Downtown Victoria’s only Hawaii-inspired burger spot will be closing its doors permanently this week, as one of its owners recently received a cancer diagnosis.
Ajay Oppelaar and Robert Stutzman opened Kahuna Burger in 2023 with high hopes to expand their business into the heart of Victoria.
The concept was an offshoot of their success in Duncan with Kahuna Burger, Aloha Bowls and Paradise Pies, which had been running successfully for five years before their expansion into the capital city.
However, over the last couple years, the three Duncan locations have closed, and the owners have been putting their full focus on the Victoria location.
Now, their Victoria location will also be closing permanently on Saturday, November 8th, after Oppelaar was diagnosed with an aggressive and hard to treat plasma cell leukemia and has begun chemo treatment.
“Seeing as I have already started feeling the effects of the treatments, it will be impossible to continue operations at the restaurant as well as taking the treatments,” said Oppelaar in a statement to Victoria Buzz.
“I can honestly say this was my childhood dream, to create a place that only served the best food available and did it with care, thought and love and respect for the guests and the food. Unfortunately, my life clock ran short of sand.”
Oppelaar noted that he and Stutzman have felt so much love from the community since opening and were elated to get to watch the youngest of kids having their first Dole Whip, to 90-year-old customers celebrating their special birthday with 30 friends and family members.
Kahuna Burger invites all who appreciated their work, or those who had not yet had the chance to try their burgers, to come down and join them for one last meal before they close their doors for good.
Additionally, a friend of Oppelaar and Stutzman has launched a GoFundMe to help with the financial burden of receiving cancer treatment while not being able to work.
As of this publication, the fundraiser has garnered around $11,700 of its $12,000 goal.
