Kakaako

Kakaako likely is the neighborhood that has undergone the most rapid transformation on Oahu.

More than $2.2 billion in private construction, combined with state investments in infrastructure, public facilities and improvements, has transformed Kakaako into an upscale urban village.

Nestled between downtown Honolulu and Waikiki, Kakaako is now home to shiny new residential towers that reach 400 feet into the sky. The architecture, whether coincidental or intentional, is modern, sleek and glassy.
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ON ANY given weekday, Doris Nabarro carries on her family’s tradition of selling plate lunches from a familiar orange-red wagon at the corner of Ward Avenue and Queen Street.

Born and raised in Kakaako herself, Nabarro, the third sibling to run the Tsukenjo Lunch House on Cooke Street, also helps with its subsidiary lunch wagon. The family business originated in 1959 as a saimin stand, with Nabarro’s sisters Geraldine Matsumoto and Francis Kanayama helping their mom and dad before Nabarro took over.

Nabarro said the lunch wagon has been around since 1970, “and if it wasn’t for our regular customers, we wouldn’t still be in business.”
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