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01
B
ars make most of their business on the weekends. That’s
when bars hype their big events,
charge cover and feature entertainment—it’s when people go out
and spend money. Sure, the downtown and Chinatown bars also get
a huge boost during festivals like
First Friday, Mardis Gras and Saint
Patrick’s Day, but what happens
during the rest of a normal week?
The conventional answer so far
has been, “not much.”
“Not too long ago, some places
wouldn’t open during the middle
of the week,” says Josh Hancock,
co-owner of Downbeat Diner &
Lounge. “‘It’s too dead,’ they’d say.
What we’re saying is ‘be open.’”
Downbeat Diner is one of five
Hotel Street establishments that
have banded together in an effort
to boost their midweek business,
in the process supporting their
Cover: A Walkabout Wednesday
flier sits innocently on a table in
Manifest.
01 Hotel Street is home to some
of the coolest night spots in
Honolulu.
02 Downbeat Diner and Lounge
is a great combination of latenight comfort food and swanky
little bar.
03 Bar 35 is known for it’s
delicious and reasonably prized
pizza. Nothing beats pizza when
you’re drunk.
04 thirtyninehotel’s inconspicuous entrance hides the
pure energy one experiences
when dancing on the top-notch
dancefloor above to quuality
entertainment.
05 That flier is following us
around.
Justin Iyoki
03
04
02
small community of bars while
letting the public know that there’s
still fun to be had outside of the
weekends. You can think of the
group as the Hotel Street 5: Bar 35,
Downbeat Diner & Lounge, Manifest, thirtyninehotel, and Nextdoor. All popular establishments
in their own right, the venues recognized that not only could they
do more to increase business, but
that they could do more together.
“Because of our location and proximity, it’s beneficial to all if one of
us is successful,” says Hancock.
“For some time, many of the
area businesses have been sad that
Wednesdays aren’t what they used
to be,” explains Miki Lee. Lee is
the operations manager for a few
downtown venues, handling special projects and promotions for
05
Brasserie du Vin, Bar 35 and eleven44 (formerly bambuTwo/The
Venue). “The middle-of-the-week
thing was to come downtown.
Over time that changed. There’s
a lot more going on in Honolulu
today than there was then. There’s
Kaka‘ako, there’s Kaimukī, so the
audience sort of got spread out.”
These five businesses recently
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