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ASD Staff

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"text":"Mr. T would pity the fool who doesn't find this funny.","type":"text"}]

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<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: An amazing chain of events</title>

Today's social media find comes from nailsbydanny, and it's all about the links.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: An amazing chain of events

Mr. T would pity the fool who doesn&#039;t find this funny. 

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Food & Dining

[{"type":"text","text":"A new Korean grocery store just opened in Honolulu."}]

 just opened in the former Ross space on 

. The grocery store offers a variety of produce, noodles, seasonings, snacks, drinks and more.

The store is open this week from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., but starting next week, it will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Customers can get 10% off side dishes — including kimchi, cucumber kimchi and seaweed — during soft opening.

[{"type":"text","text":"Validated customer parking (one hour) is available with purchase."}]

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

You Me Mart sign 022026

<title>New Korean grocery store open in Honolulu</title>

You Me Mart just soft opened on Ke‘eaumoku Street. The business is located in the same space as French-Korean bakery TOUS les JOURS, in the former Ross space.

New Korean grocery store open in Honolulu

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, an Autograph Collection property on Hawai‘i Island’s Kohala Coast, has unveiled a new $180 million-plus renovation it says is the “most extensive transformation in the property’s 60-year history.”

The renovation, which spans both the hotel’s Main Tower and Beachfront Wing, includes 252 “fully reimagined” guest rooms and suites, along with a refreshed family resort pool with a new oceanfront hot tub and five private cabanas, a recent announcement noted.

Additions throughout both wings include handcrafted textiles, ceiling fans and plantation shutters, bedside lighting control panels, glass lānai doors, bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and more.

There’s also a new oceanfront wellness retreat with a state-of-the-art, 2,500-square-foot fitness center and an adults-only infinity lap pool along with refreshed public spaces with a curated gallery from the Rockefeller Art Collection.

According to the hotel, photovoltaic solar panels that supply about 45% of the resort’s overall electrical energy needs have also been added.

Other enhancements include the redesign of the Mauna Kea Golf Course by Robert Trent Jones Jr., the opening of the 28,000-square-foot 

, upgraded in-room amenities, and updates to the hotel’s restaurants, the announcement notes.

, for example, is a “re-concepting” of the resort’s beachfront dining venue, the announcement notes. Its lunch menu will include items like salads, burgers and Baja-style fish tacos, and evenings will feature contemporary regional Mexican dishes.

 restaurant also received a “refresh and introduced a new hyper garden-to-table menu” the hotels says is centered on local and seasonal ingredients that come from Big Island farmers, fishermen, ranchers and the resort’s new ‘Ulu Garden.

And coming this spring is The Spa at Mauna Kea, which will offer 11 treatment rooms, purification gardens, steam and sauna facilities, a pool and more.

“This renovation was always part of our long-term vision for Mauna Kea Beach Hotel,” hotel manager Kansas Henderson said in a statement provided to ASD. “Plans for the transformation were already underway prior to the [Covid-19] pandemic, and while it understandably paused our timeline, it did not pause our commitment. 

“As travel resumed around the globe, ownership recognized it was the right time to bring this long-planned vision to life, honoring our responsibility to preserve the hotel’s historic legacy and its culturally significant art collection while delivering the elevated and unforgettable experience today’s guests expect. The timing ultimately reflects both commitment and responsibility, ensuring Mauna Kea continues to create lasting memories for generations to come.”

Henderson says that on average, the hotel hosts approximately 25,000 visitors each year.

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel opened with 154 rooms in July 1965.

“It was while swimming in the turquoise waters of Kauna‘oa Bay, surrounded by a vast landscape of lava rock and ranchland with clear views of Maunakea’s summit, that American conservationist and venture capitalist Laurance S. Rockefeller decided to build Hawai‘i Island’s first resort,” a history on the 

. “His inspiration to capture the spirit of this special place and ensure the hotel conformed to, rather than intruded upon, these beautiful natural surroundings, became today’s Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.

Its $15 million build-out made the hotel the most expensive hotel ever built at the time, the site states. Room rates started at $43 per night and included breakfast and dinner. The hotel expanded in 1968 with the Beachfront Wing and has undergone other renovations over the years.

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel shares 1,839 oceanfront acres with The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort and Mauna Kea Residences, which together form the Mauna Kea Resort.

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Mauna Kea Beach Hotel 1

<title>Mauna Kea Beach Hotel debuts $180M renovation</title>

The hotel says this is the “most extensive transformation in the property’s 60-year history.”

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel debuts $180M renovation

[{"type":"text","text":"A new dumpling shop recently opened in Honolulu."}]

Located on the second floor of Discovery Bay Center, 

 just soft opened. The business is known for its Northern Chinese cuisine, including handcrafted dumplings and specialized noodle dishes.

The business’s dumplings are its signature dishes; most orders contain 20 bite-sized pieces ($15.99). Choose from popular flavors like pork and cabbage and pork and chives, along with specialty options like shrimp and corn (20 pieces for $18.99), and the signature flavor (20 pieces for $23.99), which is a mixture of abalone, sea cucumber and shrimp. All dumplings are made in house.

