Located throughout California and Arizona is a a restaurant chain known as Ono Hawaiian BBQ.
Created by Joe and Joshua Liang, the restaurant concept is “fast-casual restaurant” with the slogan “aloha in every bite”.
The word “ono” (oh-no) in Hawaiian means delicious and in Hawaii, there is traditional Hawaiian food and there is Hawaiian food that is a fusion of the dishes from Hawaiian, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Chinese and American dishes. And in Hawaii, one of the most popular things to have is the “pa mea ai” which means “plate lunch”.
And when it comes to pa mea ai, these two things are constant: white rice and macaroni salad and then the main meal (entree), have more entree’s and you have a mixed plate.
It is debated where pa mea ai came from, may it be influenced by Japanese bento or when laborers (typically from China, Japan, Portugal and the Philippines) working at plantations would eat a variety of foods (especially canned meat).
Ono Hawaiian BBQ continues the love for pa mea ai through the food they serve, which includes the steamed rice and macaroni salad plus the entree served on top of steamed cabbage.
So, those who want to eat chicken, you can order Hawaiian BBQ chicken, Chicken Katsu, Grilled Chicken Breast, Teriyaki Chicken, ISland Fire Chicken.
Or Hawaiian BBQ Beef, Kalbi Short Ribs, Kalua Pork with Cabbage.
For those who want seafood, there is crispy shrimp or island white fish.
But I recommend the combos, for example, the chicken combo comes with BBQ chicken and chicken katsu, the Hawaiian BBQ Mix comes with BBQ Beef and Kalbi Short Ribs, the Kalua Combo comes with BBQ Chicken, Chicken Katsu or Teriyaki Chicken and the SEafood mix comes with crispy shrimp, island white fish and BBQ chicken.
You can actually tailor your combo to what you prefer. And there is also a children’s (Keiki) Meal.
And there is more!
Even appetizers such as the popular spam musubi, crab rangoon, crispy shrimp and steamed rice.
The food takes some time to prepare depending on how many people are in line. Ono Hawaiian BBQ tends to be a busy restaurant especially for takeout during these covid times.
Overall, customer service was friendly (they invite you in with an “aloha”) and the place is quite clean.
And most importantly, the food is fantastic! Now, if they start offering lomi lomi salmon, ahi poke or pork laulau, that would be impressive. But the musubi and the crab rangoon was cool to see offered and not too expensive.
But overall, Ono Hawaiian BBQ is a cool place to visit if you want to have pa mea ai in the mainland!
Definitely check out an Ono Hawaiian BBQ near you!
