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CU Hawaii - Downtown

3.6 (74 reviews)
Closed 7:00 am - 10:00 pm

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Entrance faces Hotel Street
Nadine C.

Shopping in Downtown Honolulu, Hawai'i... This relatively new Korean convenience store, CU - Hawaii, is located on the ground level of the Executive Centre. It's the first store of this Korean chain to be in the USA! Wow! The Executive Centre was a smart choice of location because it is a condo/hotel building. Many people (residents, hotel guests, and working people in the area) would appreciate the snacks, beverages, and grab 'n go foods here. Note: The entrance of CU - Hawaii is actually facing Hotel Street. The space was formerly Ross Dress For Less. I arrived on a Sunday when metered street parking is free. The spacious, clean environment was well-organized! There's a lot of merchandise, plus microwaves, a smoothie making station, and a do-it-yourself Ramen area. It's a good idea if you want to dine here to stand and dine at one of the large "ramen cup" tables! Come check it out! I almost got one of those cute plushie bag charms... (The price is kinda reasonable!) Instead, I got one of those beverages in a pouch that you pour into a cup of ice. I'll do that at home... LOL!

squid fishcake bar
Angel H.

I really like this place. It's the Korean 7-11. I would come more often, but parking in downtown is a pain in my behind. As with any convenience store it's filled with food and snacks. The whole back wall is ramen that you can heat up with their high tech microwaves against the wall. Don't forget to pay for it first with the cashier up front. I really wasn't feeling ramen that day. I saw another customer buying a cup filled with ice and pouring a pouch of syrup in there. That piqued my interest and I wanted to try it. I got a cup filled with ice from the freezer $1.99 and looked through their syrup selection. They had a lot; everything from fruity to coffee. I settled on the sweet mango. All the syrups were $1.99. The mango was good. It had a little of that artificial taste to it though. At first it was really sweet. You have to wait until the ice melts, then it's good to go. As with the ramen they want you to pay first with the cashier. At the checkout they have all these hot food items that you can purchase such as fried mandoo, corndogs, tornado potato and squid fishcake bar. I had to try the squid fishcake bar $3.49. It was so yummy. I could taste the bits of squid in there.

make your own banana milk coffee
Doreen T.

Nice to CU is basically a Korean-style 7-Eleven located in downtown Waikiki. We were lucky enough to find street parking nearby, otherwise, I honestly have no idea where you'd park. This was our very first stop after landing in Oahu, and we grabbed some snacks to hold us til we have a real lunch. I made my own iced coffee using banana milk, crushed ice, and pack of americano, and we picked up water, popcorn, and chips. They also have a pretty extensive selection of instant ramen if you're craving it. CU totally made me reminisce about my trip to Seoul. However, I think you may also find the items cheaper at Hmart nearby. Nice to take a peek here!

Ramyeon library
Jess W.

There was so much excitement about a new store in downtown Honolulu! Lines so long and interesting new products and novel ways to prepare and consume. I was so excited and happy that I could come here during the first week, earlier in the morning, and not have to endure any long lines! After 2-3 visits and trying a few items, the novelty wore off. Everything I've had here is so mid. That's the best way to describe the offerings of CU Hawaii. The smoked ahi Musubi? Fine. Kim chee mandoo? Ok. Potato corn dog? Meh. Tornado potato? Dry but fine. Egg salad sandwich? Fine but dry bread. L Egg and karaage chicken Musubi? Bland. Americano in a pouch? It's just coffee really. There is a cold brewed coffee in a small carton that was pretty good and strong! I'd get that one again. Some of the snacks might be worth a shot. The fried nori chips were good and different from the ones you usually see at longs or Walmart. Otherwise, this place is pretty mid. 7-11 is better for sandwiches and musubis. Palama market express is better for convenience store Korean food. Happy mini mart is good too. Hope CU stays open though, as an option in downtown.

Grab-n-go eats
Jill F.

