Very Good Puerto Rican Food! I've personally have been going there for many years. Their Bacalao Salad is very good.

I used to love love love love love this place since I live literally a 1 minute walk from my house. I used to eat Pastele stew and Pastele plate with gandule rice almost weekly until I found a cockroach leg in my mac salad. If you see a bug in one item imagine how unclean the workers are with other food items. That's just my own personal reason why I haven't been back since. I understand that in the restaurant business things happen but that's just too gross for me. read more

This is maybe my third time here ever. Since my grandma has passed I've never been able to find anyone who makes awesome authentic tasting pastele and gandule rice..... til here! The staff is very friendly and attentive. The fried chicken in my opinion is better than zippys - yup, I said it!!! For your pastele and gandule rice fix, THIS is the place! read more

The Pastele Shop - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

This was the worst pastele stew we ate. Spent a lot of money ($100.00) but looks they used ground hamburger and it was very watery. There was no chicken or pork or flavor. Just watery stew. I preordered my the pastele stew, they didn't see my order. Live and learn. read more

OK so the reviews about workers not consistently wearing masks here are accurate, which is bothersome during the pandemic. I have observed it more than once. Why do I still go back? It is the only place I know of in town where I can get pasteles and gandule rice any day of the week. The workers are nice, despite the mask issue. Also, one time it smelled like cigarette smoke coming out from the kitchen. There is a sheet blocking the kitchen entrance so you cannot see what is going on back there. But cigarette smoke is pretty distinctive. The food is OK. It is a bit oily. It should satisfy anyone's pastele fix if they can get past the other issues. Parking is so so and the area is a bit sketchy. read more

The Pastele Shop - #7 - gandule rice, pastele, pastele stew - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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They have amazing pastele... great taste... really satisfying also enjoy their pastele lumping although they can be a bit oily they taste great... only turn off is that they charge you extra if you use a card.... I can understand a minimum payment for using a card but a fee is ridiculous read more

The pastele shop on North school Street is a small restaurant with just a few parking..known for there delicious pasteles and gandule rice..also on their menu bacalao salad, chorizo sausage, ham hock bean soup, fried chicken, pastele stew, pastele & banana lumpia..so if you love pastele and gandule rice come on down and check out this place. read more

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My bf loves pastele and gandule rice and its made me the greatest gf in the world every time I've stopped and picked up food from here in the past. For me, I fell in love with the pastele lumpias. I haven't been back since before the pandemic so I was excited when I saw The Pastele Shop on Bitesquad. I ordered Large pastele stew, Large gandule rice, 6 pasteles and like 8 pastele lumpias. (I'm not kidding when I said I fell in love with them!) Even though we've enjoyed the food in the past, this time we were quite disappointed. The pastele stew that I was greatly craving had no olives! And I normally don't eat olives but of course the day I crave it, there's not a single one in the whole container!! read more

I was craving pasteles so bad on my last trip home & i found this place on yelp. Passed it a million times back in my Kamehameha Schools days, working in Kalihi and catching the city bus everywhere lol. Apparently this shop has been open since the 80s! This place was easy to find, has a little parking lot & there a few tables inside that you can eat at. My family and I ordered the #6 (2 pasteles w/gandule rice), pastele stew, ham hock bean soup, banana lumpia and pastele lumpias. Everything was so 'ONO! The portions were really great. It hit the spot & I am definitely going back when go visit my family. read more

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Good food, great price always go there buggah is awesome. I always get the #6 2 pastele and G rice. By the time I finish I'm filled up. If you like spicy make sure you call ahead to make sure the have hot available. There's quite a few other stuff on the menu it's all good. Swing by check it out. You can also dine in if you want. I usually just make a phone order. Oh FYI parking is limited. If you don't wanna deal with finding park make a phone order. read more

I just love their food! Very authentic portugese food. Pastele, pastele stew, gandula rice, fried chicken and lumpia are my favs! Nothing fancy but just homeade portugese food! They've been in business for 30yrs!!! Prices are cheap too! Fyi, they do not have a lunch wagon only sells from their shop on School Street/Gulick Street. They are temporarily closed on Mondays for renovations. read more

Whenever I have my pastele craving, I always come here to eat. Noma and Vicki are class acts!! Always are friendly and inviting! My go to is the spicy pastele with the bacalao salad and a piece of their fried chicken. Two pieces are even better! Quality of their food is always consistent and delicious!! read more

The best pastele I ever had. I always order them frozen to bring home with us to SoCal.

