Those who have followed Hawaii politics over the decades may remember former Sen. Spark Matsunaga’s famous standing invitation to his constituents: Visit me in Washington, and I’ll treat you to lunch in the Senate dining room.

Turns out, people took him up on the offer. A lot of people. Waitstaff in the dining room still describe days when Matsunaga hosted three separate lunch groups from the islands. 

A 1991 Baltimore Sun article reported that employees “simply began reserving tables for Mr. Matsunaga’s visitors,” who ran up monthly bills exceeding $35,000 (which Matsunaga paid using campaign donations).

Matsunaga died more than 20 years ago, but his legendary lunches are still well-remembered in the dining room, where there is a large gold plaque of the Hawaii state seal on the “Matsunaga table.” 

The table was officially dedicated to Matsunaga by a Senate resolution that praised the senator’s “exemplary diligence, legendary warmth, compassion, and courage, and firm devotion to American ideals” in 1990.