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You can get Lau Lau here. Yes it's in a mall, but the food here is good, authentic and reasonably priced. It's a mom and pop operation and the old couple have been here for a long time serving good Hawaiian style plate lunch. Solid.
Maui Express is one of the vendors at the Grossmont Center food court that happens to be operated by an elderly Asian couple. For a small kitchen, the menu offerings were rather extensive. There were traditional small bites like musubi and lumpia. Loco moco and combination lunch plates were also featured. There were no customers in line when I stopped by so I took my time before deciding on a musubi, spam saimin, and lau lau mix plate. The musubi came with Portuguese sausage which was my preference. The size was average for this seaweed-wrapped block of rice. The saimin was served in a plastic takeout container. Two pieces of spam, thin noodles, and green onions were the contents of the soup. The plate contained white rice and macaroni salad as sides and came separately because it took longer to prepare. A serving of kalua pork along with a bundle of steamed taro leaves containing more fatty pork made up the protein. The flavor of the meat wasn't as well-seasoned as I had hoped. For the prices, the food from auntie and uncle was decent. It was convenient to eat here since I was shopping at one of the nearby stores in the mall. I rated my dining experience at Maui Express between three and four stars.
3.5 Pretty good food for a business run by two people. The spam musubi was perfectly cooked, and the teriyaki chicken bowl had good teriyaki chicken, but too much rice. The employees were very helpful and answered my questions (They also had free refills).
I don't normally come out to the Grossmont Center, but this is where I had to get my Covid vaccination. It was actually an easy process and everyone was really friendly. Lots of people! While waiting, because we had to stay for 15 minutes before leaving, I saw a big ALOHA sign, so before I left I thought, why not? I ordered the Spam siamin, a chicken eggroll, a manapua, and a Spam musubi. As I was walking to my door, the bag slipped and my soup container busted open. After getting something to carry everything in, I looked to see what the damage was. Everything survived, but my eggroll was drowning. Brought everything out, and put my saimin in a big bowl. I didn't particularly care for the noodles, and I would've liked the Spam sliced. The broth was great though. My eggroll held up pretty well! There was still a crispiness to it! Loved the manapua, bbq pork bun, and my musubi was good! I felt like I had takeout from Chinatown in Honolulu! I would have to come back to try some of the entrees but for what I got, it was great! Mahalo!
Wow what a great place ! The sweetest hard working couple are here day and night to run this place. They've been here for years running this place, and it's definitely worth checking out. The prices are amazing and so is the service. It makes me sad when I come and see how dead the food court can be. So if you're ever in the area, come check it out!! Idk anywhere else where you can get a chicken teriyaki bowl for only $5.99. I truly wish this couple the best in these hard times. 10/10 recommend. The ambiance is great as well. I love the food court it's located in, it has a very old 80s feel and I hope it always stays that way!
This is the first time in about 6 to 8 years that I have actually eaten at the spot. I generally have gone here for some spam musubi or another snack like an eggroll. The food was decent! Especially for the price. I enjoyed the seafood combo with short ribs. The short rib was actually cooked perfectly and was flavorful. It had a very small amount of fat. In addition to the short ribs, it was served with a couple of pieces of fried fish and three fried shrimp. The fried fish tasted like tilapia... Definitely not my favorite out of all of the items. The fried shrimp was good. everything was fairly small and proportionate to each other. My combo came with two sides of rice, and a side of macaroni salad for $11. It's hard to find all of this for $11, but I will say that the portions were petite and the quality of the fish items were just OK. So it seems appropriately priced. I have course had to order a Thai tea with Boba and I ordered a side of french fries for my son. The Thai tea was average (I think it may have been canned), and the boba was not great. It's like it had been sitting for a while in some liquid and it was extra soft. It became so soft that it clogged up my straw (LOL). The fries were awesome... You really can't go wrong with those. They were just crispy enough and not soft at all. The service was definitely "mom and pop" style. One older gentleman at the counter, and from what I could see one person cooking up everything fresh. It did take a little bit of time to get the food, but most of the other people in the food court seem to have ordered from here as well. All in all, I would eat here again since it was pretty tasty and filling. I'd probably try one of their other combos or do the spam musubi next time.
Super delicious , Very friendly . first time coming Will come back, to try other dishes. (BBQ Chicken)
I stumbled upon Maui Express while I was at Grossmont Shopping Center, it's located inside the food court. They have a good variety of Hawaiian lunch plates and snacks. They also carry lumpia here and even boba! I ordered two spam musubis to sneak into the movie theater LOL it wasn't bad. It comes out piping hot though! I think they pan fry the spam musubi after it's already wrapped! Not a bad place to get your Hawaiian food fix while you're out shopping.
