Cafe 100

Quintessentially Hilo: The lunch crowd at Cafe 100 on a Saturday afternoon. The hand-drawn menus advertising the "Halloweenie Loco Moco: two smokie sausages on a bed of rice and gravy, topped with an island fresh egg" hanging above the take-out window.

God, I used to worry myself to death as a kid, thinking, What if you end up working here? What would you do? Would you be able to do it? It had nothing to do with the stigma of working at a fast food joint. The cashiers had to yell the orders into microphones for the short-order cooks to hear: "One regular local moco, one beef stew plate and one mahi plate. Thank you!" I would never be able to yell like that in front of all the customers. Shudder just thinking about it.

It was years before I realized there was an inside dining area at the Cafe 100, not just the picnic tables out front. I never ate in there, but I peered through the tinted windows and saw there were waitresses and actual table menus. Hmmm. Just like the fancier Zippy's on Oahu.

Cafe 100 is right by Wailea Pond, where my auntie used to take me and my brother to feed the ducks. Those ducks got fed every day by little kids and they got aggressive and chased right after you. I know ducks are supposed to go "Quack! Quack!" but it sounded to me like "Honk! Honk!"

A whole loaf of white bread we'd feed to those ducks. Just cause it was neat to have them come so close.

Come to think of it, the whole time I sat at Cafe 100, reminiscing, waiting for my order to be called, I never heard a single person ask for the "Halloweenie Loco." Who would actually order that, utter the words "Halloweenie" and not cringe when everyone stared at him as the cashier shouted the order into her microphone?