to mess with a good thing.

Iwamura said part of Rainbow’s success over 58 years has been consistency. “People come to Rainbow knowing what to expect, and getting what they expect. If I change anything, I hear about it for months.”

He said Hawaii’s Favorite Kitchens offers a safe zone, where executive chef Hiroshi Fukui, formerly of Hiroshi Eurasion Tapas, is able to try new recipes, and where people who want fare different from Rainbow can grab a plate or poke bowl and rejoin friends eating at Rainbow, or vice versa.

A couple of my favorite dishes are Fukui’s healthful smoked salmon and tofu salad ($7) and dry-rub rib plate ($10.95) comprising four pork ribs with choice of white or brown rice, and steamed vegetables or mac salad. An accompanying sweet and mildly spicy BBQ sauce is delicious, but for me, not needed because the ribs already have plenty of flavor.

Among drive-ins lost to time is KC Drive-Inn, but its legacy lives on through the waffle dog ($3.95) now offered at HFK, a double dose of happiness when combined with Rainbow’s meat-and-bean homestyle chili ($4.95). Just don’t ask Iwamura for the batter recipe; it’s still a top secret and batches of it are dropped off by KC Waffle Dog owner Dayton Asato. The grandson of founder Jiro Asato entrusts Rainbow’s staff with the task of making the waffle dogs just as they were made for 71 years, until KC Drive-In closed in 2005.

You may not realize how much you’ve missed this nostalgic treat until you take a bite, then can’t stop eating.

From Rainbow come BBQ pork or beef plates ($8.95 each), boneless chicken with gravy ($8.95), chili ($8), chili dogs ($8.50) and curry chicken ($8.25). In place of mini plates, Rain Bowl options serve those with smaller appetites, priced at about $1.50 less than the plates.

The menu looks small, but there’s actually a lot of ground to cover, especially when it comes to Poke Stop offerings of garlic shrimp ($12.95), smoked meat ($10.95) and crisp tempura eggplant fries ($4.95) — one of the menu standouts.

And it wouldn’t be Poke Stop without a massive bowl of poke. Build your own with one ($10.95) or two ($12.95) selections, or opt for one of Poke Stop chef/owner Elmer Guzman’s creations, such as the Bayou Bowl ($15.95) of tempura soft-shell crab, blackened ahi, spicy crawfish and pickled okra over rice; or the Cali Bowl ($15.95), with creamy ahi, avocado, wonton strips and masago.

Two bowls are offered daily, but if your favorite isn’t on the menu, just ask. If the poke is available among the selections sold per pound (about $18.95), you could build a bowl to order. Choices might include sweet onion ahi, sesame salmon or garlic ahi.

With the recent exit of Mike’s Huli Kitchen, Rainbow is offering its own rotisserie chicken plate ($8.50), with a side of spicy Buffalo wing-style sauce.

Finish with Shimazu’s Shave Ice, though you might want to look out the window before deciding to order. The separate line for shave ice ($5 small, $7 large, $13.75 for “The Larry” extra large) is long when it’s hot. Rainbow colors of strawberry, bubblegum and pineapple are still favorites, but those who prefer something more unique might gravitate to such Shimazu originals as Bananas Foster, Milk Tea Royale or Pistachio Gelato, all true to their namesakes.

HAWAII’S FAVORITE KITCHENS

3111 Castle St. (next to Rainbow Drive-In)

Food: ***

Service: **1/2

Ambiance: **1/2

Value: ***1/2

>> Call: 744-0465

>> Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily

>> Prices: About $25 to $30 for two

Ratings compare similar restaurants:

**** – excellent

*** – very good

** – average

* – below average

Nadine Kam’s restaurant reviews are conducted anonymously and paid for by the Star-Advertiser. Reach her at nkam@staradvertiser.com.