Longevity in the restaurant business can be elusive. But Barbara and George Prigge have been serving up local grinds for 36 years from their little place known as Keoki’s.
Don’t be misled, like many confused online reviewers; that’s the Keoki’s lunch counter in Lihue’s Industrial Area II, not Keoki’s Paradise in Koloa.
“I think, honestly, we’re one of the longest ones still going,” said George. “We have customers who started coming in 1978. Now their kids are coming.”
Their recipe is simple: good food, served quickly.
“We serve local food, not anything fancy, that people aren’t used to eating,” he explained.
His wife was even more blunt.
“We don’t serve healthy food,” Barbara said with a hearty chuckle. “We serve what the guys like to eat. I had healthy food before, but it didn’t sell. It just sat in the back and (eventually) went to my tortoises.”
The menu has been simplified over the years to a solid lineup. The teriyaki steak is the most popular, George said, plus the charbroiled burgers (the teri cheeseburger has a fervent fan base).
A rotating schedule of plate lunch specials cover the gamut of island favorites, from adobo, tripe, curry and beef luau stews to five or six mouth-watering variations of chicken. Breakfasts include loco mocos and French toast made with Portuguese sweet bread — and pretty much everything has a side of rice.
“The concept is ‘come in, pick up and go.’ No more waiting, as much as possible,” George said.
The day I stopped by, the specials were stir-fried chopped steak ($7.95) and chicken fried steak ($7.25).
The chopped steak was juicy and peppery; the onions, peppers and celery crisp and fresh. The chicken fried steak was lightly battered pieces of boneless fried chicken, dotted with cream gravy. Both were served with rice and mac salad, and both were satisfyingly substantial. Not fancy, but plenty filling.
Baked goods are made daily by their daughter-in-law Heidi Prigge, who “takes care of the place,” George said.
The popular banana bread had already sold out, but Heidi brought me a “blondie,” or white chocolate brownie, also known as the “hapa haole.” It was delicious: dense and chewy, studded with crunchy macadamia nuts.
Keoki’s also does catering and luaus — “not too much fancy stuff,” George said.
“Lately, it’s small-kine,” Barbara said. “We just depend on our lunches.”
That business is pretty good. “The window does well,” Barbara said. “Lunch is packed. The line goes out the door.”
But the Prigges don’t intend to add more seating.
“Where would I put?” George asked with a grin, gesturing around their corner of an industrial warehouse. Most of the space is filled by a bustling kitchen, visible through the counter windows. Shelves, stacked high with bins, line the walls above the single table with three stools, shaded by an umbrella.
Workers from the surrounding businesses form their most loyal customer base, but “they come from all over,” Barbara said.
The couple decided to open their own business for the sake of their sons, J.J. and Dan. George was working long hours in the hotel industry, in a number of food and beverage management positions — which meant he was missing out on seeing their boys grow up. Barbara had trained under several resort chefs, so they pooled their talents and opened Keoki’s in the spot now occupied by Kalapaki Beach Hut in 1978.
They were able to set their own hours, taking turns opening and closing the restaurant so the other could be home when the boys were out of school. “We got to raise our kids, both of us,” said Barbara with satisfaction.
By 1990, they had outgrown the kitchen in Kalapaki and Barbara wanted to expand the catering side, so they moved to the industrial zone on the makai side of Kapule Highway before it merges with Rice Street.
The couple is still hard at work, although Barbara said they’re “semi-retired.”
“It’s a tough business,” George mused. Staying open for 36 years takes “some sort of miracle, I think.”
Keoki’s, located at 3009 Peleke St., Lihue, serves breakfast from 6-10 a.m. and lunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Sales are cash only. For more information, call 245-3260.
