Booniepepper Islander Grill

This place is crazy good! So nice to have something a little bit different in the area… If you’re tired of the same ol Asian food give this place a try you won’t be disappointed… The people there were very friendly and I caught the Warriors game there too!

its DELICIOSOOOOOOO. ive been wanting to try this place for a long time… the chicken kelaguen makes me curious what it taste like… i got the chicken kelaguen but i dont want the side dishes the mac salad and the coleslaw. so the cashier… AMANDA told me if i want to. replace it with red rice and i said sure lets try it… she is amazing btw… she is very friendly and help to choose what is the best to get coz its my 1^st time. and i wanna try other dish so she suggest i can make add ons so i got grilled pork and she was right its really tender and juicy. and the sauce is really good with everything. i guess i have a new spot to try on now i got it for to go coz im trying to catch movie… i love it thanks amanda for good service…

This place serves absolutely scrumptious food. It’s the first Chamorro restaurant I’ve tried, but what an introduction to the cuisine. Maybe because it somewhat reminds me of Filipino food, my comfort food.
My favorite on the menu hands down is the Chicken Kelaguen. It has the right amount of sour with a bit of kick. Served cool. Make sure to try it with the red rice. With annatto for color and bacon for flavor, it sounds heavier than it tastes.
It’s a fairly new restaurant in a strip mall surrounded by other restaurants. Very clean and inviting. The staff is friendly, helpful and very familiar with their food. Plus, plus, plus. Parking is plentiful. Very casual dining.
I really hope this place gets a ton of business to stay around for a long time. I’d love to see what other dishes they churn out.

Went there for lunch to go today. Greeted very pleasantly by the lady at the counter, she explained the cuisine and the menu items. My order was ready in around 5 minutes.
I ordered a Chicken kelaguen plate with red rice and the side of mac-​taco and Daigu with extra spicy sauce. Chicken Kelaguen was as great as described in other reviews, and so were the sides. Played safe because it was the first time trying Chamorro cuisine but would explore other menu items next time.
Based on the taste and the customer service I would recommend this place.

I miss Chamorro food so decided to check this place out with my sister. My red rice and chicken kelaguen was awesome… probably because they mixed white and dark meat. Got my finadene fix too. If just me, this would have been 5 star, but my sister ordered beef tinaktak… it’s as if they forgot the recipe included onions and coconut milk. I wish the restaurant all the best. Good job on the daigo. Not so sure about the hybrid mac/potato…good but not spectacular.

We went there around 8pm on a Tuesday night. We were the only customer when we walked in and the lady at the counter explained to us patiently about their menu and food.
We got our food within 10 minutes. We ordered the special beef tinaktak plate with a side of chicken kelaguen, and seared beef plate with a side of chicken wings. Everything was delicious, especially the beef tinaktak, it goes well with white rice and I feel I can each an extra bowl of rice with the sauce! The chicken kelaguen was good too but I didn’t know it was a cold dish.
I have never had Chamorro food before. No matter if it is authentic I really enjoyed it!

So, I came here a couple of times. There hours are very weird, but don’t worry there is a DelTaco across the street!
The food is good. The Chicken kelaguen, red rice and seared beef are really good!
The reason I give it two stars though, the service was so slow. They were clearly serving people behind us before us, and the food took 45 minutes to get to us! Also, when we asked for an extra side of Mac and potato salad (they ran out of daigo) they said they would have to charge an extra 50cents, as such we only got one side with our meal!
To sum it up, hours suck, service is horrendous, but the food is good. (Price=average)
The saving grace, is when we were about to leave, thy have us a discount for the long waits for our next visit. As such, I increase my rating to 3 stars!

FINALLY! I found a restaurant that serves Chamorro food. This place is legit! BRAVO to the owner for opening up a restaurant and serving this unique cuisine as it’s so authentic to the flavors and recipes from Guam.
The layout of the restaurant is set up where you place your order at the counter, find seating and then they’ll bring the food out to you. On this visit, we ordered to-​go. Note, the grilled chicken takes about 20 minutes to cook, so plan accordingly if you’re in a hurry. I enjoyed a bottle of King Car lemon tea while I waited and noticed they had other juices and an assortment of bottled beers.
We ordered a rice plate which consisted of red rice (choice of white or red), grilled chicken, finadene and two sides. For my side dishes, I chose mac-​potato salad and daigu. The mac-​potato was not that flavorful, but the daigu was marinated perfectly. The red rice was cooked to perfection as it had a deep red/​orangy color and nice smoky flavor. The grilled chicken was tasty (tender and juicy — not dry at all). The chicken kelaguen (chopped grilled chicken mixed with freshly grated coconut, lemon juice, green onions and seasoning) was amazing! The finadene (soy sauce, lemon juice, chopped onions, red peppers) was on point and served in a little plastic container.
My daughter ordered the baby back ribs and the portion was huge. The ribs were prepared «chamorro style» and OMG was so tasty.
Thank you for a spectacular meal, Booniepepper! I will be back soon.

