Puck's Alley Is Still Feeding Mōʻiliʻili While Waiānuenue Fills In

At the corner of University Avenue and South Beretania Street, the renovated former Varsity Center has a 2,200-square-foot mural, finished storefronts and one open business. That business is Oakberry Hawaiʻi. It opened on September 26, and Pacific Business News reported that lines wrapped around the building on opening day. The rest of the storefronts are still waiting for their tenants to open.

Across University Avenue, a Mexican restaurant from ʻEwa Beach called Frida's Hawaiʻi recently opened in Puck's Alley, in the space where Oli's Kitchen used to be, according to an October 15 report from Aloha State Daily.

These two openings explain the current state of the corner. Kamehameha Schools spent two years rebuilding the west side of the street, and during that time Puck's Alley on the other side kept the corner fed. New tenants at Waiānuenue ma Kapaʻakea will open in stages through next summer, so Puck's Alley will keep doing that job for months to come.

What Is Open at Waiānuenue, and What Is Still Waiting

Kamehameha Schools held the blessing for Waiānuenue ma Kapaʻakea in mid-September, marking the end of renovations that began in 2024 as the first phase of its larger Kapaʻakea Project. Calvin Mann, director of planning and development at Kamehameha Schools, told KHON that the goal was "a place that respects its history while offering opportunities for the community to gather, connect and engage in meaningful ways."

Oakberry opened first. It is the brand's fourth Hawaiʻi location, and the opening-day promotion was free bowls for the first 100 customers and half off for everyone after that, according to Aloha State Daily. As of mid-October, the center's own directory lists every other tenant as "Coming Soon." Here is the lineup, with the details Aloha State Daily reported when the tenants were announced in July:

• Paris Baguette, opening its fourth Hawaiʻi location
• Ramen Asukaya
• Local Boy Sushi, a family-owned restaurant opening its third location
• Morning Brew, a Hawaiʻi-grown cafe and bistro, also opening its third location
• The Well, a locally owned cafe
• Wingstop
• Broke Da Mouth Grindz, a family business known for garlic furikake chicken
• Aloha Island Manapua, with a new dim sum concept
• Phuket Thai University
• Shaka Shaka Tea

KHON reported at the blessing that "there are no set dates for when businesses will officially open their doors." Pacific Business News put the window at "different times through next summer." That means a walk past this corner on a weeknight in late October will mostly show finished storefronts that aren't serving yet.

Where the Old Varsity Center Went

To see why Puck's Alley matters right now, it helps to remember who left when construction started. In October 2024, HONOLULU Magazine listed Blazin' Steaks, Kit n Kitchen and Smokey's Pipe and Coffee as former Varsity Center tenants. The first phase of the project also covered 2535 Coyne Street, the former home of Rock Bottom Sports Bar & Grill.

Several of those businesses didn't go far. According to the same article, Rock Bottom, Beer Lab Hawaiʻi and Hair Croppers moved across the street into Puck's Alley, and Frost City moved down to 1517 South King Street. Kamehameha Schools' current leasing roster for Puck's Alley still includes Rock Bottom Bar and Grill, Beer Lab HI Puck's and Hair Croppers, alongside Nijiya Market, Mochi Express and the newly opened Frida's Hawaiʻi.

So while the west side of University Avenue was fenced off, the east side took in the displaced businesses. A sports bar, a brewpub and a barbershop that used to sit across the street from each other ended up in the same complex. Nijiya and Mochi Express stayed in place through the whole construction period.

Businesses Are Now Moving in Both Directions

The moves now run both ways across University Avenue, and those moves will shape what the corner looks like for the next several months.

Phuket Thai's return is the one with the deepest roots. The restaurant first opened at McCully Shopping Center in 1997, and its University Avenue location is going back to the property it left. Shaka Shaka Tea is moving in the opposite direction. It opened a Puck's Alley branch in 2014, and in July KHON reported that it planned to move across the street into Waiānuenue. No moving date has been announced, so the tea shop is at its old Puck's Alley location until the new one opens.

Frida's is a sign of where Puck's Alley stands now. The menu matches the ʻEwa Beach original, with birria tacos, super burritos and supreme nachos, and the restaurant offers dine-in and takeout. Aloha State Daily says it is especially popular for takeout. A restaurant from the other side of the island picked the older complex across the street, at a time when the new center next door still had space waiting to be filled.

Morning Brew owner Peter Anderson, whose cafe is one of the coming tenants, welcomed the center's effort to keep the area's local identity and history, according to Hawaii News Now. The tenant mix supports that. The announced lineup is mostly local businesses, including several family-run ones and two that are coming back or moving over from across the street. National brands such as Wingstop and Paris Baguette make up a smaller share.

The Part of Waiānuenue That Is Already Finished

While most of the kitchens are still closed, the public art is done and open to anyone walking through. Kamehameha Schools commissioned three works that draw on the history and stories of the land, especially the water that once ran through Kapaʻakea.

1. "Piʻo" by Solomon Enos is the 2,200-square-foot mural at the center of the property. It shows rippling water in curved bands of color, with shapes that can be read as fish, sky and rainbows.
2. "Kealohapauʻole" by Koloikeao Anthony is a three-dimensional kānoa, or ceremonial bowl, made of painted stainless steel. It honors wai, the fresh water that sustained the area.
3. "Plants of Mōʻiliʻili" by Colleen "TUTUVI" Kimura and Taiji Terasaki shows plants once grown here, including kalo, niu, makaloa, ʻawapuhi, laiki and pūhala. An augmented-reality layer reveals the karst waterways under the ground and the plants and animals that once lived along them.

The center's name also comes from water and sky. According to Kamehameha Schools, Waiānuenue refers to the rainbows of Mānoa. For now, the murals are the main reason to walk through the property, other than an açaí bowl.

What the Next Year at This Corner Looks Like

Both sides of University Avenue belong to the same Kamehameha Schools district. The Kapaʻakea Project includes Waiānuenue, Puck's Alley, the Varsity Building and the surrounding parking lots. On its district FAQ, Kamehameha Schools says it will "continue to evaluate how these properties best serve the community in the years ahead" for Puck's Alley and the Varsity Building. It doesn't give a timeline for future phases. The Varsity Building itself was left out of the first phase.

That leaves Puck's Alley as the stable side of the corner for the foreseeable future. Parking is shared across the district, at Waiānuenue, the Varsity Building and Puck's Alley, so one stop can cover both sides of the street.

For the rest of this fall, the corner stays as it is now. Oakberry and the murals are open on the Waiānuenue side, and the established businesses plus Frida's are open on the Puck's Alley side. The next openings will add up one storefront at a time over the coming months.

Close by, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi lists its November Craft & Collectibles Fair x Aki Matsuri for Saturday, November 14, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is an outdoor family event with local artists and makers. For more on how the area around this corner is changing, the Mānoa dining shift and this summer on Waialae Avenue cover the neighborhoods on either side.

If you own a home or rental near University Avenue and want to know what a rebuilt corner and a new set of tenants could mean for your property over the next year, Chelsey Flanagan follows the Kaimukī and Mōʻiliʻili blocks closely and is glad to talk it through. Let's Connect.