@fortunefoodfinds: "C-U later! Last month I finally got the chance to check out CU Hawaii located in downtown Honolulu. From the self-serve ramyun, to the variety of snacks n' customizable drinks, it's an experience whether you go solo or with a friend to link!" SERVICE: friendly INTERIOR: clean, well kept n' stocked. Had a photo booth in the back. Limited stand up tables (shaped like instant noodle cups). Smaller than what I expected, that's bc I thought it was going to be like a big supermarket, idk why! EXTERIOR: in the business area, not easily seen WAIT TIME: came after work hours so line to register moved fast PARKING: difficult, found a nearby public garage that I believe charged every 30 mins OVERALL COMMENTS: came for the self-serve ramyun n' customizable drinks, which was a neat experience with the fam. The location is great for people who work around there n' who can easily get there by walking. Although if you have a vehicle you may think twice about making a visit. Unfortunately, I won't be back anytime soon unless I'm randomly in the area n' on foot. Glad I was able to try it out at least once!

Ramen!
Jenna S.

This place is okay. I would probably shop here if I lived walking distance or happen to be stopping at Paris Baguette and snagged a street stall, but I definitely wouldn't go out of my way to hunt down parking. They offer a ton of ramen and chilled food similar to 711. I'm not sure what the hype was but glad I got to check it out!

April K.

Was downtown for an appointment and my husband suggested we stop by and check this place out. The store is very neat and clean and well stocked, for the most part. The convenient eats section was pretty bare lol. The most impressive thing was the ramyun library and large selection of various different noodles. I honestly expected more of a variety of Asian snacks so I was a little disappointed in that. I liked the tables that looked like ramen bowels but think they could have probably made better use of the space with a different dining area. Overall I probably won't return unless it's to bring my kids to check out the ramyun wall.

Ramen machine
Candace F.

Super bright, colorful, welcoming and interesting. Located at former Longs location CU is like a trend with a ton of young people taking pictures inside for instagram worthy photos. The products are very different with an Asian flare of drinks, hot snacks, instant ramen bar. The lines are long with only a couple of cashiers. This shop can be likened to an Asian 7-11 without the hard liquor aisle. The instant ramen bar is different but cool because you can access a glorified fancy hot water machine. It's self serve and well... don't know if I would pay a premium for instant ramen in a styrofoam bowl. Nice to CU is worth a visit but shop probably has to offer other things to keep the surrounding lunchtime crowd interested.

Allen N.

I stopped by the grand opening of CU Hawaii after seeing all the hype, and I'm glad I did. It's pretty cool to have Hawaii's first CU in the U.S. right here in our backyard, especially with all the unique items they brought over from Korea. The one thing I was really excited to try was the Tornado Potato. It was good, but having a few different topping options would really take it to the next level. Also, like fellow Yelper Jackie K. said, it was warm, but not hot!

Potato tornado
Craig T.

Update on CU Hawaii I guess the best time to check out this new trendy place is on Sunday . Lots of free street metered parking and not too crowded compared to other days . This time I ordered what's called Potato tornado. It's alright although you need ketchup it's a little dry .

Crystal R.

This new Korean convenience store is the first of its kind in the US. Located in the heart of Downtown Honolulu where the old Longs Drugs used to be, it sometimes gets a little busy during the lunch hour. If you're not working or living in Downtown Honolulu, parking might be a little challenge (something to keep in mind if you're making the trip). Because this place is set up to be just a convenience store with a couple of fun experiences, the space is much smaller than when it was Longs. Matter of fact, it feels like about half the size. Inside, you'll find mostly the same items you would get at your local Asian market, at a slighter higher price. One of the few things that stood out to me was the infamous ramyun library wall. They have a lot of options to choose from across from the wall, is a self cooking station. They also have a self-blend smoothie station that adds to the fun experience. If you're not up to cooking or making your own food, you can also pick up ready made food like bentos and hot foods in front of the cashier (think like 7-11 but Korean food). I decided to try out the potato tornado on a whim and sadly it was a disappointment to me. It had a strange bitter aftertaste with no seasoning and the texture was more hard-plastic-crunchy than the crispy-fry I would expect. I might come back to try the ramyun station just for the fun of it, but at the end of the day, it's just ramyun and unless you get creative with mix-ins you find around the store, there aren't really extra toppings provided. It's worth checking out once for the experience in my personal opinion, especially if you're nearby.

