Olohana Brewpub’s Closing Announcement Is a Love Letter and Plea for Chinatown

Photo: Alexander Gates

“Hey everybody, this is Chris down here at Olohana Brewpub in Chinatown,” Chris Cook’s Instagram reel begins. “I wanted to jump up here and give you a message that gives me no pleasure to deliver. Unfortunately, we’re gonna have to stop business operations. Our last day is gonna be May 16.”

Amid closures that have been piling up lately—including longtime stalwarts like Nancy’s Kitchen, Manichi Ramen and Morio’s Sushi Bistro—this announcement stood out. Nine years after opening as Broken Boundary Brewery (later renamed Kalihi Beer) and less than a year after moving to North King Street as Olohana Brewpub, Cook’s full-time passion project is still waiting for the Honolulu Liquor Commission to greenlight its beermaking in Chinatown, he told us. Without Kalihi Beer to serve or distribute, he’s run out of time and money.

“I got into it because we’re so collaborative, you know? Brewers love talking to other brewers,” Cook says. “But from a business perspective—the extra regulations, extra taxes and a lot of limitations on being able to sell your product—I love the beer culture, but I don’t know if it’s the business for me.”

What sets his announcement apart? After explaining the reason behind the closure, Cook shifts the narrative and talks about Chinatown—the neighborhood’s businesses, new markets and festivals, even his landlord. Through his eyes, Chinatown becomes a multitude of passion projects like Olohana, independent and hopeful and personal, a hotpot of entrepreneurial Hawai‘i. “This isn’t Cheesecake Factory,” he says and asks us to support them.

This was the heart of a message delivered at a business’s most devastating juncture, and in journalism terms, it nearly buried the lede. We asked Cook for permission to reprint it. Here’s the Instagram message he posted last Wednesday, edited only for brevity.

SEE ALSO: Kalihi Beer Returns as Olohana Brewpub in Chinatown

“There’s a thousand different reasons why a business fails. Certainly a lot of ‘em I’ll look back on and see what I could’ve done better. But in the end, really the circumstance we couldn’t overcome is we are not currently permitted to manufacture beer. We’re permitted to sell alcohol, but we’re not permitted to manufacture. Without being able to make our primary product, we don’t have the resources to carry on.

So our plan is to stay open every day except for Thursday, right up until Saturday, May 16. I hope you guys will come down and have another pint. We’ll have a band playing, Butter Side Down has become our house band, they’re gonna be grooving out. Hope you guys will check that out.

Photo: Alexander Gates

I just, I want to shout out Chinatown. Talking to a lot of people, Chinatown has a bit of a reputation. But I just want to take a moment, let you know a couple of things. I’ve worked with a few landlords. The landlord here has been one of the most understanding, graceful, caring businesspeople I’ve met in this city. They’ve really worked to try and help make this place successful, selflessly.

I’ve lived in Honolulu for 18 years now, longer than anywhere else. When I look around and reflect on the experience I’ve had in the past year in Chinatown, there are some amazing, wonderful things you don’t see anywhere else. The open-air markets, fish markets, the produce you can’t get at grocery stores. And the people. Honolulu and Hawai‘i are celebrated as being multicultural. You really see that coming together in Chinatown.

I see a lot of incredibly creative, passionate people plying their trade down here, whether it’s restaurants, bartenders, coffee shops. There’s so much vibrance. There’s a lot of art. Come check out first Friday, it’s incredible. And the city’s done some work to open up Fort Street to some more activities. Come check out these night markets they’re doing, these festivals, they’re a lot of fun. Chinatown’s coming back.

I hope you guys will support these businesses because this isn’t corporate, man. This isn’t Cheesecake Factory. This is people who are really putting their hearts and wallets on the line trying to do something amazing for this city, and they deserve your support.

SEE ALSO: Will Restaurants Ever Be the Same?

As for us, it’s with a bit of a heavy heart that we’re closing down. We’ve been making Kalihi Beer for six years. We’ve made some great beers, we’ve made some incredible lifelong friends.

I’m gonna miss you guys. I’m gonna miss this business. I’m gonna miss making beer. I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family, and that’s the silver lining for me.

Alright, you guys, please come down and say hello and say goodbye. I really look forward to seeing you.

Mahalo.”

96 N. King St., Chinatown, @olohanabrewpub

Mari Taketa is editor of Frolic Hawai‘i and dining editor of HONOLULU Magazine.