Shimogawa Scoops

A new restaurant and bar inspired by New Orleans’ popular Bourbon Street has recently opened in the former Mandalay Restaurant space in Downtown Honolulu. Bourbon Street Restaurant and Bar serves creole-style meals for lunch and dinner, and also features live music and an oyster bar.  Located on Alakea Street, it hopes to attract both the downtown lunch and happy hour crowds, which are slowly starting to come back to the area. Bourbon Street should do well in Honolulu, mainly because of the lack of competition in this market, but it will be a challenge since the effects of the pandemic are still lingering in Honolulu.

  All 38 units  of Honolulu’s newest affordable rental complex are now occupied  after   h undreds applied  to rent a  unit at the complex . Developed in partnership between  Geyser Holdings  and the City and County of Honolulu, the “Residence at Maunakea”  is a unique opportunity  for residents to live  right in the middle of Oahu’s historic Chinatown neighborhood and near the bustling downtown financial district where living, eating and playing all in the same area is more than just a possibility – it’s reality.  Located on the second floor of the legendary Maunakea Marketplace, home to Hawaii’s ethnic shops and eateries, the Residence at Maunakea  Marketplace ’s 38 rental  units encompass studio, one, and two-bedroom units, ranging in size from approximately 300 square feet to around 775 square feet. The   new units replac ed  the second floor office and retail spaces, and  were  ready to occu...

Will Smith’s former 28-acre Hawaii estate on the island of Kauai has been sold for about $24 million, according to public records. The actor, singer and producer who has starred in such films as “Men in Black,” “Bad Boys,” “Wild Wild West” and “I am Legend,” purchased the Kilauea property on Kauai’s North Shore in 2009 for $13.5 million.  Smith then sold it to the heiress of a Russian oligarch billionaire for $20 million just two years later. This month, the Russian heiress sold the pristine property that overlooks Secret Beach for $24.1 million estate to a California entity. Kauai’s North Shore has been a hot spot for celebrities who continue to snatch up properties in this beautiful area of the Hawaiian Islands.  

  Chick-fil-A is expanding to Windward Oahu, opening its second location in Hawaii at the former Kaneohe Bakery property along Kamehameha Highway, public records show. The popular Atlanta-based chicken restaurant chain has recently filed permits with the city for the former Kaneohe Bakery property, which had been on the market with Action Realty for $3 million. The property consists of a 4,597-square-foot commercial building and two smaller residential properties on a nearly 20,000-square-foot parcel of land right in the middle of the Kaneohe Business District. In 2019, Chick-fil-A announced its plans to expand to Hawaii with its first location in the Burger King restaurant space along Beretania Street in Honolulu. Chick-fil-A’s entrance and expansion into the Hawaii market is long overdue and is one of several new restaurants or retailers to finally make the jump over the Pacific Ocean to open their first location in the Islands, which is a welcoming sight for both resid...

Moani Island Bistro and Bar, a popular establishment in West Oahu, is expanding east with a new location in Waikiki at the International Marketplace, public records show. Moani, which is the local version of “Cheers,” is opening in the former Kona Grill space at the Waikiki shopping mall. Moani filed a permit this week to build out its second floor space at IMP, which will join other restaurants such as ShoreFyre Grill, Eating House 1849 by Roy Yamaguchi, Stripsteak and a new pizza brew pub opening in the former Flour & Barley space.  Moani, which has a heavy live music lineup and a solid menu that includes mainly local favorites such as smoked meat, spicy ahi nachos and sizzling kalbi, has grown to become the go-to bar and bistro in West Oahu. It hopes to ride that wave of popularity into the state’s tourism mecca  of Waikiki. 

Billionaire Larry Ellison, the 7th richest person in the world, has purchased another property on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai for $1.4 million, according to public records. The tech titan purchased most of Lanai for $300 million almost a decade ago.  The co-founder of Oracle Corp., who has a net worth of about $93 billion, according to Forbes, purchased the property from a nonprofit preschool on the Pineapple Isle.  The property, which was formerly occupied by a church, consists of about 13,600-square-feet of land with a nearly 2,000-square-foot building on it.  The property has a total assessed value of about $520,000, but is exempt from being taxed. Lanai Resorts LLC, Ellison’s company that runs the island’s operations, only will be paying hundreds of dollars in property taxes since a nonprofit is leasing the property. Its lease expires in 2023.  Ellison has been slowly buying up properties on Lanai, and has plans to double the island’s population in the coming ye...

Beer Lab, one of the most popular craft breweries in Hawaii, is not opening at East Oahu’s Kuono Marketplace, Shimogawa Scoops has confirmed. Many in the area were excited about Beer Lab’s expansion into this craft beer-starved market. Beer Lab was slated to open next to Foodland’s Kahala MKT., but that’s not happening anymore because of “unforeseen circumstances.” Beer Lab was founded in 2015, and has three locations, including two in Central Oahu at Pearlridge Center and the Waipio industrial area as well as its original location in Manoa near University of Hawaii. Although Beer Lab is not opening at Kuono Marketplace, J. Dolan’s is still scheduled to open its second location at the new Kahala shopping center, as first reported by Shimogawa Scoops.

Skybox Tap House, a new sports bar concept serving pizza and beer, is opening in the former Flour & Barley space at International Marketplace in Waikiki, Shimogawa Scoops has learned. Skybox is the creation of the same owners of ShoreFyre, which is also located on the top level of the marketplace amongst other restaurants such a Stripsteak Waikiki and Eating House 1849 by Roy Yamaguchi. Skybox recently filed a building permit for the former Flour & Barley space. The architect for the new sportspub is MGA Architecture. Skybox, which is scheduled to open later this year, should be a popular addition to the marketplace, especially during football season, where nearly every seat in sports bars around town is occupied. 

J. Dolan’s, a pizza institution in Hawaii, is expanding to East Oahu with a location planned at the new Kuono Marketplace in Kahala. The popular Irish pub and pizza joint is opening in the end-cap space that’s directly across from Zippy’s.  The space comes with outdoor seating, something it doesn’t have at its Chinatown location. J. Dolan’s, which serves a variety of New York-style pizza pies, is widely known as one of the best pizza pubs in Hawaii. J. Dolan’s was founded by Danny Dolan and J.J. Niebuhr more than a decade ago, with help from Don Murphy of Murphy’s Bar & Grill. Niebuhr stepped away from the business a few years ago. The long-awaited expansion of J. Dolan’s will be well received by the East Oahu market, which currently lacks good pizza restaurants.   Kuono Marketplace is anchored by Kahala MKT. by Foodland, and also includes Purve Donut Shop, Wholesale Unlimited, Great Clips, Drybar, Lanikai Juice and Daiichi Ramen, among others.