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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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All-you-can-eat Japanese food heading to Aloha Tower
MAKINO CHAYA Inc. will open its Japanese buffet concept in a long-vacant food-court space at Aloha Tower Marketplace, with a target opening in December if all goes according to plan.
"Makino Chaya will have five different kitchens there: a tempura kitchen, sushi kitchen, Makino's kitchen, Neptune Island -- dedicated more to crab and lobster -- and you will have the Japanese teppan-yaki steakhouse," similar to Tanaka of Tokyo, General Manager Chris Mitchell said.
Diners will select dishes from the kitchens and a buffet line of salads and desserts, he said.
The layout will not be the only difference between the Aloha Tower Makino Chaya and the chain's other locations.
At lunch, "for business people, what we're going to do is that people will pay before they come in, because many of them have a time limit," Mitchell said.
Diners can eat their fill in a leisurely manner or eat and run. "They will have a reign of everything, even the soda fountain," and "they won't have to wait around for a check," Mitchell said.
During dinner service, the check will come at the end.
The company opened Todai Restaurant and later sold it, six years ago. "Mr. (Toru) Makino decided when he opened up Todai to cater to the tourists," Mitchell said.
"So when we opened Makino, we decided we wanted it to work for locals."
Makino Chaya locations in the McCully area, in Mililani and Aiea were opened for the local crowd, which named Makino Chaya the No. 2 favorite buffet, behind Todai, in the 2006 "Hawaii's Best" Star-Bulletin and MidWeek reader poll.
THE TWO-YEAR-OLD Mililani Makino Chaya recently closed, however.
"The only reason we closed it down was that more people were coming to the Aiea location," Mitchell said. The Kaonohi Street Makino Chaya seats 350 diners and will seat another 50 after a two-month expansion is complete.
All locations recommend that diners make reservations, but lines outside are common.
"I don't mind people waiting, but I don't like people waiting," Mitchell said. He wanted to expand the 250-seat Mililani location but would have been unable to do so, he said.
That was news to Steve Sofos, whose realty company manages Mililani Marketplace, where Makino Chaya has a 10-year lease on the former Sizzler space.
"We were advised they were going to close for two weeks to put the grease trap in," he said.
Further communication between the landlord and Makino Chaya is probable, Sofos said.
AS FOR WHAT'S down the road, Makino Chaya has its sights set on Waikiki, where it is mulling over a few different properties, Mitchell said.
The Aloha Tower location will serve a mix of visitors and local people, he said.
The mix of cuisine, customers and style of restaurant is a welcome addition to the marketplace, said General Manager Floyd Williamson.
Aside from Sunday buffets, the other restaurants at Aloha Tower are sit-down, table-service restaurants.
In addition to the downtown business corridor potentially providing local customers, possible Makino Chaya diners include Japanese visitors attending orientations at the Japan Travel Bureau's offices, cruise ship passengers and other westbound visitors, Williamson said.
The second-floor space of just about 10,000 square feet on the Ewa side of the complex is undergoing demolition work to prepare for Makino Chaya, which "I would love to see ... up and running before the holidays," he said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com