Zippy's

Zippy's is a fast casual restaurant chain based in Hawaii. It has 24 locations and serves American, Japanese, Chinese, Okinawan, and Hawaiian fusion food. One of their best-selling items is chili.

Zippy's
IndustryRestaurant
FoundedOctober 17, 1966 (1966-10-17)
FounderFrancis and Charles Higa
Headquarters1765 South King Street,
Honolulu, Hawaii
Number of locations
24
Websitewww.zippys.com/ 

History

On October 17, 1966, brothers Francis and Charles Higa opened the first Zippy's on South King Street in Honolulu, Hawaii. At first, the Higa brothers were going to open a car wash, but they ended up creating a restaurant. The kitchen was located in the back of the Zippy's McCully fast food operation. At the time, the zip code was gaining popularity because it was a faster and more efficient way for mail to arrive. The Higa brothers liked the idea of zip codes and they wanted their restaurant to have the same kind of service, so they named the restaurant Zippy's. Francis and Charlie bought mostly freestanding buildings so that they could stay open for 24 hours, attracting many late-night customers.

At the time that Zippy's was first created, there were a lot of Okinawan mom and pop restaurants. There weren't many mainland fast food chains in Hawaii at that time, just Spencecliff, Andy Wong (Byron's), and Zippy's. The Higa brothers decided to sell a variety of local foods.[1]

On November 19, 1983, Napoleon's Bakery opened its doors because Zippy's wanted to try something different.[2] They wanted to make the restaurant a one-stop shop, so that when the customer were done with their dinner, they could order a dessert. Zippy's had an increase in sales because of the opening of Napoleon's Bakery.

The founders, Francis and Charles Higa, created FCH Enterprise, Inc. in May 2002. Francis and Charles had different personalities and took on different roles to make the business successful.[3] Francis determined the direction of the company, while Charles made most of the operational decisions and handled all food and paper purchases. To this present day, Charles is happily retired and well. However, Francis died on March 25, 1999.[4] Francis' son, Jason Higa, is now the current CEO of FCH Enterprises, Inc.

When Zippy's Kaimuki restaurant opened, Charles would transport huge pots of chili in his station wagon.[5] Now, food is being prepared by Food Solutions International in Waipio and is sent to the different Zippy's around the islands.

Zippy's is open 24 hours and offers a wide variety of food combining American, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Hawaiian cuisine—that is, what people who live in Hawaii call "local" cuisine.[6] One of their signature dishes when they first opened was the Zip-min.[7] Its signature food is their chili. Zippy's sells 110 tons of it every month through their stores, fund raising activities, and in retail markets.[8] Along with their chili, Zippy's sells a variety of plate lunches such as the Zip Pac and the Surf Pac.[9] The Zip Pac was introduced in May 1971 and the Surf Pac was introduced a little while after in May 1985.

A Zippy's Restaurant with an attached Napoleon's Bakery, Oahu, Hawaii

Most Zippy's restaurants also contain a separate counter for Napoleon's Bakery.[10] Two locations contain a separate sushi bar.[11]

See also

References
  1. “Higas Still Run Zippy’s as a Family Business,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 29 September 2002, retrieved on 17 November 2014
  2. "How Sweet It Is | Napoleon's Bakery". Dining Out. 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  3. Jeanine Mamiya-Kalahiki, Marketing Director of Zippy's and Jeff Bercasio, Creative Specialist of Zippy's, interview by Joevondis Collier, Ku’ulei Yamamoto, Honolulu, HI, November 7, 2014.
  4. Kua, Crystal (March 26, 1999). "Zippy's co-founder Higa dies". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  5. Bob, Sigall. The Companies We Keep : Amazing Stories about 450 of Hawaii's Best Known Companies (Honolulu, Hawaii: Small Business Hawaii, 2004), 295-297.
  6. Leong, Lavonne (2017-10-25). "To Eat Like a Local in Hawai'i, Go to Zippy's". Eater. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  7. "Zippy's celebrates its 50th anniversary". www.kitv.com. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  8. Paiva, Derek (2008-08-06). "Zippy's to open its first Maui restaurant". Hawaii Magazine. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  9. Nast, Condé. "In Hawaii, Nothing Says You're Home Like Mac Salad". Bon Appétit. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
  10. Napoleon's Bakery Store Locator Archived July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Zippy's Restaurants". Zippy's Restaurants. Retrieved 2019-04-07.
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