Cleanup of the rotting food inside a closed Kaimuki restaurant has finally started, which is good news for neighboring businesses that have been dealing with the smell for weeks.

• Crews began hauling out spoiled food from the shuttered Happy Days restaurant, and the job should take three days.
• The food had been sitting there for over a month after the restaurant's roof collapsed.
• The smell had spread along Waialae Avenue and was hurting nearby businesses.
• The state only cleared the kitchen area for cleanup; food in the dining room stays put because that space is still unsafe to enter.

Outlook: The worst of the smell should fade once the kitchen is cleared, but the dining room food will remain until the building is safe enough to work in.