Wailana Coffee House, a Hawai'i institution.

You haven't really been to Waikiki if you haven't been to the Wailana Coffee House. That place is an institution.

Many restaurants come and go in Hawai'i. It's something that rather expected to happen. Restaurants move in, become the popular hip spot to stop and be seen, and then after a couple of years it just sort of fades away.

Just within the past year, TGI Fridays pulled up stakes and left the island. The restaurant on Ward Ave. was the place to be seen when I was in High School (1987!). Closing up shop after being around for almost 25 years is both amazing and sad. 25 years is a long time to be around in Hawai'i.

But the Wailana Coffee House has stood the test of time. It was the first 24 hour restaurant I'd ever been to. probably the first "coffee house/diner" I've ever been to as well. Right around the same time I was being seen at TGI Fridays, I was staying out all night, and then eating pancakes at the Wailana Coffee House.

I hadn't been there for quite some time, and Nicole and I are staying at a hotel right around the corner. So we walked over, half expecting it to be closed down like so many other places.

But there it was in all it's glory, same sign outside. But this time, it's daylight and the breakfast line goes out the door. "You know it's good if the locals eat here," I tell Nicole as we join the que.

The food is not the best you'll ever have. But you'll appreciate the atmosphere and the great service. Sit at the counter and get the full experience. It feels like the decor hasn't changed since the 70s and neither has the staff. Most of the waitresses are older Asian women who are hustling from the kitchen to the tables arm loads of food.

Nicole got a coffee. She was impressed by the taste. "Not your regular diner coffee, this one's really nutty (flavor, not crazy)". She ordered the Swiss Muselix, and I had to have the pancakes. Just as I remember them, thick and a little doughy, but the coconut syrup smooths it all out. And the muselix wasn't bad. full of Hawai'i flavor, including a generous helping of macadamia nuts on top.



We'll probably go back before we leave the island. But for now, I have to get dressed, tonight I see what happened to Castle High School graduating class of 1987.

If you ever find yourself in Waikiki, have breakfast once at the Wailana. Then get out and go to another island, Waikiki sucks. It's not Hawai'i.