PONO HAWAIIAN GRILL LLC

What PONO HAWAIIAN GRILL LLC does

Pono Hawaiian Grill LLC is a privately held, founder-operated restaurant company headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, that operates two Hawaiian-style street food locations under two trade names — "Pono Hawaiian Grill" (120 Union Street, Downtown Santa Cruz) and "Capitola Kitchen & Tap" (3744 Capitola Rd, Capitola). The business serves local consumers and tourists with authentic Hawaiian cuisine including poke bowls, teriyaki bowls, musubi, and island-style entrees, alongside catering for corporate meetings and private events of 15+ guests, craft beer and cocktails (including 16 taps at the Capitola bar), live music programming featuring Hawaiian artists, and live sports viewing across 11 big-screen TVs.

The underlying technology stack is entirely composed of standard SMB SaaS: ToastTab powers direct online ordering for both pickup and delivery, Shopify runs the branded e-commerce apparel storefront, and SPOD (Spreadshirt Print-on-Demand) handles merchandise printing and fulfillment with USPS shipping. There is no proprietary technology, AI/ML infrastructure, or in-house platform development visible.

The business generates revenue from three primary streams: in-restaurant food and beverage transactions (dine-in, takeout, delivery), corporate and private catering engagements (transactional, per-event pricing on tiered Ekahi, Elua, Ekolu packages), and direct-to-consumer merchandise sales through the Shopify storefront (t-shirts $18-$35, hoodies $27-$65, hats $22-$30, accessories from $5). The company monetizes within a single local California geography with no institutional investment or parent company ownership indicated, and operates with a lean 9-employee headcount across both physical locations and the e-commerce operation.

Name

PONO HAWAIIAN GRILL LLC

Legal name

Pono Hawaiian Grill LLC

Website

https://ponohawaiiangrill.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pono Hawaiian Grill LLC operates two Hawaiian-style street food restaurants in Santa Cruz and Capitola, California, serving poke bowls, teriyaki, craft beer, and live entertainment to local consumers and corporate catering clients. The company also sells branded apparel online via Shopify with print-on-demand fulfillment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hawaiian Restaurant & Catering Services

NAICS

Full-Service Restaurants (722511), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Ethnic & Regional Cuisine Restaurants (THAFACAD)

Keywords

• Hawaiian street food
• Poke bowls restaurant
• Island-style catering
• Casual dining bars
• Branded apparel merchandise

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Cruz

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Food and Beverage Sales: Revenue from dine-in, takeout, and delivery orders of Hawaiian-style street food including poke bowls, teriyaki bowls, and other island cuisine at two restaurant locations.
2. Catering Services: Corporate and private event catering services providing Hawaiian-style pupus, salads, poke, and entrees for gatherings of 15+ people. Offers customizable menus and delivery.
3. Merchandise/Apparel Sales: Online sales of branded apparel including t-shirts ($20-$35), hoodies ($45-$65), hats ($22-$30), and accessories through their Shopify e-commerce store. Products include print-on-demand items like the Sasha Kine Collection.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Pono Hawaiian Grill operates two physical Hawaiian-style street food restaurants in Santa Cruz and Capitola, California, serving fresh poke bowls, teriyaki bowls, musubi, and island entrees based on recipes from the founder's home island of Maui. The business also provides catering services for corporate and private events of 15+ guests, and runs a Shopify-powered e-commerce store selling branded apparel such as t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and accessories.

Product overview

Pono Hawaiian Grill LLC operates as a dual-location Hawaiian-style street food restaurant and e-commerce merchandise retailer. The core offering consists of authentic island cuisine including fresh poke bowls, teriyaki bowls and sandwiches, and catering services featuring Hawaiian entrees. The business extends through a Shopify-powered online apparel store selling branded merchandise including t-shirts, hoodies, hats, trucker caps, stickers, and accessories under the Pono Hawaiian Grill Apparel sub-brand and the Sasha Kine Collection. Additional offerings include live music entertainment, sports viewing with multiple TVs, and craft beer/cocktail service at both Downtown Santa Cruz (120 Union Street) and Capitola Kitchen & Tap (3744 Capitola Rd) locations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hawaiian Street Food Restaurant Service Authentic Hawaiian-style street food served at two Santa Cruz locations, offering dine-in, takeout, and delivery of poke bowls, teriyaki bowls, musubi, and island-style entrees with recipes from Maui.
• Catering Services Island-style catering for corporate meetings, employee appreciation events, holiday parties, and birthdays, featuring pupus, salads, poke, and Hawaiian entrees designed for groups of 15+ people, with Ekahi, Elua, and Ekolu package options.
• Live Music and Entertainment Programming Live Hawaiian and island music events, Aloha Fridays, karaoke, and trivia nights featuring artists such as Willie K, Maoli, John Cruz, Makana, Led Kaapana, George Kahumoku, and Andy Bumatai at both restaurant locations.
• Pono Hawaiian Grill Apparel Collection Online-only branded apparel collection including t-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, hats, trucker caps, and accessories featuring Pono Hawaiian Grill branding and Hawaiian-inspired designs, sold via the Shopify store and fulfilled through SPOD.
• Sasha Kine Collection Exclusive Pono-inspired apparel collection designed by Sasha Kine, featuring women's cropped tees, travel bags, and unique Pono-branded items sold through the online store.
• Gift Cards Gift cards available for purchase at both Downtown Santa Cruz and Capitola Kitchen & Tap restaurant locations, redeemable for food and beverages.
• Pono Hawaiian Foods Online Shop Curated Hawaiian food products available through a separate online shop linked from the Pono Hawaiian Grill website.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ToastTabcoreTechnology or IntegrationOnline ordering platform integration for both restaurant locations, enabling customers to place pickup and delivery orders directly through the Pono Hawaiian Grill website and dedicated location URLs.
• SPOD (Spreadshirt Print-on-Demand)coreTechnology or IntegrationPrint-on-demand partner for merchandise production and shipping, handling all apparel printing and fulfillment for the Pono Hawaiian Grill online store.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationE-commerce platform powering the online merchandise store, providing the storefront, shopping cart, and checkout functionality for branded apparel sales.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/ponokitchenandtap
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pono-hawaiian-grill-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PONO HAWAIIAN GRILL LLC