New & Coming Restaurants on O‘ahu

Photo: Courtesy of ‘Awa Hou

‘Awa Hou Kava Lounge

The city’s new kava bar grand-opened in Mō‘ili‘ili’s old Glazers Coffee space at the end of July. On offer are fresh ‘awa, dry ‘awa and coconut water, plus kombucha on tap. Gone are the vintage decor and coffeehouse vibe; in its place is a bright space with a lush living wall and plenty of ‘apu coconut-shell drinking cups.

Daily 1 to 10 p.m., 2700 S. King St., Mō‘ili‘ili, @awahouhnl

SEE ALSO: Where to Drink Kava, or ‘Awa, on O‘ahu

Photo: Thomas Obungen

The Bakery by Honolulu Coffee Co.

Daily 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., 2643 S. King St., honolulucoffee.com, @honolulucoffee

Photo: Courtesy of Boarded Up Burgers

Boarded Up Burgers

Chubbies, a smash burger favorite that started as a Kaka‘ako food truck in 2016 and graduated to a brick-and-mortar in Kaimukī only to close early this year, reopened just up the street this summer. Boarded Up by Chubbies Burgers slings up four burgers, including Carolina Onion and The 1950, crinkle-cut fries, soft serve, a milkshake, calamansi lemonade and other drinks. There’s a smattering of dine-in tables, an online ordering option and a municipal parking lot in front of the restaurant.

Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., 1108 12th Ave., Kaimukī, boardedupburgers.com, @boardedupburgers

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Chao Hawai‘i

The first full-service restaurant from the Paradise Poke group soft-opened in July with a budding menu of homestyle Vietnamese dishes with modern twists. Chao Hawai‘i (chào means hello in Vietnamese) is rolling out incrementally: banh mis of chicken or crispy skin roast pork, chicken pho, lemongrass chicken rice. Plus seafood ceviche, chicken wings in caramelized fish sauce, salt and pepper calamari and salads of spicy lemon beef and seared duck breast. As of this week, there’s dine-in table service at lunch and takeout all day; a dine-in dinner service and cocktails are planned. Chao joins the growing group’s other eateries: Paradise Poke, ‘Ahi & Vegetable and Nori Bar.

Tuesday to Saturday noon to 8 p.m., 1613 Nu‘uanu Ave., Nu‘uanu, (808) 888-0166, chaohawaii.com, @chaohawaii

Photo: Courtesy of CU Hawai‘i

CU Hawai‘i

Honolulu is getting its first South Korean convenience store: CU, a chain that launched on Jeju island in 2001 and by 2003 had 2,000 locations, is coming to the old Longs Drugs/88 Mart space downtown later this year. Expect an instant ramen cooking station, Korean drinks and snacks, hot and cold meals and kimbap rice rolls along with Korean cosmetics and household goods. The space in Executive Centre marks the chain’s first U.S. outpost. Coming on the heels of its 18,000 stores in Korea (South and North) and hundreds more in other parts of Asia, you know talks are already under way for more urban Honolulu locations.

1088 Bishop St. Suite 103, Downtown, cu.bgfretail.com

Photo: Melissa Chang

Hali‘a by Side Street Inn

Side Street Inn’s third location opened on the waterfront in ‘Ewa Beach at the beginning of August. Hali‘a has taken over the old Kitchen Door Napa space at Wai Kai with indoor and lānai tables, a long bar and Side Street classics, including pork chops, fried rice and garlic chicken. New on the menu are poke, boneless sizzling kalbi and cocktails. Specials and brunch are coming. Side Street Inn has been under new ownership since Colin Nishida’s passing in 2018. Hali‘a, which means fond remembrance, is a tribute to him.

Daily 4 to 10 p.m., 91-1621 Keoneula Blvd., ‘Ewa Beach, (808) 752-2288, @sidestreetinn

SEE ALSO: Foodflash: Get Ready, West Side—Side Street Inn Is Opening Next Month

Photo: Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Hawaiian Style Seafood

Waiting on final permits and ready to open any day now is Hawaiian Style Seafood, a new home for Feast Mānoa’s signature lobster rolls. Chef-owner Jon Matsubara says the expansion to Waikīkī Shopping Plaza—on the same block as Royal Lobster and across the street from Wicked Maine Lobster—came about because of the consistency of tourists’ appetites for the lobster rolls at his KCC Farmers Market booth. Aside from the lobster rolls, the menu at Hawaiian Style Seafood will be almost totally different from that of Feast, with traditional and original poke, a Kaua‘i garlic shrimp cocktail and an assortment of Hawai‘i-sourced seafood.