So I never had Chamorro food before and if it is anything like this FEED ME MORE!!! I love the atmosphere and the dining area, clean and well organized. The cashier was friendly and gave me options on what i can have, but i went with the chicken with mac-​tato and coleslaw.
It didn’t take that long but the presentation of the food looked like it came right out the menu! Perfect!!!
My first bites into the Mac-​tato salad made me regret not getting double of it, it tasted so good. The chicken with red bean was cooked to perfection it wasn’t too hot nor cold.
HOW DOES THIS PLACE NOT HAVE MORE BUSINESS!!! COME HERE NOW!!!

First experience for Guamanian food but not sure would call it ethnic food? We finally were able to try this place during lunch but lunch hours are limited and closed except on Friday and weekends.
We came in and were greeted nicely by the owner of the restaurant — Jason. Very nice guy and told us about their menu and what they offered. They had a small menu on their TV displays and you could tell they were still new doing things. They offered bottled and canned beers and juice drinks behind a closed glass refrigerated display. They also had some desserts. Their menu is not all on display but on their paper menu.
My group sat down. It’s more of a fast food place where you order first and they bring your food out to your table.
I ordered a grapefruit beer by Schofferhofer. It was very good but not strong at all; only 2.5% alcohol. I ordered a shredded beef plate with red rice for $ 9.99. I really liked the red rice. It was flavorful and not dry. You get a choice of two sides. I chose their Mac-​tato potato salad and Daigo pickled radish. Very good with the meal to balance the flavors. This also comes with their finadene sauce of three temps. I got their spicy sauce and that was very spicy already! It gave a tingle in the back of my throat and lips cuz of the peppers. I tried one of my friend’s order of their special tinaktak beef and it was good too but a bit small portion for me for $ 7.99.
I would recommend them to have more staff so that they can open up during lunch during the week. This is what the owner told me anyway why they were not open all hours. I need my daughter to work here instead! Haha I see potential in their restaurant for more table service and a little more organization. Staff is great and friendly. I would definitely come here a lot more once they do open up during lunch. ;-)

Trying to find a Chamorro restaurant in the Bay Area is very rare or non-​existent! Luckily, there’s one located here in the East Bay.
As funny as it sounds being a foodie, I’ve never had Chamorro food, but have Chamorro friends. Booniepepper Islander Grill is my first exposure to Chamorro cuisine. I arrived with my bro in law and cousin for some dinner, around 8pm-​ish. The restaurant was empty and were assisted by the owner of the restaurant. Their beer selection attracted my bro in law and cousin, and were impressed by it. The menu is displayed on a large TV screen behind the ordering counter, and simple to read. A total of six menu items are displayed, with a brief description of what menu item consists of. Out of all the menu items displayed, one had caught my, which was the chicken kelaguen.
The Chicken kelaguen is composed of chopped cold grilled chicken (already cooked), blended with onion, lemon juice, shredded fresh coconut, and chilles. All this is served with your choices of red or white rice and two sides. My two sides I chose were the mac-​tato salad and slaw. There’s also an option side sauce that comes in mild or spicy. I went with the spicy option.
Once our dishes were ready, the owner came out with our food and provided us with utensils. For the price of the dish ($ 9.99 + tax), it was a nicely portioned dish. I took a spoonful of chicken kelaguen and rice and had my first bite. Simply amazing! The flavors of onions, cooled tendered chicken meat, chilles, and lemon juice hit all at once. The white rice was soft, yet firm. I also added the spicy side sauce to the chicken. I would recommend get the the mild, the spicy had a lot of heat I couldn’t handle. Pieces of habanero pepper, I believe, were in the sauce. So mild is the way to go if you don’t want spicy. You are warned! This dish is similar to a favorite Filipino dish of mine called, Kilawin (
). That’s why I had to try the kelaguen! I would say that dishes like these would be taste acquired, but you have to at least try it once.
The mac-​tato salad was creamy and flavorful. The slaw had fresh shredded cabbage and carrots, served with a pickled dressing.
The overall experience here was great! Service, food, and atmosphere all superb! I most definitely be back to try the other menu offerings.

