Local Hawaiian Grindz

Sadly, the Hawaii Creighton Students who were operating the bus have graduated and moved on, so the bus is no longer in operation :(. I believe they tried to find someone to pass it down to, but were not able to. I’ll sure miss it!

Great plate lunch. It took me back to my summers spent in Hawaii eating plate lunch on the beach. Their BBQ chicken was great and their Mac salad was so Ono. I just wish they were open all year round because now I have to wait all winter until I can eat it again! It’s amazing being able to have true Hawaiian food in Nebraska.

This has to the best asian like food I’ve tasted ever since I moved to omaha. I love their kalbi. It reminded me if the korean beef ribs. The portion was great. They gave me a lot of the short ribs. Their mac and cheese was yummy. My bf ordered the pork and he wasnt impressed with it. It was bland pulled pork. I would go with the beef. I also ordered coconut flavored shaved ice. It was so good. I cannot wait to get it with condensed milk and red beans. I cannot wait to go back!

Came here to get our Hawaiian plate craving. Pretty good food! BBQ chicken and the Kalbi were both very flavorful and really tasty.
Rice is a little too sticky for my liking and the side of Mac salad isn’t as quite as good as how I remembered it back on the island.
Only downside to this place are their hours. Very limited (weekends) and recommend that you check out their page before you go.
Go give it a try!

Being Korean, I am very particular with Korean food. My mom always said Korean food is made with love, hard work, and lots of time… and I definitely got that vibe at my first visit a couple days ago.
Upon my visit, the line was pretty long but that’s a good thing right? Well, patience pays off cause the food and service was awesome! I ordered the Kalbi plate that came with two scoops of rice, Mac salad (extra please) and a side of pickled cucumbers. My boyfriend got a combo of BBQ chicken and Kahlua pork with the same sides. During our wait, the staff set up cornhole/​bean bag toss to kill some wait time. Like I said before, the food is worth the wait. All the meats were super tender and you can easily tell that the food has been marinated for a long time — the Kalbi fell right of the bone. The rice was good quality and they have the Hawaiian Sun canned juice! Delicious! Also, Korean food is always a little pricey, but for $ 8 it’s definitely worth it and is very filling. My boyfriend, being a local from Hawaii, approves and I definitely approve of the Kalbi.

My third trip and still loving it. I haven’t been to Hawaii myself, but I am sure this the best I can do on the Mainland.
The typical choice ranges from Kalua pig, korean bbq chicken, loco moco and spam musubi and shaved ice with wide choice of toppings.
Follow the feed on their Facebook page for limited seasonal weekend hours. I strongly advise showing up when they open, as this delightful food doesn’t last long. It’s over within 2 hours if not sooner! If you snooze, you’ll lose.
Mahalo

The food is just yes! Get the taste of Hawaii without going there. The prices are inexpensive for what you get and for a food truck. Gets busy right away but it’s worth the wait plus the workers are very very friendly and homey. If I could, I would go here everyday! Aloha to the food and the men workers there!

I was in town for a meeting and was looking for some food when Unilocal suggested this. Oddly, this place is only open during select hours and **OPERATES OUT OF A STATIONARY SCHOOL BUS*** which adds to my intrigue.
I ordered a bbq chicken and it does taste quite like «Char Siu» chinese bbq chicken. The order came with Macaroni salad which was tasty and some slices of cucumber.
The price was certainly right. They accept credit cards (Square) and are so friendly.
Good doing business.

TIP check their facebook page to see if they will be there or not. That being said the food was ONO. I had BBQ chicken with chili mix over mac salad. On a cold day was exactly what I wanted. Sorry no pictures because I was hungry but, I’ll take some when I go back.

The first time I ordered here wasn’t long after they had opened. I like to peruse Unilocal’s new restaurants so when this when came up, I popped over since I don’t live far off. The food was good! I ordered bbq pork and short ribs, I believe. My mom’s filipina and there’s a lot of culinary overlap with Hawaiian food, and this food truck reminded me a bit of my mother’s own comfort food.
However, it’s been hard getting back since then. Their hours of operation never hold true, always closing long before their websites list they do. Yesterday, I finally made it out again! I was very excited. I stood around for fifteen minutes waiting for one party of three people to have their orders taken (way too long), I’m fine with waiting if there’s a line, but that was ridiculous. Eventually, they got to me.
I ordered two plates, an two orders of spam musubi. One, the spam musubi was $ 2.50 for a thin slice of spam, after they’d told me it would be «as big as a brick», it was much smaller… However, I only know that because they had given some to another customer. After charging my card and waiting ten minutes, they came out to tell me that they were completely out of food. Who takes orders for food when they’re out? Extremely unprofessional.
I like supporting «the little guy». I work at a small business myself. I’ve eaten at many food trucks in Omaha and have never experienced such bad service. I’m disappointed and won’t be back, and I’ll make a point to let my friends know that they needn’t waste their time.

