LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Sam Choy's Lahaina Restaurant & Big Aloha
Brewery on Maui closed down in October and San Choy's Kahului
Restaurant, also on Maui, was expected to close Nov. 24.
The closing of the Sam Choy's Maui restaurants reduces the
number in Hawaii from five to three.
"Both of the restaurants on Maui were nowhere near the successes
of our Honolulu restaurants," said Sam Choy's marketing director
Candice Lee.
"We found that it is really expensive to do business on Maui,"
he added. "Both those restaurants are in shopping centers where the
cost of doing business is high."
The Kahului restaurant opened in February 1998, and the Lahaina
restaurant opened in January 1999, said Lee.
Chef Sam Choy is a cookbook author and has his own line of
marinades and salad dressings. He also is the host of a weekly
cooking show aired locally in Hawaii.
The restaurants are operated through partnerships and
franchises. There are two in Honolulu -- Sam Choy's Diamond Head
Restaurant on Kapahulu Avenue near Waikiki and Sam Choy's Breakfast
Lunch & Crab and Big Aloha Brewery on the Nimitz Highway near
downtown Honolulu.
There also is a Sam Choy's on the Big Island in the Kaloko
industrial area of Kona.
Outside of Hawaii, there is a Sam Choy's in San Diego, two in
Tokyo and one in Guam.
For addresses and phone numbers of the various Sam Choy
restaurants, check them out on the Web at www.samchoy.com.