Aloha KBAT FANS…

I hope you are well. And if you are reading from the mainland, I hope you are safe and that your city is peaceful. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any more bizarre…here we are!

Often I lie awake at night thinking what do do next…how do I keep my staff and family safe? What can I do to help to provide for them? How do I take care of myself…so I can do any of it? There really are no more answers and the thing that keeps popping into my mind is “time”. Not since the last week of High School or the last 15 minutes of the 5th grade has there ever seemed to be too much of it in my life.

Now I am faced with, too much time, from now until “normal” and not even close to enough resources to get me there. I have talked before about really being on an island and never has that been more true. We are trapped and it is time to ration and conserve. A time to work with those who will work with me.

Two basics in the food and beverage business are Cost of Goods and the Cost of Labor to produce those goods. At the end of the day even the very best restaurants, diners or cafes usually have only 50% of every dollar left to pay the other bills. In our case here in Hawaii that number has typically been around 40% as we have had the privilege enjoying the nations highest cost for food and labor.

So how do you conserve labor? Work less hours. How do you conserve Cost of Goods? Raise prices and minimize menu options. What I will outline for you is my vision for that scenario. Right? Wrong? who knows but it is where I am heading.

Working less hours will look like this for the time being. We will be closed on Saturday and Sunday. We will be offering food services from Kohala Burger and Taco on Magic Monday and Tiki Tuesday from 11:30am to 5:30pm. We will be offering food services from Kohala Burger and Taco on Rib night Friday 2:00pm to 5:30pm. Services at Surf Burger will be offered 9:30am-5:30pm Wed & Thursday and 9:30-2:00pm Friday. (please see operational hours tab above)

The menu has changed, please take a look at menus tabs above. We have increased the prices on our burger boxes and our fish tacos. The reality is that fish tacos are still considerably less than they were this winter and they now again come with our fresh avocado smash (fresh, local fish is still less expensive, as demand is low) and now the price of our fully loaded burgers are back to pretty much the same (but still a bit less than if you would have ordered fries). But we are excited to announce that we are offering so many great deals, this is where we work with you when you work with us. $5.99 burger specials Mon, Tues & Fri. An early bird “Dawn Patrol” happy hour style menu at Surf Burger Wed-Fri. Ect… we hope you will take a few minutes to explore the many many value options we are offering.

Mahalo

Chef Cary