The Sky Room

"The Crossroads of the Pacific, Affordable Luxuries, and Cosmopolitan Pleasures"

In the 1920's, there was a growing demand for air travel with aviation technology finally taking off so to speak. People were wanting to travel by air and it increased inn popularity where there was a need for a larger airport with the necessary facilities to accommodate larger aircraft for both visitors and the military. The construction of John Rogers Field was also part of a broader effort to establish Honolulu as a major hub for trans-Pacific flights. The Territory of Hawaii named it after the World War I aviator “John Rogers” who did the first non-stop flight to Hawaii from California to Hawaii in 1925 and was a recognizable name in Aviation history. The same year the Territory used funds to establish an airport with a single runway and was critical in the war effort during World War 2 where it was designated “Naval Air Station Honolulu” where it was run by the United States Navy branch. It would be a hub of aviator activity, place of entertainment, commercial airport, and a barracks of soldiers.

After the War 1940’s, Old Honolulu Airport, the Coffee Shop would be built there through the transition of John Rodger Field changing its name to Honolulu Airport (HNL) in 1947. The Navy was transitioning the ownership and usage of the runways that were built to a more commercial facility that would be looking towards commercial tourism as an industry and in 1947 named “Honolulu Airport” and today people refer to it as the “Old Honolulu Airport” where it was known as the “Crossroads of the Pacific”. Spence was well aware that the coffee shop was a surplus of Navy buildings that needed to be transitioned from wartime use to peacetime use and the story of the establishment would reflect that. This place was called “The Skyroom” and was at the old airport terminal building on Lagoon Drive that was open all hours of the day. There were two directions that the menu could take with the more safe American food for the military and visitors or the other option was to serve local food that was a bit more of an island-flavor. Respecting both tastes Spence would go on to sort of have most of the menu be safe with small parts that were region specific to get people to know its not all the same food when they come to Hawaii.

The Sky Room became a beloved part of the Airport experience where palm trees were outside surrounding the outdoor seating around a centered umbrella with windows all around. This was when the whole family would go to the airport when another family went to fly hearing those noises of the jets with people breathing in the fuel fumes and all that. Afterwards, they'd head to the Sky Room since there were no concessions, no fast food vendors, and no other restaurants. One one side there was The Sky Room restaurant and the other side the Sky Lounge was the place for alcoholic drinks, a good smoke, and a place employees would kill time till they had to head back to work. It was one of Spence Weaver's earliest restaurants and would also be a Catering Service to the Airlines. It was said “Light and Fancy dining from the far corners of the earth the sky room brings you”.

With the familiarity of the menus that the brothers had established at the airport with the Military and the Travelers there was a steady flow of people going in to get their food, but it didn’t stop there as Spence Weaver would negotiate with the airlines to get contracts to do the food catering for the Airlines.  Airline passengers from ten major airlines would be eating food from the Sky Room that allowed it to expand and grow in menu sizes and offerings as it started having a vast menu of continental food with slight touches to local tastes here and there. The accounts that they had would include: American Airlines, Japan Airlines JAL, Canadian Pacific, Qantas and Air New Zealand.

"I came back here and the first thing I did was grab the airport. It was still under the Navy, but somebody said that the restaurant was in excess of the Navy's war needs, so we got the old coffee shop to start with. Later we enlarged it and called it the Sky Room and that was the main feeding operation for the terminal until the new terminal that's there today was built. We also had an Inter-Island coffee shop on the other side which was down where the present terminal is now. We took over Hickam field again--the MATS (Military Air Transport Command) terminal." -Spence Weaver

Spence Weaver went on to enlarge the Sky room to become the main place to go for feeding operations for the terminal and upgraded the old coffee shop where it was on the other side of the terminal. The glossed wooden tables would have stainless steel cup holders that were a bit abstract that held cold drinks or a hot drink that could be held without worry. The waitresses had these woven hats with a sky blue tinted band around it, all the while wearing the sky blue color waitress uniform of the time with contrasting to some whites at the collar and sleeves. The menu would develop over time and it at one point featured items that were served at the Swanky Franky like the Swanky Freeze made with Ice Milk and came in the flavors of Lime, Orange, Cherry, Guava, and Papaya. Things from the Fountain were featured too with: Swanky Cones, Mile High Cones, Swanky Malts, Swanky Shakes, with Ice Cream Sundaes.

