AO Hawaiian Hideout Sought Work For Its Staff When It Closed. These Restaurants Stepped Up.

SOUTH LOOP — When AO Hawaiian Hideout announced last month it would be closing after 13 years of serving Asian fusion and Hawaiian food in the South Loop, owner Betty Hlavka put out a request on social media to other businesses: Please hire my workers. Several Downtown restaurants — serving cuisines ranging from Italian to Polish-Italian fusion to Mexican — responded, offering to help out. Joe Liakopoulos, owner of Panchos Rooftop & Cantina, 327 S. Plymouth Court, and its sister speakeasy La Diabla, offered to be a potential “quick landing spot” for Hlavka’s staff. He hired a cook from AO Hawaiian Hideout, who started Nov. 3 but ended up finding another job elsewhere. “We don’t want people to be without employment for too long,” Liakopoulos said. While Liakopoulos didn’t know Hlavka personally, he knows how hard it is to survive in the restaurant industry and was impressed AO Hawaiian had remained in business for so long. “We know how valued those employees are. I can only imagine to tell these employees that, ‘Hey, we have to shut down’ — it’s very difficult for them,” he said. Hlavka declined to discuss the closure, but said in a Facebook post that the restaurant would close Oct. 31 due to a family member’s deteriorating health. “ Words cannot express our deepest gratitude for your continued patronage and support,” she said in the post. “This is our HOME AWAY FROM HOME.” Hlavka, a Chicago native, grew up in Chinatown with parents who owned and ran multiple restaurants, according to an article on the OCA–Asian Pacific American Advocates website. At AO Hawaiian Hideout, Hlavka’s motto was to “welcome everyone and treat them like family,” she said in the article. Patrons included customers from her parents’ restaurants, she said. Hlavka also said on Facebook that she was looking to sell the restaurant, which prompted Nate and Dianne Domingo to reach out. The couple owns Da Local Boy , a Hawaiian street food restaurant with locations in the Loop and northern suburbs, and they were interested in turning AO Hawaiian Hideout into a third outpost for their business. The Domingos have previously collaborated with Hlavka and her husband, Duane, for fundraisers, they said. The Domingos planned to retain all of AO Hawaiian Hideout’s staff and some of its menu items, including Hlavka’s “famous Mai Tai recipe for over 75 years.” We wanted to “keep that aloha alive, like how we do it in our restaurant,” Nate Domingo said. Though the deal didn’t work out due to issues with the landlord over lease terms, Hlavka has offered the couple items like catering equipment from AO Hawaiian Hideout to help Da Local Boy grow, Nate Domingo said. “ We were trying to help her out,” Dianne Domingo said. “Now she’s trying to help us out.” Italian eatery Il Culaccino, also in the South Loop, and Flo & Santos, a Polish-Italian restaurant located across the street from AO Hawaiian Hideout, have also extended a welcome to Hlavka’s staff, management at both restaurants said. “​​After COVID, there were only a few of us around in the block, and Hideout is one of them,” said Flo & Santos manager Jio Garcia, who frequented the eatery as a customer. “So we got to look out for each other.” Added Il Culaccino owner Frank Ruffolo: “It’s very few and far between that you have business owners that are concerned about their staff, and it was very clear that they were. We’ve gone to their restaurant multiple times, so we know they’ve had good staff that’s been there for a while.” Hlavka expressed appreciation for the offers of help from Il Culaccino, Flo & Santos, Panchos and La Diabla in another Facebook post days before the closure. “We are sooooo appreciative of EVERYONE’s support this past week,” she wrote. “We will truly miss being a part of [South Loop] and wish you and your loved ones soooo much peace, good health and prosperity!!!” ______________________________________________________________________ Support Local News! Subscribe to Block Club Chicago , an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription , or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation. Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast: From Stoves To Overhead Heat: The History Of The CTA’s Warming Lamps Episode play icon From Stoves To Overhead Heat: The History Of The CTA’s Warming Lamps Episode play icon Should Chicago Have Public Festival Grounds? It’s On The Ballot. Episode play icon Need A Halloween Costume? A Chicago Thrifting Expert Shares Her Secrets Load More Search Results placeholder Previous Episode Show Episodes List Next Episode