The last call
The eatery with the '50s look and
By Mary Adamski
friendly feel closes after 47 years
Star-BulletinWaitress Nani Wolfe put in the breakfast orders for her early-morning regulars as soon as she saw them parking their car outside Kelly's Coffee and Pastry Shop, following the pattern of her 30 years on duty. Regular customer Charles Narvaez didn't have to say a word before finding his usual drink in front of him as soon as he slid onto a stool at the Bronco Bar yesterday.
Alas, the restaurant was sold out of hot dogs when 6-year-old Bennette Hose came in for his after-school grinds. But great-grandparents Benny and Audrey Mangrobang promised to bring him back this morning for pancakes.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Customer Mark Hanna gets a hug from Mary Cesar
in the Bronco Bar.
Today will be the last call for them all as the airport-area landmark closes after 47 years. It's been a month of nostalgic "one last time at Kelly's" for customers since Nittaku Investment Co. announced its closing. The action leaves only two of the 24 former Spencecliff restaurants still in operation by the Japanese company, which bought the chain in 1986.People waited for an hour to get in on the weekend as three generations of customers made a final stop for the blueberry pancakes, the fried rice combination and the old-time Hawaii favorite of canned corned beef, cabbage and onions on rice. Unfortunately for the neighborhood-style eatery in the midst of the industrial and commercial bustle of Mapunapuna, it was the first time in months or years that some folks had made that stop.
"When people say, 'I used to come,' I say where have you been, we could have used you," said assistant manager Rose Spilliard. Like many of the 65 employees, she is a longtime Spencecliff veteran. Spilliard came to Kelly's 24 years ago but started with Spencecliff 44 years ago. "I started at 75 cents an hour in 1954 at Hickam, where Spencecliff ran the dining room and cafeteria in the MATS (Military Air Transport Service) terminal."
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Darling Collado, Marcie Muneoka and Danny Ramos
squeeze together for a picture yesterday.
"This is my family," said teary-eyed Spilliard, whose children and grandchildren live on the mainland. "These people did so much for me when I had a stroke in 1995."Audrey Mangrobang said: "We feel like we belong in here." She and Benny have a history with the place that goes back to when it included a drive-in and they were courting. She recalls one time when the cook left the meat patty out of Benny's hamburger, and in an argument worthy of a lawyer, he pointed to the crisp lettuce and unsullied bun as evidence to persuade the waitress he hadn't just scarfed it up.
Kelly's became part of the couple's life again last year -- after years of absence -- because they deliver their great-grandson to nearby St. John the Baptist School. Benny Mangrobang's favorite breakfast special carries a title that amuses veterans of military mess halls who know the translation. The "SOS" features crumbled hamburger in a cream sauce over toast.
"This is a nice place to hang out, our home away from home," said
Gabby Townsend, enjoying the last happy hour at the Bronco Bar, which featured live country music for years and karaoke for the past 10 or so. Many of the cowboy-theme decorations -- stirrups, lassos, photos of the wild west -- have disappeared in the past few weeks, taken as souvenirs.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Waitress Nani Wolfe, left and manager Trini La Rosa.
Townsend regaled the afternoon bar crowd with the tale of the time she took the gun from a would-be robber. "I'll never forget the day, Jan. 10, 1985. This guy told the bartender it was a holdup. I backed off and told a customer. He told me to move aside, he was a karate expert. He got the guy, and I was the one who took the gun." Townsend, who formerly worked in the bar as a waitress and a bartender, flew over from her home in Kona to spend the last couple of days at Kelly's."This is one of the last local bars you can come to. They should keep it going," Narvaez said. "All kinds of people come in. After two or three times, you were a friend of a friend."
Narvaez, a former truck driver, said he remembers coming to Kelly's for breakfast and parking his rig alongside the road.
Now the freeway buzzes overhead, and there's no parking or pausing as traffic on Nimitz Highway whizzes past.
Retired Air Force Col. George Howes was going to the airport with his family, and they did the traditional stop for lunch before traveling home to Kansas City. His choice was the chili rice. Howes was a customer in the 1960s and again in the 1980s when he headed the Air Force ROTC at University of Hawaii. "We came when you were a little kid," he told son Steve Howes of Honolulu and ordered him to return today, when the menus were to be given away.
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
"This is my family," said assistant manager Rose Spilliard.
Wolfe, who started work at Kelly's in 1968, remembered a serviceman who came back after 10 years and asked her if she remembered what he always ordered. "Yes I do, shrimp fried rice. It's still the same, but the price is double," she told him.She says coffee was a dime per cup in 1968. Saimin was 65 cents and apple pie, 60 cents. "My starting pay was $1.25 an hour."
She, too, has a robbery tale from about 15 years ago. She saw a man who had just robbed the cashier running out the door.
"I thought the guy was running out on my check, so I followed him outside and so did the manager. He had a gun on me. I backed in the door and wrote down his license number. They caught the guys, and I picked them out in a line up."
By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Customers grab a last meal at the counter.
"The manager would call me on my time off and say we need help. So I'd bring my boys, and they sat in the back while I worked. We all say our kids grew up at Kelly's," Wolfe said.The family atmosphere that attracted customers also kept the staff stable and close knit, she said.
"We still have the rule, you cannot fraternize with the customers. If we're pau work, we can't go drink in the bar. I agree with that. It's a bad image."
Wolfe said she has always worn fresh flowers in her hair and still sports her Spencecliff name badge. "I always said, they never sold me; they sold the company. Now I'm sold."
