Lunch Wagons
This section is for both the traditional plate-lunch-style wagons parked near such high-density lunch crowds as municipal buildings, Downtown offices, construction sites, and industrial areas, and also the newer-style wagons that often specialize in a specific food type.
Da Big Boy’z: Too many variations and styles to adequately compare with eachother.
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Tried and true, Tsukenjo's is an island icon and one of the longest-running lunch wagons on the island. |
Traditional-Style Wagons
Tsukenjo’s. Intersection of Ward Ave. and Queen St. in Kakaako. 597-8151. Weekday lunch only. Prices: $.
Serving a wide variety of local favorites and Hawaiian plates for generations and the clear-cut sentimental favorite, this wagon has become one of the tried and true foot soldiers of the lunch wagon world. They also have a small restaurant just a few blocks away at 705 Cooke St. that is open from 5am till 2pm.
Simply Ono Lunch Wagon. Behind the Honolulu Municipal Building, at the intersection of King and Alapai St. 255-2283. Weekday lunch only. Prices: $. At the Honolulu Municipal Building, you may find such upscale fare as rack of lamb and prime rib as well as some truly large brontosaurus ribs and giant 1 lb. pork chops. Other items on the rotating menu list include baked ham, fresh island fish of the day, and home-made turkey with the works – mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and gravy. They also have two slightly unconventional, fixed-property locations, one at the Bio-Medical Science building at UH and the other at the Hawaiian Electric building on Ward ave.
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A popular dish at plate lunch wagons, roast pork is done very, very well at Tani's Lunch Wagon in Kalihi, fronting the Eki Cyclery Store. |
Tani’s Lunchwagon. 1603 Dillingham Blvd. in Kalihi, fronting the Eki Cyclery store. 285-5255. Weekday lunch only. Prices: $. Tani’s has some excellent, super-soft roast pork with mushrooms and brown gravy that is one of their best-sellers. The teriyaki hamburger steak plate is also very popular, coming with a semi-sweet teriyaki gravy/glaze. There are daily specials that can get rather interesting – how about baked macaroni w/sausage, Cajun chicken with guava BBQ sauce, and furikake salmon with wasabi aioli? You’ll love all the dishes here.
| This fried ahi cutlet in wasabi butter sauce from You Hungry is very popular with Downtown lunch crowds. |
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You Hungry? A Closer Look. 2 locations: The intersection of Halekauwila st. and South St. in Kakaako and the intersection of Alakea st. and Beretania st. in Downtown Honolulu. 949-8707. Weekday lunch only. Prices: $. This mini food empire began with Ono Hawaiian Steak Stands, found at the Ewa Beach, Mililani, and Beretania st. Foodland Supermarkets. Business boomed, and in time they acquired both the former Pu’uwainani lunch wagon and the You Hungry? plate lunch house, located at 1695 Kapiolani Blvd. They are already mixing and matching a few of their top-sellers in all three outfits, such as the popular garlic ahi with a tasty, sweet wasabi sauce, miso butterfish, and crab-stuffed salmon, as well as a few Filipino dishes like adobo and a rotating menu of specials.
Shark’s Cove Grill. 59-712 Kamehameha Hwy. near the Foodland Supermarket on the North Shore. 638-8300. 8:30am-8:30pm daily. Parking fronting store. Prices: $. This trendy site is not really mobile anymore, and has a concrete foundation to support the dining area, which consists of several small tables under a wood and tarp-covered roof. The view of Shark’s Cove right across the street, one of the best shoreline diving sites in the world, is tough to beat. They specialize in shish-kabob’s, coming with teriyaki chicken, tri-tip steak, ahi, and shrimp with pine nut/pesto sauce, but also carry salads, sandwiches, burgers, and breakfast items. As is consistent with this area, most dishes favor a healthy approach.
Time’s Supermarket Plate Lunches. McCully store 973-5868, Kailua 266-4004, Aiea 483-5008, Kunia 678-6565, Waimalu 483-3666, other locations. Parking in Supermarket lots. Prices: $. There are currently 12 Time’s Supermarket locations throughout the island, and they have a rotating schedule throughout all stores where they prepare different items under a tent in the parking lot. Included are steaks, grilled salmon, mushroom chicken, and garlic shrimp plates at typical plate-lunch prices. Call any of the stores for schedules. Can be purchased from 11am-6pm at all stores.
