Ohana Island Kitchen Schedules Soft Opening for Tuesday, November 15

Good news for passionate fans of Hawaiian cooking who have missed Highland's Ohana Island Kitchen for the past few weeks: The tiny, window-service eatery will open its brick-and-mortar location at 2563 15th Street on Tuesday, November 15.

"It's taken us a lot longer than expected to get open," says Reagan Colburn, co-owner with partner and head chef Louie Colburn. "We put a lot of paint and elbow grease into that place. We've been spending this whole time trying to get this up to code, inspections passed. We're finally just about ready to open."

They got word that they passed their final inspections on November 9.

To start, they will focus on lunch, but with slightly expanded hours, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The Colburns will turn out the same tried-and-true menu found at their former window location across the street, including the popular poke bowls that made our list of 100 Favorite Dishes this year. "It'll give us time to work out some kinks in the new kitchen and get into the swing of things in this space," Reagan says.

Following the soft opening, there will be an official grand-opening luau from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, December 3. "On that day, we're going to unveil some new recipes," Reagan adds. The luau will also include live music and a raffle for Hawaiian art and some cool items signed by Broncos players.

For those who may have seen a food truck operating under the name Ohana Denver Asian Fusion, that's a different entity under a different owner. Reagan says a few breweries and customers have tagged Ohana Island Kitchen on social media, confusing her restaurant with the Littleton-based food truck that's been on the scene since late October.