Absolutely the best. Of you want to try real gandule rice and real pastele... gotta try this place I mean, it's in the name so of course they specialize in it! Every time I miss this kind of cuisine from back home I always come here. They've got other great stuff too I've tried but the pastele & pastele stew with that rice.... omg home for me read more

It's been awhile... got the #5 spicy pastele with ganduli rice for $6.75... lot of rice and pastele was very tasty spicy good!!! read more

The Pastele Shop - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Just the worst food!!!!! What's going on here. Since when does Pastele a have soggy unlocked masa and pink pork meat. Learn to cook Puerto Rican food before serving it up as is. Just a terrible misrepresentation of Pastele. And for your rice give me a damn break opening a can of gandule beans and tomato past does not make gandule rice. Just plain old laziness and sickening. read more

On point love this place, going for years and when I'm in town. Tried others but this place always will stay in my heart! Spicy pork pastele and rice with gondules, ono!! read more

This is definitely a Daimond in the ruff, it's nestled in Kalihi Just off of Gulick and just a couple of minutes when you take the LikeLike off ramp .I am never disappointed when I come to this establishment, and I might add that it's mother and grandma approved as being very authentic in taste and texture and the servings are very descent read more

The Pastele Shop - Pastele bowl - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

Every time I come into kalihi i stop there for my gundule rice and spicy pasteles and the lumpia's they have. Great childhood food staple.

Best pastele around. Price is okish. Only downside is that it's a hole in the wall shop (actually that's where all the good stuff comes from anyway). Just found out they have a pastele lumpia. It's really good when hot! read more

Delicious, fresh, friendly, and fast! The person who took my order went out of their way to do the math and figure out that I could get everything I wanted for a better price by ordering a different combination of meals. Thanks! read more

We made our long awaited visit to this shop on a Sunday after church and... really, really liked it. We tried a variety of menu items and nearly all of them were good to excellent: pasteles (surprisingly, overcooked -- too soft), gandule rice (nice), toss salad (better than expected, with romaine lettuce), lumpia (a bit oily, but tasty), a pastele turnover (fantastic -- flaky and delicious, the best thing we ordered, IMO), and fried chicken (a favorite of my daughter). I think we could have gotten a better deal ordering a couple of combos, which looked quite generous on the tables of other diners, but my family really wanted to order a la carte to give them the greatest freedom to choose the items they wanted. Portions were good, and prices were modest. Their hot sauce didn't have much punch. Next time, we bring our own. :-) The painting (murals?) on the walls was really beautiful; the tables and chairs were aged but serviceable. Service was friendly, but not especially speedy. When we were there, one woman seemed to be cashier and plating all of the food. I think she was there alone. Thankfully, we got in on the front end of a rush, but otherwise, it would have been a wait. Parking was free in their private lot, but there wasn't a lot of it and it was a little confusing as to where it was okay to park. If you go, you'll see what I mean. Verdict: We'll be coming back -- soon, I hope! read more

not exactly authentic .. i ordered on bite squad --pastele ,stew , pastele lumpia & banana lumpia. the pastele was MUSH iterally i couldn't even eat it . was not cooked fully. tried to call and of course their phone doesn't ring . read more

I love going to the Pastele shop! Food is always good! The Masa is always so melt in your mouth! The heat is just enough! I tried the Pastele stew for the first time and it wasn't my favorite but it did taste good! read more

The service is fantastic. We placed an order the day before Super Bowl Sunday and they we able to accommodate us and the prices are quite good. We went to pick up and the lady was the nicest, sweetest lady. She was so polite and VERY quick service. Another very important factor...the food was delicious. We'll definitely be back. read more

Read somewhere that they had the best Pastele Stew. Went there, plate was heavy. Pastele STEW(not SOUP) tasted good! My only complaint is there was not enough gravy. Granted , it was served on a bed of rice which probably soaked up most of it and a side of mac salad, All and all, it did not disappoint. read more

