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When I was old enough to have a few bucks in my pocket to go out to eat, I often found myself at a Spencecliff restaurant. The food was good. The service was fast and the price was reasonable. At one time the company had over 50 restaurants with annual sales over $40 million and employed over 1,700.
I’ve written about some of them in the past, like the Ranch House, Tahitian Lanai, Queen’s Surf and Kelly’s Coffee Shop, but recently heard some stories about some of their lesser-known establishments.
The Skyroom
One of Spencecliff’s earliest restaurants, the Skyroom, opened in 1948 at the old airport terminal building on Lagoon Drive. It had a fancy restaurant, a 24-hour coffee shop, and bar for those waiting for a flight to arrive or depart, or those who liked to watch planes land and take off.
The Skyroom offered some of Hawaii’s top entertainers, such as Andy Cummings (“Waikiki”). Spence Weaver said thousands of tourists passed through the airport daily, and hearing beautiful Hawaiian music as soon as they got off the plane welcomed them to Honolulu.
Its bar was called the Short Snorter. A short snorter is a bank note, such as a $1 bill, that is signed in ink by people traveling together by plane. The practice began in Alaska in the 1920s and conveyed good luck.
In 1955 the Hawaii Aeronautics Commission wanted to expand the small air terminal facilities from Lagoon Drive across the airport to build an expansive new terminal, Willson Moore says.
“I was the deputy attorney general when Spence Weaver appeared before the HAC in 1959 to discuss his plans for restaurant facilities in the new terminal.
“Weaver must have thought the Skyroom automatically gave him preference. He was much taken aback when informed that such concessions by statute had to be put out to competitive bid.
“My memory is that a very vocally disappointed Spence Weaver did not even bid for the restaurant facilities in the new airport, which opened in the fall of 1962.”
The winning bidder was Hosts International from California. The lights in the Skyroom went dark.
Choir practice
Not far from the airport was Spencecliff’s Senor Popo’s Mexican restaurant, Kevin Connelly said. It was next to another Spencecliff restaurant, the South Seas, now a Kia dealer at Nimitz Highway and Lagoon Drive.
“In the 1980s and 1990s, it was the watering hole of choice for pilots and air traffic controllers.
“I was a pilot. I flew for Royal Hawaiian Air Service, then Hawaiian Air. I retired in 2005.
“Many pilot/controller friendships were made or renewed there over a pitcher of beer and the self-serve unlimited popcorn. You would know there was going to be a get-together there when you heard the following on the tower ATC frequency.”
Pilot: “Are you going to ‘choir practice’ tonight?” Tower: “What time does it start again?”
Pilot: “6 p.m. Spread the word.” Tower: “Will see you then.”
“We had wonderful times, and like all Spencecliff restaurants, it was impossible to have a bad meal there.
“Fats was the bartender and Danny was his assistant. Danny was working on his pilot ratings. After landing on the wrong runway one day, the tower controller asked, ‘Is this Danny?’
“Danny was too embarrassed to admit landing on the wrong runway, so he blurted out, ‘No, this is … Roy,’ which didn’t fool the tower controller at all.
“From then on, whenever Danny was working during ‘choir practice,’ the controllers would greet him with, ‘Hey Roy, how’s it going?’”
Down Under Bar
Louise Saffery asked: “Do you know anything about a Spencecliff lounge called the Down Under Bar? It was located on the ground floor of Ala Moana Center on the makai side, next to Sears.
“There was a cafeteria-type restaurant next to it that was brightly lit. I had my first vodka gimlet there after I arrived in Hawaii in late 1967. Maybe some readers might remember it and have some stories.”
Some did. The Down Under Bar was part of the Ala Moana Coffee Shop. It was open from 1961 until 1985.
Skip Lambert said, “The Down Under Bar was the darkest cocktail lounge I have ever been in. It was well known as the perfect spot, halfway between Waikiki and downtown for business types from one side ‘taking a meeting’ at the other, to stop off for a discreet jolt or two.”
Gordy Fowler recalls that the “Down Under Bar was a great hideaway at Ala Moana. Along with Kelly’s by the airport, at least one day a week they served humongous corned beef sandwiches, and was a regular stop for those of us that had weekdays off. We washed it down with Foster’s (‘Australian for beer’), as I recall.”
Pioneer Inn
Most Spencecliff restaurants were on Oahu, but they had some on Maui and Tahiti as well. Marc Massanari remembers the Pioneer Inn. “They had the house rules from 1901 posted on the door. They were pretty funny, but I can’t remember most of them. Maybe your readers will recall.”
The Pioneer Inn is the oldest hotel on Maui. Rick Towill told me that the inn was built from dismantled sections of the Maunalei Sugar Co.’s store on Lanai. They were floated on rafts to Lahaina, then hammered together again to become the Pioneer Inn.
It opened in 1901 and had some interesting rules, which they keep posted in the lobby for laughs. They are unedited: House Rules of 1901
You must pay you rent in advance.
You must not let you room go one day back.
Women is not allow in you room.
If you wet or burn you bed you going out.
You are not allow to gambel in you room.
You are not allow to give you bed to you freand.
If you freand stay overnight you must see the mgr.
You must leave you room at 11 a.m. so the women can clean you room. Only on Sunday you can sleep all day.
You are not allow in the down stears in the seating room or in the dine ring room or in the kitchen when you are drunk.
You are not allow to drink on the front porch.
You must use a shirt when you come to the seating room.
If you can’t keep this rules, please don’t take the room.
Pioneer Inn opened in 1901 with 14 rooms, right on the waterfront. Spencecliff bought it in 1965 and added two wings to the structure with 32 new rooms. It added a swimming pool and outdoor dining area.
Gordy Fowler said: “I was a young lad working at a dive shop and living the dream in Lahaina in the early 1970s.
“Breakfast was the social event of the morning. I’ll bet that half the town stopped at the Pioneer Inn’s lanai for breakfast, read the morning paper, took in the town gossip and planned the day.
“As all Spencecliff places, it was good food and affordable. Same menu as Tops, Coco’s and the rest. Served by a great bunch of gals.
“After work the bar was only a 50-yard walk from the boat for cocktails. It was a ‘burn your own steaks’ place, too, and often a better bet for dinner than home.
“Lahaina town is different now but was pretty magical then. I miss it.”
Fisherman’s Wharf
“My mom worked in the Spencecliff accounting department,” Randy Hiraki said, “and would visit the various restaurants from time to time.
“My best memory was her stint at Fisherman’s Wharf at Kewalo Basin. One of the chefs there was named ‘Subby’ (short for Subaro, I believe). When I’d stop by occasionally after UH classes, Subby would whip up a triple decker king crab and bacon sandwich, with thick fries on the side. It was heavenly!
“But what I’ve always remembered is the lobster thermidor that was served at dinner. I managed to extract the recipe through my mom and ended up re-creating it for dinner with two lovely coeds, whom I have unfortunately lost touch with but likely read this column.
“Alas, over 50 years ago, at Fort Belvoir, Va., I lent the recipe to someone and never retrieved it in my haste to respond to sudden orders to Nam and Korea. I have been in mourning ever since!”
Gordy Fowler, who apparently has been to every Spencecliff restaurant, remembers Fisherman’s Wharf. “It was an ‘office’ for all of us that ran boats there, and my mom and grandmother’s favorite place for lunch.
“The gals that worked there, I am told, were predominantly Italian war brides. They married guys from the 442nd who brought them to Hawaii ‘from the old country.’ What a great bunch!”
Did you work at or patronize a Spencecliff restaurant? If so, tell me what it was like.
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Bob Sigall is the author of the five “Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
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