KAHULUI – Customers were saddened and in disbelief Wednesday after learning that Dragon Dragon Chinese Restaurant at the Maui Mall closed on Tuesday. It was no April Fool’s joke.
Signs posted on the restaurant’s glass doors gave a reason for the closure: “The high cost of doing business on Maui and the downturn of business we have experienced have left us no choice but to cease operation.”
Restaurant partner Raymond Shek said the restaurant tried to negotiate a new lease, but it was unsuccessful.
“We did negotiate back and forth,” Shek said as he exited the dark restaurant with a tote bag along with a man and a woman Wednesday afternoon.
Shek said he had 27 employees and was not planning to reopen on Maui at another location.
A spokesperson for Denver, Colo.,-based Alberta Development Partners, which purchased the Maui Mall late last year, could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon. Alberta Development Partners and an affiliate of Chicago-based Walton Street Capital were announced as buyers for the more than 40-year-old mall in November.
Dragon Dragon served Hong Kong-style Chinese food. It had been in operation for 14 years and was known for its honey walnut prawns – a crowd pleaser according to restaurant partners – along with its dim sum lunch specials, salt-and-pepper pork chops and shrimp fried rice. It was also a place for birthday and graduation parties and wedding receptions. It fit a niche as Maui’s old mom-and-pop Chinese restaurants went into decline.
The closure left customers wondering where they would go for Chinese food, as well as where they’d get takeout food for special occasions.
“To us, it was good Chinese food,” said Wailuku resident Guy Hashiro, who noticed the signs on the doors after getting some ice cream in the mall on Wednesday.
His wife, Lisa, said the couple used to get takeout meals from the restaurant when they had friends and family over from Oahu during Thanksgiving and Christmas.
“You take it for granted,” Guy Hashiro said.
Another customer was stunned when he saw the sign and could see there were no lights on in the restaurant. Chairs were stacked.
As Shek was exiting the restaurant, the customer said that he and his wife were planning to come back after eating there recently.
Even some merchants in the mall didn’t know that the restaurant had closed and were surprised.
In a sign posted on the doors, Dragon Dragon managers thanked their customers for their “loyal patronage” over the years. They also said that if customers had not redeemed their restaurant gift certificates, they could mail them to the restaurant by June 30 for a full refund.
The certificates should be mailed to Dragon Dragon Chinese Restaurant, Maui Mall, 70 E. Kaahumanu Ave., Unit B-12, Kahului 96732.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@ mauinews.com.
Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rq3UoqWer6NjsLC5jqecsKtfobykrctmpZ6vo2R%2FcX2TaGdtZ5Snrqi7zWabq5mXpLtur8uoqp6rXZ7BtHnDqKarq18%3D