Hawaiian Grill

After seeing that Chez Dodo was closed and seeing that there was a decent number of people waiting in line at Hawaiian Grill, we decided to give it a shot.I got the kalua pork, which comes with two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. The pork was piping hot, but verging on dry with not much flavor. I had to add quite a bit of teriyaki sauce to the pork and the rice. That being said, I'm not an expert on Hawaiian food by any means, so I'm not sure how kalua pork is supposed to taste. All I know is that I usually prefer more flavor and tenderness. This place does have its positive points, though. The macaroni salad was really tasty, the portions are quite large and satisfying, and service is great. When there are so many food carts in Portland to choose from, though, I doubt I will be making a return visit.

This location is not closed. Sadly I wouldn't of known without walking by. It's pretty good. Large portions and super fast.

I tend to crave certain foods. Not sure why at any given time I might be looking for a banh mi sandwich. It just happens. I think on this day I knew why I was craving a plate lunch. I had seen something on TV the other day and so plate lunches were a constant thought. It was just coincidence that I happened to be in this part of town on my lunch break. Walking out of the bank across the street to see the sign Hawaiian Grill in all its black and yellow glory was like seeing an oasis after being stranded in the desert for a few days. Or so I imagine.No idea how long this cart has been open. Probably not long as there aren't any Yelp reviews about it. There were a few other people waiting for food here, so someone else aside from me knows about it. I went simple. The thing about plate lunches I saw on TV talked about Shoyu Chicken. That is what was on my mind and that is what I ordered. $6.50 gets you the regular portion and that comes with 2 portions of white rice and a nice helping of mac salad. Also a chopped up bed of cabbage under your chicken. Shoyu for those that don't know is basically a soy sauce chicken. Very simple, but when done right can be really good. This place does it oh so right.I took my meal back to work and jumped in. The mac salad was very fresh tasting. Can't say I'm a huge mac salad fan, but this was good. The rice was rice. White. Boring. Boring white rice, but that is what you get in a plate lunch. The chicken was the star here. They don't give you a huge portion. That was kind of a bummer, but the dish is only $6.50 so I'm not complaining. The meat was fall off the bone tender. I could barely pick up the piece without it falling apart in my hands. Perfectly marinated. Not too salty which can definitely be a problem with this dish. Moist and very flavorful. This is how chicken should be prepared.I hope this review gets more Yelpers to seek and try this place out.

All the things - really yummy food, fast and friendly service, and very reasonable prices. I visited this cart because I was craving Hawaiian mac salad, and they have all the offerings you'd expect - shoyu chicken, Kalua pork, chicken katsu, yakisoba, and more. I got the small crispy shrimp lunch (they have two sizes), which is two scoops of sticky rice, mac salad and six good-size shrimp and it was $8.50, simple but absolutely delicious and more than I could eat. I'll definitely be back to try other dishes, and next time I'll get double mac salad because it's so good.

The chicken katsu was very good. Crispy coating with a more than generous portion of chicken. There's a variety of sweet and spicy sauces to choose from as well as a ketchup/mayo mix that I really like. On its own the katsu was more than enough for lunch at $8. The rice, a traditional plate lunch accompaniment, was rice. It'd be interesting to see them make a Hawaiian or Korean style biryani instead...throw in some spice and some veg. Even a Hawaiian style risotto would be really interesting: spam fried rice with pineapple anyone?I wasn't a fan of the mac salad, I am addicted to mayo, and there wasn't really any mayo on there. That's ok if you add a lot of vinegar to tang it up, but sadly the mac salad just wasn't bringing much flavor. I wrote a review because the other reviews are unfair...this place is not a 1 star food cart. The katsu alone gets them three stars. Great service too, warm and genuine. Good job Hawaiian Grill!

I got the BBQ beef, not impressed at all. No flavor at all, at least the Mac was okay. Meat was dry... Not much more to say.The guy that helped me was nice, I guess

(Note: Went to the one near SW 5th and Stark...actually didn't know there were two locations)Almost all the dishes have a mini and a regular size. Both mini and regular sizes get one scoop of macaroni salad (or tossed salad, if you wish), but the regular gets an extra scoop of rice. Some of the more popular menu items include the chicken katsu and the teriyaki chicken.I went with the mini teriyaki chicken this time around ($5). The teriyaki sauce is homemade, coating strips of grilled chicken. That sits on a small handful of chopped cabbage, with the scoops of rice and mac salad right next to it.I thought the teriyaki sauce was excellent. Not only did it have excellent sweet-savory flavor, but the consistency was on point. It was thicker than some unappetizing watery concoction, yet thinner than a stick-to-your-utensil-and-mouth glaze. The chicken was cooked very well, staying rather moist. Very pleasing to the eye and to the taste buds.The mac salad here is spot on. The peppery bite I always look for, check! Macaroni around al dente, check! Cold mac salad, check! Just a bit of color, such as grated carrot, would have made me go dance in the street and piss people off.The "mini" teriyaki chicken came in a regular-sized plate lunch container, so it momentarily gave a deceiving appearance, almost a "Where's the real order at?" reaction. But the portion size was about right after re-configuring it all in my head...gah, make me use my brain! *plays dead*Anyway, Hawaiian Grill gets a thumbs up from me! Since I've sampled maybe 1/16 of the menu so far, I'll have to try some of their other dishes out as well. If I want to go Hawaiian, it may be the kalua pork, shoyu chicken, or the loco moco. But I also can't rule out the bibimbap, since Korean cuisine must also represent! Check out Hawaiian Grill at lunchtime!

