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A look at Kona Grill's new restaurant designA look at Kona Grill's new restaurant design

A remodeled unit in Arizona reveals many elements the chain will use moving forward

Ron Ruggless, Senior Editor

December 5, 2012

2 Min Read
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Kona Grill Inc. has raised the curtain on the newest design for its American sushi-grill chain at a remodeled unit in the Chandler Fashion Center in Arizona.

The company has refreshed the 10-year-old unit with many elements that executives said will be used in new units and renovations going forward, including lighter colors, fabric panels, and fire and water elements.

SLIDE SHOW
Slide show
Kona Grill unveils renovated unit

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“We pretty much changed the entire dining room. We expanded the bar area. The goal was to make the environment more cozy, guest-friendly with a lighter palette than we had used in the past with the dark wood and the stone,” said Jenny Elkins, Kona Grill’s vice president of operations.

A major addition was a lounge area with soft chairs and a television. “One of the great things about Kona is that people like to come in and hang out,” Elkins said. “It’s a very social environment where they come in and have drinks and appetizers and stay there for hours. So we wanted to create an environment that was conducive to that.”

Seating at the unit remained much the same, with a pre-remodel count of 163 in the dining room and 158 in the bar-lounge-patio moving to 158 in the post-remodel dining room and 168 in the bar-lounge-patio.

“This is our baseline,” Elkins said. “We’re obviously going to take in any sort of operational feedback in terms of what is and isn’t working. And we’re also going to take into consideration guest feedback. But this is a general guideline for what our remodels are going to look like.”

Major features, such as Kona Grill’s signature aquarium, remain in the remodeled unit, but the design was changed, Elkins added. “We cleaned up the area around it so it really stands out,” she said, adding that the stacked stone frame and dark woods around it were removed.

The entire renovation was scheduled to take about six weeks but ended up consuming about 10, Elkins said. The restaurant stayed open through the construction, she said, with most of the activity being done at night. The store was only closed for two days near end of the process, she noted.

She expects future remodels to take less time because of the learnings from the Chandler construction.

“Our goal was to create a modern look that would not only stand the test of time but that would take us into our next phase,” Elkins said. Several more renovations are planned for 2013, she said, but would not divulge which units.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Kona Grill owns and operates 23 restaurants in 16 states.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

About the Author

Ron Ruggless

Senior Editor, Nation’s Restaurant News / Restaurant Hospitality

Ron Ruggless serves as a senior editor for Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN.com) and Restaurant Hospitality (Restaurant-Hospitality.com) online and print platforms. He joined NRN in 1992 after working 10 years in various roles at the Dallas Times Herald newspaper, including restaurant critic, assistant business editor, food editor and lifestyle editor. He also edited several printings of the Zagat Dining Guide for Dallas-Fort Worth, and his articles and photographs have appeared in Food & Wine, Food Network and Self magazines. 

Ron Ruggless’ areas of expertise include foodservice mergers, acquisitions, operations, supply chain, research and development and marketing. 

Ron Ruggless is a frequent moderator and panelist at industry events ranging from the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) conference to RestaurantSpaces, the Council of Hospitality and Restaurant Trainers, the National Restaurant Association’s Marketing Executives Group, local restaurant associations and the Horeca Professional Expo in Madrid, Spain.

Ron Ruggless’ experience:

Regional and Senior Editor, Informa Connect’s Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality (1992 to present)

Features Editor – Dallas Times Herald (1989-1991)

Restaurant Critic and Food Editor – Dallas Times Herald (1987-1988)

Editing Roles – Dallas Times Herald (1982-1987)

Editing Roles – Charlotte (N.C.) Observer (1980-1982)

Editing Roles – Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald (1978-1980)

Email: [email protected]

Social media:

Twitter@RonRuggless

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ronruggless

Instagram: @RonRuggless

TikTok: @RonRuggless

 

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