Delicious homemade Puerto Rican food. Hands-down the best on the island. Not that there are a lot…read moreof Puerto Rican restaurants on the island. But this place is excellent No matter how many you have... My usual is the pernil plate-- tasty pulled pork with your choice of sides. I usually like the yuca or plantains, and gandule rice. Tried the bean stew hanchules today--so good on the rice. Also got to watch them make the pasteles. Stevena the owner said that in Puerto Rico they only make this for special occasions. But here everybody wants it all the time, and she sells out of them. Small parking lot out front and outside seating. But with the heat in Waianae, I would definitely sit inside in the air-conditioning. Definitely one of my go to places on the west side. Always friendly service.

Pernil is my absolute favorite, so I was torn having to choose between a Cubano or trying their…read moreMofongo. Luckily my husband decided to get the Cubano, the mofongo with pernil, yucca fries, and gandule rice for myself, and my sons: saimin, chicken with rice and fries, the pernil sandwich, and the jibarito sandwich. All of which were amazing! I was a little disappointed that my mofongo was a little undercooked and the 3.5 pieces of yucca fries. But it's fine! The pernil was soooo good and I would definitely come back!

As I browsed to see which trucks I haven't tried at Taco'ako Tuesday, I came across Kai's Pastele…read moreShop which I haven't seen before. I guess I'm the first to review this truck because I couldn't find any other posting on Yelp: Pastele stew - 4 stars - For $7.50 plus 20 cents tax (yes, this truck is one of the few that the tax is not included in their price) it pretty much tasted like the stew I make, but they had more ingredients in it. I like how they blended in cabbage, olives,. chunks of tomatoes and some other spices other than your basic carrot, potato, onion and celery in it. They gave a pretty big serving with two scoops of rice and watercress salad. Pastele - 3 stars - For $4 you can order the pastele ala carte. It's something I haven't eaten before, so I can't say if it's better or worse than other places, but it was something different to try - if you like spicy, it has a spicy after-bite to it. Goes well with the stew. My friend ordered the taco, and he said it was ok. However, I can't rate it since I didn't try it. Service - 5 stars - the man and woman were very friendly and answered my questions on what a pastele is, but more so because I didn't know what a pastele was or tasted like, he gave me a free sample to try, which is something not many lunch trucks would do. They also sell tacos and burritos, but I have to go back to try those too before being a fan of the truck.

I'm gonna be honest and say that this is the best Pastele place I've been to on the island…read more I can't say that i can compare it to an actual sit down puerto rican restaurant, since I'm not familiar with many around the island, but in comparison to all the Pastele trucks and stops Ive been to around the island, this one takes the cake! I've been to stops along the windward side, while heading down toward Koolau. There used to be (not sure if its still there) Pastele stops along the road. One of the guys that used to serve Pastele along with poke had decent Pastele, but his business was way sketchy. The dude would always "accidentally" miscount the money. He also inaccurately counted up the total of your order in his head. Not to mention his erasable white board was unreadable which made the prices even harder to determine. So don't go to that guy! Instead go to Kai's. Great prices (you don't have to worry about getting ripped off) and their Pastele ingredients are unique in texture. I'm really not even sure if they were made out of the traditional banana base. But i don't really care because they were just so awesome! They offer a a few different types Pastele with different types of meat all at different spice levels. Also several other peurto rican dishes which i still have yet to try are available. Next time I'm getting the seafood Pastele. I'm so bummed because they sold out the last time. I'm a huge fan of seafood and Pastele so when i saw it on the menu i just thought it was the coolest mix. (if you've never had poke with your Pastele you should def. give it a try)

Ahhhh I love this place the Lua Ham Hock omg winna winna chicken dina lol just an all around good…read morecomfort food I WOULD LUKE TO THANK TES AND HER MAN FOR LUCH always happy to meet new ppl especially when dey from the hood thanks to both service good setting is like ohana Marie

Update 7/8/26 on Jackie's Diner . Last time I was here it was about 3 years ago . I gave them 3…read morestars today what a difference 4 stars . Look at my pics the Lau Lau is very moist and they put nice amount of pork fat . That's the trick you need to add a little fat not all lean pork it will be dry . Last time I experienced a little dry Lau Lau now it's very good and moist . The only recommendation I would like to tell management they need to cut the luau stems a little it was long and stringy. Their service is always on point and friendly . Support local

