Square Kady Pascual Headshot RGZ5762

Kady Pascual

Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"No one wants a foot full of wana!"}]

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

TheRealHong

<title>Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Stepped on</title>

Today’s social media find comes from @TheRealHong, who misstepped.

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Stepped on

No one wants a foot full of wana!  Make sure you follow @TheRealHongon Instagram! For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up here for our free Daily Edition newsletter!

ASD icon blue inverse lighter

ASD Staff

Daily Smile

Dogs having the time of their lives following this week's historic blizzard in the northeast...

Smile 26 3 7

<title>Daily Smile: Saturday, March 7, 2026</title>

Daily Smile: Saturday, March 7, 2026

Stephanie Salmons Headshot

Stephanie Salmons

Business & Tourism

Food & Dining

Restauranteur Ted Davenport has spent three decades in Hawai‘i's food scene. His latest endeavor brings a coffee brand founded in Hawai‘i to Honolulu's Kaimukī neighborhood.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawai‘i's newest location at 3502-C Wai‘alae Ave. opens March 13.

[{"type":"text","text":"It's been a long time coming, Davenport told Aloha State Daily."}]

"We thought we'd open last May," he said after commenting on the lengthy permitting process.

Davenport will operate the store in partnership with 

Galu and Diane Tagovailoa, parents of NFL quarterback 

"His parents are really good friends of mine and they wanted to have a business in Hawai‘i, so we kind of put this together," he said.

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawai‘i was founded on Hawai‘i Island in 1989, "with a goal of sharing American-grown, premium Hawaiian coffee from Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, Molokai, Kona and Ka‘u with coffee lovers everywhere," its 

. There are nearly 40 franchise locations across the U.S., with 63 shops in various stages of development.

, there's currently one other location in Hawai‘i — at 3636 Lower Honoapi‘ilani Road in West Maui. 

The new Kaimukī shop spans 1,234 square feet and is expected to create 14 to 16 new jobs, a recent announcement noted. 

Davenport is a former firefighter who, in 1988, was looking for a way to supplement his income when he "got into the Subway franchise business" and ultimately partnered with Subway to develop the brand in Hawai‘i, he told ASD. He left the fire department in the early 2000s and focused on developing brands. He also brought Ruby Tuesdays to the Islands and helped develop and open a number of other eateries.

When asked how he got involved with Bad Ass Coffee, Davenport says that Subway had sold; the company was going to buy him out but he wanted to "continue on doing something." He had been looking at coffee opportunities since his daughter went to college in Oregon and he saw the coffee concepts that were available in the Oregon and Washington area.

"I was trying to see what different concepts were out there and I visited different coffee concepts," he says. "What I liked about Bad Ass is they give you pure product. And when I say that, if you order an iced coffee or iced latte, the ice is made out of coffee. If you order our Frappuccinos ... it comes out of a tailor-made machine, which is cream and coffee, then we add the flavors. We don't use ice."

[{"type":"text","text":"Ice is only used in energy drinks and smoothies, he noted."}]

Reaching this point "feels real good," Davenport told ASD. "It was a long process and to get there, you just have to have the patience and understand that [not] everything's going to happen in a moment. But I enjoy developing. I enjoy giving a product to the customer that they're going to really enjoy and come back and tell somebody about it. That gives me the thrill of doing what I keep on doing."

[{"type":"text","text":"Davenport plans to open three locations in total."}]

Bad Ass Coffee of Hawai‘i — Honolulu will be open from 5:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

"I want people to come in and try our product and give us a feedback on what they think and [if] they see something we can improve or do," Davenport says. "We'd love to hear feedback from the public and our customers. It always helps us to be able to grow the brand and give them what they want."

Interested in your own franchise? Find more information 

. Franchisees can expect to invest between $526,100 to $992,400, the announcement notes.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Meaning behind the name"}]

According to the company's site, for generations, donkeys of Kona "could be heard bellowing as they carried precious loads of coffee beans down the steep mountains of the Big Island." The people of Kona name these animals the "'bad ass ones' because of their reliably strong but stubborn nature in carrying their precious cargo."

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Badass coffee 030626

<title>Bad Ass Coffee opens in Kaimukī March 13</title>

You'll find the newest location at 3502-C Wai‘alae Ave.

Bad Ass Coffee opens in Kaimukī March 13

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta Headshot

Kelli Shiroma Braiotta

Located in the former space of Nami Kaze, 

Thirty Eight restaurant opened for dinner at Pier 38

The eatery just launched its new lunch menu, and the restaurant is now open from Monday to Saturday.

