Welcome to Ige’s Restaurant and 19th Puka...Family Taking Care of Family.

      My dream of building a 19th Puka has finally come true but it took a lot of hard work by some of the very special people in my life to make it happen.

     It began in the 1940’s when my mom Kazuko and her four sisters Elsie, Sumie, Mary & Helen owned a small restaurant in Waipahu named Yona’s selling saimin, fish soup & BBQ sticks. Then in the 50’s, Mom worked in a lunch wagon in Kalihi for the late Mrs. Haruko Gushi. My mom had great respect for Mrs. Gushi because she was a great cook and she taught her a lot about running that type of food business. In the 60’s, mom worked for her cousin’s husband Masa Uejo at Masa’s Cafeteria in Mapunapuna. Uncle Masa besides serving breakfast & lunch converted the cafeteria into a party hall on weekends and catered all of the food. He too is a great cook and taught mom a lot about the catering business. In 1969, my late dad Shinyu bought mom her very own kitchen in Kalihi called Yasu’s Food Shop. At first mom ran an okazuya but it was too slow for her so she soon started Ige’s Lunch wagon which was located at Bobby’s Union in Aiea. With a reputation for generous portions of tasty dishes at a fair price, her popularity expanded into Ige’s Catering Service. After losing the lease for Yasu’s in the mid 70’s, dad built mom her own kitchen in the garage behind our home in Aiea. For over a decade, business kept growing to a point where all of us kids were helping out in the family business. Mom taught us all how to cook. We grew too big for our residential location. In 1989 we received an eviction notice. This was devastating news but looking back, that was the best thing that happened to our family. Mom was already 68 years old and we kids were slowly taking over so with her blessings we all decided to build our own kitchens. From this humble beginning, Ige’s has grown into 4 separate kitchens all run by her own children.

     All 3 boys in our family play golf from time to time and like a ritual we always stop by the 19th Puka of wherever we played that day. Win or lose, it’s always a good time! It’s usually air conditioned with TVs, just a comfortable place where we can hang out and enjoy the camaraderie. We reflect over the day, pay off our debts and always enjoy the pitchers of beer and different pupus offered. I thought it would be great to build our own 19th Puka. A dream was born! After dreaming for years, Ige’s Restaurant & 19th Puka is now a reality!

     My family and I would like to thank all of you for your patronage & loyalty throughout these years. We will continue to do whatever we can to uphold the legacy my parents started.
                                 
                                                   Thank you very much!