KAPAA — Lava Lava Beach Club will expand out of its Waikoloa location on the Big Island and open a Kapaa location in the last week of August. The restaurant will be located in the former Kauai Sands Hotel in
KAPAA — Lava Lava Beach Club will expand out of its Waikoloa location on the Big Island and open a Kapaa location in the last week of August.
The restaurant will be located in the former Kauai Sands Hotel in Kapaa, which was later renamed Kauai Shores after Aqua Hospitality completed a $10 million renovation last year.
Scott Dodd, one of the two owners of the restaurant, said Lava Lava offers locals and visitors an indoor-outdoor experience with couches on the beach, live music and a casual atmosphere.
“We felt with the location being right on the beach and the beautiful Kauai ocean right in front of you (was ideal),” he said. “Our plan is do what is working well for us in Waikoloa and just duplicate it on Kauai, so that the people and the visitors of Kauai have an opportunity to experience what I think people want to see when they’re in Hawaii, which is seeing the ocean, being outside, experiencing hula dancers and Hawaiian music and some nice food and some delicious drinks.”
Dodd, who opened the Waikoloa restaurant almost four years ago, said the restaurant will seat 250 people and is estimated to employ 80 people.
“We will have about 250 seats, so it’s a pretty good-sized restaurant,” he said. “There’ll be a combination of traditional restaurant tables, there’ll be some tall tables, some bar stools and then there’ll be a variety of fire pits with couches and lounge furniture scattered around as well.”
Dodd said he’s unsure of the actual size of the restaurant, but said the Lava Lava will have “a free-flowing space.”
“The mauka part of the building will be the lobby of the hotel,” he said. “The makai part of the building will be the restaurant, and the restaurant will expand outside onto the lawn.”
Dodd said Lava Lava will be unlike any other restaurant on the island.
“When we were looking at Kauai and went to the various restaurants, we didn’t see that anybody was doing what we do, so we felt like the business community was really there for our niche,” he said.
Dodd added that the Kapaa restaurant will be a contributing part of the community.
“We really like to be part of the community where we’re doing business,” he said. “We’re gonna be hosting fundraisers and supporting the nonprofits in the area and really trying to be a part of the community. That’s part of our mission is to offer our employees and our guests a really great experience — whether they’re working for us or visiting us as a guest.”