Hubs and I love the Thursday Wai Kai Market! It's close enough to us where we can walk there. It's…read morea great break from cooking and cleaning at home lol. Best of all, we get to try so many new delicious local bites! We now look forward to our Thursday dinners! A few weeks ago we had already ordered our dinner at a couple other booths, but while waiting for our meals to be prepared, we took another lap around to plan for our next week's meal haha. I was excited to see a Puerto Rican food truck! It had been so long since we've had Puerto Rican; I was counting the days until we came back lol. I placed my order for the Tripleta sandwich and we took our stroll while waiting for our meal. I asked for no potato stix on my sandwich; personal preference, but I definitely know a lot of people who would've enjoyed the added crunch! It was ready just as we returned about 8 minutes later. Each bite was juicy, perfectly seasoned, and fresh. The bread was divine and soft, the best pair to the symphony of meats and veggies. I will definitely be trying the plantains next time! Along with more of their menu; everything sounds so yummers! For the meat sandwich lovers; the tripleta does not disappoint!!

I tried their food and it was good. I got the Pincho-con. It was $28. Flavor wise it was good but…read morepresentation wise I was disappointed. From what they posted on Instagram I was highly excited to get it but when I received it, the sauce wasn't mixed in with the rice. Also the person running the window was a young person. They weren't being rude but they did seem like they were bored. I ended up paying with a $50 bill for a $28 dish. So my change would have been $22 but instead I ended up getting $12 back. So.....like I said flavor was good. Presentation was disappointing. Service was meh. My overall score to this establishment is 2 out of 5. I won't be coming back because I don't trust the person running the window.

Food great, but make sure you have have enough CASH!!! THEY DO NOT any but . I use nearby AMT…read more had to a pay surcharge just because they refused to take cards.

The best patele on island, I've tried many and always come back here…read more It's local comfort food. My favorite: The Ultimate Patele plate Gandule Rice, Patele, Patele stew on top and Bacalao Salad. It's takeout only, there might be a few seats outside, but it's fun to pick up a plate and go to a nice park nearby to eat your lunch/early dinner under the shade of a large tree. You must come to this tiny location in Waipahu to experience this deliciousness!

Worth following and hunting them down…read more Very friendly service and they make it easy to order by using instagram messenger to place orders. Gandule rice was amazing and probably the best I've ever had, packed with flavor and ingredients that you can pretty much just eat it by itself. While the food is expensive, they do give a lot of food which increases the value. The pastelillos was also a delicious treat. Packed with ground beef and cheese and accompanied by their creamy sauce, it makes you wanting more. Overall very good food and would recommend.

One of thee hidden gems of food trucks on Oahu, the flavors is off da charts. Food takes a lil bit,…read morebut that is to be expected when it's made fresh and served hot. According to Puerto Rican's from Puerto Rico that I know and have spoken too, this truck serves "authentic" food from back home.

I've tried a few different Puerto Rican places on island, but this food truck serves up some Ono…read morefood! They do some pre-order pickups/pop ups and events. My coworkers and I were lucky to have her parked across of workplace today. I ordered the pastele stew plate with gandule rice and cornbread. The pastele stew punches your tastebuds with flavor! So delicious! The gandule rice is great and flavorful on its own, but with the pastele stew smothered on top it's next level good! The surprise hit was also the cornbread! Like wow! It was buttery, sweet but not overly sweet, and the texture was great! Can't wait until her next event or pop up!

I finally found a day and location that I could make her pop up. I ordered online 2 pastele bowls…read morewith gandule rice. Lumpia's, empanadas, and cornbread. Let me tell you her cornbread is the best I've eaten! Soft, moist and mouthwatering good! Now for the stew. I don't know what happened but it was not as good as when I previously ordered. When I tasted it, it just did not taste as good as I remember. It lacked the flavor and depth of flavor I remembered. I was disappointed. The rice had this after taste I could not figure out. I was bummed not only with the flavors but the wait even though I pre ordered.

Teixeira's Pasteles can be found at the Kailua Farmers Market held every Thursday evenings @ the…read moreparking near Longs. They are usually on the mountain side of the parking lot. You'll recognize them by their bright red sign. Teixeira pasteles are the best I've found so far.....probably because it reminds me of the pasteles my neighbors used to make. The lady who sold them to me said it was her grandmother's recipe. If it wasn't for the black olives I'd swear it was my neighbor's recipe (my neighbor used green olives). For those of you who have never tasted a pastele this is the epitomy of comfort food. They are sold as combo with Spanish rice, or separately 2/$5.00. I usually buy them separately...they re-heat well. They've also begun selling smoked meat, and you can buy it by the bag or as a small plate: 1 scoop rice, smoked meat (and I think mac salad?) I haven't tried it yet, but if it's anything like their pasteles it should be delicious! Yelp 365 Challenge: #7/365