Next Stop

Photo Courtesy Zippy’s

Whether they’re picking up something for a tailgate or a potluck, celebrating with loved ones, or getting their favorite dish for breakfast, lunch or dinner, local diners know exactly where their next stop will be.

Zippy’s has been the definitive answer since opening its McCully restaurant on South King Street on Oct. 17, 1966. And it’s still the answer decades later as it celebrates 60 years of delivering such time-honored classics as its signature chili, oxtail soup, Zip Pac, Zip Min (and 43 years of baking those delectable treats found within its in-house bakeshop known as Napoleon’s Bakery).

The longtime Hawaiʻi business owes its humble beginnings to brothers Francis and Charlie Higa, who, truthfully, didn’t know what type of business they wanted to open, only that they needed to do something. They had four other siblings, and all of them helped run the family business, Higa Meat Market. However, Francis and Charlie realized that Higa Meat Market would not be able to support six growing families and that it was time to venture out on their own. To narrow down their options, they visited different businesses, including McKinley Car Wash and a number of drive-ins like Chunky’s and Wiki Wiki, and talked to the owners. Yet they were worried about launching a restaurant because they felt they lacked the necessary experience.

“It’s a hard business, hard work and, despite that, they decided to take a shot at running a drive-in,” says Jason Higa, Francis’ son and CEO of FCH Enterprises, the parent entity of Zippy’s Restaurants.

It turns out the brothers had the recipe for success all along — one that Higa would follow by carrying on his father and uncle’s legacy—as Zippy’s now operates 26 locations across O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i island, and Las Vegas.

Higa, who grew up in Nu‘uanu and Waialae and graduated from Punahou School, joined the Zippy’s payroll at age 14, working as a utility dishwasher on weekends and during summers, and eventually moving through various positions at the company before leaving to attend Santa Clara University.

Despite his time working at the restaurant as a youth, Higa didn’t intend to take over the business. When he returned home from college in the early ’90s, he took a job at a law firm. It was during this time, however, that he felt a strong desire to rejoin the family company.

“I was more motivated to get to know (my father) better,” Higa says. “Growing up, he was always working and I did not really have a relationship with him per se … Returning in ’95 was a good opportunity. Unfortunately, he passed away in ’99, so I had a period of getting to know him through the business.”

Higa, who stepped into the role of CEO in 2008, explains that it took him a number of years to figure out how the business could evolve.

“It was really a bit of change in management, adapting to technology, being open to change,” he explains. “What I realize is that the position really is about navigating changes that are necessary to keep us relevant.”

And relevant Zippy’s has remained. Under his leadership, the restaurant chain expanded to the neighbor islands, opening a branch in Kahului, Maui, and in Hilo on the Big Island.

In 2010, Zippy’s introduced its Kōkua Pac, donating a portion of the profits to designated local organizations, including HUGS, Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children, and the Blood Bank of Hawai‘i. Today, the program supports more than two dozen nonprofits, and has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years.

This is just one of many fundraising endeavors Zippy’s spearheads. The first was the Benefit Chili Program, created in 1971. The initiative supports Hawai‘i nonprofits by allowing them to sell tens of thousands of tickets for Zippy’s chili, generating vital funds for their organizational missions. Last year alone, the program raised more than $700,000 for more than 200 nonprofits.

“I think, for my father and uncle, they always appreciated the support of the customer base,” Higa says. “They would say, ‘Take care of the customer because the customer takes care of the business, and the business takes care of the team members.’”

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Higa viewed it as “an opportunity for us.”

“As difficult as it was navigating all the closures of the dine-in and social distancing, we made a lot of changes,” he notes.

During this tumultuous period, Zippy’s accelerated its digital transformation. The restaurant reinforced the online ordering system it had launched in April 2019, released a mobile app six months later, and introduced the Zipster Rewards loyalty program in 2022.

It was also during this time that Higa felt Zippy’s had reached a point of saturation with its 22 local branches, prompting him to look toward the mainland — specifically the “ninth island” of Las Vegas.

“As we expanded to Las Vegas, we were very intent on keeping our core values. Our core purpose is to share aloha,” he says. “We definitely do that through our menu, but it’s also doing that through our service, how we engage with the customer base, and how we treat our team members.”

When contemplating Zippy’s 60th anniversary, Higa is especially appreciative of the roles others played along the way.

“Just a lot of gratitude to the community, to our team members,” he says.

“My father and uncle would always say without the team members, we couldn’t do what we do today, and that’s so true. We’re just very grateful,” Higa adds. “We have an incredible number of team members that have 20 or more years of tenure.

“I think it’s a testament to the culture and, really, the company values that go back decades.”

It’s why this month’s Team Member Recognition Banquet is just one of the ways Zippy’s is honoring its employees. The two-night event is being staged at the Hawaii Okinawa Center to celebrate Zippy’s 1,400-plus team members.

“It’s just a funny thing of camaraderie and definitely sharing the milestone among our team members,” explains Higa.

While team members really are the heart of Zippy’s, the relationships they enjoy with customers are ultimately what matters most.

“I was at one location and this team member was sort of yelling at a customer, and I ran over to figure out what was going on,” Higa recalls. “But what it was was the team member was scolding the customer because the customer had gone on a one-week vacation, not telling the team member that they would be gone for a week. She literally spent the week worrying about the customer because this is a customer that would come in every day, right on the clock, would order the same breakfast item, and she was worried that something had happened, and was so happy to see the customer come back in.”

Noting the lengths some employees will go to because they truly care about patrons — like the time McCully team member Brandon Sanchez went to deliver a customer’s favorite meal after finding out that the customer was in the hospital — Higa adds, “That connection is just so unique, a big part of our success really.”

Zippy’s has actually been celebrating its 60th anniversary since the beginning of the year with its special merchandising and collaborations with companies like Kāhala for a limited-edition release of the Next Stop: Zippy’s aloha shirt collection. It has also continued making an impact in the community by raising $16,000 for Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Stronger Hawai‘i Fund through Kōkua for a Cause Round-Up campaign to help those impacted by the Kona low storms.

The restaurant even found its way onto the big screen earlier this year with the release of the action-comedy movie The Wrecking Crew. In one scene, actors Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista are seen eating outside of Zippy’s ‘Ewa Beach after having just been involved in a freeway chase.

Higa, who promises that the celebrations will continue through the rest of the year, calls himself “fortunate” to be guiding the six-decade-old Hawaiʻi institution into the future.

“This type of experience of having the opportunity to lead an organization, especially a Hawai‘i organization … it’s both a responsibility but definitely a privilege,” he says. “I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity and I think it also applies to our leadership team. I think they all understand the kuleana that we have and are responsible for, and definitely approach their positions with that type of feeling of responsibility to our team members and to the community.

“I think that’s what drives us every day.”