Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade, a chain specializing in fresh-pressed juices and healthy bites like acai bowls and avocado toast, has opened a new location in Berkeley.
The restaurant debuted in April at 2332 Telegraph Ave., the former residence of Japanese convenience store J-Town Express. Wow Wow specializes in take-out and is well-positioned to appeal to the student masses of UC Berkeley.
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Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade began in Oahu as a small operation that served locally-inspired tropical drinks at farmers and night markets. It spread to Maui in the form of a lemonade trailer, then to a brick-and-mortar in Kihei, and now has other branches across the U.S. all the way to Florida. This is the Bay Area’s third Wow Wow, with others in Vacaville and Livermore.
The restaurant is known particularly for its colorful lemonades, made with fresh-pressed lemons and an assortment of tropical fruits such as coconut, pineapple and lilikoi (passion fruit). There are options to top your drink with mango or strawberry floats, add blue spirulina — which, despite its Wikipedia definition of a “biomass of cyanobacteria” is generally considered healthy — and mix in ginger or lavender infusions.
Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade, a chain specializing in fresh juices and healthy bites, opened a new location in Berkeley in April 2024. Pictured: microgreens-avocado toast. (Photo courtesy of Wow Wow Hawaiian Lemonade)
Acai bowls include a Cacao Energy with maca root (aka Peruvian ginseng); gluten-free granola, banana and cacao nibs and custard; and a Cold Brew Crave with coffee, coconut, macadamia nuts and strawberry. Other bowls omit acai like the Superfruit Pitaya with dragon fruit and blueberry and the Blue Hawaii with almond milk, dates and coconut butter.
The restaurant’s small dishes range from avocado toast with microgreens or hard-boiled eggs, lilikoi-butter toast with strawberry, an almond-berry flatbread sandwich and a Black Lava flatbread with hummus, veggies and lava salt. There are also Superfood Smoothies with ingredients like acai, coconut water, almond milk and fresh berries.
The spot is run by franchise owner Stephen Choi, who recently told The Daily Californian: “I believe that it could really benefit the area, because it can offer a vacation-like getaway when you have a refreshing drink.”
