Yay for Zippy's!

Last week, Zippy's cut prices on its dine-in menu. The changes affect about half the menu items, with prices reduced 50 cents to over a dollar.

Saving some coins on a teri chicken plate might not pull anyone out of the recession, but it is the socially conscious thing to do for a business that built an empire on hungry construction workers, busy families, starving students and old dudes who can nurse a cup of coffee for three hours every morning.

There are people who eat at Zippy's every day and sometimes twice. For some, it has become the family kitchen table where conflicts are resolved, plans are made, sorrows are soothed. Victories have been celebrated there. Master plots have been hatched there. Sometimes, on a hard day, only a Zip Min can bring comfort, your tears falling in the salty broth.

The way the price cuts were announced was notable in that it didn't have that air of desperation. The company said they had gone through a concerted effort to lower costs and wanted to pass on part of that savings to its customers. It was a very different vibe than the many businesses suddenly courting local customers after ignoring Hawai'i residents for years while fawning over tourists. In those cases, there's always the suspicion that once tourism picks up, those businesses will put their kama'aina appreciation back in storage. But Zippy's is always Zippy's.

Zippy's has never lost touch with its customer base. Maybe the chili isn't exactly the same way it was 30 years ago, but it's not radically different either. It's always the same color brown. It's always the same consistency (not as thick as beef stew, thicker than clam chowder) and the same level of spicy. With the loss of family restaurants like Wisteria and Kelly's and Columbia Inn, so much about Zippy's is comforting in its familiarity.

At the same time, Zippy's has managed to stay relevant by introducing new menu items (karaage chicken! 'Ono and fun to say!) and services. Thirty years ago, the idea of picking up a pupu platter on the way to your friend's party was unheard of. Everybody rolled their own maki sushi and battered their own katsu strips at home. But now, a party is hardly a party without a round plastic tray of Zippy's teri beef, chicken katsu, Portuguese sausage, mahi and shoyu hot dog (affectionately known as "pupu platter #1")

Every restaurant has been affected by the economy. Some are handling it more gracefully than others. Thankfully, Zippy's is stepping up so we can drown our sorrows in a mahi plate or chef's salad.