New & Coming Restaurants on O‘ahu

Four new restaurants, one that just reopened, and four more set to open this year around Honolulu.

January 2, 2025

Mari Taketa,

‘Awa Hou

Mō‘ili‘ili

New life is coming to the old Glazers Coffee space next to Puck’s Alley. We got no response when we reached out to ‘Awa Hou, so all we know is what’s on the handwritten sign taped to the door: A new kava bar is coming soon. ‘Awa Hou’s Instagram doesn’t have any posts yet, but we’ll be watching it for updates.

2700 S. King St., @awahouhnl

Chao Hawai‘i

Nu‘uanu

Photo: Courtesy of Chao Hawai‘i

Black Shamrock Tavern, Murphy’s Bar & Grill, O’Kims Contemporary Korean Kitchen, Fête, The Daley: Heading mauka, Nu‘uanu Avenue’s rich stretch of full-service eateries ends at Mei Sum Dim Sum, just below Beretania Street. That’ll change come this summer: Chao Hawai‘i, a Southeast Asian-inspired restaurant with a heavy Vietnamese influence, plans a summer opening at Nu‘uanu and School Street in the same strip mall as Paradise Poke. The location isn’t so much a surprise when you consider that the new place shares the same owners as the poke chain. Expect meal service throughout the day, plus Southeast Asian tapas and cocktails.

1613 Nu‘uanu Ave., @chaohawaii

Chart House

Waikīkī

Photo: J. Eric Lynxwiler

Closed nine months for renovation, 56-year-old Chart House reopened in its open-air, 11,000-square-foot space facing Ala Wai Yacht Harbor on Christmas Eve. While the dining room and sound system have been refurbished, menu classics are back, including escargots and steak, part of a daily 3:30 to 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight happy hour at the bar.

1765 Ala Moana Blvd., charthousewaikiki.com, @charthousewaikiki

Paris Hawai‘i

Kaka‘ako

Honolulu-based Westman Corp. plans two reprisals this year. The first is Paris.Hawai‘i, the intimate chef’s counter that opened on Seaside Avenue in Waikīkī before it was replaced by the current Nature. Yuya Yamanaka, the corporate executive chef behind Westman-owned Buho Cocina y Cantina, Kaimukī Shokudo, Waikīkī Shokudo and Sushi Fukurou, returns to helm the new Paris.Hawai‘i with a similar focus on locally sourced ingredients and French technique. The new eatery soft-opened in early January and plans a slow rollout through the early months of 2025 in the former Hank’s Haute Dogs space.

324 Coral St., @paris.hawaii

Ki Club Hawai‘i

Ala Moana

The old Minari izakaya spot near the intersection of Kalākaua and Kapi‘olani avenues is now a high-energy restaurant and nightclub with a giant video wall. The food menu, by former Vino chef Keith Endo, presents everything from shrimp and corn ricotta ravioli and ‘ahi pizza to seared scallops in parmesan broth with bacon and matcha bread pudding. For now, the restaurant is open Tuesday to Sunday evenings; nightclub hours are late night Fridays and Saturdays.

1731 Kalākaua Ave., @kiclubhawaii

Mian & Bao

Kaka‘ako

Photo: Courtesy of Mian & Bao

California-based Tony Xu opened Chengdu Taste in 2016 and followed it with Mian in 2018, both at 808 Center; in December, the James Beard Award semi-finalist expanded his Honolulu holdings to a new neighborhood with Mian & Bao. The new restaurant serves up Sichuan classics like chile oil wontons and spicy beef noodles, along with Shanghainese favorites like xiao long bao and pan-fried sheng jian bao soup dumplings crafted in an open kitchen. Find it in the old Peso/Piggy Smalls location at Ward Village.

1200 Ala Moana Blvd., @miannbao_honolulu

Totoya

Kaimukī

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Those long lines you’ve been seeing across from Hale Vietnam in Kaimukī are for Totoya, a tiny newcomer that opened in early December with upscale kaisen sushi bowls. Word is the selection—from the $17 salmon and ikura bowl to the premium $36 Tokujo and Fukuju bowls, one topped with uni and snow crab and a shower of ikura, and the other with a medley including red shrimp and scallop—is excellent. The shop’s sister eateries include longtime Mō‘ili‘ili izakaya Tori Ton and its upstairs neighbor, Izakaya Tenkichi.

1127 12th Ave., (808) 600-5017, @totoyahawaii

Vintage Books

Kaimukī

Kaimukī, a breeding ground of the eclectic, welcomed its newest and arguably least conventional player in December. Vintage Books is a speakeasy and restaurant cloaked in a great-libraries-of-yesteryear concept, minus actual books. Cocktails are by Jen Ackrill, who has her own following from her days at Hau Tree and Sky Waikīkī; food is by Stephen Toyofuku, who cooked at Hakkei in Honolulu (R.I.P.) and Seattle’s Chicken Supply, Homer and Joule. Whether you drink or eat, plan on bringing plastic, as Vintage Books is cash-free.

3660 Wai‘alae Ave., (808) 739-9050, vintagebookshawaii.com, @vintagebookshawaii

Westman Café

Kaka‘ako

After closing in Waikīkī in January 2024, Westman Corp.’s flagship restaurant is expected to reopen in Ward Village this fall, joining Nori Bar, Onkee Korean Grill House and others on Kō‘ula’s growing list of eateries. The café will face Dean & DeLuca on the other side of the staircase fronting Victoria Ward Park, with indoor and outdoor seating and a menu we hope will reprise its memorable oxtail soup.

1000 Auahi St.