A slice of Osaka's retro coffeehouse culture has landed in Waikiki. Takagi Coffee opened a pop-up on Level 3 of the Royal Hawaiian Center on Thursday, serving up soufflé-style yoshoku plates and dark-roast coffee from inside an enclosed private dining section of TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie.
The Honolulu debut launched to the public on Thursday, according to Aloha State Daily, and marks the Osaka-based brand's first foray into the Hawaii market. As KITV also reported, the pop-up has taken root inside the busy Waikiki shopping and dining complex, joining a roster of Japanese food concepts already operating there. To keep the kitchen from getting overwhelmed during its opening stretch, the pop-up is capping service at the first 60 walk-in customers each day, first-come, first-served, with plans to run for at least a month before easing those restrictions.
What's on the Menu
The menu leans into yoshoku, the Japanese-Western comfort food style built around dishes like omelet rice and breaded cutlets. Per the same reporting, diners can order $19 omurice, $20 tonkatsu with rice, or a $22 American wagyu hamburger steak, each served with miso soup and a customizable demiglace sauce. Coffee starts at $5 for the house blend, with lattes at $7 and matcha lattes running $7 to $9.
The pop-up's arrival traces back to a partnership forged by Takuma Lathrop, president of Dining Innovation West and general manager of TsuruTonTan Waikiki, who connected with Takagi Coffee's owners in Japan after visiting the brand's mainland U.S. locations, the report notes. That relationship let Takagi test Oahu's appetite for its concept without building out a standalone shop, instead borrowing space inside an already-running restaurant.
A Roastery Born From a Pancake Empire
Takagi Coffee is operated by Sunpark Co., Ltd., the Osaka hospitality group founded in 1958 under Ken Takagi that also built the global Belle-ville soufflé pancake brand, according to CNA Lifestyle. Sunpark developed the coffee roastery as an in-house pairing for its pancake concept, leaning on the dark-roast pour-over style associated with old-school Japanese cafes. Before testing Hawaii, Takagi Coffee opened its first U.S. brick-and-mortar shop on West 3rd Street in Los Angeles in early 2025, as CaliNook reported, introducing its kissaten-style coffee and pancake menu to the mainland before this Waikiki test run.
Inside an Established Waikiki Anchor
The host restaurant, TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie, opened its 170-seat Waikiki location on Level 3 of the Royal Hawaiian Center in June 2018, its second U.S. outpost after debuting in New York City, according to This Week Hawaii. The udon chain is known locally for its artisanal wide noodle bowls and upscale dining room, giving Takagi Coffee a ready-made, enclosed space to operate its pop-up without opening a separate storefront.
The Royal Hawaiian Center itself spans more than 310,000 square feet across three blocks of Kalākaua Avenue, with over 100 retail stores and 30 dining options, per Hawaii Magazine. The land is historically known as Helumoa, once a coconut-grove retreat for Hawaiian aliʻi before its transformation into one of Waikiki's largest commercial hubs. Hoodline previously covered luxury retail shifts at the same complex.
Why Waikiki, Why Now
The timing lines up with a broader shift in Waikiki's dining scene. Japanese visitor arrivals to Oahu fell by roughly 50% between 2019 and 2025, according to data from the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism cited by Honolulu Civil Beat, pushing local dining venues to adapt their offerings even as domestic U.S. travel has surged. Meanwhile, kissaten coffeehouse culture — with its dark-roast pour-overs, yoshoku plates, and fluffy pancakes — has seen a global resurgence among younger diners chasing nostalgic, Showa-era aesthetics, as noted by The Japan Times. That trend has already reshaped North American café menus, including the soufflé pancake scene Hoodline tracked in a prior Bay Area cafe closure. For now, Takagi Coffee's Waikiki test remains capped at 60 walk-ins a day, with its longer-term plans for Oahu still unannounced.