LHG has really stepped up their food truck game since first starting out. My co-​workers and I frequent «the bus» often. The original food items (teriyaki chicken, Kalbi (BBQ short ribs) are still fantastic, but they have added Spam musubi (basically a Spam roll) and you will occasionally see hamburger steak on the menu. The mac salad and cucumbers are still good.
Their customer service is superb, and you will always be served with a smile. The often long line of folks waiting to order is an indication of how popular they’ve become. These folks work very hard running their little business and I hope LHG builds off their success and expands (but leave a bus at it’s current location, please :).

Loved my Shaved Ice. My boyfriend got the BBQ Chicken and a friend of ours got the Kalbi. Everything was very delicious. I like the cucumbers they serve on the side also. I recommend coming out and showing them support. I will definitely be visiting them again.

While I went at it solo during my first visit to Local Hawaiian Grindz, it was definitely worth it.
Specializing in Hawaiian plate dinners, something apparently very common in, you know, Hawaii, this food truck caters to the student body of Creighton each Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The menu is simple: Pick a meat or two (chicken, short ribs, pulled pork) and a side — mac salad or Chinese salad. The meat is served on top of steamed rice, and in addition to your side, you also get a serving a sweet, vinegary and refreshing cucumbers. It’s simple and good and less than $ 10.
And don’t forget to try a shaved ice, which is finally cut ice loaded with sweet syrup. This would be super-​refreshing on a hot summer day.
I’m planning on going back and bringing some friends!

Friendly and super tasty. Can’t ask for more out of a food truck.

I’ve never been to Hawaii so I don’t have anything else to go off of but I loved my lunch plate. I ordered mine with the kalua pork and the bbq chicken with the Chinese salad for my side. The pork was awesome, the chicken was good too but I really enjoyed the pork. The meats are served on steamed white rice that was cooked perfectly and was just a little sticky (which is how I love my rice cooked).
The plates are also served with cucumbers that are pickled in a sweet type of brine. I wanted to go back and order just a whole container of them.
I can’t wait to go back. It’s nice to have something different in Omaha to eat. And I can’t wait to try the shaved ice.

First, let me qualify my review: I’m from Hawai’i. I’m a born and raised, die-​hard, true to my roots kind of gal. Unfortunately, for this establishment, I’m also the daughter of a former chef-​instructor for the University of Hawai‘i turned Executive Chef. To add to the mix, I’m also an at-​home cook who takes quite a bit of pride in sharing my local-​kine roots.
Having said all that, I’m torn with the star-​review I’ve given. I’m mostly struck by the fact that I’d LOVE to give more stars to any budding business. I’d also love to be generous with the stars for anyone who is trying to pay homage to my Kanaka Maoli roots. I want to give Local Hawaiian Grindz more than two stars, but I just can’t. First, because the «food truck» is really a repurposed school bus to which there is no ability to see inside. Second, well, for the following reasons:
What I ordered: Two orders of shave-​ice and one mixed plate. Total ticket: $ 15. Our order took 10 minutes to be packed and delivered — and that was just for the mixed plate of steamed white rice, macaroni salad, pickled cucumbers, Chili, and Kalua Pig. All of this is prepared ahead of time. Why did it take so long?
So, let’s start there. Kalua was over-​salted and the cabbage, while cooked, was still closer to raw. I understand cooking the cabbage last. I get it. You don’t want it to get soggy or too mushy. That being said, you don’t want it too crunchy whereby patrons feel like they’re eating freshly cut cabbage that hasn’t had the opportunity to pick up on the smoky goodness of the too-​salty kalua pig.
The chili, while it looked pretty good, disappointed. For me, there was no chili flavor. What it tasted like was stewed tomatoes with some kidney beans, and, as an after-​thought, some sausage and ground beef was thrown in. Where’s the flavor? Chili, to me, should be thick and hearty. This chili ran right into the rice. Any Hawaiian — native or otherwise — has to compare a purchased chili to Zippy’s Chili. Sorry, LHG, this was FAR from the fan-​favorite of Hawai‘i.
So, for the mixed plate, two strikes already. Rice was done alright. Can’t really mess that up. Macaroni Salad — an island staple — is ALWAYS put together with Hellman’s/Best Foods mayonnaise as its main component (besides macaroni). That is not what is being used in this mac salad. Also, whatever protein is in that mac salad — just 86 it. The textures don’t marry well, and the flavor could be thrown because one or more components of the recipe spoil faster than others. I’m not saying their product outlived its shelf-​life, but I am saying certain elements will go bad before others. Especially when combining a protein into the mix…
Pickled cucumbers were also a part of the mixed plate. For my preference, they were too sweet. If a tsukemono-​style cucumber is the goal, this was off the mark. Tsukemono is salted, not sweetened. (Did I mention I come from a family that was prevalent in the pickled vegetable business back in Hawai‘i, too?) So, this was a no-​go for me as well.
Other elements of our order: Shave-​ice. A local favorite that is fabulous for escaping the summer-​time heat is classic shave-​ice. The shave-​ice took longer than our mixed plate to be served. That’s okay. It was a hot day, and lots of people ordered shave-​ice before us. What’s not okay? Well, the fact that my shave-​ice was half-​way melted when I got it. Why was it half-​way melted? The ice wasn’t packed to maintain the integrity of the frozen treat. For $ 3.50 (I added sweetened condensed milk), I expect a packed shave-​ice… Whenever I’m home, I make it a point to drive out to the North Shore at least once. I also frequent Waiola’s Shave Ice in Kapahulu. So, I think I know a thing or two about what to expect when it comes to this dessert being done well.
Last, but definitely not least, if you are out of an item, REMOVE IT FROM YOUR MENU. Put a «SOLD OUT» sign up. Remove the letters on the menu board. SOMETHING. There are two things that frustrate customers more than anything in the entire world: 1) Not being there when you say you’ll be there (not a problem for this place), and 2) Not having something customers want. No Kalbi or BBQ Chicken should be evident BEFORE a customer comes up to order.
So, while I know there are a lot of reviewers out there who gave «walk-​on-​water» reviews, for this local transplant, the food wasn’t all it was cracked up to be…

