Makana is a restaurant on Gernsbacher Straße in Baden-Baden serving Hawaiian poke bowls. It opened in November 2025.[1]
Concept and cuisine
Poke bowls are a traditional Hawaiian dish.[1] A large counter forms the centre of Makana’s dining room. Guests either pick out the individual ingredients for their bowl there or take one of the ready-made bowls.[1] Besides the cold bowls, the menu lists warm bowls, soups, açaí bowls, Hawaiian tea, smoothies, mochi ice cream and other drinks.
Visiting
Makana is open daily from 11 am to 6 pm. Guests eat at the tables in front of the restaurant or inside, where the window front looks out onto Gernsbacher Straße.
History of the premises
The shop unit next to the Nordsee branch had stood empty before Makana moved in. In July 2025 the food chain Ma’Loa announced it would open a branch there in the autumn and serve soups and curry dishes alongside poke bowls, for the first time together with a coffee business.[2] Those plans fell through in early September 2025, and the chain’s posters disappeared from the shop window.[3] A Baden-Baden restaurateur eventually stepped in to serve the poke bowls.[4] Makana opened there in November 2025.[1]
Name
Makana is the Hawaiian word for gift. The University of Hawaiʻi also lists the meanings reward, award, donation and prize.[5]
References
- ↑1.1↑1.2↑1.3↑1.4 Stephanie Hölzle: Poké Bowls in Baden-Baden: Blick in das neue Restaurant Makana, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 11 November 2025, accessed 7 August 2026 (Archived)
- ↑ Stephanie Hölzle: Ma’Loa eröffnet Filiale in Baden-Baden: Food-Kette bietet Bowls, Suppen und Curry, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 20 July 2025, accessed 7 August 2026 (Archived)
- ↑ Sarah Reith: Warum die Food-Kette Ma’Loa doch nicht nach Baden-Baden kommt, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 10 September 2025, accessed 7 August 2026
- ↑ Stephanie Hölzle: Baden-Baden bekommt Poké Bowls: Neuer Anbieter öffnet in Innenstadt, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 27 September 2025, accessed 7 August 2026 (Archived)
- ↑ Hawaiian Word of the Week: Makana, University of Hawaiʻi System News, 29 March 2023, accessed 7 August 2026
Web links
- Makana | Poké Bowl & Aloha Vibes - the restaurant’s Instagram profile