Popolo Boi's

Leaving my friend's house and just so happened to be stuck at the light where the Huli Huli Chicken sign was. Stuck my head out the window and couldn't smell anything...but decided it was lunch time and we now wanted chicken. Saw the Popolo Boi's truck and the Popolo working his magic. Grabbed a whole chicken plate, went to the park to have a picnic. YUM. Buggah still so moist, and pretty tasty. Not huli huli kine sauce, but little cajuny? Whatevs, was good enough we decided we had to go back and get a chicken for the freezer. The chicken fed me, hubs, and baby, with a little leftover. 3 scoops rice...little bit dry some places, mochi rice some places. Not the best rice but good enough and more than enough for us. Rather get more salad...maybe can? I'll ask next time. Went back for 2nd chicken, and told him the plan for this 2nd one...so he gave me tips on how best to reheat so taste just like fresh. Nice of him!Hubs claims, best in town since most of them taste like cooked in oven nowadays. I'm not sure if best in town but definitely one of the tops. We'll even venture out to PC just to get some chicken...

Food - 4.5 starsService - 4 starsPrice - 4 stars (reasonable)Finally - the stars were aligned, we passed by when Popoloi Boi's truck was there AND we needed dinner. Hubby was the one who noticed and mentioned it since I had told him previously that I wanted to try the chicken. Service - as mentioned in some other reviews - efficient but he was not in a talkative mood even though there was no one behind me. Chicken - awesome! Picked up a whole chicken for $14. Got home and - Not too burnt so I was very happy. Juicy and very tasty. Hubby even commented on how tasty it was. Flavor is slightly different from traditional Huli Huli, I couldn't put my finger on it, but it was delicious so the extra ingredient works!Menu out front so you know up front what you can get. Half or whole chickens, half or whole chicken plates, drinks. There were cans on the table so I guess that's what he had for the day? Second table has another small sign lying flat on it that listed the various drink offerings. Since I wasn't getting any I didn't inquire about the day's availability. Will I be back? Of course, the chicken was so delicious! Hopefully hubby will notice again the next time since he really liked the chicken, too.Only for the one photo cuz I was so excited to finally get some chicken that I ran out with just my wallet and no phone. Photo is a drive by as we were leaving, asked hubby to drive by slowly so I could snap a pic.

I stopped by on a Saturday morning, just before 11am. There were two other cars parked ordering food as well. I ordered two whole chickens, which costed $28. My order came up quickly, he took it ststraight off the huli- huli grill! I like the straight forward menu, half chicken, whole chicken, half chicken plate, whole chicken plate. Super fast and friendly! Amazing, amazing chicken! Fresh and juicy, and so flavorful! Totally recommend!There isn't any seating at the food truck, but there is a huge park right next that you could eat at if you didn't plan to take your food home.