I was driving by Newark on a saturday night and I noticed Bonniepepper. I have no idea what a Bonniepepper was. When I Unilocaled the restaurant, I thought it was Hawaiian food. This is not your fatty fried chicken L&L restaurants ! This is actually a Guam restaurant, which if far and very few. This was my first time eating Guam food and I thought it was really good. You have similarities of Hawaiian food in some aspects but it is still different. They have different types of rice. There is white rice and red rice. The red rice has more spices in it which was really good. My favorite was the sauce. Had a distinct flavor that tasted good with the chicken. The macaroni salad was very tasty. One of the best I have had. The tacos are also very tasty. So if you get a chance you have to try the taco! The only thing I was not too into was the complimentary chips.
The place has a two TV’s so that you can watch sports on both sides. The inside is very clean and new. The owner is super nice and had told me that they are sometimes not open during lunch hours and it is more during the evening. So if you are in the area for dinner this may be a good spot to try. I will say that you have to wait at least 10 minutes for your food because they cook it when you order, which to me is a good thing, but may not be for others because they are on the go.
They are open all day on the weekends and will slowly open more during lunch hours at a later time. Nice place to try some Guam food with good friendly staff. Will be back again!

I didn’t realize that this was Guamanian cuisine until I talked with the lady behind the counter. After all, the sign out front was promoting a baby back rib special. After reviewing their six everyday menu items that they offer, I went for the ¼ rack of baby back ribs over rice, pickled slaw and mild sauce ($ 12.99). I had a can of Assam black tea to drink ($ 1.99).
One other customer besides myself was dining, and another came in to wait for a take out order. It took about twenty minutes for my order to be up. Fortunately, they have a big screen TV that helped pass the time. The décor is bright and colorful, with pictures of island settings. Island style music played in the background.
The ribs were diversely delicious, having a taste all it’s own, but slightly burned. The white rice was plentiful and satisfying, while the pickled slaw was crisp and tarty. The mild sauce paired well with the ribs.
One improvement Booniepepper could make is to use real plates and silverware. The plastic trays and utensils don’t do justice to the food.

I was adamant to try this place at first because everyone compared it to L&L or some sort of Hawaiian barbecue. Well let me tell you, Booniepepper is on a different level! I came on Saturday and the service was on point. The girl who was working the counter did an excellent job. Probably better than a lot of restaurants I been to, let alone Booniepepper is suppose to be fast food style.
I ordered the seared beef with red rice and a side of macaroni tots. My friend ordered the grilled pork. Although flavors were a little bit more salty than I would like. Everything tasted fresh and were grilled right. The meat was moist and not oily like your typical Hawaiian barbecue.
I would definitely love to return to this place and try other dishes. Ultimately, the service was what made this such a memorable experience!

This place has got it going on. I’m not familiar with the food from Guam but in my honest opinion, I would really recommend this place for your evening dinner plans.
I got the Chicken Kelaguen. It resembles sisig. And they serve it over a bed of red rice that’s also accompanied by bits of heavenly bacon.
I also got my dish with a potato salad and pickled daikon. YUMMMMMMMM!
Fair warning, there’s a sauce they offer with 2 levels of spice, a mild and a spicy. I like spicy foods, and boy did that sauce catch me off guard. (In a good way).
It is a bit on the pricy range (sorry) but it’s not going to stop me from coming back. Sometimes you have to pay money to get good quality food. And this place you get that.
My only wish is that they were open during lunch but that’s just me being selfish because I work right across the street. The staff is magnificent and easy to talk with.
Ladies and gentlemen. Eat and support local businesses.
Psssst…they have beer!
Got your attention didn’t I!

Tried out Booniepepper Islander Grill and it’s pretty good. It’s in the same shopping center as Del Taco, across the street in Newark.
Got there early and headed straight for the register. They don’t have paper menu, just on the TV screen. I saw the pics and menu on Unilocal so kinda knew what I wanted.
No more short ribs! They had a special on Baby Back Ribs $ 12.99 that I got. It takes a while to get food, and when I got it was only 3 ribs with lots of the red rice I wanted, mac/​potato salad, and the pickled dikons. Ribs were just ok, I wanted to be more tender, bit tough to eat. Pickled dikons I liked. The spicy sauce was good. Wish I asked for more of that.
Grilled chicken takes 20 minutes but it was good! Not dry at all. I would get this again. Comes with 2 sides you can pick. Mac/​potato salad has celery & carrots and mayo — liked it ok, I don’t care for celery but I ate it. Coleslaw was ok. Red rice I couldn’t taste the difference from white rice, just it looks nice. Ask for the spicy sauce.
Got water — tiny cup by the soda fountain and they have crushed ice, and water from the soda fountain.
Charged it.
Separate bathrooms — singles in the back.

