Ohana Grill -- 3.7

You know that shack by Joe Banditos? The old Brand X, Firehouse Grill, and a million other places? It is now home of the Ohana Grill. I know it looks sketchy. It closes early, it's covered in plastic, and there's hardly ever anyone there. I tried to convince my family to go there and we ended up ordering their most popular meal to go and testing it out on our way to another restaurant because they (ok even I) were a bit skeptical. BUT (drumroll) to our pleasant surprise...it was actually good!

My roommate and I decided to have another go at it today for lunch. I had the teriyaki beef and she tried the popular garlic chicken. As we were waiting for our food we couldn't help notice how great this family is that owns the place. We had lots of questions and the girl that was taking our order was really sweet. The lady (I'm assuming the owner herself) came out and was talking to some kids who had just got their food, making sure everything was good for them. They really made you feel like they loved what they were doing and wanted you to feel like you were at their family dinner. After all, "Ohana means family." (Thanks Lilo.)

Teriyaki Beef

Garlic Chicken






The food was great. Men will love this place. HUGE PORTIONS, like I didn't even finish. It reminds me of some sort of teriyaki bowl type deal but you definitely get the island flare. The meat, as far as I can tell, is really the star here. Moist and tender, really good, and there is SO MUCH OF IT. The menu that they had inside was mainly just meat options and then your plate came with rice (mountains of rice) and some macaroni salad. Although, I noticed that the take out menu has a lot more options? I don't know why...I'm still a little confused by that. Food is food right? They've got to have their menu the same whether it's take out our not, right? But all of the food sounds appetizing so I'm not complaining! Plus, the food was good enough that I'll go back and try some more things for sure, probably explore the wonders of their take out menu a little, and I'll keep you updated on what I find out (actually, I take it back, I probably won't. But ask me and I'll tell you).

Full disclosure, there are some things to know upfront about this place before you go. 1) It's really small anyway, and in the winter the outside seating is a no-go, which makes it even smaller, so I would suggest take-out most of the time. 2) It closes at 7 pm, so I guess if you're normal and eat dinner at a reasonable time you'll be fine. As for me and my family, we might need to stick to this as a lunch option, or eat dinner 5 hours earlier. You're choice mom. 3) Don't use the window. It is not a drive-up. I REPEAT. NOT A DRIVE-UP. 4) I was hoping they had some sort of other veggie-ish option. I love meat, but sides are this girls best friend. I just wished I'd had more choices that's all! 5) Oh and last thing: don't freak out about the appearance. I realize this place looks about as appealing as a sushi place in a gas station, but trust me on this one. Just pretend you're in Hawaii at a cute little family owned shack instead of Springville at a cute little family owned shack. Somehow that actually makes it a lot better...

Moral of the story, TRY IT. I keep thinking about it and everything that I want to order next time I go! If you trust my pallette (which you should, and if you don't you shouldn't be reading this) then go test it out! If you still don't believe me, I hate you, and develop your own opinion by trying it yourself.

Mahalo.

Kayla