Buns Gone Wong Brings $7 Wagyu Smash Burgers to Paradise Ciders

A $7 wagyu smash burger on Oʻahu is the kind of deal that makes people check the menu twice. Buns Gone Wong, the pop-up from longtime Waikīkī bartender Brian Wong, is making that price the point — and the burgers are now a regular Thursday-to-Sunday stop at Paradise Ciders on Koapaka Street.

Aloha State Daily reported on Nov. 5–6 that Wong started out cooking smash burgers for backyard parties — including a Halloween night when he made about 130 of them for friends — before a football-season pop-up at Davy’s Evolution in Waikīkī took off. This spring he decided to push the concept further; the name “Buns Gone Wong,” he told the paper, came from friends brainstorming something funny and clever.

Where and when

• Paradise Ciders (Mapunapuna): 3057 Koapaka St., Honolulu — 4 to 9 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays (per Aloha State Daily; Honolulu Magazine’s Oct. 22 write-up had Thursday–Saturday here)
• Davy’s Evolution (Waikīkī): 444 Kanekapolei St. — Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Online: Instagram @bunsgonewong; bunsgonewong.com (listed by Honolulu Magazine)
• Parking at Paradise Ciders: Street parking; Aloha State Daily notes outdoor seating and drinks from the cidery

Wong told Aloha State Daily Paradise Ciders asked him to become the vendor at its Koapaka location; he started popping up there in August.

What’s on the board

Wong’s approach is deliberately short: do one thing well. Patties are a quarter-pound wagyu beef blend on a brioche bun. Oklahoma-style means thinly sliced yellow onions get smashed into the meat on the griddle so they caramelize into the patty; sweet onions go on raw as a topping.

Per Aloha State Daily’s menu report:

• OG — $7: patty, American cheese, grilled onions, special sauce
• Deluxe — $10: adds fresh onions, lettuce and tomato
• Double deluxe — $14: two patties with the deluxe toppings (Wong said this is the most popular item)
• Bacon add-on — $2
• Tater tots — $4, with the house special sauce

Honolulu Magazine’s Melissa Chang, writing Oct. 22, also listed a double OG at $11 and compared the $7 OG to a Quarter Pounder with cheese then priced around $6.79 at the Keʻeaumoku McDonald’s — which is part of why the line keeps forming.

The seasoning comes from a California butcher, Wong told Aloha State Daily, and the sauce is housemade. “My burgers are all about quality, while still trying to give everyone great value,” he said. “I go out every day to hand-select the best produce I can.”

From backyard griddle to island pop-up

Wong has bartended in Waikīkī for about 12 years and told Aloha State Daily that chapter is ending so he can focus on the burgers. Honolulu Magazine noted earlier kitchen time at Hula Grill in Waikīkī. The Davy’s Evolution football pop-up was supposed to be seasonal; once it caught on, Sundays stuck even after the games ended.

“Keep your eyes and ears open, as I am going to keep expanding across the island,” Wong told Aloha State Daily.

If you’re already out for Restaurant Week starting Saturday, this is an easy Mapunapuna detour for a cheaper, smash-burger night — or a Waikīkī Sunday lunch before the prix-fixe dinner reservations.

Sources

• Aloha State Daily, “Buns Gone Wong is a new smash burger pop-up on Oʻahu” by Kelli Shiroma Braiotta (Nov. 5–6, 2026): https://alohastatedaily.com/2026/11/05/buns-gone-wong-is-a-new-smash-burger-pop-up-on-oahu/
• Honolulu Magazine / Frolic Hawaiʻi, “At Buns Gone Wong, Wagyu Burgers Start at $7” by Melissa Chang (Oct. 22, 2026): https://www.honolulumagazine.com/buns-gone-wong/