We went here twice so far. The first time, we just got shave ice. The vanilla flavor. It was pretty authentic to what I could get back home! Second time we went, we got our daughter the Kalbi plate lunch and also a rainbow shave ice.
I would have to say, for me, the best part of the experience here was the nostalgia of it all. The idea of the plate lunch sold to us by Hawaii’i people and all. The shave ice was the next best thing. I could tell the Kalbi was just okay because my daughter left over half of it on her plate. She usually eats every morsel of Kalbi if she liked it. Their version of the mac salad was a little weird as it had a strange after taste to it and had little pieces of stuff I had no idea what they were. The best part of the plate lunch was the cucumbers. They were pretty tasty.
People working here are pretty friendly and it’s nice to talk story with some Hawai’i peeps. For me, I’ll come back for the shave ice. Plate lunch? Not so much.

First attempt to eat here they were sold out shortly after about an hour of being open — good sign. Went back the following weekend and scored! They remembered us and thanked us for returning. I have nothing to compare this Hawaiian fare to, but we sure enjoyed it. I tried the ribs and kalua pig with macaroni salad & cucumbers. Aimee had the kalua pig and bbq chicken with chinese salad and cucumbers. We both thought the pig was outstanding. The ribs and the chicken were both a little sweet for our taste but believe me we ate every spec of it. The cucumbers were great, the chinese salad and the macaroni salad were ok. The rice that comes with all the meals was cooked perfectly. We will definitely be back!

The shaved ice was amazing! First place in Omaha I have had authentic shaved ice.
Tried the POG and haupia syrups — both were delicious and refreshing on the hot day. A steal at $ 3 each — the staff was friendly and welcoming, too.
Would love to see a vegetarian option so we can try the food! So glad they are here.

Finally, in the Hawaiian bbq desert of Omaha an oasis of teriyaki chicken, Kahlua pork, and Galbi ribs has revealed itself; and no it’s not a mirage either, Hawaiian Grindz is here and it’s mobile (literally, it’s a giant blue bus).
They’re only open on weekends for now, and I’m not sure if they’ll expand their hours, but their Hawaiian bbq is definitely a nice addition/​substitution to my usual weekend rotation of restaurants. And for $ 8 a plate it’s comparable if not better than most lunch/​dinner spots because you get a hearty amount of meat, rice and mac salad (the 3 essential ingredients for any self-​respecting food coma).
It’s no secret that the best and most memorable dishes are the ones that transport the eater back to a fond time and place in their life when they had something just as delicious, and LHG does just that with it’s authentic Hawaiian cuisine – every time I eat it it brings me back to my gorge-​fests in Hawaii with family and friends. Especially that Kahlua pork and teriyaki chicken. Yumz.
I definitely recommend this spot whether you’re looking to try something different or if you’re just feeling a little homesick for some good Hawaiian bbq all the way out here in NE.
I think they’re gonna start adding other things like poke and loco mocos as occasional specials too, so there’s yet another reason to check ‘em out