Second rate in Second City
For the past 10 years or so, I’ve listened to developers and planners talk about how Kapolei could be the epicenter of business and entertainment for Oahu. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against Kapolei, but there really isn’t much of a comparison.
Truth be told, there really is a lot of unrealized potential out on the west side of Oahu, but Honolulu won’t be relinquishing its crown in the next few decades, if ever.
That considered, T-Spot Hideaway is almost exactly what you’d expect from a Kapolei bar — serviceable, but not a main attraction.
T-Spot is tucked into the corner of Kapolei Shopping Center. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here for a normal happy hour, because sitting in traffic building up an appetite and thirst for an hour isn’t my idea of a relaxing pau hana — but that’s just me and my work-all-the-way-downtown mentality. However, on Wednesday, pau hana at T-Spot starts at 7, making it a workable destination for workers who get home after 6.
T-SPOT HIDEAWAYThe Marketplace at Kapolei; 674-8081 Happy hour: Don't miss out on what's happening!Stay in touch with top news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
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During Wednesdays pau hana hours, T-Spot offers $1 off drink prices that are fairly low already. I paid a little over $2 for my Stella Drafts. Specials on other nights include $3 shots and $2 Jell-O shots, but you’re best off calling before you head there expecting something specific, as some drink specials change.
Bonus time: Pitchers on Sundays are only $10, and they serve big bottles of Heineken and Corona, too!
BARTENDERS are pretty quick with drink orders, and food gets out of the kitchen fairly quickly, though a touch of personality wouldn’t hurt with a few of the employees there.
The food at T-Spot? Just so-so, but the prices are really good: $4 lil’ smokies and $6 soybeans up to $10 poke and $10 T-Spot smoked meats. Not much variety, with nachos, fries, and jalapeno poppers making up the rest of the food menu, but enough to bridge the gap between a late lunch and a late dinner, or fill your stomach altogether if there’s no cooking going on at home.
The setup inside T-Spot is another place where potential is left untapped.
They have a great stage setup with a small dance floor on one side, but it only gets used for live music on Fridays and every other Thursday. The rest of the bar is fairly typical: three worn pool tables, a few plastic tables and a couple of built-in booths with Mega Touch machines line the far wall. When it’s not every other Thursday or Friday night, entertainment is provided by none other than the west side locals in Kapolei Idol, aka karaoke. In the few visits I made to T-Spot, I got to hear local versions of Usher, Celine Dion, Garth Brooks and Aerosmith songs without having to pay those silly concert ticket prices for the real thing.
Fridays and Saturdays supposedly have T-Spot flipped into the west side’s very own nightclub. Sadly, I didn’t get to experience this, as my visits during the past two weeks were middle-of-the-week endeavors. It would be nice to see Kapolei’s only real bar busier than it was when I visited.
Pau Hana Patrol is a weekly look at Honolulu’s happy hours.