Hawaiian Food’s New Mainland Fan Base

Casual Hawaiian cuisine is going mainstream on the mainland.

Cashing in on the happy memories of the Californians who pack the beaches of Maui and Oahu each winter, restaurateurs are serving up kalua pork, Hawaiian barbecue chicken and steaming bowls of saimin soup from San Francisco to San Diego.

By one count, Southern California has more than 100 purveyors of the Hawaiian plate lunch, renowned on the islands for its inexpensive yet generous portions of fried seafood, barbecued meats, steamed rice, macaroni salad and loco moco, an island favorite that consists of steamed rice topped with hamburger patties, fried eggs and gravy.

The biggest plate-lunch company to have washed ashore so far is Honolulu-based L&L; Franchise Inc. It has 46 L&L; Hawaiian Barbecue outlets in California, nearly as many as in Hawaii, where the chain operates under the misnomer L&L; Drive-Inn. Dozens of copycats are dishing up plate-lunch specials, which enjoy cult-like status among Hawaiian expatriates who are willing to drive hours for a taste of the islands.

The home-style fare also is appealing to ethnic food aficionados such as Jose Pena, a 37-year-old custody officer who lives in San Dimas.

“I’m from Mexico, but I’ve been to Hawaii and enjoyed the food,” Pena said over lunch at Ohana Hawaiian BBQ in Monterey Park. “I like the unique taste of the sauces, and it’s reasonably priced.”

Pena paid $6.69 for the Hawaiian BBQ Mix plate, featuring a combination of barbecued beef, ribs and chicken. About 20 miles away at an L&L; franchise in La Habra, Jerry Dunn forked over $7.49 for a seafood combo of mahi mahi and fried shrimp served with a choice of kalua pork, teriyaki beef or barbecued chicken or short ribs.

“It seems like real food, not fast food,” said Dunn, a 65-year-old retiree from La Mirada.

In the San Diego area, homesick Hawaiians attending college and military personnel once stationed on the islands have helped bolster that niche market, said Nelson Ishii, owner of Da Kine’s Plate Lunch restaurants. (He said Da Kine is a Hawaiian slang term for “the best.”) “If you’re in the Navy, chances are you’ve been through Hawaii and have sampled the cuisine,” Ishii said.

Local Hawaiian food reflects the mixing of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and other ethnic fare during the islands’ plantation period, said April Hiraki-Morris, a plate-lunch enthusiast. With the help of friends and family, Hiraki-Morris has compiled a list of more than 100 plate-lunch restaurants in the five-county area of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego, found at www.pukashell.net/platelunch/.

“Historically, ‘local’ food is something that a typical family working the sugar cane fields 60 years ago might consume around the dinner table,” said Hiraki-Morris, a resident of West Covina whose family hails from the Big Island of Hawaii. “Today, it would more likely be something you would find on a lunch wagon in a parking lot slapped onto a paper plate with foil over the top to go.”

Eddie Flores Jr., president and chief executive of L&L; Franchise, believes there’s room to double the number of L&L; eateries over the next few years in Southern California.

L&L; franchises also are operating in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, Washington, Illinois and New York. Two Connecticut outlets were shuttered this year partly because of poor site selection, the company said, resulting in weak sales.

“These restaurants seem to work in niche neighborhoods where they have an ethnic following, but some... seem to have a tough time outside of these core areas,” said Randall Hiatt, president of Fessel International, a Costa Mesa-based restaurant consulting firm.

And those core markets have been hit by a tsunami of copycats, which Flores described as “frustrating.”

Competitors include Hong Kong native Steve Fong, who became familiar with plate-lunch offerings while studying hotel and restaurant management at the University of Hawaii, an experience that would eventually help give rise to Ohana Hawaiian BBQ, which Fong co-founded.

Ohana has opened six outlets in California since June 2003, and there are plans for eight more.

“It’s easier to penetrate the market” in the Golden State, Fong said. “There’s a good mix of ethnic groups who will come in and order the food they enjoyed in Hawaii.”

Fong’s Monterey Park location may soon face fresh competition. L&L; franchisees Mike and Annie Glaser, who operate L&L; restaurants in La Habra and Fresno, plan to open outlets in Brea and Monterey Park.

“L&L; is going to be the future McDonald’s,” Annie Glaser said. “You’re going to see them everywhere.”