With Asian American Pacific Islander Month celebrated in May, NBC Chicago’s Food Guy is diving into cuisine throughout the region this month.
This week, it’s Hawaiian food on the menu, with one Southwest Side eatery bringing the diverse cuisine to Chicago with plenty of delicious offerings.
There are a handful of Hawaiian restaurants in Chicago, even one on the North Shore. And the menus have several influences: Japan, Korea, the Philippines…even American soldiers stationed there during World War II. In order to fully understand the cuisine, you’ve got to go to the source, as I did over Spring Break.
Just five minutes from the Kahului Airport on Maui, you’ll spot a food cart pod with several vendors, selling all manner of plate lunches, featuring rice, macaroni salad and heaping plates of teriyaki chicken or slow-roasted pork. The menu is eerily similar at Aloha Wagon, in the Heart of Chicago neighborhood on the Southwest Side near the CTA station.
“Hawaiian food it’s catch of the day. From the ocean to your plate; everything is fresh,” said co-owner Richard Manongdo.
Marinated and grilled teriyaki chicken is one great option, but there are also plenty of other influences.
“There’s a little bit of everything. There’s Spam, there’s adobo from the Philippines, said co-owner Rebeca Romo.
Like the Loco Moco – a pair of grilled beef patties covered in homemade gravy and fried eggs. A protein-packed lunch for sure. Panko-breaded chicken is the basis for a sandwich that will be difficult to finish, it’s packed so high, but laced with tangy katsu sauce, it’s delicious.
“It’s really juicy when it comes out, and crispy,” she said.
Do try a Sunset – a crushable drink of guava, lychee and lime juice. Just a mile west, along Cermak, Aloha Hawaiian Barbecue has been serving a larger Asian menu but featuring plenty of Hawaiian favorites like plate lunches as well. And up in Highwood, Da Local Boy has one of the area’s best Hawaiian menus, where everything is made in-house.
“I was craving Hawaiian food, like where do I go to get my fix? And I noticed there wasn’t much around,” said co-owner Nate Domingo.
Domingo’s food moves effortlessly between several cultures. Like poké nachos.
“Due to the plantation days, there’s a lot of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino,” he said.
“The Plate Lunch – it’s two scoops of rice and mac salad,” he said.
Grilled chicken thighs and Korean-inspired short ribs are standouts, but so is a combo plate with three Hawaiian favorites.
“Mochiko Chicken, it’s the Japanese mochiko flour, diced-up chopped chicken; grilled pork belly, citrus-marinated using calamansi juice and our house shoyu poké,” said Domingo.
“It’s just cut, diced tuna, Japanese soy sauce,” he said.
Aloha Wagon
2023 S. Western Ave.
312-888-9613
Aloha Hawaiian BBQ
2825 W. Cermak Rd.
773-801-1302
Da Local Boy
320 Green Bay Rd., Highwood
847-748-8715
Aloha Eats
2534 N. Clark St.
773-935-6828
Hala Kahiki Lounge
2834 N. River Rd., River Grove
708-456-3222
Aloha Poke Co.
8 locations
Hawaiian Bros. Island Grill
205 W. Wacker Dr.; 312-761-2538
3517 N. Spaulding Ave.; 312-755-3918
The Tiki Terrace
1591 Lee St., Des Plaines
847-795-8454
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