Im originally from Hawaii and am always on the lookout for good local style food. Hubby and I stopped in here today for lunch; he ordered the Huli Huli Chicken and I order the Mochiko Chicken. The young lady who took our order was extremely friendly and helpful, as was her service after our food came.The utensils, napkins, condiments, and to-go boxes are all self service. Im okay with that. Theres no shoyu on the tables, so we had to bring it over. The place was pretty empty mid-afternoon when we were there, which is to be expected, I guess. The decor of the place was okay; it actually looks kind of bare and I think it could be improved. The music playing was a mixture of contemporary and traditional Hawaiian music. When our meals were served (pretty quickly), hubby was disappointed that his chicken wasnt very hot. I dont know if it cooled off while my chicken was being cooked, but it definitely wasnt hot. Mine sure was, and it was delicious. His was, too. The rice was cooked right, and the mac salad was wonderful. The menu variety wasnt nearly as great as Patricks, but the food was good and wed go back again. I do think itd help if the decor was amped up a bit, though. Everything was pretty bare and, as one reviewer said, looks unfinished.

Stopped by this cart for a late lunch (around 2pm) and saw a sign for $6 Bibimbop. Was trying to decide between this spot and my typical Indian cart, but figured I should try something new. So I order it and am told its the last one they have left. Score? Is that a good thing? Usually the last ones left of anything are not always the most desirable, like the last puppy of the litter or the last slice of cake that has been sitting out all day, but whatever, I was starving, in search of a meal and thought Korean would hit the spot.So I hand the lady a $10 and I get $3.50 back and I think, hmmm wasn't this supposed to be $6? But I notice them folding up the sign advertising the Bibimbop and figure, what the hell, I probably won't have to wait. I was mistaken. Wasn't everything cooked already? I ended up waiting like 10 minutes, longer than I am used to for already prepared food and finally I get it.Opening it up back at the office I see spinach, cucumber, bean sprouts, little bit of bulgogi beef, carrot, kimchi, rice, beets? and hot sauce, with an egg on top and little seaweed flakes. Very cute. It's a little colder than I expected (maybe due to the 10 minute walk back) and the portions are decent, but nothing impressive. And here I was thinking you got more with the last dish! Once I was at IKEA and ordered the meatballs as the cafe was closing...I got a cupful instead of just 5, because they said they needed to get rid of the rest, but I digress.Bottom line: food was yummy. It was kind of slow. And they gave incorrect change. But I'd probably go back to try the other stuff.

This new cart opened up few months ago and looked similar to the other Bulgogi carts opening all over the city. I wasn't really impressed since we have two others in the same pod on 5th Ave. They sell themselves as Korean Hawaiian but it's really Korean with maybe a splash of Hawaiian added for flavor. The only Hawaiian thing I saw on the menu was Mahi Mahi.I ordered the Chicken Katsu with is a flattened, breaded fillet fried in oil. On the menu there are two sizes for each entree, mini and regular. The minis are around $5 and regular about $7. The price varies slightly based on the dish. The mini has one scoop of rice and one side of either mac salad or greens. The regular has 2 scoops of rice and one side. When I ordered the counter girl just said $7. She didn't ask me which side I wanted or which size. I found that a little rude and poor customer service. I stood under the awning to get out of the rain and waited and waited. I looked in to see what was going on. The cook was an older Asian woman who seemed to be fumbling around the kitchen trying to get the chicken cooked. The younger counter girl was trying to help but got in the way more than anything else. It would have been comical if I wasn't waiting for my lunch. After a few more minutes of the fumbling, I finally got my lunch.I took the short walk back to my office and inspected the fare. It was served in one of those divided plastic clam shells with the two small depressions on the top right and left with a big flat area in the middle. A half cup serving of the mac salad was in the upper left. The breaded, fried chicken breast was cut into half in strips and piled on the left side of the shell over a few pieces of thinly sliced cabbage. I don't think that was supposed to be the green salad. The other side and the other depression were filled with ice cream scoops of rice. I quarter wedge of lemon and a small plastic container of sauce were set in the middle. The only thing hot in the whole thing was the chicken. The rice balls were stone cold. The sauce was congealed like it came from the refrigerator. The mac salad was cold but that was OK. It was supposed to be. I pulled apart the chicken slices to see how much was really there. The breast was pounded flat to about a quarter inch thickness. I'd guess it was maybe a half chicken breast. I put some of the thick sauce on it and the rice. I tasted it with a bite of rice. I was fried to a golden brown and crisp. I think they used Panko bread crumbs. They always turn out great. The sauce was a sort of Asian BBQ sauce with hints of soy and ginger, a nice surprise. The mac salad was also quite good. I couldn't place what was in it but it was tasty. The food was good what there was of it. For $7 I could have gotten a better meal with much better service. The bottom line:Service: **Food: ***Price: **2.3 round down to 2.