Patti’s Chinese Kitchen

“More Great Food than you can Shake a Chopstick at!”

Patti’s Chinese Kitchen (1967-2008), was located in Ala Moana and known for being one of the local cornerstones of the brand-new concept of fast-casual Local Hawaii-Chinese Cuisine (Local-Cantonese) that featured plate lunch, platter selections, and had its original location at Ala Moana makai side near EKI Cyclery back then and it was near the parking lot where people could smell the roasts outside the doors and there was always a line. This would before it moved to the food court and its subsidiaries popped up: Ala Moana “Makai Market”, Kahala Mall, Pearl Ridge Phase 1, and Windward Mall Kaneohe (Lau Ohana). People would ditch school, come on the bus lines, and staff from nearby businesses would flock for the great value of food quantities and the price. The Local Hawaii-Chinese flavors defined Hawaii’s Chinese food from other places around the world like Hong Kong and California (United States). 

Chun Ohana, Calvin Chew Sun Chun (owner. 1914-2011) and Thelma (wife. bookkeeper), had a legacy with Capital Enterprises where he would be known in the world of food business for pioneering the concept of fast-casual in Hawaii with high-quality and low-cost philosophy to get more people fed. Some how they still turned a profit with much of the food being prepared in a kitchen-warehouse (Makaloa Street) and against all odds they had succeeded, which came to a surprise to the growing number of cynics of competing businesses. The businesses were often named after his family: Patti’s Chinese Kitchen (Patti “Chun” Louie), Lynn’s Delicatessen (Lynnette Chun), and Bella Italian that set the standard for fast-food in Hawaii and dominated Ala Moana Shopping Center. Other owned businesses were: Smitty’s Pancake House. 

The Makai Market Food Court would be set to open the summer of 1988 and Patti’s Chinese Kitchen would be set to move and Calvin Chun would be looking for a way to make the place stick out. The person who designed Patti’s Chinese Kitchen and Lynn’s Delicatessen would be Paul Louie who would go on to set the mood of many of the looks of the food courts in that era in Hawaii. Inside there was a long skinny room where everything was behind glass and on steam tables with the starches, the food entrees, and the dim sum. There were tiles that were red and black, more steamers with manapua, and a metal railing guide to follow on the way to the register at the end of the line where they asked "Fork? Chopstick?". People who remember it have nice thoughts of getting their white tea cookie or choice-plate with the local charm and the particular look of the area as it functioned so differently from the rest with its much more casual and layed back local vibe.

The menu would be set up with the class plates that were getting more well known, like Princess Plate (2 selections with 1 starch), Prince Plate (3 selections with 1 starch), King Plate (4 selections with 1 starch). The look had the roasts hanging with the char siu, duck, chicken, and it would be chopped up on the spot and placed in red foil bags that were filled with the meat so it would be warm and tasty when it was brought home. Anxious teenagers and college students who were pinching pennies would always be waiting for the later hours of Patti’s Chinese Kitchen, due to the well known closing prices. Near closing they would sell their plates for 50% off, where those who would be called “being chang” would go get their food, which would also lead to less food waste at the end of the shift. While employees would laugh or grumble about it they knew it would be better than throwing the food away, so they would deal with it. But, who could resist the five spice smell of the red roasted ducks hanging up with the aroma of Hawaii Chinese food filling the outside of their place.

Back in the day, Ala Moana a place targeted towards locals and not so much Tourism was a real treasure back in the day you could eat at all sorts of places they were all lined up in a row, italian, mexican, Hawaii breakfast, Ice Cream, American Burgers “whatever the heart wen desire”. The line was always long, residents and workers in the mall knew it as a regular place that was, yet highly regarded with prices that were affordable and volumes plentiful as the local restaurant standard in the islands. Those who lived nearby would often make it a weekly thing to go there and eat in front of the shop, even those far away would go holo holo (cruise) on the bus to go to Ala Moana just to get some of that tasty Patti’s plate.

No to Franchising, the Chun Ohana were thinking of mainland-franchising with the headquarters being at Ala Moana Center as “Patti’s University” as a training site for employees and franchisee owners, but in the end the family decided against it. It seemed like a time that would be good for expansion and so the business decision to open up other locations would be in the future entrepreneurship of the Chun Ohana, but the increase of catering towards tourism in ways of food and direction would not be something that was predicted in the 1990s. It would lead to progressive raises in rent that would make it harder for local businesses to stay in business and mostly encourage outside business investment with larger pockets to go to the malls with aesthetics of the abstract and the luxurious than it did with local brands and the residents. The visitors who came to Hawaii were not only the usual tourists, but people looking for new ways to push chinese food, such as “Andrew Cheng” and the Cheng Family that would later on implement many of the same business concepts and strategies for their restaurants back in California. 

Invasion of Panda Express, Andrew Cheng (Owner of Panda Express), would go to Patti’s Chinese Kitchen in Ala Moana and saw the operation and saw nothing else like it on the mainland and he believed it was going to take off in the rest of the United States in the ways of food service. Patti’s was seen as the Mom and Pop store of all Mom and Pop stores in the world and Cheng would take that opportunity and changed his sit-down restaurant “Panda Inn” California-Mandarin Cuisine (1973) into a take-out service when offered a chance at opening a restaurant in Glendale Galleria. This would be “Panda Express” (1983) that was based on the Patti’s Chinese Kitchen model Hawaii-Cantonese Cuisine, which brought in great success and would gain great investment and would open up many locations in Hawaii. As a Panda Express would open it would take away many customers from the mainland who were familiar with the chain and had more money to spend, but Patti’s had its local customer base that spent less and preferred the flavor it provided over Panda Express the mainland invading company. To Locals, Patties was nicknamed “The Original Panda Express”, Long before Panda Express, Patti's was the go to place for Chinese Food! Panda Express is a pale imitation of how good Patti's was. There was tense discussions over soda and plate lunch of Hawaii-Cantonese Cuisine Vs California-Mandarin Cuisine.

Patti’s Chinese Kitchen menu, when people went to find their food they would be looking for that a roasted duck, maybe veggie tempura, or possibly kau yuk if they were up to it. Starches: Chow Funn, Fried Rice, White Rice. Other menu items include: Shrimp Roll in Canton Sauce, Sweet Sour Pork, Spring Rolls, Duck Rolls, Oyster Rolls, Pork Roll in Canton Sauce, Steam or Baked Manapua, Pork Hash, Seafood Hash (Seafood Balls), Pickled Pigs Feet, Won Ton, Gau Gee, Crab Canton, Beef Tomato, Chinese Chicken Salad, Pork Watercress, Shoyu Chicken, Honey Twist, Almond Cookies, Coconut Gin Dui, Brown Sugar Rice Cake, Chinese Wedding Cake.