Ono Hawaiian Plates North Loop — Restaurant in Minneapolis

I want to start by saying that this isn’t really a review. This is an open letter to Warren and Jesse that I have wanted to share for some time now.

I have been a customer of Ono Hawaiian Plates since they were still doing takeout only one night a week from Cook in St. Paul back in early 2019. I once drove through a snowstorm from Minneapolis to St Paul and back just to grab plate lunch. I remember Jesse’s smiling face when I showed up covered in snow from the 15 seconds it took to walk from my car into the building…I wonder if she remembers how happy I was that there was FINALLY someplace in Minnesota that I could get “local kine’ “ food.

The drive home through the snow was brutal. It took nearly an hour to get back to Minneapolis. The entire way my mouth was watering from the smell circulating through the car. Finally when I got home I tore open the bag and was ready to go to town, but I wasn’t ready for what happened next.

When I took my first bite I wasn’t just having dinner—It turned into an experience. You know that scene in Ratatouille where the mean old guy has a bite, then gets thrown back to his childhood? That’s what happened to me. A flood of memories from my time with my family in Hawaii all came rushing back. Spending the day at Waimea Bay jumping off the rock, then driving back through the north shore and stopping at the hole in the wall shops that only said “PLATE LUNCH” on the outside but had a giant menu with endless options inside. It didn’t matter though because I always ordered the same thing—teriyaki chicken. It came with rice and mac salad. Then I would get a spam musubi just in case I was still hungry afterwards—or for a snack later.

Back in my dining room I hadn’t realized it until that exact moment… but after driving through a near whiteout condition snow storm my habits were right there with me. When I looked down there was a teriyaki chicken plate with mac salad and rice. There was spam musubi wrapped in saran wrap on the table next to the styrofoam box. It hit me at that moment. I didn’t just order some takeout—I ordered some of the happiest moments of my childhood. Realizing this… I smiled, wiped a tear from my eye, then had one of the most memorable meals of my adult life.

In the years since then, OHP has expanded their menu, made a brick and mortar shop that they can run every day of the week (if they want to), survived some of the hardest economical times for restaurants due to the pandemic, and become one of the Twins baseball teams favorite places to order from. For those of you who have not visited and are still reading this, I hope you take this into consideration: Ono Hawaiian Plates is more than just a place for lunch or dinner. It’s a cultural Hawaiian icon in the heart of the Midwest. If you have spent any extended period of time in Hawaii— it’s a place where you can go to relive those experiences. Most importantly though, it’s a place where you can get the true feeling of Aloha in the Twin Cities.

Jesse. Warren. From the deepest part of my heart and soul-- Mahalo nui loa. Thank you so much for giving me (and others) the chance to experience what it’s like to have just a little bit of Aloha in the Land of...

Being a Polynesian in MN, I was extremely excited to hear about this place. We finally had the chance to try it out but unfortunately, we were disappointed with the food.

The person taking my order was very friendly and the food was ready in a few minutes. Since it was our first time here, we did not realize that the food would be served as an in dining experience. If you’ve eaten at other Hawaiian BBQ restaurants, the food is served in take out plates. I saw that they were dishing our order in regular plates so I had to let the cashier know that this was a to go order. This would have been a good question for the cashier to ask knowing it was our first time there.

When they gave us our food, the bag was tied in a double knot so I figured everything would be in the bag. I was wrong. For this, I can take ownership that I should have checked it even if that meant ripping the bag and asking for a new one, once I verified that everything was good to go. When we got home, there was no katsu sauce for the chicken katsu. We also ordered loco moco but the loco moco was with chicken katsu instead of the regular hamburger steak. Anyone who’s had Hawaiian loco moco from places like L&L Hawaiian BBQ or 88 Rice Bowl, knows that it is served with hamburger steak, not chicken katsu. This was extremely disappointing. The gravy was below average. I wish there was a note that said the loco moco was with chicken katsu.. very possible it was there but the written menu was a little confusing.

I ordered a plate that included 2 pieces of BBQ chicken, 1 pieces of spare ribs, and 2 pieces of Portuguese sausage. When you have that much meat, you should have enough rice to go with it. Unfortunately, my plate did not. It came with 2 small scoops of rice and a small scoop of Mac salad. The sauce/marinade used for this plate tasted burned so I could only stomach 1 piece of chicken before tossing the rest of the plate. This was a $17 plate.

We spent a total of around $55 for our order and we live too far away to take the time to go back. It’s unfortunate but we will not go back and we will not refer anyone we know to eat there either.

Now, this place might be great for folks who don’t know any better but for those of us who know, this place...

Ever since I heard that a Hawaiian restaurant was opening in Minneapolis I have been so excited to try it! I grew up on the West Coast and ended up trying a variety of different Hawaiian food when I lived there.

I ended up trying the BBQ Chicken + Chicken Katsu combo. I was expecting the BBQ chicken to be doused in more soy sauce or flavor but it was plain grilled chicken. It was still good - especially dipped in the teriyaki dipping sauce - but not as flavorful as I expected. Not much salt. Same could be said for the Katsu. The breading texture was great but again - not much salt or flavor. It was still great for a healthier take on Hawaiian food but I think I was expecting it to have more teriyaki or soy flavor - just based on the Hawaiian food I have tried before. Maybe I just didn't order the right item? Regardless the amount of chicken was huge ! An easily shareable serving.

The 2 scoops of rice were delicious - perfect sticky rice and felt comforting. I had plenty to go with the chicken.

The mac's consistency and texture was great - but again, it wasn't very salty as typical Hawaiian mac that I have tried. I also felt like the scoop was tiny compared to the portions of everything else.

There were three dipping sauces - Katsu (which tasted like ketchup), Teriyaki, and Soy Honey Mustard. The Honey Mustard had a strong wasabi-like flavor. The Katsu just tasted like ketchup. The Teriyaki was my absolute favorite. In fact, I wish I got 3 containers of the Teriyaki because it amped up the flavor of the chicken tremendously. Where the food lacked salt, the Teriyaki sauce made up for it.

I would order from here again and try something else next time but my honest advice would be to increase the salt / spices for the chicken in this plate. And perhaps increase the soy/teriyaki sauces also. I think this small improvement can make a...