COURTESY ROMANO'S MACARONI GRILL The Italian-food restaurant chain is preparing for its Hawaii debut with industry veteran Randy Schoch.

Ala Moana Center to get
first Macaroni Grill
in the islands

The Italian food chain is
expanding to Hawaii

Restaurant chain Romano's Macaroni Grill is coming to Hawaii, opening first at Ala Moana Center, fulfilling a decades-old desire for Hawaii restaurateur Randy Schoch.

The restaurant serves Italian foods and is known for inviting guests to create their own pasta dishes using a selection of meats, vegetables, sauces and types of pasta.

Construction will begin in about a month on the second floor of the center in the former J.C. Penney space.

The 8,300-square-foot restaurant will serve 322 people -- 238 in the dining room, 62 at the bar -- at lunch and dinner each day once it opens Nov. 1. The restaurant will hire about 150 employees.

The average check will be $11 to $12 for lunch and $16 or $17 for dinner, Schoch said.

Schoch first became interested in Macaroni Grill when he first heard about it in the late 1980s.

"What a cool name. This is the coolest concept. Wouldn't it be great if I could get a franchise," he said he thought.

"I just never got around to it," focusing instead on Black Orchid and Ruth's Chris, of which there are now three in Hawaii.

Schoch said Ala Moana owner General Growth Properties wanted him to bring his Thaifoon Asian restaurant to Hawaii but Schoch didn't want to bring an Asian concept to Hawaii.

Out of the blue General Growth suggested he bring in Macaroni Grill, which had just signed its first domestic franchise, in the Pacific Northwest.

Schoch's Arizona-based Desert Island Restaurants Inc. is the second of the company's franchisees.

"We're absolutely thrilled," he said. Schoch predicts the Ala Moana location could generate more than the company's $7 million top-selling store, in Puerto Rico. He is exploring four or five additional locations in Waikiki, on Maui and the Big Island.

Romano's Macaroni Grill is owned by Dallas-based Brinker International Inc., which also owns and operates Chili's Grill & Bar, On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina, Maggiano's Little Italy, Corner Bakery Cafe, Big Bowl Asian Kitchen and Rockfish Seafood Grill.