![]() ![]() It had a dinner buffet, television monitors and radio headsets (to listen to Scully). He arranged for Donnelly and Tosh to attend the game and to sit in O’Malley’s private luxury box. Several years later Bellinger heard that Donnelly’s dream was to celebrate his 40th birthday at a Dodgers game, Gene Kaneshiro recalled. O’Malley was in Hawaii to golf in the pro-am of the Hawaiian Open at the invitation of Bellinger, who was a friend and business associate. O’Malley was introduced to the Columbia Inn by John Bellinger, president and CEO of First Hawaiian Bank. “I figured O’Malley had probably run across some of the Columbia Inn matchbooks at Dodgers Stadium,” Donnelly joked. Later, when we recounted the conversation to Tosh, he couldn’t believe that the owner of his beloved Dodgers actually remembered the name of his restaurant. “That’s the character who owns the Columbia Inn, isn’t it?” he asked. “We came over with Tosh Kaneshiro to see some games,” Donnelly told him. “What are you doing over here in L.A.?” asked the affable Dodger owner. David Eith, another Dodger fan from Honolulu, chanced upon O’Malley as they were entering the stadium. Once, when Tosh had gone ahead to see the message-board man, Donnelly and Dr. Everyone would see that he was in town and cheering on the team.” “Before Walter O’Malley, the late Dodger owner, ever visited Columbia Inn, he was well aware of Tosh, because the clever restaurateur used to see to it that his name (and that of Columbia Inn) was flashed on the huge Dodger Stadium message board. He’d also leave them on tables in every restaurant or hotel lobby we’d visit, and most certainly in the Stadium Club at Chavez Ravine (Dodger Stadium). “Tosh always brought along boxes of Columbia Inn matches, which he’d pass out at Dodger Stadium to everyone within reach. “Tosh brought along ti leaves, which he waved around during the games for good luck,” Donnelly said. They decided to fly to Los Angeles together to go to Dodger games, something they did many times. Gene Kaneshiro cut up old menus for him to use as scratch paper.ĭonnelly and Tosh Kaneshiro were both Dodger fans from its pre-1957 Brooklyn days. Three-dot columnist Dave Donnelly even had a telephone line installed at the round table in the bar’s back corner, so he could work from there. Soon after the Columbia Inn moved to Kapiolani Boulevard, reporters from next door began congregating in its bar. “He always said, talk sports, don’t talk politics, don’t talk religion, or you’ll lose your customers.” ![]() “The sports thing, that was my father,” Gene recalls. “When the Columbia Inn moved to Kapiolani Boulevard, he gave it a higher profile and hung GO DODGERS GO over the counter in the dining room. Tosh Kaneshiro used 10-inch cardboard cutout letters spelling GO DODGERS GO and hung it over the bar before every baseball season at the Columbia Inn, at its original 116 N. People used to tune them in and developed favorite teams. “Armed Forces Radio carried many New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers games. It began during World War II when he was in the Army and stationed at Fort Shafter. How did Tosh Kaneshiro develop an affinity for a baseball team whose home stadium was 5,000 miles away in Brooklyn, N.Y.? I asked his son, Gene. He was a Los Angeles Dodgers fan and turned it into an art form.Ĭolumbia Inn was Dodger Stadium West, visited by team coaches and players the owner, Walter O’Malley and announcer Vin Scully. Tosh Kaneshiro was the Tom Hanks of local restaurants - a friendly, average guy everyone could relate to. Their Kapiolani Boulevard location served 1,000 meals on an average day, which is phenomenal for any Hawaii restaurant, past or present. ![]() The Waimalu Columbia Inn is now a Gyotaku. Tosh died in 1981, and the Kaimuki restaurant closed in 2007. They had branches in Kaimuki and Waimalu for a short while. The brothers named it for the country that made some of the world’s best coffee at the time. The area was redeveloped, and Columbia Inn moved to the “Top of the Boulevard” at 645 Kapiolani Blvd., next to the News Building, in 1964. It wasn’t a fancy place like the Third Floor or Canlis, but it had good, affordable food and was open 24 hours a day.Ĭolumbia Inn was founded by brothers Frank and Fred “Tosh” Kaneshiro in 1941 on the corner of what today is Beretania and Maunakea streets. One of the greatest family restaurants in Hawaii history, in my opinion, was the Columbia Inn. ![]()
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