Manago Hotel is a hotel and restaurant in

Captain Cook, Hawaii Captain Cook is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, in the United States, located in the District of South Kona. The community, within the land division of Kealakekua, is so named because the post office for the area was lo ...

on the island of Hawaii. It opened in 1917, originally as the home of Kinzo and Osame Manago, before eventually becoming a hotel. Since then the hotel has continued to provide affordable lodging and simple meals, with a total of 64 rooms and an accompanying restaurant. The restaurant serves classic Hawaiian regional cuisine, including locally famed pork chops. It is the longest continually running restaurant in Hawaii. In 2023 it was named an America's Classic by the James Beard Foundation.

History

The Manago Hotel was first the personal home of Kinzo and Osame Manago, where they lived and made

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for purchase. Kinzo Manago immigrated to Hawaii while he was traveling to Canada to study English, when his traveling partner lost his money gambling he searched for work. The Wallace family in Captain Cook hired him as a cook, where he saved his money for a

picture bride The term picture bride refers to the practice in the early 20th century of immigrant workers (chiefly Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean) in Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States and Canada, as well as Brazil selecting brides from their nat ...

, his future wife Osame. After taking a $100 loan from the Wallace's, they purchased their home where they sold udon, jam, coffee, and other foods. Once their second child was born, they added another room to the building, and soon taxi drivers and salesmen traveling between Hilo and Kona asked if they could stay the night. They started charging between 50 cents and $1 for a bed or a futon on the floor. In 1929 they expanded to a second floor of rooms and started serving full meals and sake. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Kinzo and Osame were contacted by the military to feed soldiers who were occupying the

Konawaena High School Konawaena High School is a public school located in Kona District, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. Konawaena means "the center of the leeward side" in the Hawaiian Language. The school has a Kealakekua mailing address, and it, along with Ko ...

. After the war, their son Harold Manago bought the land under the hotel to expand its acreage and guest rooms. Harold and his wife Nancy then became owners of the hotel. In 1970 the hotel expanded to its current capacity of 64 rooms. In 1984, Dwight Manago and his wife Nancy became owners of the hotel. On February 22, 2023, Manago Hotel was named a James Beard America's Classic, where sisters Britney and Taryn Manago run the restaurant. In January 2024 the County of Hawaii Affordable Housing Production Program awarded the nonprofit Mental Health Kokua $5.5 million in funds to purchase the hotel to convert it into

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...

Cuisine

The restaurant serves a simple array of items, mainly unchanged since the 1940s, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They serve many Hawaiian staples including

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, local fish such as opelu and

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, and fried

pork chop A pork chop, like other meat chops, is a loin cut taken perpendicular to the spine of the pig and is usually a rib or part of a vertebra. Pork chops are unprocessed and leaner than other cuts. Chops are commonly served as an individual portio ...

s for which they are locally famous. Dishes are served with rice, and small sides called "Hawaiian Banchan" including macaroni salad. It is rumored the cast iron pan used for the pork chops is as old as the hotel.

References

External links

{{Portal, Food, Hawaii
Official website
America's Classics winners Restaurants in Hawaii