Ono Kine Grindz — Restaurant in Wauwatosa

I wish I had some pictures to share, but taking pics was the furthest thing from my mind once I took a single bite. All I could think about was savoring every mouthful.

TL;DR:

Incredibly delicious food; you should come here when you're really hungry so you can try multiple things. The portions are generous, The seasoning is just right, not too salty, spicy, or sweet; very balanced and rich without being heavy in the stomach.

WHAT WE ORDERED:

Kalua pig with purple rice, macaroni salad, tuna poke, carrot pineapple slaw, spam musubi, seared tuna sashimi, and coconut tres leches cake. (plus some juice from the cooler)

DETAILS:

The pork comes already well seasoned, but their homeade Hawaiian BBQ sauce adds the perfect amount of tang to the rich pork. The purple rice was an excellent balance of fluffy and sticky. Macaroni salad was light and not too heavy, unlike a lot of "traditional" mac salads I've had. The tuna poke and tuna sashimi had excellent texture and was clearly very fresh. (We really enjoyed the more 'juicy' poke they have here versus the way a lot of places put it on top of rice and all the juice just goes into the rice and ths fish dries out.) The spam musubi was elevated by the purple rice used, and had just the right amount of furikake. If you like pineapple and at least tolerate carrots, you will LOVE the pineapple carrot slaw. Very refreshing complement to the meal. The coconut tres leches cake was also the perfect level of sweetness, and had just the perfect amount of milk permeating the crumb. Keep in mind no tres leches cake really travels/keeps well, so eat it here or soon after you get takeout for best effects.

Also it has to be mentioned that the service was excellent. The front of house worker gave us suggestions for what to try, the (owner? i think?) was the one who helped clear our table and was so nice and we made some small talk. We talked to one of the back of house guys and thanked him for the meal, and you can tell they really care about making delicious food available to people at fair prices. Speaking of price, just the kalua pig bento box alone was a LOT of food; and that was $10. Everything was fairly priced. (I would say underpriced, but we're on the precipice of a recession so I'm going to be quiet there...) We ate enough food for two people for lunch and dinner in one sitting for $45ish. (yes, gluttons.. we couldn't decide)

Anyways if you read all of this, you're probably thinking.. this is a paid review or shill or something.. nope! I don't even work in the area anymore, and we are already planning on ways to justify driving the hour to MKE to eat this again. Please give this place a try, they have stuff for adventurous eaters and stuff for those that might not be so adventurous. Truly the kind of local business that should...

Food was amazing. BUT the owner was beyond RUDE to not only the customers but to his staff. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. I never writer reviews, ever. We dined in almost two weeks ago and our experience is still coming up in our conversations and while looking for lunch today I couldn't help but stop and write a review. While dining in another customer came in who clearly had a problem with her previous order. The owner did fix the issue for her but continually bragged to her that he wasn't at fault and that she needed to come back because "even the Green Bay Packers come to my shop. All the important people know it's too good to turn down." Then when she left he called his staff to the front and began loudly berating them while my group and 3 other diners tried to ignore what was going on. The staff tried to apologize but he would not drop it. He then began pacing from the front of the store to his kitchen in the back (through the dining area) loudly expressing his grievances. This lasted for another 30 minutes. He literally was having a temper tantrum and would not drop it despite his staff's attempts to keep him calm and out of the dining area. His staff handled his temper tantrum with grace and tact. I myself applaud their ability to try and keep us customers as happy as possible but this owner was out of control. He may have good food but I will never be back. For anyone else - I would highly recommend not dining in or better yet supporting another establishment who treats...

I visited this amazing little spot on September 1, 2018 and could not have been more impressed. My son lives in Oconomowoc and is a regular at Ono Kine Grinds. He recommended the Combo Plate with Char Siu Chicken and Kalua Pig, and both were excellent! Both were tender and juicy and packed a big flavor punch. Both were served over Ono's incredible house rice, another Hawaiian delight! But the highlight of the meal was the incredible side dishes. The award-winning Carrot Slaw could have been served as a dessert it was so sweet and tasty...I could have eaten a pound of the stuff! I also had the Potato/Macaroni salad, and yes, I could have eaten a pound or more...delicious! The portions were huge, but I managed to find room for perhaps the best piece of Pineapple Upside Down Cake I've ever had! And did I mention the "Crack Tea?" It's steeped overnight and blended with pineapple juice - a Hawaiian version of Arnold Palmer Iced Tea - and like everything else, it was delicious. Finally, the owners - David and Guy - are two of the nicest people you could hope to meet. This was my first visit to Ono Kine Grinds, and there will be many more to come...get...