It was natural that they would have a Good Morning! Breakfast Menu! That was served real late at night from 11:00pm for those who worked the graveyard shift or early mornings their breakfasts started at the odd hours. But they were thankful that breakfast was served until 11:00 am the next day where they could get a breakfast plate from the grill, some juice and fruit, or even hotcakes if that's what they fancied. There was also a A La Carte Special Menu that was served 24 hours a day and that had a bunch of items on it: Favorites were the Char-broiled Fresh Island Fish with Lemon butter that people would order with the Deep-fried Ocean Scallops with the tartar sauce, Char-broiled Sugar Cured Ham Steak, Shrimp Tempura, or the Half-Chicken Southern Fried with Country Gravy that came with Rice or Potatoes and a Hot Roll with Butter with a side of Vegetables.

The Day Menu had a Sandwich Station on the menu was under “Sandwich Specials” where there were several burgers that were Char-Broiled Beef Steak Ground (4oz) on a butter-toasted sesame seed bun with all the fixins: lettuce, tomato, crunchy pickle, bermuda onion, and relish surrounded by crinkle-cut french fried potatoes (aka. French fries). French Bread Sandwiches had a classic New Orleans Poor Boy, Italian Poor Boy, or a choice of Triple-Decker Sandwiches like the ClubHouse Sandwich or a Deep-fried Guava Monte Cristo Club. The original for the place that it was known for was those Hawaii sandwiches the “Flying Saucers” that were out of this world as a play on the namesake of Hawaii UFOs or festival food that people use to put all sorts of things in them: the ones on the menu were Ham & Cheese, Teriyaki Steak (Cheese on request), Bacon Egg, Creamed Tuna, but some of the employees filled em with Chili, corned beef & cheese, or hamburger & cheese. 

The atmosphere was relaxing in the morning to the day as it had the fragrance of leis, complimentary juice dispensers, melodious Hawaiian music, lovely hula dancers, and cocktails at Sky Lounge. And at night things started to get lively and it was really fun with the entertainment and drinks. The message to people would get from The Sky Room was that it was a exotic place, enjoyment of the best kind, and a safe place with protection for a place of relaxation and enjoyment of the demands of world travelers. There was a Dining Room, The Lanai, Sky Room Bar, Coffee Shop, and Side Bar (Short Snorter Bar). 

In 1950’s, the Airport had an expansion of a new terminal that Spence Weaver was interested in meeting with the Hawaii Aeronautics Commission to discuss the details of it with the expectation of having the first chance at being placed there.

The Menu would be separated from the Inter-Island Coffee Shop and Cocktail Lounge and the Sky Room would offer a more complete meal, but both would be places to go to and be part of the pre-flight experience at the airport with a Spencecliff presence. The themes would be a section of Sandwiches, Carving Station, Fountain for Drinks (Freezes, Malts, Shakes, Double Dip Ice Cream Sodas, Sundaes, Freezes) with flavors like Lime, Orange, Cherry, Guava, and Papaya. The Specials they would have would be: Char-Broiled Fresh Island Fish with Lemon Butter, Char-Broiled Fresh Ground Steak, Deep Fried Scallops with Tartar Sauce, Shrimp Tempura with Tempura Sauce (Oriental Sauce), Fried Pork Chops with Apple Sauce, Char-broiled Caramelized Premium Ham Steak with Fresh Eggs and Hashbrowns Buttered Toast Jelly and Coffee.    

The Sandwiches would be: Sky Room Char-Broiled Steak Burger (lettuce, tomato, crispy kosher pickle, relish, onion, in a basket of french fried potatoes). Char-Broiled Carved Steak Sandwich, Hot-carved Roast Beef Gravy Sandwich, Hot-carved Baked Ham Gravy Sandwich, Hot-carved Corned Beef Slaw Sandwich, Hot-carved Roast Turkey Gravy Sandwich, Guava Monte Cristo Three-Decker, Louisiana Poor Boy, Italian Poor Boy (sliced hard salami, swiss cheese, meat sauce, french bread, greens, suzy-q-potatoes), Ham Cheese Flying Saucer (UFOs), Teriyaki Steak Cheese Flying Saucer, Bacon Egg Cheese Flying Saucer, Creamed Tuna Vegetable Filling Flying Saucer, served with salad and mashed potatoes or french fried potatoes or crinkle cut fries.