Jackie K.

Grand Opening scheduled for November 12, 2025 at high noon. Then open daily, from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Get there early for the swag bag giveaway for the first 100 purchasers. No validated parking. We found street metered parking for $3 an hour. Credit card or coins. Peeking inside it looks bright, colorful and filled with so many goodies! Adorable ramen table tops! I will update later. I thought CU Hawaii had a soft opening per Instagram posts. There were @8 of us waiting there for CU Hawaii to open lol. The store was all lit up and you could see someone was inside, but after hanging out for a while, it was a no go. 11/12/25- update. The line wraps around the building! Crazy. We asked an employee to estimate the time to get inside the store, his response: Two hours plus! Uhm, we only paid for one hour metered parking! It's also raining. I was able to peek inside, but that's it! A quick picture with CU iconic mascot was the best for today. Another update will be forthcoming! 11/16/25- THIRD TIME IS A SUCCESS! We found free street parking on a late Sunday afternoon. Walking up to CU Hawai'i, I observed a much smaller line of customers. Hooray. The wait to the front entrance took us approximately 15 minutes. Success. Surprisingly, the store appears small and compact inside. Most 711 stores in Hawai'i appear larger in size than this convenience store. However, the CU Hawai'i store has an eating area and high density merchandise. I tried the viral cream vanilla bun. It's in the refrigerated section. It's pretty much a very soft bun filled with whipped cream! We also tried the tornado potato stick. It's warm (not hot) and ketchup was provided in the packet. It was not crispy, oily and without flavor. No spice or salt to taste. A huge variety of drinks, CU totes, snacks, ramen and so much more are available here. Service was attentive and efficient here. My CU App didn't work at first. I was instructed to delete and reinstall the app. It worked! The employee rang me up immediately after I was able to bring up the QR code on the app. Welcome CU Hawai'i! Wishing you a successful business here in downtown Honolulu, Hawai'i. Instagram: @nicetocuhawaii Website: www.nicetocuhawaii.com

Nov 2025 - mishmash of food
Catherine P.

We decided to try Nice to CU in downtown where the old Longs used to be, thinking 2 weeks after they opened should be good. Nope! The line to get into the store was LONG! We waited for about 30 minutes before being able to get into the store. The security outside shuffling people in was good at keeping the "crazy" people away. Hopefully that persons stays or else they are going to have a lot of problems. Inside of the store was quite small since I was thinking of the Longs space there previously. I thought the ramen lounge would be bigger to enjoy in store but it too was very small. We chose some of their food items, got some snacks, and picked up packets of drink mix. But the star of the show, ice cubes for the drinks were sold out. I tried the kimchee dumplings which looking back tasted great but probably because we waited so long to get in and were hungry. The veggie kimbap was junk mostly due to the hard rice. The kimchee fried rice with the egg was ok. Probably one of the better foods. They also had American and Korean grocery items in the fridges. Overall, I wasn't really impressed since you can get a lot of the items outside for much cheaper and less wait. Parking is a bit limited for street parking so I would suggest Ali'i parking garage (low price but cash only) or the new pickleball parking garage (old Walmart) since they had a $5 flat rate on Sunday.

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Loved it! Was so cute. Service was quick. Loved the Photo Booth inside. Drink I got was good.

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Ask the Community - CU Hawaii - Downtown

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CU Hawaii - Downtown - convenience - Updated May 2026

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