Streamlining Service at Scale: Wai Kai's Operational Transformation with Aloha

Imagine riding a perfect wave—everyday. Surfers get that at Wai Kai, a groundbreaking waterfront destination in Ewa Beach, Oʻahu, Hawaii, home to the world’s largest deep-water standing surf wave. Whether guests coast with ease—or wipeout quickly—TheLineUp blends pro-level thrills with universal access.

Just steps away, the 52-acre Wai Kai Lagoon offers Aquaventure, an expansive aquatic playground where guests can paddleboard, kayak, pedal boat or relax on floating cabanas—perfect for all levels of adventure.

Wai Kai seamlessly blends dining, recreation, retail, and culture in a vibrant indoor-outdoor environment. From elevated cuisine at TheLookout to beachside coffee and cocktails at FOAM, shopping at Sessions and lively events like Cars & Coffee and weekly farmers’ markets, it’s a destination that attracts both locals and travelers looking for high-quality hospitality in a relaxed island setting.

To support this complex and diverse operation, Wai Kai relies on Aloha by NCR Voyix—a comprehensive technology suite including point-of-sale, handheld devices, kitchen display systems, and integrated payment processing. These tools are strategically deployed across restaurants, bars, retail and event spaces to ensure one seamless experience.

Wai Kai’s challenge before selecting Aloha

Wai Kai is a large entertainment venue with diverse offerings, from golf and retail to dining and events. Initially, they implemented a point-of-sale solution designed for retail, but it quickly became clear that it wasn’t built for food and beverage operations.

 “[Our old system] was really geared toward water parks and amusement parks. …[It] was working fine for those aspects, but for the food and beverage, it just didn’t really make sense.” -Mickey Lasseter, Director of Food and Beverage, Wai Kai

Their previous solution relied on a fixed point-of-sale on the counter, forcing staff to memorize orders and walk to the terminal to input each order—leading to inefficiencies and inaccuracies.

“We’re all about turn and burn, getting the guests in and out, and we couldn’t do that as fast and efficiently as we wanted to.”-Mickey Lasseter

There were also operational limitations in the front-of-house. Staff couldn’t transfer checks between tables or split bills easily, especially for large parties. Tables could have up to three split bills, which made splitting between parties with over ten people less organized.

When requests for enhanced capabilities were denied by their previous technology provider, Wai Kai knew it was time to find a better solution.

Why Wai Kai chose Aloha

When evaluating new providers, Wai Kai focused on two non-negotiables: intuitive, simple-to-use tech and mobile POS capabilities. With such a large campus, they needed more than a fixed terminal.

That led them to Aloha.

“To me, choosing Aloha was easy—I’ve had good experiences with it at previous jobs. It’s reliable and user friendly. …Other POS vendors literally told me, ‘We tried to mimic Aloha.’ That helped me make my decision.”

Mickey recognized that a frictionless guest experience is key to customer satisfaction. Aloha OrderPay, a mobile handheld solution, offered faster table turns, improved accuracy and increased revenue.

How Wai Kai uses Aloha OrderPay

Staff began using Aloha OrderPay handhelds in areas without nearby terminals—like poolside and wave deck service—and during special events. Training on the new system was fast, and adoption of the handhelds by the staff increased exponentially.

“For the most part, everyone really enjoys using them because they can see the speed of service. [They like] not having to run back and forth to the kitchen. …They were able to pick up on it within a couple of weeks.” -Mickey Lasseter

Transitioning to the Aloha suite of solutions, including Aloha OrderPay, and NCR Voyix Payments, gave managers deeper insights into operations and has improved service across the board.

The results: faster service, happier guests

Within months, Wai Kai saw measurable improvements in their operations:

• 13% reduction in labor-to-sales ratio: Better staff management led to stronger margins.
• Improved order accuracy: Staff input orders in real time while taking them from the guests—no memorization required.
• Faster table turns. Guests enjoy quicker service and can pay directly at their seats.

“We’ve had people comment like, ‘Wow, that was fast.’ …We had a Yelp review that said the service was way faster the second time they came—they even mentioned the handhelds.” -Mickey Lasseter

Aloha OrderPay helps Wai Kai deliver faster, more accurate service, so guests could spend less time waiting and more time enjoying everything the venue has to offer.

Discover what Aloha by NCR Voyix can do for your restaurant. Schedule a demo today.

Dive deeper into Wai Kai’s experience with Aloha by NCR Voyix.