This location is in a mall so think mall food. There is an adorable couple who can be found behind the grill and fryer. While I'd love to hear their story I was starving and in a hurry. Ordered the chicken combo which was ok. Grilled and fried chicken side by side on a bed of cabbage accompanied by macaroni. And got a side order of gyozi which were deep fried. Suggest they consider getting plastic silver wear that works with the food (it's too bendy). The food was ok and filling. Service was fast. Perfect for this mall. Sadly many of their neighbors have close or moved. I hope they can continue to survive. read more
The food court in Grossmont Center is pretty quiet on weekdays. I love Hawaiian food so I gave Maui Express a try. I ordered the bbq mix plate and a chicken egg roll. Egg roll was crunchy and had a delicious mix of chicken and cabbage. Rice was moist and I liked the mild flavor. Beef short rib was tender and marinated to give it a nice flavor but not too much so as to make it too salty. Bbq chicken tasted like chicken thigh which I really like and was tender and moist. I liked the flavor from grilling and the marinade. Beef was sliced thin and was tender and well marinated. Light char gave it a nice smoky flavor. Lady in charge was nice and got my order out quick. I prefer Maui Express to L & L as the meat is more tender and there is a larger menu. read more
1 year ago
I really want this spot to make it! It's owned by a sweet older couple in the food court. For $8.52 I got a solid plate of chicken katsu with cabbage, Mac salad, and rice. Good, no-frills Hawaiian food and a great price too. The lady was super sweet and the food came out fast. read more
1 year ago
You can get Lau Lau here. Yes it's in a mall, but the food here is good, authentic and reasonably priced. It's a mom and pop operation and the old couple have been here for a long time serving good Hawaiian style plate lunch. Solid. read more
Maui Express is one of the vendors at the Grossmont Center food court that happens to be operated by an elderly Asian couple. For a small kitchen, the menu offerings were rather extensive. There were traditional small bites like musubi and lumpia. Loco moco and combination lunch plates were also featured. There were no customers in line when I stopped by so I took my time before deciding on a musubi, spam saimin, and lau lau mix plate. The musubi came with Portuguese sausage which was my preference. The size was average for this seaweed-wrapped block of rice. The saimin was served in a plastic takeout container. Two pieces of spam, thin noodles, and green onions were the contents of the soup. The plate contained white rice and macaroni salad as sides and came separately because it took longer to prepare. A serving of kalua pork along with a bundle of steamed taro leaves containing more fatty pork made up the protein. The flavor of the meat wasn't as well-seasoned as I had hoped. For the prices, the food from auntie and uncle was decent. It was convenient to eat here since I was shopping at one of the nearby stores in the mall. I rated my dining experience at Maui Express between three and four stars. read more
11 months ago
1 year ago
2 years ago
3.5 Pretty good food for a business run by two people. The spam musubi was perfectly cooked, and the teriyaki chicken bowl had good teriyaki chicken, but too much rice. The employees were very helpful and answered my questions (They also had free refills). read more
1 year ago
I don't normally come out to the Grossmont Center, but this is where I had to get my Covid vaccination. It was actually an easy process and everyone was really friendly. Lots of people! While waiting, because we had to stay for 15 minutes before leaving, I saw a big ALOHA sign, so before I left I thought, why not? I ordered the Spam siamin, a chicken eggroll, a manapua, and a Spam musubi. As I was walking to my door, the bag slipped and my soup container busted open. After getting something to carry everything in, I looked to see what the damage was. Everything survived, but my eggroll was drowning. Brought everything out, and put my saimin in a big bowl. I didn't particularly care for the noodles, and I would've liked the Spam sliced. The broth was great though. My eggroll held up pretty well! There was still a crispiness to it! Loved the manapua, bbq pork bun, and my musubi was good! I felt like I had takeout from Chinatown in Honolulu! I would have to come back to try some of the entrees but for what I got, it was great! Mahalo! read more
2 years ago
2 years ago
Wow what a great place ! The sweetest hard working couple are here day and night to run this place. They've been here for years running this place, and it's definitely worth checking out. The prices are amazing and so is the service. It makes me sad when I come and see how dead the food court can be. So if you're ever in the area, come check it out!! Idk anywhere else where you can get a chicken teriyaki bowl for only $5.99. I truly wish this couple the best in these hard times. 10/10 recommend. The ambiance is great as well. I love the food court it's located in, it has a very old 80s feel and I hope it always stays that way! read more
4 years ago
