Pearl City Tavern

"Nothing like it! Only 20 Minutes Drive from Town!"

Pearl City Tavern (1939-July 15th, 1993), aka PCT, was on corner of Kamehameha Highway, Lehua Avenue cat lot and acted as a Pearl City landmark as a popular destination. The first Town & Country Surf Shop was across the street at the time, so the area was filled with shops to go to before or after eating at the restaurant. Guests like KGU Radio (1940’s) had done broadcast shows from Pearl City Tavern with Marie Mitchells or when Johnny Carson came. The shop had its hardships with a fire at the top of roof with the trees, then there was when the waters flooded it in the late 1950’s and was destroyed by a raging mob in the 1970’s.

Mauka of the water was the where the location was where Pan Am Clipper’s could be heard with their propellers thundering and splashes being heard made it seem to present the magic of air travel. Location was everything Pearl Harbor had a landing area for air to water aircrafts. Old plantation style houses would be around the area with many people seeing it as a fancy place that was expensive and not all that accessible to those looking for cheap eats. Girls back then had a saying “If a man took you here there, he was serious”. Many remember it as a great restaurant with one particular waiter that would get everyone’s order on spot no matter the size of the part and had quite the reputation for his memory.

Fukuoka Ohana, in 1939 George & Irene Fukuoka started the restaurant as a small eatery that grew out of its first location with screen doors and a dance floor as a coffee shop. It was so successful it had to move to a larger location with Japanese decor, coin-operated Karaoke machine, and have staff that were beautifully dressed in kimonos or in jackets with ties. The customers over the years had changed and so did the menu to keep up with the times with more of a formal setting and French Bread with a Sushi Bar. The Fukuoka Ohana was making quite the legacy for themselves and one of the Fukuoka Ohana, nephew George H. Matsuoka who was the manager of PCT would open “Little Georges” (1970s) “A Kiss without a mustache” near the airport and then later on a restaurant bar in downtown Honolulu while keeping in touch with the faithful Dohrman Hotel & Restaurant Supply. But thats a story for another time.

The Monkey Bar (40-feet long) with real monkeys that left people remembering the noises of the monkeys and to be the major “watering hole” of the area with many drunkards and brawls between those from the Navy fist fighting those in the Marines. It is said occasionally the monkeys would escape and run loose all over the back part of the restaurant going up electrical poles or into peoples yards with employees running to catch them. Other antics would involve pilots from the Navy who would throw beer at the monkeys and the monkeys would mimic them in return.

People would be mesmerized by the monkeys swinging back and forth while they drank their Zombie, Long Island Ice Tea, Good mai tais, and ate peanuts at the bar, for those who stayed a little to long would see the monkeys doing inappropriate acts of breeding. A joke would be that the glass with the monkeys would be to keep them alive to eat them fresh for monkey meat sashimi, monkey brains like adventure movies, or just to give a strange idea of eating a monkey in general. As time went on the monkeys would be removed, nowadays it is likely there would be public outcry from animal abuse activists, but such times with crazy monkeys have passed.

The Military just loved Pearl City Tavern, many customers came from the us military base stationed servicemen who were at the Pearl City Peninsula area and was revered as a must go to place and later on a War relic that reminds people of the servicemen that went there and how it should have been preserved. Those heading to the Persian Gulf would resupply in Pearl Harbor from ship or Air Craft Carrier would have many hours to wait, so many sailors would look for the famous PCT. The restaurant cared a lot for their clientele regardless of their background and took care of the military with complimentary tokens that when presented came with a special greeting and complimentary drink when presenting the token. The owners helped out when they could with contributing's of 11,000 dollars to the army and navy relief funds.

Inside, it was a place to see monkeys behind a enclosed window by the bar and multiple seating areas for different experiences with interesting things showcased like the biggest Maine lobster, a Asteroid mineral, and a Full set of Samurai Armor. There was a bonsai garden on the rooftop, different dining rooms with different menus, and a sushi bar at the end of its days. People could go in and point at seafood like the lobster in a tank and that is the lobster that would be served to them. The staff would be cleaning the lobster tanks, clean water filters, washed dishes, and feed the monkeys from time to time.

People walking down the street would refer to it as a place to meet and some passing by would peep inside on their way to Parkers (cards store). You could sometimes hear Carol Lee singing there, the Kenny Richards Trio, Kapena, Ray Andrews, Archie Kahanu, Piano players, and other acts to lighten up the evening entertainment of the place.

The Menu, was filled with American, Italian, and Chinese dishes, there were complimentary dish of Fried Wonton for Pupus as well for those who dined in there. If it wasn’t the steak, the seafood, or the elaborate presentation and staff it would be the atmosphere that made it so memorable. But, back to the food, memorable dishes like: deep fried mahi, stuffed lobster, stuffed crab shell, lobster thermidor, teriyaki salmon, teriyaki sirloin steak, steak sandwich, butter scallops, and seashore platter (aka. Pearl City Seashore Pack) mahi mahi, shrimp, and crab, kept people coming back for more. Notable dishes that were a site to see were “The Neptune lobster” ($35.00. 1970s) stuffed with celery, onion, scallops, baby shrimp, crab, mayonnaise, soda crackers, herb and spices. Another one would be the Ice Cream Martini, where the staff would put the bowl of ice cream in a huge martini glass that had green water with dry ice for the smoke effect.

The executive chefs were: Hiyoshi Fukuoka (executive chef) and later on Toshimasa Nomura “Masa” (executive chef, 1966-1993). It was said Masa was serious about hunting rats who entered his kitchen by shooting them to make sure there was no one sick who ate his food.