Restaurateur Charlotte 'Peaches' Guerrero dies
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Charlotte "Peaches" Guerrero, who with her husband Tony owned and operated three Tropics restaurants for about 40 years in Hawai'i, died Feb. 23 in her Honolulu home.
Her niece, Tracy McCalla, said Guerrero was born Oct. 9, but would not say how old she was. "It was her own private little secret, so I'm keeping it that way," she said.
Charlotte "Peaches" Guerrero operated three restaurants with her husband.
Guerrero was working in the movie industry in Hollywood when she met her husband, who owned the Hawaiian Hut restaurant in the 1930s.
They bought a restaurant called the Waffle Shop on Kalakaua Avenue, redecorated and renamed it the Tropics. In 1954, the couple opened their second restaurant, Tropics Ala Moana on Kona Street where the Ala Moana Hotel is today.
They opened the Tropics-Lanai in Hilo in 1958.
The Guerreros traveled the world, and Peaches once shot a 350-pound tiger while on safari. The animal was stuffed and put on display in the Ala Moana bar. She was the only woman member of the Mzuri Safari Club of San Francisco.
"She had quite a life, she was a big game hunter in Africa," McCalla said. "She was quite an awesome little gal."
In the Ala Moana restaurant's heyday, Hollywood stars and local business entrepreneurs were regular patrons. John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Jane Russell and Johnny Weismuller all stopped by. Henry Kaiser is said to have drawn up his plans for the Hawaiian Village on their tablecloths and Neal Blaisdell campaigned for office there.
The Tropics was known for its prime rib, which was covered with 2 inches of rock salt and roasted for hours. Their martini, popular during women's lunches before shopping trips, was served in a 2-ounce glass decanter in a bowl full of crushed ice with a silver rim.
In 1954, the couple took cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and added French dishes to their menus, but they did not prove popular.
The couple scaled back to just the Ala Moana location, which closed in 1968 with the planned hotel taking over the property. The next day they opened the Tropics Salad Dressing manufacturing plant at Ala Moana Farmers Market. That business was sold in 1983.
Tony died in 1985.
A memorial service for Peaches will be held at 9 a.m. Friday at the Outrigger Canoe Club.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice Hawai'i, the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association of Hawai'i or the Hawaiian Humane Society.
