Tucked away in the quiet town of Hanapēpē is Japanese Grandma’s Café, one of the hottest restaurants on the island. It is recognized for its authentic Japanese cooking, prepared with the same love and mindfulness your grandmother would give each dish.

The force behind Japanese Grandma’s Café is Keiko Napier, a Japanese-born and California-raised mother of two hapa (Hawaiian for half-white) Japanese sons. While on a trip to Kaua‘i, she passed by the former USO Club Building in Hanapēpē and instantly fell in love with it. After purchasing the building, she flipped through the Kaua‘i phonebook and realized there were no Japanese restaurants on the island's west side. Drawing from her upbringing as the daughter of a Japanese Master Chef and a mother who believed in eating the rainbow at every meal for good health, Napier founded Japanese Grandma’s Café in honor of her mother, whom her sons would affectionately call their Japanese Grandma.

The restaurant opened in 2016 along Hanapēpē’s historic main street. It immediately gained attention not only for the delectable menu offered but for the high-quality ingredients and the way each guest is welcomed like family. “In my house, food was always at the center of our gatherings, and there could never be enough guests or food. I think of the Japanese concept of omotenashi (Japanese art of hospitality to care for your guests authentically). That is why, at Japanese Grandma’s Café, we source the freshest ingredients, organic when possible, to think about the experience our guests will have.”

Napier is also excited to welcome the restaurant’s new Executive Chef, Koji. The Japanese-born chef studied the art of sushi and culinary arts in his homeland before establishing a name for himself in the United States. After garnering attention as the Executive Chef in restaurants across New York and Los Angeles and owning his own restaurants, Koji joins the team, bringing his unique set of skills to breathe new life into the menu. One exciting mark Chef Koji will have on Japanese Grandma’s Café’s menu is the edition of a new omakase menu, which will launch in the fall of 2024. Translating to “I leave the details up to you,” omakase is a tradition that began in Japan in the 1990s when restaurants began offering multi-course meals prepared where guests sat down to be wowed by the chef’s culinary talents and extravagant ingredients. The omakase menu at Japanese Grandma’s Café will range from six to seven courses focusing on traditional Japanese dishes created with locally sourced ingredients. Their Certified Sommelier, Taka, will also offer sake pairings to accompany each dish.

In addition to the new omakase menu, guests can still enjoy the lunch and dinner menus, which has made Japanese Grandma’s Café a favorite among locals and visitors. A popular lunch item are the Poke Bowls, which start with a bed of steamed Tamanishiki white rice, brown rice, salad or a combination of the choices. Guests can choose from their house poke, spicy poke or vegan avocado poke. Their lunch menu also offers small bites like their refreshing Sunomono salad, a traditional Japanese cucumber and seaweed salad flavored with a light vinaigrette.

Their sushi menu, which features both nigiri and roll-style sushi, is available for lunch or dinner. One crowd-favorite specialty roll is their Tiger Roll, which starts with crispy shrimp tempura and spicy ahi wrapped in nori (dried seaweed) and sushi rice seasoned with a special vinegar blend created in Japan. The roll is topped with filets of cooked shrimp and garnished with wafu dressing.

Their dinner menu takes on the style of an izakaya, where guests are encouraged to order small, tapa-like dishes to be shared at the table. A delicious opener to your meal is Crispy Rice, which starts with four pieces of crisped rice topped with spicy ahi, creamy avocado, sliced jalapeno, tomato, masago (capelin fish roe), and a drizzling of eel sauce. Another must-try on their menu is the Ahi Poke Wonton Tacos, which start with fried wonton wrappers shaped into mini taco shells. Cubes of poke are added to the tacos, which are then topped with avocado, tobiko (flying fish roe), yuzu (Japanese citron), and a wasabi (Japanese horseradish) aioli sauce. Note-worthy hot dishes include their New York Steak, which is prepared sous vide style and pan seared with yuzu kosho sauce, and Grandma’s Chicken Karaage served with a choice of homemade teriyaki (soy sugar) sauce, yuzu kosho eel sauce and tamari garlic ginger sauce.

When it comes time to end your meal, a popular option is their Green Tea Mochi. This dessert features gelato dusted in matcha powder and served alongside azuki beans, creating a sweet yet earthy, balanced dessert.

When asked what things help make Japanese Grandma’s Café a success, Napier points to her team of employees. While living through the COVID-19 pandemic, the group got closer as they battled new challenges that the pandemic posed, and the group has become like a second family. And now, after welcoming her first granddaughter a few years ago, Napier’s path has come full circle as she has become a Japanese Grandma in her own right, welcoming guests like family to her cozy corner of Hanapēpē to enjoy a meal to nourish both their body and soul.

Japanese Grandma’s Cafe; 3871 Hanapēpē Road, Hanapēpē; (808) 855-5016; open Wednesday through Monday for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., dinner from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; no orders after 8:30 p.m.; www.japanesegrandma.com.