This is the first time in about 6 to 8 years that I have actually eaten at the spot. I generally have gone here for some spam musubi or another snack like an eggroll. The food was decent! Especially for the price. I enjoyed the seafood combo with short ribs. The short rib was actually cooked perfectly and was flavorful. It had a very small amount of fat. In addition to the short ribs, it was served with a couple of pieces of fried fish and three fried shrimp. The fried fish tasted like tilapia... Definitely not my favorite out of all of the items. The fried shrimp was good. everything was fairly small and proportionate to each other. My combo came with two sides of rice, and a side of macaroni salad for $11. It's hard to find all of this for $11, but I will say that the portions were petite and the quality of the fish items were just OK. So it seems appropriately priced. I have course had to order a Thai tea with Boba and I ordered a side of french fries for my son. The Thai tea was average (I think it may have been canned), and the boba was not great. It's like it had been sitting for a while in some liquid and it was extra soft. It became so soft that it clogged up my straw (LOL). The fries were awesome... You really can't go wrong with those. They were just crispy enough and not soft at all. The service was definitely "mom and pop" style. One older gentleman at the counter, and from what I could see one person cooking up everything fresh. It did take a little bit of time to get the food, but most of the other people in the food court seem to have ordered from here as well. All in all, I would eat here again since it was pretty tasty and filling. I'd probably try one of their other combos or do the spam musubi next time. read more
4 years ago
Super delicious , Very friendly . first time coming Will come back, to try other dishes. (BBQ Chicken) read more
2 years ago
1 year ago
I stumbled upon Maui Express while I was at Grossmont Shopping Center, it's located inside the food court. They have a good variety of Hawaiian lunch plates and snacks. They also carry lumpia here and even boba! I ordered two spam musubis to sneak into the movie theater LOL it wasn't bad. It comes out piping hot though! I think they pan fry the spam musubi after it's already wrapped! Not a bad place to get your Hawaiian food fix while you're out shopping. read more
2 years ago
Best food court food choice ! The service is great the couple that works here are very kind. Have been coming here for years and the prices are great ! The food is great !! Favorite from here is orange chicken bowl , katsu chicken and rice. Try it ! read more
3 years ago
My friend says the loco moco is absolutely amazing and he will get it again! I think the spam masubi is . The staff is very friendly! Definitely will be coming back! read more
2 years ago
4 years ago
Mom and pop shop right in the middle of Grossmont center. Definitely worth the wait and you can't beat the prices. Always friendly! read more
3 years ago
4 years ago
3 years ago
5 years ago
Tasty Teriyaki Chicken Bowl. Really enjoyed the tenderness of the chicken. The combination of the white rice and veggies is great with it. Wish more broccoli and carrots. To be fair, the bowl itself is small so there's only so much food you can put in it. Still delicious. read more
2 years ago
3 years ago
4 years ago
5 years ago
Super delicious ! First time coming here and ooof the musubis and the bowls with rice are super good ! I really recommend this place when you are out here in the mall ! read more
4 years ago
5 years ago
Stopped by to get something to drink while at the mall, and the boba here was a very good price! (And it was a slushy) very pleased with my experience. The lady that also works there seemed very nice. I hope to come back and try more of their foods next time. read more
8 years ago
Wholesome, delicious Hawaiian fast food in the Grossmont Center food court! Hands down one of my favorite places to eat whenever I visit Grossmont Center. I haven't had much Hawaiian food, so most of my comparisons were against L&L. I would describe Maui Express' food as similar to L&L with a more "homemade" quality to the food, as if it were straight out of a parent's kitchen. Not only does it lend an endearing quality to the food, but it also translates into the meat being less oily/greasy/saucy than at L&L. Perfect place if you think L&L is great, but maybe too fatty; the food here definitely doesn't sit as heavy in my stomach as a meal at L&L would. Sometimes this results in meat that is underseasoned, but the chicken and rice are always cooked perfectly. My favorite item on the menu is the chicken combo, which comes with chicken katsu and BBQ chicken. Main critique: the slices of spam on their musubi is on the thinner side, resulting in it being dominated by rice. Also, while I love how much protein they give with their meals, I would love bigger portions of rice and mac salad -- I often run out of rice before I run out of meat. Absolutely wonderful customer service for such a small staff. It may take a little longer to place an order if they're running back and forth between the kitchen, but the owners always seem to put a lot of love and sincerity in their food and service. They are always super polite and provide consistently tasty food! I've been here many times now, and I intend to come back again and again. read more
6 years ago
Maui Express catered over 40 Teriyaki Chicken & Teriyaki Beef bowls to feed our guests at our babyshower we hosted yesterday. The food was onolicious!! They were so easy to work with & everyone was pleased with their food. Mahalo Maui Express! read more
3 years ago
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More info about Maui Express
5500 Grossmont Center Dr
La Mesa, CA 91942
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(619) 697-8678
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Ask the Community - Maui Express
Is this located inside the mall? Which entrance is best to use?
Closest parking to the food court is the area between Macy's and the Irish pub. Then walk down the "alley" between Macy's and the day spa, towards the building with the glass roof. Parking by the Verizon near the Walmart is just a few feet longer.
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