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Oh No! Where Did Ono Pono Go?

Da Spot flips its menu to replace Ono Pono

By Alyssa Navares, Brandi Salas and Kumari Sherreitt

Students noticed that the lively music that once resonated from Ono Pono, the University of Hawaii at Manoa's original vegetarian vendor, was muted at the end of last semester.

Ono Pono suddenly ended its contract, closed shop and left a simple notice to their loyal customers stating that a new vegetarian vendor will soon take its place.

"I didn't know. I mean, they were just gone. I didn't know why they were gone," said UHM graduate student, Scott Brandt. He said that he enjoyed Ono Pono's vegan food but he worries that the new vendor may not meet the courtyard's standards.

The former Ono Pono manager, Christian "See" Ellauri, said that there were several problems that could not be solved. This led to the shutting down of the business.

Ellauri said that when the business started, it had "great food and really cheap prices" but over the years, it went through different chefs that affected the quality of the food.

"I knew when I stopped working at Ono Pono that it wasn't necessarily headed in a good direction... like in terms of being able to stay open and being a sustainable business. The problems that needed to be solved were problems that I didn't have the tools to solve," said Ellauri. With all of these factors, he said that he felt that Ono Pono was a facet of his reputation that he could no longer be proud of.

Da Spot, a middle-eastern fusion vendor, will replace Ono Pono, but has to change its menu completely to vegetarian food. The owner, Ako Rahmadan, said that she will gladly replace the former business but having to make the changes to her plate lunches might lose her loyal customer base.

"Over here, it's basically more chicken, beef, lamb, like a meat. But over there, unfortunately we're not going to have chicken or meat, at least for a while," she said.

Greg Mikelson, a Da Spot regular, is up for the change.

"I'll try the tofu...but I will miss the chicken," he said with a grin.