I don't know what's happening over there. I ordered through bitesquad for coworkers today and immediately noticed the food smelled "different" before opening the bag. The pastele lumpia filling wasn't the normal amazing stuff I know and was definitely missing a lot of love and felt rushed as the oil wasn't completely drained. I ate one pastele a bit after and I still almost feel like I'm right there on the verge of food poisoning. I hope my coworkers don't get sick. Their food is usually amazing. I hate the fact that I have to write this review. I just feel like the loyal customers need to know as the prices here are quite high but it has been worth it up until now. Today the food just quality isn't there. read more

stopped in here with some friends after a long day. First time here and we were starving so I got the largest plate lol. It came with Pastele, Pastele stew, gandule rice and bacaloa salad. The combination of all of these on one plate was pure heaven! This was my first time eating the salad, consisted of a vinegary dressing and salted fried cod. It took a second to get used to but it's all I could think about as I was leaving lol! The Pastele was top notch and I love that my one plate had everything on it! I didn't care too much for the Banana lumpia's I ordered but I am also spoiled with Sugar crusted ones from my friends mom! HAH! The potato/Mac salad they have to offer is definitely worth ordering. I haven't had Mac salad that great since heights drive in. The aunty who helped us after was a great way to end our meal. So much aloha and you could tell she loves being there. Thank you and I can't wait for my next visit! read more

The Pastele Shop - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Pastele was good, but missing pork and olives, gandule rice not bad no olives, some sort of protein, and chopped onions like other places have. Roast pork with gravy was very hard, tough for the seniors to eat. But I'll definitely go again read more

I booked marked this place months ago...I wanted to try it ever since a few yelp buddies said that it was a good place to check out... Ok, been there...done that...can I get a t-shirt or something? Since it was my first time, I ordered the #1--1 Pastele, Gandule Rice, Bacalao Salad and a Chorizo... The first thing that comes to mind is how salty everything seemed. I was looking for something that would have the perfect balance of flavors...with the smokiness of the pork, the tang of the olives, and the tell-tale garbanzo...but it seems that these arent ingredients in the Hawaiian version of these Boriqua delicacies. They use BLACK olives! No Garbanzos but a whole lot of salt... The bacalao salad was meh...getting soggy way too quickly but also lacking any real flavor. I was really hoping that this would be different... Will I come here again? Probably not. Looks like I'm gonna have to pull up a recipe and make an attempt to do this all on my own. read more

The Pastele Shop - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

If you're not familiar with the area/establishment you'd be hesitant to eat here. The area because they are located in Kalihi; I grew up in Kalihi so it doesn't bother me. The establishment because it is drab and dark; most would describe it as ghetto. I usually do take out but there is a small dining area; there's not much light coming through so if you don't mind eating in the dark well then there ya go. Be prepared to go around the block a few times because parking is bad depending on what time you go. My favorite is the pastele, gandule rice, bacalao salad and a side of boiled banana (the sauce with the banana is good). *The pastele I ordered today was huge; it normally isn't that big unless the size has changed. It was also putty-like in texture and soggy. I almost didn't eat it; wasn't sure if they were fully cooked; the flavor was there though. read more

The Pastele Shop - Today the pastele was abnormally huge and putty-like in texture. More on the soggy side and not firm as usual - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

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Called in my order. You definitely need to use google to get there because you can definitely drive right past it lol but once you find parking street or in the front - it's a small store. I called in my order and it was perfect, in and out they were super nice and very friendly staff. Love their Pastele's they're the best I've had. The spicy is just spicy enough ;) read more

Whenever I hear Pastele, my mouth waters and I'm instantly hungry again. The Pastele Shop has been serving up pasteles for quite some time now. Growing up in Kalihi, I would pass this restaurant numerous times. Sometimes I was lucky and made a stop there for a bite to eat! On my visit, I ordered their Pastele and Gandule Rice plate. I usually get the spicy, since it's not as spicy as one would think. Their Pastele menu is full of choices- pasteles, matuda, bacalao, pastele lumpias, and even panadesa. They have the works here! So you know you'll either order everything on one visit, or it'll mean you'll need to come back again to try the rest! read more

