Fast forward 50 years later and a still-spunky octogenarian has become a local cultural icon. Matsuo is known for his quirky poetry, his singing and his ukulele playing. He's even known as the "Statesman of Goodwill of Hawaii," a title bestowed upon him when Governor Linda Lingle took office. All this and yet he's still best known for taking saimin to a different level, earning him the nickname "Mistah Saimin."

"My first week, nobody told me that the rent was due," Matsuo recalled of his early days at Hula Hula. "And the following week it was payroll. But I managed to pay everyone, including my landlord."

Each week, the then-35-year-old Matsuo would squirrel away profits, while paying down the inherited $50,000 deficit.

"It took two years to climb out of debt," Matsuo said. "But I paid every one dollar for dollar. I never ran scared because I was too busy cooking, managing the restaurant, washing dishes and running errands."

These days, when Matsuo isn't racing around town visiting his four restaurants and talking story with his customers — or his friends as he likes to consider many of them — he's traveling across the Islands and to Japan performing his duties as "Statesman."

During his spare moments, he writes verses and strums his ukulele at special events. He also recently sponsored a DOE-sanctioned poetry contest involving Oahu teens in grades 11 and 12.

"He'll never slow down," chuckled Jeannie Matsuo, Shiro's niece, who was one of the judges for the poetry contest. "This is what gives life to what he does. And I hope he never stops."

As long as kamaaina continue to eat saimin, Shiro's restaurants can be assured of their longevity.

"This is my legacy," Matsuo quipped. "I believed in what I was doing when I took over Hula Hula. And I've never stopped believing."

This belief has been passed down to daughter Linda Matsuo, who now oversees all of the four restaurants' day-to-day operations.

"We're not fine-dining food," she said. "We offer comfort food for the everyday person."

Lately, those average Joes and Janes have found solace in the fried-rice adobo ($8.45), a mound of rice that's tented with a flattened omelet then served with lean cuts of pork adobo on the side. This is true homestyle comfort food.

"We can't make enough of this over the weekend," Linda Matsuo said, smiling and shaking her head in disbelief. "It has become one of our best sellers."

After 50 years of being in business, Shiro Matsuo still stands tall.

(Bowls of saimin range from $3 to $8.)

Other local-style favorites include broke-da-mouth "local boy" beef stew, barbecue short ribs, "Chop Along Steak" and the "Not-so-Famous" oxtail soup.