@hawaiianstyleseafood

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Nani’s Hapa Café

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Okdongsik

Okdongsik, a Michelin Guide-listed South Korean eatery whose pork rice soup drew lines of townies snaking down the stairs at ‘Ewa Beach Golf Club at a pop-up two years ago, has opened a restaurant near Ala Moana Center. The menu has expanded slightly from the delicate dweji gomtang soup, mandoo and kim chee; and while the space is cozy, lines are reportedly more sedate. Word is that online reservations are coming soon.

Tuesday to Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 5 to 10 p.m.; 1388 Kapi‘olani Blvd., Ala Moana, okdongsik.net, @okdongsik

SEE ALSO: Michelin-Recognized Okdongsik Returns With Location Near Ala Moana Center

Photo: Gregg Hoshida

Onigiri Onibe

A musubi shop from Fukuoka, Japan, opened downtown in June, drawing throngs of workers for its warm, fluffy goods made with rice freshly cooked in ceramic pots. Onibe’s 45 choices range from plain, salted musubi to others featuring carbonara, sukiyaki and a fresh egg yolk. There’s a slight wait since every musubi is made to order. A smattering of side dishes round out the menu, but for those in a rush, the shop’s premade bentos are a better option.

Monday to Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., 921 Alakea St., Downtown, @onigiri_onibee_hawaii

SEE ALSO: Downtown Has a New Made-to-Order Musubi Shop

Photo: Andrea Lee

Perfect Day Real Fruit Ice Cream

Kailua has another new ice cream shop. Perfect Day—formerly a roving trailer, formerly known as the Sweet Retreat—opened Aug. 1 on Uluniu Street, just a block from the neighborhood’s second newest ice cream shop, Please Come Again. Perfect Day specializes in New Zealand-style ice cream made with fruit and swirled into cones and bowls. Also on offer are cold and hot coffee drinks featuring beans from Tradition Coffee Roasters, another Windward side small business.

Daily 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., 407 Uluniu St., Kailua, @perfectdayicecream

Photo: Melissa Chang

Tonkatsu@Honolulu

Pronounced “Tonkatsu at mark,” Honolulu’s latest shop featuring deep-fried cutlets from Japan is set to soft-open Aug. 10 in the same complex as Hangang Korean Grill House and Tempura Ichika. Expect the “sakusaku” crunch of freshly made panko on fluffy bites of pork, chicken, shrimp and oysters; beautifully complex curry sauce; a cheesy pork miso soup; and a variety of creative tsukemono pickles. The shop is from Nagoya, so you’ll get the city’s signature miso tonkatsu sauce as well as mild or spicy sauce. —Melissa Chang

1236 Waimanu St., Ala Moana, @tonkatsu_atmark_honolulu

Torishin

A rare high-end yakitori shop is coming—this one Michelin-starred, from Manhattan, with an omakase course. Torishin elevates different parts of the chicken, including esoteric ones (like belly skin versus neck skin, and the delectable but often overlooked chicken oysters), with highly focused selection, prep, grilling and seasoning. In New York City, where it won a Michelin star for seven years running as well as a three-star New York Times review in 2017, you can go a là carte or omakase or sit at a chef’s counter. No word on what the spot at Ward Villages will offer, except that its targeted opening is in November.

1001 Queen St., Kaka‘ako, torishinny.com, @torishin_ny_official

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Zucchi Pizza

Formerly a trailer at the Central YMCA, Zucchi Pizza has set up its Stefano Ferrara wood-burning brick oven, imported from Naples, at a more permanent kiosk at Ward Avenue and Ala Moana Boulevard. Rodrigo Zucchi’s Neapolitan-style pies emerge quickly from the 900-degree oven, including a spicy Italian Sausage Volcano and a garlicky mushroom white sauce pizza. There are umbrella-shaded picnic tables on the large deck in front and two hours of free parking in the unpaved lot behind (enter from Ahui Street).

Daily 4 to 9 p.m. except Wednesday and Friday, 1011 Ala Moana Blvd., zucchipizza.com, @zucchipizza

SEE ALSO: Wait, There’s Legit Neapolitan Pizza and Other Food Trucks at a YMCA?

Mari Taketa is editor of Frolic Hawai‘i and dining editor of HONOLULU Magazine.