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    Papi’s Smoke Meat and Grindz

    4.6 (35 reviews)

    Papi’s Smoke Meat and Grindz Photos

    PAPI’S SMOKE MEAT AND GRINDZ ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Outdoor seating
    Happy hour specials

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    Hamburger Steak; Follow me @RimyEats on Instagram
    Amy Z.

    This food truck was located right outside our Airbnb. It's a little tucked behind the other food trucks but we wanted to try the hamburger steak. It was super loaded and tasty. We got two really well seasoned steaks and two balls of rice! Honestly enough to split with two people. The plate was $20 and they gave us our monies' worth. The staff was friendly. There are plenty of seats to sit and enjoy this but we had it back at our airbnb. I highly recommend checking out this spot.

    Leneice G.

    After first arriving to Waikiki we found a food truck market off Ala Moana Blvd across from Waikiki brewing on a Wednesday morning. Got the chicken and rice place and it was very tasteful. Loved it.

    Spicy pineapple smoke meat.
    Jasmine R.

    10/10 recommend. Owner mentioned they soak the meat in marinade for several days before smoking. Very flavorful!!! Got the spicy pineapple smoke meat

    Deep fried spam musubi
    Gabrielle D.

    BROKE DA MOUTH!!! 10/10 all around from food, to service, to the ambiance, and accessibility to how close/convenient this place is. The owner is super friendly and immediately recognized us on our second visit. We'll definitely be coming back for more grindz!! Mahalo for everything!!

    Smoked Sliders

    The smoked sliders were soo good! The bread was very soft and the pork was incredibly tender and full of flavor! I was worried the pineapple slaw would be too sweet but it was just perfect. Something to note is that only 3 sliders are given per order. For some it's a perfect satiating amount but might be a small meal to others. But other than that, it's definitely worth a try

    Smoked sliders with pineapple coleslaw
    Erin C.

    Decided to check out the Smoked Sliders with Pineapple Slaw today and they did not disappoint! Delicious! Plus the fast and friendly service is appreciated! Check this place out if you haven't already!

    Smoked sliders with pineapple coleslaw , so good!!!
    Janine H.

    Friendly and amazing food. Located in the food truck court. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. Mahalo

    Robert S.

    Man!! The smoked meat was amazing!! Great island flavor with a Smokey twist!! Chef K even gave me a cupcake that was amazing! You gotta stop by this food truck off your in Waikiki! My food didn't make it back to the room with me lol because I ate it on the walk back to the hotel!! I wish I could post pictures

    a food truck
    Don D.

    Trying to support local food trucks and decided to try this truck. Meat was good. The only thing I didn't like was the portion size of the Nachos. It does seem expensive for the size. I'll probably be back to order other menu items but definitely not the Nachos. It was so small that I actually went to another truck next to it to order more food.

    Papi's Original Smoked Meat Plate
    Jennifer L.

    Papi's Smoke Meat hits the spot. The meat was perfectly smoked, super tasty, and piping hot. Def recommend this local smoke meat spot over the other food trucks in the area. A little bit pricey, but that's anything in/near Waikiki. Mahalo for the ono grindz!!

    Smoked pork
    Michael B.

    Just visited the Ohana Hale Waikiki food truck area and tried Papi's. Went with the smoked pork plate and it was fantastic. Very tender and flavorful

    Crispy guava chicken

    Ordered the crispy guava chicken.... It was so freaking delicious! Chicken was moist and the coating was crispy! Portion size was very generous. We will definitely be back again

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    2 years ago

    You just gotta go and try it! Good smoke meat, good service! Awesome owner and location

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    Elu W.

    Mahalo Kona for your review.

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    1 year ago

    I got the Lilikoi smoked pork- very good! Tender, a little sweet. I was happy with it.

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    2 years ago

    Maui girl approved. Great grindz and service. Have to try the guava smoked meat next time.

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    2 years ago

    Very good. Friends waited a little long but it was worth it. The fried musibi is the one to get.

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    2 years ago

    We had the chicken katsu, barbecue chicken, and the guava chicken. All of it was amazing! It is fresh and delicious! 10/10 recommend!

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    Waikiki Garlic Shack - Coconut Shrimp plate

    Waikiki Garlic Shack

    4.5(143 reviews)
    0.9 miWaikiki
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    I was looking for a quick hot lunch (3 days of eating poke will do that to ya) and this popped up…read moreon Yelp so I wandered over. It's in an area with a few other food stalls and I didn't know what to expect but I'm so glad I tried it. I ordered the angry shrimp plate and the 6pc coconut shrimp a la carte ($13.95). The coconut shrimp is outta this world. Coated with breading with flakes of coconut, the crispy, crunchy exterior is so satisfying to bite into and unveils the juicy shrimp underneath. I loved the sauces it came with too -- it paired so well with the shrimp. The angry shrimp plate comes with two scoops of furikake rice and a small side salad. Whatever is in the salad dressing is seriously addictive and the angry shrimp is wonderful when paired with the rice. The sauce made me want two more scoops of white rice. I preferred my beloved coconut shrimp more but all in all these were excellent dishes. I might need to get this again and that's high praise considering the abundance of good food in Oahu.

    AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! Disrespectful service & completely unacceptable behavior!!…read more My boyfriend and I placed two separate orders for a total of 4 platters and 2 drinks. During my boyfriend's transaction, he didn't realize it was cashless, and the employee, Mitchel T, repeatedly pressured him to put his cash in the tip jar - mentioning things like a ski trip and family to convince him to hand the cash over as tip. It quickly became uncomfortable. When picking up our first order (2 platters, 2 drinks), the same employee asked if I could carry everything. I said I'd try, but instead of giving me the drinks, he handed me only the 2 platters and angrily sighed before setting the drinks back down. As I went back for the drinks, he instead handed me the remaining two platters. I turn to set those down and while doing so I guess he thought now I would be able to handle carrying 2 platters and 2 drinks. Because I didn't grab the drinks this second go around, the worker called me a "F***ING IDIOT." When I said, "that's rude," he doubled down - telling another customer I was an idiot because he was "busy" (there was only one person in line). My boyfriend calmly tried to address it, but the employee refused, completely ignored him, and continued glaring at us as we left. Other customers also expressed how rudely treated they were at this location. We spent nearly $100 to be treated with hostility. Completely unacceptable.

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    Food truck "court" including the angry shrimp!

    Waikiki Garlic Shack - #1 Angry Shrimp

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    Sam's Kitchen

    Sam's Kitchen

    4.0(1.4k reviews)
    0.8 miWaikiki
    $$

    Dave is the Bartender/Manager here. Excellent service! Super friendly quick on the pour, and eager…read moreto please! They just started opening up for lunch time about a month ago - something they haven't done before, and people have been attending! Sheva (Seven) - was my bartender today - very friendly super engaging and always quick to entertain with fun trivia facts! Beer prices are fairly priced, see the pics I posted to see everything. No price gauging on wine AT ALL!! (Other places charge $15 for a chardonnay, and vary the prices of the wine depending on the type; now granted if they going higher end and longer age in a barrel I can understand - but for a bottle cali wine you can get @ Target for the same brand at $15 - ya know there are some mark ups!) Anyhoooo.... Let's talk the food: belly so happy taking leftovers home! Alright so Step 1: Choice of protein: fish, beef, chicken, tofu, vegetables. I asked for half chicken & half vegetable combo (they were EXTREMELY accomodating on that request)!!!!! Step 2: Pick yer sauce! They have 5 main sauces, pic enclosed. I went with the Spicy Teri Garlic! (trust me foodies it fiiiiiire! Step 3/Final Step: Choose da sides (again on the menu pic) I went for the combo - salad, rice, and potato/mac salad! Now for specialty drinks: Their Bloody Harry (a unique Bloody Mary) is completely worth it! Uses a unique homemade infused vodka that hands down you will NOT find anywhere else on island! Glass is rimmed with salt AND peppercorns, again another unique feature to this beverage! There is also a new beverage called Wonka Lada, which looks very much like something you'd see out of Willy Wonka's factory and/or if you really geeking out making comparisons to Monster's Inc! And others have compared it to something out of Warcraft, I can't say anyone is wrong! Smoothy style especially for those needing a nice cold fix! Li ing mui on the rim. Gives all the piña colada vibes with a strong hit of ube! This is one of those that hits you afterward!!!! Great vibe there are tables all around and even a small hot tub/pool area to give more to the atmosphere look! So don't complain if plastic cups are used because hotel has a no glass policy around the pool. This establishment has been here since last November. And don't think yer gonna get bored sitting here! Bar top is really solid hard wood!! There are all sorts of decor that each time you come here it almost a game of find this item! Tribal masks from Africa, Traditional tiki faces, bonsai trees, Hula instruments, saddles, tapa style roofing, beware the lobsters running amuck! Hmmm maybe a promotion needs to be done where what item is new hiding amongst all the decor for a special prize or something? And yes for you folks who are die hard sports fans - there are 2 televisions - everything comes from streaming services - so treat them nicely with yer tips and maybe they can get more power to more of what u wanna see! (hint hint hint) Overall this place is a huuuge 100/10! So bring tyler gang here! Oh in case u asked the bar is inside the Bamboo resort (fun fact this building been here for 100 years!)! And don't worry super close to the bus lines so for those who need an extra lift yer covered! (unless you ubered or lyfted or drove, rode yer own bike/scooter/skateboard or did yer own two feet here! Yes your mouths and eyes are watering to get over here! So easy way to know yer in the right spot is to see the vintage Yellow Woody sitting out front! Just please don't climb in it for photo ops - that would really make everyone sad. Yes Yelpers I "will be back"! Enjoy and help support these local folks running the place!

    Hawaiian garlic shrimp is a iconic local dish, not technically traditional Hawaiian food, featuring…read moreshell-on shrimp tossed in a pungent garlic-butter sauce, heavily popularized by North Shore, Oahu food trucks since the mid-1970s. With the recent flood happening at the end of March, and our trip being in early April, going to North Shore wasn't advised. While we have some great Hawaiian garlic shrimp spots in Arizona, we had to at least try to get some garlic shrimp while on Oahu. We gave this place a try just because we were already in the building. It wasn't a choice we made prior because honestly, I would have suggested trying a more well-known spot like two miles away, haha! We shared a $14 Shrimp with Original Garlic sauce on it and made it a combo with rice, a scoop of potato mac salad, and regular salad, $14 + $6. Sam's Kitchen was okay. I would have loved to have the shell-on but this place does not offer shell-on shrimp. Still, they make a decent garlic shrimp.

