#cool cat cafe

With the rebuilding of homes underway and the commercial cleanup nearly finished, businesses say the timing is crucial to rebuild and provide jobs for returning residents.

The Kukui Mall parking lot was overflowing recently, spilling onto busy traffic on South Kīhei Road on a sultry summer night. A closer look revealed the reason: patrons crowding into Cool Cat Cafe, relocated last month to South Maui after wildfire destroyed its longtime Wharf Cinema Center location, across from the famed Banyan Tree in historic Lahaina town.

Cool Cat Cafe, a beloved local restaurant that was destroyed in the Lahaina fires, announced its grand reopening at a new location in South Maui. The grand reopening will take place on June 15, 2024, at Kukui Mall, located at 1819 S. Kīhei Road. The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The disaster left all the restaurants’ 120 employees without jobs, and at least 60 of them also lost their homes and vehicles. Determined to help their Maui ʻohana, the Corpuels set up a GoFundMe campaign that has since raised over $150,000 in support of employees and their families.

Cool Cat Café at the Wharf Cinema Center Shops in West Maui was destroyed by the August wildfire in Lahaina. Rising from the aftermath, the restaurant is poised to open for lunch and dinner at the Kukui Mall in Kīhei in early 2024.

HuiZero launches, Maui’s first zero waste to-go container program, on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021 at participating restaurants across Maui. 

The Taste of Maui will feature new food partners Cool Cat Café, Joey’s Kitchen and Sansei Seafood Restaurant and Sushi Bar.

Cool Cat Café at the Wharf Cinema Center Shops in West Maui announced their Burger of the Month for November, fittingly called “Giving Thanks.”