According to chef de cuisine Daysen Masuda, the lunch menu is inspired by familiar flavors and plate lunch fare.

“I wanted to do something different from your normal plate lunch,” he says. “I feel like this menu is familiar to everyone — misoyaki butterfish, ‘ahi belly, Korean fried chicken and loco moco are staples here in Hawaiʻi — but we’re putting our own spin on it here. Here at Thirty Eight, how could we make it a little more elevated?”

Appetizers include popular selections from the eatery’s dinner menu, including maguro cabbage ($21), poke crackers ($12), calamari katsu ($17) and cabbage Caesar ($16).

The mix plate ($26) is not only aesthetically pleasing, but equally tasty. It includes a daily catch — in our case, guava chili ‘ahi — short ribs, spicy ‘ahi, watercress salad, potato salad and Spam fried rice.

“When you go out and eat a plate lunch, you want to have a little bit of everything,” Masuda says. “Especially here at Thirty Eight, we’re using really good seafood and fresh ‘ahi, so we wanted to highlight it. It’s just a mixture of flavors.

“The Spam fried rice is actually my mom’s Spam rice,” he adds. “(When I was) growing up, she made that for potlucks. I’m also a big fan of potato salad, so you gotta have potato salad. The potato salad is dusted with chermoula (a blend of spices); that’s paying homage to chef Mourad and (previously) working with him.” 

The black cod ($28) is served with shredded cabbage, potato salad and white rice. Meanwhile, the Korean fried chicken plate ($20) features a generous portion of chicken.

“We’re using the chicken quarter at dinner for the huli huli chicken, so I wanted to cross utilize that as well, but who doesn’t want a nice, big portion of chicken for lunch?” says Masuda, who notes this is one of his favorite dishes.

“It’s kind of inspired by my mom’s Korean fried chicken, but we do add a little bit of guava jelly in there,” he says. “It’s a little sweet and a little spicy.”

The eatery’s loco moco ($24) is expected to be a local favorite. The beef patty is topped with two sunny side up eggs, brown gravy and Hamakua mushrooms, and is served with rice.

“Everything starts with good quality,” Masuda says. “We’re using Prime ground beef topped with local eggs; we make grown gravy from scratch.”

The ‘ahi belly plate ($22) features local big-eye ‘ahi with ponzu butter, potato salad, watercress and white rice.

For dessert, diners can enjoy scoops ($9 each) from ice cream business Please Come Again, located in Kailua. Choose from shiso mint chip — topped with freeze-dried strawberries — and Vietnamese iced coffee, which is topped with condensed milk and cocoa nibs. Masuda notes that the restaurant is currently working on a dessert program.

“I’m excited (for this menu); for lunch down here at the pier, there’s a lot of guys that work around here, but a lot of tourists and locals. as well,” he says. “Lunch is always a little more casual; this is what I think people will like.

“That’s the cool thing about this project — we have a blank slate,” he adds. “Hawai

i is such a big melting pot of diverse cultures, so that’s why you’ll get some Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese flavors here, but it all works because that’s Hawai

Open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch, 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner Mondays to Saturdays

For the latest news of Hawai‘i, sign up 

Thirty Eight Honolulu lunch spread 030626

<title>Thirty Eight Honolulu launches lunch service</title>

The new eatery, which recently opened for dinner at Pier 38, just debuted its new lunch menu. The menu features some of the most popular pūpū from the dinner menu, along with elevated plate lunches like a mix plate, Korean fried chicken, loco moco and more.

Thirty Eight Honolulu launches lunch service

Government & Politics

Real Estate

Efforts to bring a 127-unit affordable housing project to ‘Ewa Beach are moving forward.

Kaleimaʻo Village — West Loch Apartments will be located at 91-1666 Renton Road, on a 3.7-acre lot owned by the City and County of Honolulu.

In February, Honolulu's Office of Housing released a new, three-year 

. At that time, city officials said the plan provides a roadmap that outlines actions the city will take to facilitate the production of new housing on O‘ahu.

Catherine Taschner, Department of Land Management director designate, said in an emailed response to questions from Aloha State Daily, that Kaleimaʻo Village is "a great example of how we're putting the city's Strategic Housing Plan into action."

