Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Friday, November 22, 2024 82° Today's Paper


Business BreakingTop News

Applebee’s to open first two Hawaii restaurants

COURTESY DEBARTOLO DEVELOPMENT

Applebee’s will be opening at Ka Makana Ali’i in West Oahu.

Applebee’s will open its first Hawaii restaurant at the Ewa Town Center in August, followed by a second location at a major shopping center which is opening in Kapolei this fall.

An Applebee’s spokesman confirmed the two locations today, but didn’t say exactly when the Kapolei eatery would open. The restaurant chain, with more than 2,000 locations in 49 states, is part of DineEquity Inc., franchisor of IHOP.

DeBartolo Development, developer of the Kapolei mall, said the 5,548-square foot restaurant will join other planned eateries at the Ka Makana Alii mall, including Kickin Kajun, Koa Pancake House, Wendy’s, and L&L Hawaiian Barbeque.

“Because Ka Makana Alii will be the premier gathering place for West Oahu, it is very important that we provide diverse restaurants and specialty eateries to enhance the shopping experience for our residents and visitors,” Edward Kobel, president and chief operating officer of DeBartolo Development, said in a news release.

The 1.4 million-square-foot mall will include Macy’s, Consolidated Theatres and Hawaii’s first Hampton Inn & Suites, among many other confirmed retail tenants, according to the developer.

———

Correction: An earlier version of this story said the Kapolei Applebee’s would be the first in Hawaii.

22 responses to “Applebee’s to open first two Hawaii restaurants”

  1. Mahalo says:

    how can it be the first when ewa beach is almost complete

  2. Hawaiiobserver says:

    I’m all for mainland restaurants..but Applebees?

    • b_ryan says:

      Ha! So true.

    • cholo says:

      where’s olive garden? was supposed to come to Kapolei too

    • retire says:

      Family style dining, i.e. whatever you can get the kids to eat.

    • mxp2000 says:

      Yes Applebees! The french onion soup is the best!. And it’s only $3.50 (on the mainland) the Hawaii price might be double… I guess I’ll only have it once a week.

    • Kaleo744 says:

      It’s the restaurant that’s famous for it’s UPCHARGE, but I completely agree. Out of all the restaurant’s that this mall could have, you pick one that just opened less than 2 miles up the road? The developers couldn’t have picked another mainland restaurant that we’ve been waiting to see come to Hawaii? I don’t eat there when I go to the mainland because everything is pulled out of a deep freezer and prepared and I won’t be going to Applebee’s here. Had to many negative experiences already.

  3. residenttaxpayer says:

    I would prefer Olive Garden to Applebee’s……

  4. MillionMonkeys says:

    What’s wrong with the east side? We’re not good enough to have an Applebee’s?!?!?

    But maybe the first question should be: Do we want an Applebee’s on the east side???

  5. titasmom says:

    Eastside was probably too expensive to open and where would they put it?

  6. allie says:

    Very good mainland chain. I wish that there were one on the superior east side. They could give Zippy’s a run for their money.

  7. bleedgreen says:

    The new Kapolei mall location makes a whole lot of sense and we are awaiting its opening. The Ewa Town Center location, however, does not make sense at all. It is a small shopping center and has poor parking. The Laulani Village Shopping Center in Ewa Beach makes more sense.

  8. fiveo says:

    There was a Applebees restaurant in Hilo back in the 1990’s but it closed after about 10 years. Anybody remember??
    So the proposed Oahu restaurants are not really the first ones in Hawaii.
    I don’t know what caused the one in Hilo to fail but I suspect it had to do with the service and food quality.
    It was only a short distance from Hilo’s famous Ken’s Pancake House.

Leave a Reply