Hungry customers at the newly renovated Times Supermarket in the Town Center of Mililani can sate their appetites before grabbing way more than their shopping lists dictate.
Food choices include coffee and smoothies, breakfast items, Neapolitan-style pizza, stir-fry bowls, burritos, burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, made-to-order ice cream cookie sandwiches, smoked meats and Times’ popular steak plates — and the store offers indoor and outdoor seating for 44 diners.
The company is the latest Hawaii grocer to create new dine-in and grab-and-go options for customers, in keeping with the “grocerant” trend in the industry nationwide.
The Taste of Times opened Friday after
18 months to two years of planning, said Chris Borden, Times’ senior director of marketing and merchandise. Mililani was chosen for the first rollout because the demographics of the area seemed to be a good fit, he said.
The concept will expand to eight locations over the next five years, including the McCully and Royal Kunia stores as well as two neighbor island locations, predicated on the success in Mililani, Borden said.
At Times Mililani, baristas are on duty at
5 a.m. to make hot or cold coffee drinks or multiple flavors of boba smoothies ranging from $1 to $4.95 for a 20-ounce mocha or vanilla creamy bliss. The bakery and breakfast counter opens at 6 a.m., and the other food
stations at 10 a.m.
The already-prolific bakery has been greatly expanded and will offer as many as 120 pastry items from hot, warm, room temperature and refrigerated cases, said Antoinette Joao, Times bakery director.
Hot items include a panko-crusted potato ball that oozes cheese when bitten into,
and crabcakes made using super-lump crab meat.
Sweet and savory pastries include popular ethnic choices such as Filipino cascaron, Chinese pork sung buns and Samoan panipopo. Prices range from 85 cents for a jalapeno-
cheese scone, to $20 for a 9-inch round cake.
The grand opening will be Nov. 30, with a lion dance, music, children’s games and other activities from 9 a.m. to noon.