"One of the key priorities in the plan is to activate underutilized public land to build deeply affordable homes, and this project does exactly that," she says. "It's being developed on city-owned land through a long-term lease, which helps lower costs and speed up delivery. It also aligns with our commitment to equitable geographic distribution — making sure affordable housing isn't concentrated in one area, but available across the island."

The project is being developed through a public-private partnership with Komohale West Loch LLC, a joint venture between Stanford Carr Development and Standard Communities. According to the announcement, the Honolulu City Council recently approved a 75-year ground lease for the site.

Taschner says these types of public-private partnerships are "absolutely essential" in the city's efforts to meet housing demands.

"The city has tools — like land, zoning and financing programs — but we need private partners to bring in the investment, the development, the know-how, and the ability to move quickly and efficiently," she said.

According to a recent announcement from the city, the project will be comprised of seven three-story residential buildings with 28 one-bedroom, 87 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units around a single-level community facility. The community center will have a meeting space, laundry facility, administrative office and mailboxes, and there will be 137 parking stalls and 64 bicycle stalls, the announcement noted.

All units will be reserved for residents earning at or below 60% of the area median income, the city says, noting that this includes "single-person households earning up to $58,000 per year, and families of four earning up to $75,000 per year."

Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in the announcement that the project "specifically targets income ranges that include many of O‘ahu's essential workforce." That includes food service employees, childcare providers, maintenance staff, health care support workers and transportation personnel, he said.

Although the project is still in the development phase, Taschner says they're nearing a "major milestone" with the financing. The total cost of the project has not been made public yet, she said, but the city has committed to some $30 million in private activity bonds to help finance it.

"That funding plays a huge role in keeping the project affordable and financially feasible — especially in today's market."

According to Taschner, the city revived its PAB program in 2021 after a 23-year hiatus. She explained that PABs are usually paired with 

, a federal program for financing affordable rental housing.

"Together, these tools reduce the amount of traditional debt a developer needs to take on, which lowers the overall cost of building the project," she explained. "That makes it possible to offer units at more affordable rents."

Taschner say 119 of the units will be reserved for households earning up to 60% of the AMI, while seven are set aside for families earning as little as 30% AMI, which she says is "crucial for those living paycheck to paycheck or struggling to stay housed."

The affordability and availability of housing continue to be frequent discussions — on O‘ahu as well as Neighbor Islands.

Blangiardi spoke at length about housing and homeless on O‘ahu during his 

 on March 18. Affordable housing also was addressed by Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. and Kaua‘i County Mayor Derek Kawakami during their individual 

Honolulu also recently announced plans to move forward with the 

, issuing earlier this month a request for qualifications for that project. The city said at that time the redevelopment is a "key component of Honolulu's transit-oriented development initiative, leveraging the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation's Skyline rail system to create high-density, mixed-use communities with accessible housing, economic opportunities and multimodal transportation options."

 the former First Hawaiian Bank building at 445 N. King St. for $8.4 million and in January 2024 it acquired the Iwilei Center for $51.5 million.

The recently unveiled housing plan, which can be 

, says these acquisitions, which total nearly five acres of land, "will form the catalyst of its redevelopment and revitalization efforts around the Kūwili Rail Station in Iwilei, consistent with the Downtown TOD Neighborhood Plan."

A list of the city's affordable housing projects in development can be 

[{"text":"In the mean time, though, home prices continue to rise on O‘ahu.","type":"text"}]

The median sale price of single-family home resales on O‘ahu hit a record high of $1,185,000 in February, according to the latest statistics from the Honolulu Board of Realtors.

Trevor Benn, president of the Honolulu Board of Realtors, said earlier this month, however, that fluctuations in monthly median figures can be more volatile since it represents a small sample of sales and that the number of home sales at different price points vary from month-to-month. The median prices of condominiums, however, declined year-over-year in February. Read 

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Stepped on

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Gotta catch ‘em all — at Ala Moana Center: voices from Pokémon GO’s “Wild Area: Global” event

Starbucks holiday launch draws crowds for limited-edition cups

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Dreams do come true

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Going big

Most read

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Stepped on

Authors

Kady Pascual

Social Media Editor

More in Hawaiʻi Scene on Social

Gotta catch ‘em all — at Ala Moana Center: voices from Pokémon GO’s “Wild Area: Global” event

Starbucks holiday launch draws crowds for limited-edition cups

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Dreams do come true

Hawai‘i Scene on Social: Going big

Most read