My gf suggested a quick lunch at the pretty new Booniepepper Islander Grill this past Saturday. I have to admit I was a bit confused. When you look at the name, your first reaction is «Oh, Hawaiian food.». However, if you know what Boonie Peppers are, you’re thrown a wrench. A Boonie Pepper is, at least to my knowledge, another name for Thai Chili. So MY first reaction was «Oh, Asian fusion… Nooooo!!!». I cringed because I’ve hated every attempt at Asian fusion… until now.
GRILLED BEEF PLATE w/​2 SIDES ~ 4 stars: I went with the pickled slaw and potato mac. You’re also given the choice between mild or spicy pour-​over sauce — I went spicy. AND you also get your pick between white or red rice — I went red. The beef was sliced pretty thin and grilled to perfection — very tender, moist and flavorful. The spicy pour-​over sauce added heat (probably from the Boonie Peppers), which, I hate to admit because I love spicy food, didn’t help the dish — more on this later. Between the two sides, I liked the pickled slaw more. It went really well with the rice and beef. However, I was still very happy with the potato mac. Great plate. Very filling. Nice bargain.
GRILLED PORK PLATE w/​2 SIDES ~ 3 stars: My gf also picked the same two sides and red rice. However, she went with the mild sauce. Although the pork had great flavor, it was too dry. But the mild sauce, which is better than the spicy, added some much needed moisture to the overcooked pork.
I have to point out how awesome the staff is. The girl working the register was awesome. I can’t say enough about her. She genuinely wanted us to enjoy the food and asked us several times if we needed anything else (i.e. extra sauce, etc.).
Cool chick. Good food. Winner.

Not much to say about this place. I was expecting much more due to the high ratings, but it looks like this may be just another one of those Restaurants that cycle in and out of the Jarvis area of Newark.
The décor of the place definitely feels like a soft opening still. Despite being open since January they still only have a menu of about 6 items. Of the six, the only real difference is the meat/​entrée on it. They all come with a Rice, and 2 sides to choose from: Macaroni-​Potato Salad Hybrid called ‘Mactato’, Pickled Slaw, or Radish.
The service is friendly but flawed. Despite not being busy, they can lose track of who’s order goes where, and sauces.
For about 3 – 4 ounces of meat for their Beef Item, it is 10.99. I feel like this is much overpriced for the amount of food you get.
And despite only having about 2 people ahead of us on orders (there were only about 4 parties in the whole restaurant including ourselves), it took 35 minutes to receive our food. When it was received, we can tell most of the items are pre-​prepared (Mac, Rice, etc.), and only the meat was fresh. But if you only have 6 menu items, the wait time is exceedingly long.
All in all, I’ve had better Asian Fusion elsewhere. With the service and wait times leaving much to be desired, I won’t be coming back. I wish them the best of luck though.

Simple menu, brand new restaurant in its soft launch! Tried their grilled chicken, chicken kelaguen, coconut candy and the ²⁄₃ complimentary side dishes.
Their food is spectacular in how different it is. The kelaguen is served cold — it’s moved chicken with coconut and spices and if eaten with red rice simply delish! The grilled chicken is also delish and both dishes came with a side of spicy soy sauce. The sides we got were the potato Mac, the coleslaw and the daijon. I loved the coleslaw and the pickled daijon. The Mac potato was ok. Drank the coconut water by parrot (funny brand name) it seemed to hv a lot of sugar, hence delish. The coconut candy seemed authentic was a bit too sweet for me.
Lady behind counter is super nice. They hv been in business for a few months now and are trying to hire more cooks, counter managers etc

The first thing I smelled when I walked in was the smell of cleanliness. Something along the lines of bleach soap. That’s good on one hand, it should be clean, but it overwhelmed the smell of the food coming out of the kitchen.
The second thing I noticed was the music, laid back but also a bit loud.
Then I looked at menu, super simple. it only has 6 items.
Grilled Chicken, Grilled Pork, Seared Beef, Tofu, Chicken Wings and Chicken Kelaguen.
They have some beers, sodas and juices and a soda fountain.
That’s about it, the place is simple and clean.
I got the pork, it was a bit dry and the flavors were not very storing. Actually it tasted healthy. The salad is wonderful and the red rice is great. I would totally have to try something else next time.