Shop...Dine...Play... Pearl Kai Shopping Center offers that and so much more and though it's located right across from Pearlridge Center this open air complex is much more accessible for various shops as you don't need to fight for parking and let lost amongst the mall shops. The complex is dated and it's obvious but the shops here are a delight and gives me no reason to really say much negative things about this convenience as newly open Claw Fever is a bright and fun place to get your plushie fix, Ricado's was delicious along with Thai Bistro Suksabay and don't forget 1-2 Buy for all the snacks, and Coffee or Tea I've gotten services at T-Mobile and that's just to name a few. The negative is that it's dated but the bathroom situation didn't work for me and late night hangouts but never really had issues here as there's just so many great places that I've enjoyed here and with free parking for the group to join is easy does make it the spot to go to. Thank you! read more

Shopping and dining in Aiea, O'ahu, Hawai'i... Pearl Kai Shopping Center is across the highway (towards the ocean) from Pearlridge Mall. It's a large, open-air complex, involving several buildings. I appreciate the free parking which gets crowded at certain times. Current restaurants include Tadashi, Ricado's, Oh My Grill, Fooki, Mamaya, Pot Pot Shabu Buffet, and Build Your Own Ramen. The shopping highlight for me here was the second location of One 2 Buy! I haven't been to karaoke at Krazy Karaoke... and i don't intend to visit Powerhouse Gym nor the tattoo studios. Overall, they have a great variety of eateries like Island Glazed, Toe Beans & Dreams Adoption Cafe, CeCe's Patisserie, and Coffee or Tea?. I'll be back! read more

Well tbh, this place seems like the ONLY PLACE that is LIT AFTER the hours of 8pm. ONCE THE MALL CLOSES, everything is DOWN. So Pearl Kai is like the ONLY LIT UO AREA IN THE WHOLE PEARL RIDGE/PEARL KAI LOCATION. Aside of that, they have MANY small businesses that everyone could check out. They have GYM, A MOM & POP SHOP, COULLE BARS, KARAOKE PLACE (KINDA SHABBY), FAST FOOD SHOPS & a few other businesses that you might find interest in. I'm shocked they don't have an out door block party on the weekends. Maybe they should. lol! But here here to check out the place "OH MY GRILL" because this was one of the places Yelp pulled up for a place that is opened after 8pm where we could eat. It had some good reviews so we're gonna see how it is. I'll let you know in their review. Ok that's all! Thanks! Have a good one! read more

See all

And yet ANOTHER 2-star rating. The management of this shopping center should really take a look at what all these fellow yelpers are saying and do some serious renovating and rethink the whole parking situation out. In the end all of the businesses end up hurting because of it. Parking is always a mess and there are many times that my family, friends and I have wanted to eat at Kuru Kuru or Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, but ended up leaving after circling a portion of the parking one or two times. Plus parts of the lot are one-way and people are always driving at you in a rush for a parking themselves. Many times we would leave and just go down the road to eat at Genki Sushi or Zippy's. Sometimes paying the higher price for sushi and getting a parking weighs far more than paying cheaper prices and fighting for parking. The stress is not worth it. read more

I recently rediscovered Pearl Kai shopping center after Coffee or Tea open there. I walked to Mamaya to pick up some bento and the cool breeze reminded me of the old Tower Records days... Back to reality, I'm glad to see Pearl Kai is crowded either for lunch crowd or business deals. Whatever it is I'm happy. The only part that I didn't like was inconsiderate smokers walking in front of the stores or right next to the store. But that's so called life, right? read more

Some of my favorite restaurants are located in the Pearl Kai shopping center, unfortunately the parking situation is terrible. Sugarlina has the best cupcakes, Ricado's is seriously underrated for the delicious food they put out, Tadashi has yummy sushi, Cuu Long has delicious pho, Hot Pot Heaven is always a fun, fresh food experience and the new owners at Thai Bistro Suksabay are putting out some incredible Thai dishes with exceptional service. read more

I used to frequent this shopping center in the past as I used to be a customer of the now defunct Tower Records (which incidentally still has the sign up on their former location), and most recently a member of 24 hour fitness. During the time 24 hr was a tenant in this shopping center, I loathed the parking situation as there just wasn't enough parking at all. Parking was just terrible. Last week, I visited this shopping center for the first time since 24 hr fitness moved to a new location at Pearl Highlands in '09. I went for dinner at Tadashi Restaurant with reservations at 6pm. I was actually quite surprised that there was parking available around that time, as I was accustomed to having to circle the parking lot for an eternity before finally finding a space. I was even more shocked when we left the restaurant 1 hour later only to find there were actually more spaces available than when we arrived!! That was certainly unexpected. Leaving the shopping center, we drove past the former 24 hr location currently occupied by Powerhouse Gym. I guess no one likes to visit Powerhouse on a Saturday night because it looked completely empty....at least in the cardio area. Bottom Line: Although this shopping center could use a major renovation and facelift, it seems that the departure of 24 hour fitness as a main tenant has freed up parking, somewhat, for other patrons of this shopping complex. read more

