Kan Sushi in Waikiki is expanding beyond its popular all-you-can-eat spread, rolling out a new à la carte premium menu that lets diners order top-shelf picks like O toro, uni and wagyu individually rather than just piling their plates from the standard rotation. The Honolulu restaurant, located at 1910 Ala Moana Boulevard near the Hilton Hawaiian Village, now prices O toro and wagyu at $5 apiece and uni at $6 a piece for guests who want to splurge beyond the buffet-style offerings.
The new menu tier was first reported by KITV, which detailed the restaurant's move to offer premium selections on top of its existing all-you-can-eat format. Kan Sushi's Honolulu location sits in a space that previously housed the long-running Todai All You Can Eat Seafood Buffet, according to NateEatsHawaii, placing the newer concept in a spot with a long history of high-volume seafood dining in the neighborhood.
Kan Sushi isn't a single-shop operation, either. The brand runs three locations nationwide, with restaurants in Honolulu, Miami and Austin, Texas, all offering similar all-you-can-eat Japanese menu concepts, per Kan Sushi's own site. Beyond raw nigiri and rolls, the Honolulu menu also includes Japanese barbecue and kitchen items such as Galbi, Beef Bulgogi and Hamachi Kama, along with tapas, noodles and tempura.
Rising Costs Squeeze Honolulu Sushi Spots
The timing of the premium add-on lines up with a rough stretch for Hawaii's restaurant industry. The state's minimum wage climbed to $16 per hour on January 1, while the tip credit stayed frozen at $1.25, meaning tipped workers must still be paid at least $14.75 an hour in direct wages, according to Hawaii Public Radio. That wage floor applies to kitchen staff and other non-tipped workers as well.
On top of labor costs, the raw ingredients themselves have gotten dramatically more expensive. National wholesale prices for unprocessed finfish jumped 44.8% between July 2025 and July 2026, according to the National Restaurant Association and preliminary Bureau of Labor Statistics data, even as overall wholesale food prices dropped 2.1% over the same period. Locally, Honolulu restaurant food prices rose 3.9% year-over-year in July, part of a broader 5.6% jump in the region's consumer price index, per Bureau of Labor Statistics figures.
Hawaii's Outsized Appetite for Seafood
Hawaii's seafood market is unusual to begin with. Research from the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources found that residents and visitors consume between 28.5 and 36 pounds of seafood per capita annually, more than double the U.S. national average, with roughly 49% to 63% of that fish imported from outside the islands. Local commercial waters supply only about 37% of the seafood consumed in the state, per the same research.
That combination of heavy demand and heavy reliance on imports leaves restaurants exposed when wholesale fish prices spike. Layering a premium, à la carte tier onto an all-you-can-eat base gives an operator like Kan Sushi a way to protect its buffet margins while still capturing extra revenue from diners willing to pay more for delicacies like toro and uni.
Hawaii's broader economy isn't necessarily bracing for a downturn, though growth is expected to slow. The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism projected economic growth would moderate to 1.6% in 2026 in its second-quarter report, even as the food services sector added 400 jobs in the first quarter and statewide nonagricultural wage jobs averaged 642,900 early in the year.
What to Know Before You Go
Diners hoping to try the new premium items should know Kan Sushi enforces a 90-minute table limit on all-you-can-eat orders, and advance reservations are restricted to parties of 10 or more, according to a restaurant post shared in a local Facebook group. Smaller parties need to wait for walk-in seating.
The move also comes amid a wider expansion of raw fish dining options across Honolulu. Hoodline reported on Kahala Zippy's reopening in July with a new sushi bar operated by Kahala Sushi, following a four-month renovation, adding another raw fish option to the city's crowded dining scene even as costs climb across the board.
