Waimalu Shopping Center

So many great places here to eat. Our usual places include Shiro’s Saimin, Chun Wah Kam, Waimalu Chop Suey, Leonards, and Kabuki’s.
If you are here at the wrong time, you will most like have trouble finding parking. I can’t understand, they do have a lot of parking, but it does fill up on busy days/​nights.
I remember coming here when I was a little girl, many years back way back, and the shopping center still looks the same. The original includes, Waimalu Chop Suey, Kabuki’s, and Zippy’s (way way back… ha!)

I see a lot of critical reviews. Parking can be a mess at peak times, it is run down, but you are rewarded with Kabuki, Shiro’s, Zippy’s, Chun Wah Kam, Kapiolani Coffee House, Baldwins… tell me where you can find a better variety of restaurants in a strip mall on Oahu.
We need to appreciate this place because it is only a matter of time before the Japanese bloggers discover it and there are tourist buses flooding the parking lot.

Former security guard there. Love Zippys and Shiros

Along the migraine inducing unbearable and overcrowded stretch of road known as Kamehameha Hwy is this little strip mall. On the surface it doesn’t look like much.
If you can deal with the 10^th circle of hell that is their parking lot, your patience will be rewarded with a pleasant surprise as this place has a decent selection of places to eat.
My personal favorites include Chun Wah Kam and Jin Joo. Shiro’s is always a dependable choice. Have some desserts at Ice Fru. No more malasadas anymore, though. All in all, it’s not going to overly impress you but you should be able to find someplace to appease your food cravings no matter what culinary mood you’re in.
But let’s get back to the parking lot for a minute. Just last night I stopped by to get dinner when this lady in a big SUV just STOPS and gets out of her car totally blocking the right lane. My first reaction was WHAT THE EFF, LADY? But soon I see her approaching a fellow, walks right up to him, and smacks him right upside the head!!! I mean it was textbook execution. Cold hearted and precise.
So… I’m not sure if I should subtract or add a star for that, really.

POTHOLES.
Anyway.
There are a lot of places to eat here. They made the market there pretty spiffy in comparison to how it was before, so you can’t go wrong with that.
I honestly don’t know what else there is to do there except for eating and doing your nails LOL.
I definitely frequent here because of the crêpe place: P

We had dinner at Phở Five O on Friday evening, as usual the food was great. It was a rainy night and with the roof leaking above the sidewalks my wife and I got wet. Again no parking which makes Waimalu Shopping Center one of my least favorite places to have dinner. Too bad the owner does not step up to the plate and fix the place up a bit.

This overcrowded old shopping plaza is dated and kind of dingy. But, look closely, the locals come here to eat and there are many little dives that are pretty good. The parking is ridiculous, all times of the day. Driving in a one way counterclockwise motion, the spaces are small and limited. Good luck. Shiro’s Saimin Haven is my favorite. Don’t miss it.

Although this place seemed a little shady after the sun sets to linger, don’t let the dingy, unmaintained appearance of this strip mall discourage you from giving it a chance when it’s bathed in tropical sun.
For one thing, it houses Shiro’s Saimin Haven which is currently my uncontended favorite for the namesake Hawaiian classic. I had a reasonably good chicken fried rice from Waimalu Chop Suey and from Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory, you can always pick up a fast quart of tasty noodles for lunch. Haven’t tried the Kabuki or the Kapiolani Coffee Shop yet, but who knows for the future? I won’t shy away from trying based on my experiences here so far.

Decent offering of businesses (e.g. Palama Supermarket and the phở restaurant), but the parking lot needs some serious repaving.

Great places to eat! We frequent there often. We just don’t look forward to finding a stall.. .. .

Shopping center management has repaved the parking lot. Not the best job but better than what it was.

I only noticed the food places that this shopping has. I’ve only been at Shiro’s and Snow Flakes. It’s one of the centers that I always pass by but not really stop to take a look.
Finding parking was okay when I came by. It just depends on time of day and other occasions. During the evening around dinnertime, it can get packed, so slow down, you might pass an open stall.

Some people like myself get this area mixed up with the other Waimalu Shopping area (Waimalu Shopping Plaza). There’s some really great restaurants and shops around here such as Kapiolani Coffee Shop, Shiro’s, Kabuki, Zippy’s, Baldwin’s, Leonard’s Jr, the one rasta shop, etc. I always used to go to Maruyju Markeyt and Nippon video back in the day but those shops are not there anymore. I remember there was this one liquor store that was there and I got my Power Rangers Green Ranger Dragonzord Sword there. Awesomely good times. There was also a sports card place down here too. All the shops here are just alright. Old Skool late 90’s Waimalu Shopping Center is way better than it is today. I think it was still good up to the mid 2000s. There is now just a handful of good places down there now like the old skool restaurants. Although it may seem that the parking is a lot, when the shopping «center» gets busy, it can get really difficult. The roads are sketchy. They kinda need to fix that area up. It’s conveniently located right across of the Harbor Shopping area, the Ford car dealership, and Best Buy.
Unilocal 365 Challenge #208/​365

Unilocal 365 Challenge #64/​365
There is hidden gems in this dingy strip mall located in Aiea across from Best Buy and I’m not talking about Zippy’s or Leonard’s. There are other eats in Waimalu Shopping Center that are cheap eats.
Kapiolani Coffee Shop
Shiro’s Saimin
Kabuki Restaurant and Deli
There are other eats here as well. But for the life of me, there is my favorite one that I don’t know the name. All I know is that they are two shops away from Zippy’s and they are cheap, cheap, cheap.
Not only are they cheap but their portions are generous.
Service is always friendly and quick.
My usual order is chow fun with fried chicken, which is about $ 4.00!
However, because I am on the quest for a healthy living, this type of order is reserved for cheat days :(
Don’t be discouraged by the pot holes or the aged-​looking shopping center that has seen better days, take a drive through the parking lot and you’ll find the treasures that will not empty your pocket but fill up your belly leaving you content with enough money left over to buy yourself an expensive froyo at Yogurtland that is a drive down the road.
Happy Cheap Eats Treasure Hunting

This place has been here for a really long time, it is sad that a lot of bad events happened here. I still go to this shopping center to get my nails done, occasionally go to Zippy’s and Baldwins.

This place has got choke dining establishments for being an old school strip mall from way back in the day. Minus two stars though for all the frickin mahus who hang out on the Ewa side of the place doing their tricks in the pre dawn hours…