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Outback Steakhouse
seeks 2 more
Hawaii sites

The chain is looking at
adding restaurants in Hawaii
Kai and Waipio Gentry

By Betty Shimabukuro
Star-Bulletin

Outback Steakhouse Inc. hopes to open two new restaurants on Oahu by the end of the year, doubling the chain's presence in the islands.

Bruce Uitto, the local managing partner for the Australian-themed restaurants, says the two most likely sites are in Hawaii Kai and Waipio Gentry.

The Tampa, Fla.-based company has been working with Bishop Estate to lease the building that once housed Hanatei Bistro, at the corner of Hawaii Kai Drive and Kalanianaole Highway, and with Gentry Pacific to build a free-standing building in the Gentry Waipio Shopping Center off Kamehameha Highway.

Uitto said he has also looked at other sites on Oahu, including Kapolei, and in Kona, which could be added to the chain in the future.

Outback opened a Waikiki restaurant at the site of the old Marina Theaters in 1997. Its second restaurant, in Kahana, Maui, opened a year later. The proposed Hawaii Kai site is next door to chef Roy Yamaguchi's restaurant.

Yamaguchi has a partnership with Outback to expand his Roy's chain nationwide, but will have no involvement in Outback's Hawaii Kai location.