The owner of Sho­kudo Japa­nese Restaurant and Bar has expanded in Hono­lulu, with a very low-key, soft opening of modern Mexican cuisine concept Buho Cocina y Cantina.

"Buho" means "owl" in Spanish, and in the Hawaiian culture the owl, or pueo, is a sacred auma­kua, or guardian spirit.

Cocina y Cantina essentially means "restaurant and bar," though "cocina" actually means "kitchen" en Espanol.

Of the more than 12,000 square feet on the fifth-floor rooftop deck at Wai­kiki Shopping Plaza, more than 7,300 square feet of the restaurant is an outdoor seating area. As such, it is billed as Hono­lulu’s only 5,000-star restaurant.

Owner Hide Saku­rai quietly opened the doors for lunch service June 9, and with zero fanfare the restaurant still served 42 customers.

The day TheBuzz checked it out, a steady stream of diners, including a couple fresh off the beach with a surfboard, flowed into the restaurant. One customer who works in the area said she had been there three times since it opened and raved about the food.

Apres-beach and other cas­ual attire including T-shirts, shorts and slippers are definitely welcome, said Saku­rai.

Not that long ago many restaurants were established around a "modern Mexican" theme with updated Mexican dishes. While some around the country do well, many of the restaurants failed, Saku­rai said. "Maybe it wasn’t the right time," he said.

Research he conducted during years spent living in Cali­for­nia, as well as examining the current Hawaii restaurant scene, indicated that maybe this is the time for the concept to succeed in Wai­kiki.

Customers will find familiar dishes including salsa, guacamole and nachos with house-made tortilla chips, but you won’t find entrees served on huge platters slathered with more canned refried beans and anemic Spanish rice than anyone should eat.

Many menu items depart from the ordinary, such as the prosciutto-wrapped jala­peno poppers stuffed with Shinsato Farms pork, or Mexican spicy tuna bites using locally sourced ahi atop cucumber slices, spiced with serrano chili and chi­potle aioli as well as a toma­tillo-haba­nero dressing.

"There are no borders" when it comes to flavoring modern cuisines, Saku­rai said.

He wants the restaurant to use as much locally sourced meat and produce as possible, including Kulana Beef, Big Island goat cheese and shrimp from Kauai.

His clientele at Sho­kudo is "93 percent local," he said, expressing deep gratitude for local people who have kept the restaurant going from its blockbuster opening in 2005, through the difficult recession, to our currently less worrisome economic times.

Obviously, Buho, given its Waikiki location, will draw a larger percentage of visitors, he said. Its seating capacity is 280, and his target primarily will be visitors from Western states, but the dishes also have been created with a mind toward the spice-averse Japa­nese palate.

Nothing on the menu is too "in-your-face" in terms of spice level, said proj­ect manager Justin Mizu­fuka.

There will be a monthly "Cinco de Buho" event, keyed off Cinco de Mayo, with live music that Saku­rai says will be like a Mexican street festival, only it will be on a rooftop five stories above Kala­kaua Avenue.

Its grand opening is July 5 and will include a taco-eating contest in which famous local chefs will try to best one another.

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On the Net:

» buhocantina.com

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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.