Specialty Wagons.
Following the success of these mobile outposts were a number of lunch wagons that began specializing in specific food types. Shrimp trucks, especially, began sprouting up near the aquaculture farms of the North Shore, and have become such a fixture that many traded in their wheels for semi-permanent “shacks.” After the State began pushing aquaculture and several large-scale shrimp farms became operational, a single shrimp truck began making a name for itself. It was called Giovanni’s Shrimp Truck, and they specialized in shrimps drenched in a special garlic butter sauce that was out of this world. It soon became wildly successful, and since then many have followed suit with operations of their own. Today, you can find these tacky but very profitable operations all over the North Shore of Oahu, mostly concentrated right off the highway in Kahuku or Haleiwa town. Giovanni’s is definitely one of the top shrimp trucks, but it is Macky’s that has been creating quite a buzz recently as winner of the 2005-2006 “Battle of the North Shore Shrimp Trucks” held at the Turtle Bay Resort, and also winner of the “Best Shrimp Truck of Honolulu” in 2007 by Honolulu Magazine. Both are fabulous, however, and both are definitely worth a visit.
These two plates come from the mobile kitchens of two very big dogs in the North Shore Shrimp Truck world - Giovanni's, left, and Macky's, right. However, with so much competition, things can change at any time!
Many others can also be found, and they all offer simple park-style benches under large canopies to eat. Some have even branched out into several other locations, in such places as Waikiki, Waikele, and Kalihi. Yet others have moved into brick-and-mortar properties, such as Andy’s Kahuku Shrimp, 745 Keeamoku St. near the Ala Moana Shopping Center, 944-4040. If you want the skinny on the best North Shore Shrimp trucks, be absolutely sure to see the North Shore Shrimp Truck Challenge page, which summarizes the battle and also gives many in-depth Closer Look pages of the various players involved.
A while later came the steak plate wagons, of which Blazin’ Steaks has played a major role. This outfit started out as a few small, but big-stick carrying mobile wagons that are still scattered throughout the island, most notably at the Ward Gateway Center parking lot near Starbucks and another that is driven in and around the west-side towns of Kapolei and Ewa Beach. They now actually offer an open franchise for permanent brick-and-mortar locations, which are now popping up at various spots all over the island. Despite higher rents, they still charge only $6 for a full plate of cut steak, rice, mac or veggie salad, and a drink, and have even added a few other local favorites as well, such as chicken or fish prepared in different sauces like BBQ, teriyaki, and Thai peanut.
Nowadays, everyone is getting in on the act - even Magoo’s Pizza, a long-time favorite Pizza/Pub for the locals, has gone mobile. One of their several wagons is located in the dirt parking lot next to the former pub location at 1035 University Ave. They offer simple, straight-forward, decent pizza's along with great sub sandwiches, of which the hot ham and mushroom has gotta be the top choice.
Lunch Wagon "Hub" Areas.
While some of the wagons have at least semi-permanent locations, others are a bit more transient. Some of the highest concentrations of wagons are found on the West-Side, both in the massive construction projects dotting the Ewa Plain and the Industrial areas of Kapolei Business and Campbell Industrial Parks. There are a collection of different wagons that serve all kinds of plate lunch fare, and cater to the many workers concentrated in the area.
| Aaah, little bit slow today - lunch wagons camp out wherever they want, so you may have to do a little hunting! |
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Kalaeloa blvd. is a reliable stretch of road to find them, but many will drift to the latest construction sites during the lunch hour. Waikiki also has a few wagons that have chosen to set up camp near the intersection of Kaiolu st. and the makai-side of Kuhio avenue. Bluewater Shrimp is a North-Shore-style shrimp shack found there, where besides it’s namesake, you can get crab legs, steak, and ahi plates as well. Other areas of note are the industrial areas of Sand Island Access Road and Kakaako, as well as the earlier mentioned Downtown Honolulu and the municipal buildings close by.
