Three new restaurants to open at Ward Village in August 2022

Robata Jinya is one of three Japanese dining concepts coming to Ward Village. Pictured here is the West Hollywood location. Source: https://www.thetravelpockets.com/new-blog/robata-jinya-west-hollywood

We are excited to welcome three new restaurants to the ground floor restaurant space in Waiea in August! Jinya Holdings is opening the Jinya Ramen Bar, Robata Jinya, and LBD Japanese Bar & Lounge in the space, which was formerly occupied by Nobu. Each restaurant features its own special concept featuring Japanese food. The brand currently operates several restaurants across California.

Addition of these restaurants adds to the vibrant and growing food scene in Ward Village, and we look forward to visiting each of them when they are open!

Read more from Pacific Business News below:

Three new Japanese restaurant concepts are slated to open next month in Ward Village.

The Jinya brand, which has a handful of different restaurants, will open Jinya Ramen Bar, Robata Jinya and LBD Japanese Bar & Lounge. All three are slated to debut in late August in the 8,000-square-foot space in Ward Village that formerly housed Nobu, which closed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tomo Takahashi, founder and CEO of Jinya Holdings, Inc., said in a statement that the company is “thrilled” to bring its brands to Hawaii.

“We’ve been fueling rapid expansion over the last year, so establishing three of our concepts in Hawaii is an incredible milestone,” he stated. “We look forward to introducing our bold, authentic flavors to Honolulu’s locals and visitors alike in the coming months.”

Takahashi’s father was a successful restaurateur in Japan, and Takahashi launched the first Jinya in Tokyo in 2000 as a way to carry on his father’s legacy. He later brought Jinya to California, and the brand now has locations all over the country.

Jinya Ramen Bar will feature slow-cooked ramen, with broths that have been simmering for 20 hours. The menu has a range of ramen options, with a variety of broth flavors and toppings, as well as appetizers. Robata Jinya is a fine-dining restaurant that will serve Japanese tapas, fusion-style sashimi, sushi and more, along with shochu and specialty sake.

LBD Japanese Bar & Lounge will be an outdoor bar serving tapas dishes, sake and hand-crafted cocktails.

A spokesperson for Ward Village told PBN that together all three concepts will employ eight managers and 130 staff members, “with room to continue growing.”

In a statement, Doug Johnstone, president of the Hawaii region at The Howard Hughes Corporation, noted that the Ward neighborhood has “experienced a tremendous resurgence of retail and restaurant activity.”

Other recent additions include Pizza Dadi, An Di Dzo and Holey Grail. Other tenants to open later this year include Brew & Foam, Cino, Club Pilates and Kino by Salon Glitter.