This shopping center has lots of great dining places. The reason it gets 3 stars is, there is not a lot of parking and the parking lot has a lot of potholes. I suggest not eating at peak times. Kuru Kuru, Cuu Long and Champa Thai are some great places to start! ^_^*~ read more

See all

The only time I go anywhere near Pearl Kai Shopping Center is because of the bus stop. The one stop where people would get off from the bus then walk to the crosswalk in order to get to American Savings Bank, Pearlridge Downtown or Pali Momi Hospital. I did walk around Pearl Kai Shopping Center several times in all the years it has been around. I seen businesses closed down like 24Hr Fitness, Jelly's, Party City, as well Tower Records. What was that one store called that had Bob Marley shirts for sell? I forget. Is Krazy Karaoke still a tenant at Pearl Kai Shopping Center? I remember going there with coworkers one time. There are a bunch of food establishments for a person to choose from. Ramen, sushi, Italian, or Subway and McDonald's. There's bound to be a food joint for everybody. Besides the many food establishments located on the property...a person can get their vehicles checked out at Jiffy Lube, select a mattress at Sleep Train, buy some vitamins at Vitamin Shoppe, apply for a loan at One Main Financial, or even have a few alcoholic drinks at the bar. Someday I'll walk around the shopping center and try out one of the many food establishments located at Pearl Kai Shopping Center. 157/200 read more

I frequent Pearl kai alot. For many years, living practically behind pearl kai I was always here. I have tried all of the restaurants here and must say I do have a few favorites such as Cuu Long, Curry House, hot pot, baskin robbins, coffee or tea, Yakiniku Jang su,Tadashi and Thai Bistro. I used to come here when powerhouse used to be 24 hour fitness, L&L and Moon Hoe used to be there. Sad, they no longer are there. I love all these restaurants here but parking sucks. They need to redo the parking lot and downstairs. I don't think they allow customers to park downstairs anymore, it used to and probably still does flood down there being that the river is so close. Parking can be junk but I try to come here during rush hour between 4 to 6pm sometimes 7pm is busy. read more

7.14.13. There are a LOT of great places here...the saddest part is that the parking situation is always terrible! I will rarely come unless I am craving a macaroon/cupcake (Sugarlina's), sushi (Kuru Kuru), curry (Curry House), or a really good bento (Mamaya). I'm so glad that my hair lady moved from Shear Genius to another location because that would always be an ordeal also. If anything try to come early, or right before 9 pm when most of the places are just about to close if you don't want to deal with horrible parking. Yelp 365 Challenge: #195/365 read more

Overall this place has a few little gems but other than that there's nothing major here. They definitely need to upgrade to a better security because there's a lot of suspicious people in vagrants looking into cars and stealing from stores read more

The good: Awesome places to eat! The bad: The parking & the smell... The fiancee and I go to Pearl Kai Shopping Center somewhat often, mainly to eat at Cuu Long or to pickup cupcakes at Sugarlina. We also visit Ricardo's and Off the Wall once in a while. As you can see, the main attraction for us are the food places! And that's pretty much the only reason why you'd come here. There are many options with a good variety of food types, but there isn't much else here. If you do decide visit Pearl Kai, GOOD LUCK. Parking is always BAD, but is at its worst during lunch and from dinner on through closing. The parking lot is horrific... the layout is bad and there just aren't enough stalls! Also be aware of a rank, raw swage type smell that seems to waft up out of nowhere from time to time. read more

I've been here numerous times through the years but I've seen this place go from great to meh. The only places that I frequent here are Cuu Long, Curry House and Sugarlina. That's it. There are a lot of parking stalls available but when it gets busy people tend to cut in front of you to steal your stall. Be prepared. read more

I like the places that're located in this shopping center but I absolutely hate the parking. There's really not much else I have to say about it? lol read more

Good places to eat but no public bathrooms. I ate at Mamaya and wanted to use the bathroom but they don't have any for customers to use and was told to go to public bathrooms located by power house gym. I walked there to the bathrooms which were locked and no one was around to help. I then went to Tadashi to ask if I could use their restroom since other ones were locked. They also denied me as they only let customers of their restaurant use bathroom. They said to try the bathroom behind the barbershop. Went there but it was locked also. Barber shop gave me a key which didn't work. I tried baskin and Robbins but worker greeted me and then went in the back and didn't come out for a while I so left. Decided to finishing eating at mamaya and drove back home to use the bathroom. I would think a shopping center would have better access for bathrooms for customers. read more

Parking lot needs work. Pot holes need fixing. Looks like several businesses must have to pay for patches in front of their unit or patching is not available. Suggest managment drives by and sees the problem. Also, maybe they think a pot hole is better than a speed bump. read more

Well the parking sucks during peak hours, but it's a great place to explore the restaurants there.

