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Duck Butt owner plans second Kapolei restaurant

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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / 2017

DB Grill in the Kapolei Commons plans to open an Italian restaurant next door.

The owners of Cafe Duck Butt and DB Grill — restaurants known for Korean cuisine — are opening an Italian restaurant in Kapolei Commons late this year, the shopping center developer announced today.

The MacNaughton Group said the new, family-style restaurant will be called Mad Bene, going into the space formerly occupied by Roy Yamaguchi’s Eating House 1849. It will be next to DB Grill in the building anchored by the Regal Kapolei Commons movie theater.

The menu will include pizzas and pasta, with ingredients, including the mozzarella cheese, made from scratch.

“Mad Bene is an homage to all the great Italian food we grew up with on the East Coast but that isn’t here in Hawaii,” co-owner Henry Yoon said in a statement.

The 2-year-old DB Grill is an upscale, contemporary offshoot of the popular karaoke bar Cafe Duck Butt in Kakaako.

Also opening at Kapolei Commons in late 2019 is Teriyaki Madness, a chain with 150 franchises across the country. Franchisee Ohmar Villavicencio has said he plans to make Kapolei the first site of several of the fast-casual restaurants in the state.

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