Columbia Inn: Aloha to a friend and neighbor

It is always sad when a neighbor leaves, particularly a generous and friendly neighbor with whom you have shared years of good times and bad.

And that is precisely how those of us in the News Building feel about the closing of Columbia Inn, the restaurant and watering hole that served generations of news folk, printers, politicians, sports figures and everyday citizens.

(There will still be a second Columbia Inn operating in Kaimuki, but somehow, that’s not the same thing.)

In an era of theme restaurants and theme food, the Columbia Inn under the cheerful (sometimes zany) watch of former owner Fred Kaneshiro and his family was an anomaly. Wandering in for a bowl of oxtail soup or a cold beer was more like dropping by the neighbor’s carport than it was visiting a business.

Over the years, a lot of tall tales were told in the Columbia Inn, a lot of family meals enjoyed and a lot of memories made.

Thanks, Tosh. Aloha.

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