La Ronde was a restaurant^[1] in Honolulu,^[2] Hawaii. Built in 1961^[3] and designed by John Graham,^[4] it was the first revolving restaurant in the United States^[5] (preceding the "Eye of the Needle" restaurant in Seattle) and the third^[6][7] of its kind (after^[8][9] the Florian Tower and the Cairo Tower) in the world. The restaurant is now closed.

Building

The restaurant was situated at 1441^[2] Kapi'olani Boulevard^[4] in the Ala Moana district of Honolulu. It was located on the 23rd floor^[5][1] of the Ala Moana Building,^[10] adjacent to the Ala Moana Complex shopping center.

The restaurant was 72 ft (22 m) in diameter with a 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) revolving carousel which rotated around a fixed core^[4] and had a seating capacity of 162 guests. The office building has a total height of 25 floors and 298 ft (91 m)^[2] including an observation deck at the top.^[4] The rotational speed was 1 rotation per hour.^[3]

History

The building was designed by John Graham Jr.^[10] of the architectural firm John Graham & Company. The building was completed in 1960^[10] and inaugurated 21 November^[5][1] 1961.^[3] At that time, it was the highest building^[3] in Honolulu.

Graham received a patent for the revolving design in 1964 (US patent No. 3125189^[11]). Later, the restaurant was renamed "Windows of Hawaii"^[4] but closed completely^[3] in the mid-1990s.^[4] The premises were converted to office space, and the floor was welded into place.^[1]

There was another revolving restaurant in Hawaii, called Top of Waikiki. It was closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[12]