Other menu items include wontons in bone soup ($15.99) — which is expected to be a popular dish — pork knuckle with cucumber salad ($14.99) and beef shank ($19.99). New dishes not on the menu — but are coming soon — include shredded chicken ($9.99), pigs’ ears ($15.99) and braised pork ($18.99).

Customers can also use the business’s Korean ramen station. Choose your instant noodles ($5); toppings — including cheese, eggs and sausage — are available for an additional price ($2).

If you’re craving something refreshing, check out the business’s shave ice station. Each dessert includes two toppings ($9.99); customers can get five toppings for $15.99.

Toppings range from passion fruit jelly and mango jelly to strawberry boba, peach jam and mango boba.

Waikīkī Snack Store also offers frozen, heat-at-home dumplings ($15.99). To celebrate the business’s grand opening, customers can take advantage of a limited-time promotion: buy four sets of frozen dumplings and get one set free. The promotion is valid until March 1.

The store will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Customers can enjoy free parking for the first two hours at Discovery Bay Center.

Free customer parking at Discovery Bay Center for the first two hours

Waikiki Snack Store dumplings 021726

<title>New dumpling shop in Honolulu</title>

Located on the second floor of Discovery Bay Center, Waikīkī Snack Store recently opened. The shop — which specializes in Northern Chinese cuisine, including handcrafted dumplings and wontons in bone soup — also offers interactive ramen and shave ice stations.

New dumpling shop in Honolulu

new movie starring actors Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista

 that will start streaming on Prime Video on Jan. 28 — Zippy’s is debuting a new menu item for a limited time.

 is available starting today, Jan. 12, at all Zippy’s locations in Hawai

i and Southern Nevada until Sunday, March 1. The Wrecking Crew Pac ($15.95 in Honolulu at takeout; prices vary by location) features a combination of Zippy’s signature items and customer favorites.

The new menu item includes three scoops of rice with furikake, two scoops of Zippy’s OG chili, one scoop of mac salad, one piece of fried chicken, four pieces of Portuguese sausage and one piece of hoki fish.

Select scenes from “The Wrecking Crew” were filmed at Zippy’s ʻEwa store in 2024. Zippy’s fans are encouraged to try the new menu item and watch “The Wrecking Crew."

Zippys Wrecking Crew plates 010926

Katie Helland

Arts & Entertainment

The new movie launches this month, featuring Momoa and Dave Bautista, who play estranged brothers brought together by the death of their father. The story is set in the Islands.

"The Wrecking Crew"

What to know about 'The Wrecking Crew' starring Jason Momoa

<title>The Wrecking Crew Pac is now available at Zippy’s</title>

The limited-time menu item, inspired by Prime Video’s “The Wrecking Crew,” will be available at all Zippy’s locations in Hawaiʻi and Southern Nevada starting today until March 1.

The Wrecking Crew Pac is now available at Zippy’s

I remember the first time I went to Kizuna Sushi Bar & Grill in Kāneʻohe — not just because it’s one of few sushi restaurants in the area, but because the selection of sushi rolls was so overwhelming that ordering was difficult. There were more than 25 chef specialty sushi rolls to choose from.

In mid-March, the biz opened its sister restaurant, 

, in Kailua. It’s not terribly far from its original location, but still a nice option for the neighborhood.

We’re told the menu at this location is mostly the same as that at the Kāneʻohe restaurant. The biggest difference between the two is that the Kailua one has a dedicated space for teppanyaki tables. During lunch, that area is empty, but it gets busier during dinner, according to our server, who said each teppanyaki table can seat around 18 people.

Teppanyaki lunch specials ($14-$22.50) are available; prices vary depending on the entree you order. Choices include chicken, steak, salmon, shrimp, scallop and even filet mignon. All teppanyaki lunches include miso soup, salad, white rice and vegetables.

Similar to the Kāneʻohe location, the Kailua restaurant also offers a huge selection of specialty sushi rolls — 30, to be exact. We’re told two of the rolls are Kailua location exclusives: the river rock roll ($17.95) and the Hulk roll ($19.95). The latter features deep-fried eel, cucumber and avocado inside, topped with seaweed salad, eel sauce, spicy mayo and garlic crunch.

The river rock roll includes shrimp tempura, avocado, fresh tuna and a crab stick inside, and fresh salmon, tempura flakes, masago, eel sauce and spicy mayo on top. I enjoyed the contrasting textures — the tuna’s creaminess with the tempura flakes’ crunch — and each piece boasted a good fish-to-rice ratio (aka, not too much rice).

The kitchen bento box is a popular option during lunch; it’s only available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays. All bento come with salad, white rice and miso soup. Choose from a pre-set list of bento entrees, ranging from chicken karaage and tofu teriyaki to miso butterfish and shrimp and vegetable tempura. The latter two options are among the most popular choices. 

Pro tip: If you want a specific sushi roll — something that’s not included in the 30 rolls on the menu — ask your server. If it’s not too busy, the sushi chefs behind the counter might be able to create a specialty roll that’s customized to your liking.

Open 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays, 5-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 4;30-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 12-3:30 p.m., 4:30-9:30 p.m. Sundays

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