I hadn't realized how much I missed my huli huli chicken prior to Covid days when students would be selling these freshly grilled chickens as fundraisers for their schools. With the pandemic, much of the huli huli chicken disappeared from dinner tables that locals enjoyed eating. Note that the term "huli huli" chicken is a trademark of the Pacific Poultry Company since 1967, as this company coordinated and assisted the organizations with their fundraisers (they are now located on the Mainland). "Huli" is a cooking method that means to "turn" in Hawaiian, with the chicken being prepared by barbecuing it over kiawe wood to give it a smoky flavor and basting it with a sweet "huli huli" sauce. Lots of sweating manpower were needed to place the chickens between two wire racks and in unison, turning or "huling" the rack over so that the other side of the chickens get cooked via the smoky kiawe wood underneath it. And not to mention putting the cooked chicken into individual bags for those purchasing the chickens.Enter Popolo Bois, as owner Stuart set up his food truck more than six years ago at the Breene Harimoto Manana County Park on Kuala St in Pearl City, next to 7-11. Its business name and color of his food wagon are a story by itself. "Popolo" means black ethnicity and "bois" is a slang for an alternate spelling of "boy." Stuart plays homage to his roots by painting his food truck and marker stone in the park, red, yellow and green. The colors signify the following: red = blood of people who died for freedom from slavery; yellow = color of gold that signifies wealth, love, and power; and green = natural beauty of the land in Africa.No need for lots of manpower, as Stuart is a one-man operation. He built his own portable contraption of skewing whole chickens on rods that huli on its own (pretty sure it's battery operated?). Stuart seasons his own chickens, skewers them, cooks and hulis them over kiawe wood, takes them off the heat once done, packages them, prepares rice and salad on the side, takes your orders and payments, and gives change. How is that all possible? Well, it is, because it's Stuart. For those who say that he appears to be unfriendly, he has a lot on his mind. He's multi-tasking, so I don't blame him if he doesn't feel like chatting with you, as he knows his chickens need to be tended to before they burn. When he has some free time in between or after all the cooking is done, he is very friendly and will talk up a storm. And he is amazing that he can do it all! But aside from that, his chickens are deliciously juicy, charred, and smoky just off the hot fire...and call it huli huli chicken if you wish, as that's what they are. You can get half or whole chickens as a plate lunch with 2 scoops rice and tossed salad or the chickens by themselves. I usually get the whole chickens to eat at home (ask for a discount if buying two or more), as usually have fresh rice at home. Yes, the juices of the chicken will coat the plastic bag which you can lick off or let it run into the chicken.The food truck is at the park on Sun, Wed, Thurs, and Sat from 10:30a to 6:00p; however, keep in mind that as sports games are played at the park, these chickens are a great draw for lunch and dinner for these families, and hence, the chickens may sell out sooner than expected. Lots of spaces to park on the side without blocking anyone. Cash only.In these post-Covid days, one has yet to see the recovery of huli huli chickens as fundraising events. In the meantime, Popolo Bois fills that void. So, when I'm in the Pearl City area, huli huli chicken it is! Support local!

Whenever we're on the west side at the proper time, we NEED to stop at Popolo Boi's for a couple of whole hulihuli chickens. Then my husband eats all the legs and thighs and I pull the breasts apart to put on Caesar salad. SO incredibly good ! It only takes a few minutes to get our chicken, and we just pull in front to get it. Really quick and easy. One day maybe I'll have the foresight to bring a few musubi and we can pull over and eat it freshly made. It's so hard waiting the 20 minutes driving and we're always drooling all the way home from the yummy smell!

We came on a random morning around 11:00am. There was no line, and our order was ready within a few minutes.Delicious huli huli chicken! It has a wonderful smokey flavor. A bit salty, but seasoned well. It's not the fall-off-the-bone saucy type, but very delicious in its own way.I'll be back!

I was craving bbq so bad . Maybe it's bad batch judging by all the 5 star reviews that motivated me to go there . Anyways hands down the worst chicken I have ever had . It's as though I was eating straight up salt. I don't like to waste food but this is the one time I just had to throw away my entire meal. I don't get how chicken can ever possibly be this salty . Not going back , not risking it since I threw away my money when I had to dispose of my entire food

We've been eating this chicken for a while now as our family member would pick up after baseball practices. But this is the first time we stopped by. Service is quick. The owner is efficient and conducts the operation all by himself. We enjoy his chicken as a good alternative to Koala Moa

When going to stores in Pearl City, I pass by this food truck a lot that's located across the street of Raising Cane's. I love Huli Huli chicken so I checked Yelp and read recent reviews giving Popolo Boi's 5 stars. Decided to give him a try.When I got there, he gave no greeting, smile or eye contact. I asked him a question and his answer sounded sarcastic. People wrote that he was very friendly...I didn't see that which made a negative impact on this visit. I went ahead and ordered 2 half chickens for lunch and while driving home, I could smell the aroma and couldn't wait to eat it since I haven't had Huli Huli chicken for a long time.When we came home, we ate it while still hot. We both thought it was a little salty but tasty so will we come back again? We'll give it another try. Maybe he had a bad day? We'll see...

My husband has been eyeing out this truck for awhileHe got me a half chicken plate with 2 scoops rice and tossed salad. He grabbed himself a full chicken I believe. Rating is just for the food... surprisingly really tasty. And I don't like hulihuli chicken that much. I would definitely eat here again.