Naks Cafe is almost one year old; the business opened on Aug. 8, 2025, in the former Ba-le space, next to the Don Quijote Pearl City food court.
According to business owner Nathan Wu, the cafe's name is inspired by his family.
“It stands for Nathan, Ava, Katy and Sheldon,” Wu says. “Ava is my daughter and Sheldon is my younger son.”
Wu has worked in the restaurant industry for the past 25 years; his previous culinary experience includes roles at Hau Tree — when the property was still called The New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel — and at now-closed Le Bistro.
“The chef (from Le Bistro) was really talented,” Wu says. “I learned a lot from him; I got a lot of inspiration from him. I was there (at Le Bistro) for around 10 years.”
Wu always wanted to open his own restaurant; he currently operates Mezzo Bistro & Bar, which is in Market City Shopping Center.
“That restaurant is American-Italian fusion,” he says. “It’s been open for five years.”
He wasn’t necessarily looking to open a new concept in Pearl City, but once he learned about the space, he thought it was a good fit.
“In Hawaiʻi, everybody is so busy,” Wu says. “After work, maybe people just want to go home and enjoy a good meal. I wanted to have upscale takeout for busy people; they can still get takeout with restaurant-quality food.”
Wu describes Naks Cafe's cuisine as “international fusion.” He says many of the featured dishes are personal favorites.
“I’ve been putting more wagyu items on the menu,” he says. “We have a supplier directly from Japan, we are getting A5 Toriyama wagyu directly from their farm. We are trying to introduce more wagyu items to the Pearl City area.”
When Naks Cafe first opened, the biz only had ramen on the menu. Now, the menu offers a variety of sandwiches, pastas, wagyu dishes and specials.
“We now have the wagyu beef burger, wagyu loco moco and wagyu beef curry,” Wu says. “I’m thinking we’ll have more wagyu items in the future.”
The wagyu beef burger ($18.85) is one of the most popular dishes. It features a wagyu beef patty with caramelized onions, cheese, arugula and wasabi aioli. The burger comes with fries and mixed greens.
“The salad comes with our housemade dressing, which is a raspberry vinaigrette,” Wu says.
The cafe also offers specials like the Cajun shrimp plate ($17.85) and barbecue chicken and shrimp mix plate ($19.85). The Cajun shrimp plate comes with fresh greens and rice; the shrimp boasts a slight spice.
The fettuccine al funghi ($16.85) and The Naks ($16.85) — which is a bite-sized French toast — are also customer favorites, according to Wu. The latter features crispy, deep-fried French toast bites, tossed in cinnamon sugar and served with a housemade cream cheese whip.
“Kids love it; our homemade cream cheese whip is really good,” Wu says.
Customers can also choose from drinks like Oreo milk with Nutella cloud ($6.85), and mango or strawberry matcha lattes ($6.85). While most customers order their meals to-go, they can also enjoy their meals in the adjacent food court area, which offers seating.
Naks Cafe is celebrating its first anniversary this Saturday, Aug. 8. The biz will be offering a 16% discount on food, along with a buy-one-get-one-free special for drinks.
“We’re offering 16% percent off because Aug. 8 is like 8 plus 8,” Wu says. “We want to make it memorable.”
CONTACT
Naks Cafe
850 Kamehameha Hwy., Pearl City
808-628-8978
Instagram: @naks_cafe
Open from 11 am. to 7 p.m. Sundays to Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays
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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
