20-02-2025
Rising costs, good timing lead longtime Hawaii restaurant to close
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Local restaurant owners are feeling the squeeze of rising costs from food to learned that a local eatery that has served up Korean dishes for 40 years will soon shut its doors.
Sorabol Korean Restaurant has been in business since 1985, but the owners told KHON2 that rising costs of produce, paper goods, minimum wage and planned renovations at the Pagoda Hotel have led them to retire.
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'So the time had fit perfect, perfect. So you know so they decided instead of waiting until this renovation has been gone, you know, done and then reopened, they said it's maybe time to close for good,' a translator said for Sorabol owner Lisa Yee.
The koi that surround the restaurant have been temporarily relocated while crews clean out the pond, the restaurant owners said the fish will be back when renovations are complete.
The Hawaii Restaurant Association added that tariffs on lumber from Canada could trickle down to Hawaii's paper takeout goods.
'We anticipate with the tariffs and everything going on that the costs of running a restaurant is going to go higher. So then restaurants have to make a decision as their leases are coming up, will they keep continuing? Restaurants are hoping that the community is the ones who will keep us afloat as our Asian tourism hasn't returned.'
Financial experts said new administrations do bring change, but it is not anything that the United States has not seen before and the 2008 recession was worse.
'I think when we look at how disruptive and distressing that experience was, where we are, at least right now, I would say is nowhere close to that,' said First Hawaiian Bank senior vice president Raoul Magana. 'People don't have to be overwhelmed. They can come in, have a conversation, we'll help them get on the right path.'
Matsuoka said there is typically a slowdown in tourists at local eateries between Valentine's Day and Spring Break and encouraged local residents to eat out if their bank accounts can afford it.
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'We need the community to really support their favorite eateries, their favorite restaurants, their favorite bakeries, their favorite coffee shops, support them because this is when the restaurants really need the support,' she said.
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