busy intersection; we’re very visible, we’ve got our own parking and the space to grow is basically what we were looking for.
For the downstairs area, we’re planning a lounge atmosphere with a club vibe, while with the upstairs we have an open-air, more chill vibe for people that want to go on dates or just want to have some quiet.
A lot of time and energy has gone into getting to this point, but within a month or two we should have everything fully optimized. Once that gets going, we’re looking to host a couple hundred people a night, with even more on the weekends.
EM: What’s the future for The Burning Tree, and where would you like to take that brand moving forward?
BB: We want to be the McDonald’s of the hookah industry. We want to franchise out, copy the model that’s worked so well here and move it to new places so that when you go to a Burning Tree, it’s just like being out here.
EM: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
BB: Everything we do is all about Hawai‘i. We want to continue to embrace that, keep it. That’s what got us here, and we want to keep that Aloha vibe so that no matter where you go, you feel like you’re here.
Not many places have regulars that come five times a week, like we have since we’ve been open, and seeing that lets us know that we’re doing something right. We want to keep that going and want to try to make everyone fall in love with us all over again.
Whether you’re looking to experience The Burning Tree for the first time, or you’re a bona fide hookah-head, bring your friends and your brews, and be sure to give a shout-out to Bryce during your next hookah session.
The Burning Tree
1363 S. Beretania St.
Mon.–Thu., Sun., 12pm–12am
Fri.–Sat., 12pm–2am
457-9123
theburningtreehawaii.com
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Perspective:
"What we’ve built here is a culture that you can’t really buy."