The Shrimp Station was a place where Duelane Rita and her family liked to visit even before she and her family purchased the Waimea Restaurant seven years ago.
Her oldest son, Kahi, stopped by the restaurant often after school, when he went to Waimea High School, and spread the word to his family.
It didn’t take long before the small restaurant along Kaumualii Highway became a family favorite.
Kahi and then Kaylen, Duelane’s second-oldest son, landed jobs at the restaurant, where they learned how to cook and work the front window.
Things took a different turn in 2006 when Duelane and her husband, Nelson, picked up a copy of The Garden Island one day at work and saw an advertisement for the Shrimp Station’s sale. It was a opportunity Dueland said she and her husband had talked about for some time.
“As soon as I saw it, I called him (Nelson) and found out he already called the number and put a hold on it,” Rita said.
Once they purchased the business — along with the original shrimp recipes — the entire Rita family hit the ground running and worked to get the restaurant off the ground while balancing time with families and jobs.
“Having our regular jobs and trying to run a business was trying, but when you have good, loyal employees, you can kind of step back and trust that they do everything the way they were taught and keep everything the same,” said Rita, who later retired from a waste industry job in 2008 to spend more time with family and focus on the business.
All of the menu items from the original Shrimp Station are still served to this day, including the restaurant’s signature “Got Garlic?” shrimp plate, a local favorite.
Duelane said the restaurant has also added a few items over the years, including the shrimp burger, fish and chips and coconut shrimp plate, a favorite among island visitors.
The biggest challenge, Duelane said, has been adjusting to the rising cost of goods over the years and not passing it on to her customers.
The Shrimp Station, however, has managed to keep menu prices reasonable, varying in price between $11 to $12, and offering 12 pieces of shrimp on each plate.
It is hard work, Duelane said, but the real rewards come from customers.
“Just hearing that some of our returning customers want to come straight to The Shrimp Station as soon as they get off the plane or even having some of our customers come up to the window and say, ‘It was the best meal ever,’ tells us that we’re doing things right,” Rita said. “And we’ll continue to do things right because those are the kind of remarks that keep us on our toes. It’s gratifying to know that you’ll be able to come to work and make people happy.”
