Smith's Union Bar

Smith’s Union Bar wears a plain, weathered wooden facade that stands out against the concrete office towers of downtown Honolulu. It opened in nineteen thirty-four, shortly after Prohibition ended, as a haven for merchant sailors docked at the nearby harbor. For decades, the bar served as a rough-edged neighborhood fixture where captains and deckhands traded stories. When the owner, Smith, passed away, the staff took over the lease to keep the doors open exactly as they were.