    Photos
    Sam's Kitchen - View of the pool from our table.

    View of the pool from our table.

    Sam's Kitchen - Orig garlic shrmp & tery-garlic steak

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    Chee Hoo BBQ - Combo Platter

    Chee Hoo BBQ

    3.6(81 reviews)
    0.6 miWaikiki
    $$

    This was my first time. I like that they offer 3 sides with your meat. I had the baked beans,…read morecoleslaw and potato salad. All three were very tasty. Not your standard sides. I would just order the sides that is how good they were. I ordered the ribs. It came with 4 ribs. The sauce was really good and the ribs were meaty but not fall off the bone tender. I suggest sturdier utensils as my fork broke on the first rib. I also suggest offering extra sauce (for a fee) and provide a hand wipe for after dinner. I would also like to see a brisket Sammy. I certainly be back. The staff were friendly yet slow to acknowledge us waiting. It is located in the food court and finding a table can be a challenge in peak eating times.

    They're located in Kuhio's food hall. This place was popping at 8PM on a Saturday night…read more I ordered the Chee Hoo combo which came with beef brisket, baby back ribs, smoked sausage, and short ribs. It was ~$30 and easily shareable with 2-3 people. Everything tasted great and I loved the smokey flavor and bbq sauce. Beef brisket and short rib were kinda tough and chewy. It came with three sides so I got cole slaw, potato salad, and Mac and cheese. Cole slaw and Mac and cheese were solid; Potato salad was just alright. They also gave one warm bun too. The reason I gave 3 stars was because service was extremely slow. It seemed like they were short staff and had one person at the cash register AND getting the food. He would take a few orders, and then grab the food. When I arrived, he was grabbing food for multiple folks so then I stood there waiting like 15 just to place my order. Then when he restarted and took my order, he took like 5 more orders before grabbing the food so then I waited even longer for another 15 min. That's 30 min of waiting! Also he wasn't serving food in the order that orders were received so it felt actually felt even longer. There needs to be a better system! Surprisingly he did a employee discount on my order. Not sure if it's because it was close to closing time. Btw they charge extra if you order to-go because of the supplies for packaging. I think food is alright but wouldn't return and wait that long for bbq.

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    Waikiki Chicken In Paradise - Chicken Loco Moco!

    Waikiki Chicken In Paradise

    4.6(18 reviews)
    0.9 miWaikiki

    Nothing against Waikiki Chicken in Paradise, but I'm not going to lie - I had no idea the mini food…read moretruck park they're located in even existed, let alone had them on my list of bookmarks. However, after having to abandon our original dinner plans, we were no less intrigued after randomly stumbling across this place. While they may not have been our first choice for dinner, coming here was far more appealing than eating fast food or at the nearby IHOP! Although seeing so many folks at this mini food truck park may have been what caught our attention, it was the boxes of fried chicken on nearly every table that swayed us to try Waikiki Chicken in Paradise in particular. After skimming the menu, it wasn't hard to see why they were such a popular choice - everything on it sounded great. Granted, that's not overly difficult when there are only eight items to choose from, but tough to argue with the likes of fried chicken loco moco, fried chicken curry rice, fried chicken sandwiches, chicken & croffle, and fish & chips! Since we saw how big the portion were and didn't want anything too heavy (read: sadly, no loco moco or Japanese curry), we opted to split a FRIED CHICKEN RICE PLATE ($16.95) which came with a Fried Chicken Cutlet over White Rice with Mac Salad & Green Salad. Funny enough, despite already having a sense of how much food they give, I was still surprised by the generous portion size. As for how it all tasted, this was great. The breading on the chicken reminded me of Popeye's (though, without the spice), the batter was crispy, and the chicken itself was rather moist. As for the sides, the mac salad was pretty good, but the salad was a little heavy on dressing. If there was one thing I could change about our order, I think I'd want to see how it would taste with a sauce or glaze. At the very least, I'd definitely go with a different dipping sauce, like their Pineapple Ginger, Lilikoi Mayo, or Guava BBQ, as the Honey Mustard we went with tasted a bit generic. Of course, we could've solved both problems if we had gone with the Fried Chicken Loco Moco or Fried Chicken Curry Rice instead! I guess I'll just have to wait until the next time I'm in Waikiki!

    We got the Fried Chicken Meal and it was pretty solid! the chicken was so crispy and wasn't dry at…read moreall! fries were great and the mac salad was solid. the service was good, they were super nice and patient. this place is tucked in with a couple other food trucks/stalls and it's in such a cute area! there's seats and tables outside and it feels lively especially at night! definitely a place to check out if you're craving a somewhat filling meal!

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    Papi’s Smoke Meat and Grindz - foodtrucks - Updated May 2026

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