Aloha Hawaiian BBQ — Restaurant in Salinas

Aloha! This is our go to place when craving some comfort Hawaiian food. Everything is exceptionally delicious and true to Hawaiian plate lunch or mixed plate. Since the pandemic, dining in is either limited or not available depending where we are in the county with covid.

We seem to always go with what we love which can vary depending how hangry we are. That's right, I said hANGRY! That either may be their Hawaiian bbq mix, which has chicken, beef, and short rib, their seafood bbq mix, which has breaded shrimp, fried Mahi Mahi and a choice of bbq chicken, beef or short rib. We also get their Loco Moco which is hamburger patties over rice covered with brown gravy and topped with fried eggs. l personally love and my favorite is their Kalua pork with cabbage. This is slow cooked, smoked and roasted pork rubbed with sea salt and liquid smoke. I can't go over everything on the menu, but I would have to say that everything is "Ono" meaning freaking delicious! All plates come with Mac salad and steamed rice. All these can be customized to your liking as well. I'd like to also add, a must try is their Spam musubi. If you don't know, go inform yourself as this is always ordered when we go. Spam musubi is a slice of Spam on top a block of steamed rice with teriyaki sauce and wrapped with nori (seaweed). Aloha Hawaiian bbq has an assortment of tropical drinks from Hawaiian Sun and if you're in the mood for ice cream, they have that too. They have many flavors to choose from and it comes in single or double scoop. Give them a try if you're in the mood for Hawaiian grinds....

I decided to try this restaurant since I was missing L&L BBQ in the Bay Area. I didn't have a great experience with Haiku Hawaiian BBQ and found this place close by. The food was made fresh at the time I ordered and the BBQ chicken and fried shrimp were really good. I also tried the spam masubi which was good as well. The restaurant itself was very clean and organized although we took our food to go. I liked this spot much better than Haiku for the food and atmosphere, but still it did not compare to L&L. The mac salad was just not for me. I do not know for some reason the taste was just off/very different. The cook and service was nice but they made a big point to ask if my debit/credit card was mine and see my ID which I find strange for a restaurant. They actually held onto my ID for several minutes while processing my food order I thought it strange. They serve Hawaiian themed flavors of ice cream here which was cool although I didn't try them. I didn't see any macadamia cookies which they sell at L&L which I usually buy as well when I go so FYI. I will go here again for take out but will be looking for other Hawaiian BBQ restaurants in the area to try as...

Aloha Hawaiian BBQ Review

We stumbled upon Aloha Hawaiian BBQ by accident. We usually place orders for pickup from another Hawaiian BBQ restaurant in Salinas but, in a rush, we placed our order at Aloha instead. I didn't realize the mix-up until it was time to pick up our food and noticed the reviews while entering the address on Google Maps. My heart sank, as the reviews were significantly lower than other Hawaiian BBQ restaurants we frequent.

Long story short, we had our food and were thrilled! I don't understand why this restaurant has negative reviews for their food quality. Unlike many other Hawaiian BBQ restaurants, Aloha's food isn't overly sweet. The mac salad nicely seasoned, the chicken katsu sauce was savory with good consistency, and the chicken katsu and musubi were perfectly prepared, portions

The portions were good, providing great value for the price. I've been to a lot of Hawaiian BBQ restaurants, both on the mainland and in Hawaii, and this place is excellent. The savory flavors really stood out and made for an exceptional meal. We will definitely be returning to Aloha Hawaiian BBQ. Highly...