T S Restaurants
The story of T S RESTAURANTS starts with an unforgettable friendship between two college buddies, Rob Thibaut and Sandy Saxten, who shared a passion for surf, sand, sun and restaurants. It was decided early on that they would one day become business partners, with the goal to develop, build and operate a limited number of high quality restaurants in Hawaii and California. Following the expansion and successful sale of their first restaurant venture, Borel Corporation, Thibaut and Saxten set out to form their own privately held restaurant company, T S RESTAURANTS.
Thibaut and Saxten built their company on four key principles: to open restaurants only on the finest real estate locations in resort destinations in which they would like to live, work and play in; develop restaurant concepts for specific markets, reflecting the culture and environment through menus and décor; take great care of management through ownership opportunities; and show respect for employees. With these as their foundation, Thibaut and Saxten felt they could guarantee a successful, unique and consistent TS Brand.
The first T S RESTAURANT began with the last waterfront parcel in the historic whaling town of Lahaina on Maui, with the opening of KIMO’S in 1977. Today, T S Restaurants spans across the Pacific, with 14 restaurants in Hawaii and California.
Over 35 years later, the T S RESTAURANTS brand still lives up to every expectation set by Thibaut and Saxten. Although Thibaut passed away in April of 1998, and Sandy Saxten passed away in April 2014, their legacy continues to have a great influence on the day-to-day operations. They were the inspirational leaders of T S Restaurants and the driving force behind the long string of successes the company has enjoyed for the last three decades. Today, the Thibaut and Saxten families continue the legacy of Rob & Sandy and guide the next generation of managers and staff at all the T S Restaurants with the same principals as the founders.