This shopping center hosts the Aloha Pet Shop. The store owner is from the same family forced to hand over hundreds of dogs living in horrid conditions. Please let the property owners know that you do not support pet stores selling animals. No reputable breeder would ever sell to a pet store. Our Hawaii businesses could be the model for the pet community and only offer shelter adoptions. I just left the Aloha Pet Shop and was shocked at how many puppies were sold there. If the family ran the Waimanalo Puppy Mill, I can bet any place they run is also getting their puppies from squalid conditions. read more

I've been coming to Pearl Kai Shopping Center as far as I can remember, when Tower Records, Jelly's and 24 Hour Fitness used to be here. Those places are long gone, but now I like to come here for all the good food. It's an eclectic mix of restaurants and dessert spots... Tadashi, Off the Wall, Cuu Long, Kuru Kuru Sushi, Osaka Ramen, Yakiniku Jang Su, Champa Thai, Curry House CoCo Ichibanya, Ricardo's, Blazin' Steaks, Mamaya, Coffee or Tea?, Sugarlina Bakeshop, and Baskin Robbins. You can pretty much find something to quench your hunger here. Yes, I know there are so many bad reviews regarding the parking situation at Pearl Kai Shopping Center... It has always been an issue here, and I completely agree with everyone... PARKING HERE SUCKS!! But is it a valid reason to rate this place much lower than it deserves?!?!? Does the parking situation trump the number of good restaurants located here that you have to give it only a 1 or 2 star rating?!?!? Can you blame them for the parking lot being full all the time?!?!? Can you blame people for always coming here?!?!? It's a sign that business is doing well. Look at it this way... Would you rather them have a lot of shitty restaurants and have a bunch of empty parking stalls?!?!? Yeah, part of the problem is sharing the parking lot with a bunch of fitness freaks trying to get their workout at Powerhouse Gym, but good luck trying to tell them to park else where. Their motivation to workout is as big as your hunger, maybe even bigger!! Trust me I know, I'm one of those fitness freaks!! LOL Did you know there was an overflow parking lot right behind Liquid Metal Tattoo & Piercing on Lipoa Place? It's a little bit of a further walk, but it might be a lot quicker than waiting for a stall to open up, especially when your stomach is demanding to be fed. Despite the F@$#%D UP parking, I still love coming here to eat. You know what they say... Good things come to those who wait, even if it means having to wait 10 minutes for a parking stall to open up. LOL read more

Nothing against the stores in the shopping center, but this place should be torn down and re-built. It consists of old wooden buildings that were built on steel stilts over the riverbed below, and the place is about to fall into the river. read more

Parking here is crazy!!! But it has a variety of food places to eat at, Blazin' steaks, Kuru Kuru, Off the Wall, Cuu Long, Tadashi, Ricado's, and a few others. Vitamin Shoppe is also in this shopping complex. read more

As a growing up youth, I remember cruising here right after cruising Pearls. This place used to be da bomb back when they used to have Carnival Carnival, Jelly's, 24 Hr. Fitness, the legendary Tower Records, Diamond Head Video, L&L, etc. I've seen many businesses and shops come and go over the good years. Cruising around all those old shops were hecka good youthful memories. Nowadays it's just aight. I remember they had a T-mobile store here and it's where I/my family started our very first cellphone contract. Tower Records used to be the place for music and video even Daimond Head Video. There was even a Party City type of place here and that place was da shizz! All the shopping center got now is some old school auto place, Kuru Kuru, and the Vitamin Shoppe which are pretty much the places I only care for haha. The shopping plaza is located right across the mall, makai side, thus calling the place Pearl Kai. The parking can sometimes be nutz especially when it's congested and busy with people cruising around the shopping area. Yelp 365 Challenge #136/365 read more

While parking here is very difficult, there are a number of businesses I frequent here -- Blazing Steaks, Jiffy Lube, etc. There are LOTs of stores and restaurants here. Stop by and check them out. read more

I've been patronizing Pearl Kai since I was a kid. I remember coming here when the popular tenants were Jelly's, Carnival Carnival and Tower Records. Now all of those are gone and I find less reasons to keep coming here. There are exactly two reasons why I come to Pearl Kai these days - Tadashi and Kuru Kuru. Both have yummy food, but it also comes with having to deal with the crowded parking lot and the sometimes long lines. Aside from eating at one of these two establishments, there isn't much reason to stop here any more. read more

Needs security. Kids loitering in the overflow parking lot threw aluminum cans on my car. Luckily no damage done, but something needs to be done before worse happens. read more

Other places are fine, but just don't go to the Island Liquor & Cigar store, they are very, very RUDE people and some of their stuff is cheaply made, that the cost is high as well... read more