This was my first time eating Pastele and it was really good!! It kind of reminds me of a tamale. They have reasonable prices with unbeatable quality of food. It's kind of a hole in the wall and in a sketchy area, but if you overlook that then it's really not bad at all. Aunty was so nice she even gave us 10 free banana lumpia's as a Christmas gift! read more

The Pastele Shop - Updated 12/14/18 - Latin American Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

When you think of restaurants in Hawaii, you wouldn't expect many to serve Puerto Rican food. And yet there is a surprising amount of places that do. This is in part to the immigration of Puerto Rican workers in the early 20th century to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations. And bringing along their cuisine with them. As a result, you can find pasteles on the menu in many local restaurants in Hawaii. And yet, I never had a single pastele in my life even though I grew up in the islands. I decided to rectify that by checking out The Pastele Shop. This hole in the wall eatery is located on North School Street, two blocks west of Kam Shopping Center in Kalihi. It is located on the left side. There is parking in front of the shop. Beware that the parking is slanted on a hill. The interior is no frills. The counter is right in front with a few tables in the back to eat if you are dining in. The food here is local style Puerto Rican food. There are a couple Puerto Rican restaurants in Seattle and the offerings are different than what is found here. There isn't any mofongo here for instance. The main offering here are the pasteles as the namesake indicates along with a few other items. Pasteles are similar to Mexican tamales and joong, the Chinese rice dumpling. They are wrapped in banana (or is it ti?) leaves and steamed. I got two pasteles which were about $4 each and a bowl of pastele stew ($4.95). The pasteles here were flavorful and the pork is tender. Having tried this for the first time, it did look and taste like a tamale. There was no discernible difference. The only issue with the pastele is that they are quite oily. So make sure to grab a napkin to use after unwrapping. I got the pastele stew for my dad, but I did get a little taste of it. It was delicious as well and much less messy than getting a pastele. It reminds me of Cuban picadillo. If you are looking for a hearty meal, get this. If you are interested in what localized Puerto Rican food in Hawaii tastes like, The Pastele Shop is a good place to start. read more

Fathers Day Pastele order was a hit at our dinner table. Mild pork Pastele $3.95. Price went up a little but not a problem to help support our local business! read more

I haven't eaten here in ages!!! So made every effort to get there. To me they make the best Pastele and gandule rice I had to order a small pan. I don't like too much beans, so the rice had just the right amount of everything. I added the Pastele stew which was another added greatness. I always worry for small eatery's during this COVID time. I like to see business with customers that return. The owner is so personable like how I remember it before. Great place to go for breakfast, lunch or dinner!!! read more

The photos online look different then the actual plates and panadejas themselves. No meet in the honto rice, looks like they only colored it with achote oil. The pastele itself was okay but not filling. The flavors was alright. read more

Quick and easy pick up of good ol' pastele and gandule rice combo plate. Always able to depend on this place for a cheap super-filling meal, friendly service, and laid back hole in the wall vibes. read more

We're usually not Yelpers and this is our very first review, which is so, so, so warranted! WARNING!!! DO NOT EAT HERE! IT'S A FRAUD AND A RIP OFF! This place DEFINITELY DOES NOT serve Puerto Rican food! How shameful is this shop that names themselves after an ethnic delicacy and serves the public CRAP!!! What an embarrassment to the Hispanic culture! Our pastele was mushy and soggy - the banana not fully cooked. The rice is wet, pales in color with only beans and NO flavor, and the bacalao salad smelled sour. Our food was not edible, we through the entire purchase ($$) in the trash can, definitely didn't want to get food poisoning. Eat at your own RISK!!! Very ghetto and Kind of sketchy. Be careful... they told us not accepting credit card payment at that time, cash only, NO RECEIPT given. Very SHADY business operations! Poor management handling by Vicky and Norma, sisters in this business and THEY DO NOT RESPOND positively to customer dissatisfaction!!! #NOMORE!!! Let's all rise together and report this place to the BBB, boy cot the establishment and get the health department involved - who definitely needs to take a closer look at this place and SHUT IT DOWN!!! read more