Da Local Boy Cafe — Restaurant in Highwood

We was one tight crew—ohana of 10 deep—all ready to celebrate our son's boot camp grad, big-style. Real emotional, real proud kine moment. We figured Da Local Boy Cafe would be one solid local spot fo’ pau hana time, you know? Plate lunch, kanikapila vibes, family laughs. We send email one month in advance, reaching out early fo’ ask about hosting or reserving space, coordinate seating, let them know get choke people coming, even willing fo’ work around their hours. But still… nothing. No email. Jus’ ghost. I even checked my spam folder, just in case. Nada.

We prefer fo’ use email for communication so get records for planning and no mix up.

With our numbers, communication important—no like roll up with 10 heads and make trouble for the staff or oddah customers. We respectful. But if the owner not responding, how we supposed to plan? One simple “no can” woulda been fine. But total silence? That’s rough.

So, heads up fo’ all da big ohana or military families looking fo’ one place fo’ mark da moment: Da Local Boy Cafe might be ono fo’ walk-ins, but when it comes to event planning or hospitality for one group, seem like they no stay ready fo’ da kuleana. We wen take our celebration elsewhere—place that made room for da aloha and da memories.

Our boy? Still honored, still celebrated. We make sure of that. -Retired Hospital Corpsman. Hooyah. 🤙🏽...

RUN to Da Local Boy now if you haven’t tried it already because it will immediately become your favorite place. My husband and I have been blessed to know about Da Local Boy since before they had their brick & mortar location and theirs has always been the freshest, most delicious food in the Chicagoland area. There is not one bad thing on the menu and we love all the new menu items with this location. Everything is made to order and not only tastes amazing but it’s the most authentic food outside of the actual Hawaiian islands.

Diane & Nate are some of the nicest, most hardworking people you’ll ever meet.. they truly emulate the aloha spirit and it’s hard to describe but you can seriously taste the love, care & hospitality they put into their food.

Again, EVERYTHING is good here but if you have to choose - go with the poke nachos, grilled pork belly, mochiko chicken or the garlic shrimp (which in my opinion is lightyears better than Giovanni’s). But seriously, keep on coming back to try the rest of their menu, you won’t regret it. I would come here everyday if I could.. we love Da Local Boy and are forever supporters of this...

Whoah... this place is so good, I am torn between writing a bad review so it doesn't get harder to get a seat or an amazing review because this place deserves it and I want it to do well and stay in Highwood forever. I got the Brudda Paul's plate (mochiko chicken, ahi tuna poke, and grilled pork belly with rice and macaroni salad). Every single bite was delicious but the surprising stand out was the chicken. I literally could not stop myself from interrupting my mom to say, "OH MY GOD!" because it was shockingly delicious-- it truly caught me off guard. Just so flavorful. Big portions too-- I am currently eating my leftovers for lunch and while the chicken is no longer crispy, it still has that amazing flavor and everything else was great on day 2 as well. Even the macaroni salad was good and I don't even like macaroni salad! The place is small and casual and can get a bit loud, but it's full of good vibes you will leave full of...