AAA Local BBQ

Normally I wouldn’t even consider eating here but I was starving, on a time crunch and didn’t wanna wait 45 minutes to have ramen next door. Since I needed to eat, I just picked this place without even looking on Unilocal or thinking about it. Shame on me and I can’t blame anyone else but myself for this experience.
This take out restaurant is outside of Don Quijote. They have a wall full of pictures of items on their menu. Portions are large like their photos. I think the pictures look better than the actual dish themselves though. They accept cash and major credit cards. When you check in, you get 10% off your purchase of $ 10.00 or more.
I ordered the regular size Loco Moco with all rice. Hard to screw up Loco Moco but apparently it can be done. The gravy was oily and tasted Chinese along with the beef patties. The eggs were a little greasy too. Thank goodness for Tabasco, Sriracha and Black Pepper! I ate a few bites and threw away the rest of the plate. If you like Chinese flavored local food then this place is your spot. I don’t think I’m coming back in the future.

I used to frequent this place more often in the past, when I worked in the area. I sometimes go here if I’m shopping at Don Quijote. This place has a reasonably-​priced, tasty breakfast special, with good portioning too. Today I craved seafood so I went with the ahi (spicy, garlic or shoyu) and mahi mahi combo, which was scribbled on the specials board in the front. It should be noted that I don’t eat a lot of seafood, and only crave it sometimes, and without too much of a strong fishy flavor. On to the food. I got the spicy ahi option, which turned out to be just fried ahi with sriracha on it. It was still tasty though. The mahi mahi was amazing! It had a light texture and full flavor. I loved it. Their food is always satisfying, delicious with reasonable prices. The specials are there in case you can’t choose just one item. I will be back to try their other items, including the loco moco which is cheaper and probably bigger portioned than Zippy’s.

It’s okay. We were hungry for lunch and AAA looked the best of the places outside Don Quixote. The prices were reasonable and the portions good size. My wife had the small pork adobo. I had a combo mochiko chicken and BBQ pork. The adobo was good but not great. It didn’t taste like adobo (my wife’s a pinay) but was good. My mochiko chicken was like fried chicken. Meh. The BBQ pork was tasty but only a few slices unfortunately.
Would I come back? Nope.

Usually, my vacation days are planned around food. But this time, our schedules were quite packed from meeting friends & shopping for coffee & mac nuts to bring back home. After spending some money at Don Quiote, we found this place, AAA Local BBQ outside of the market, next to several other eateries. We decided to try it based on the words Local BBQ. Didn’t quite work out well. This visit was on 9÷16÷15
First, the place is run by people from China (I can tell by their accent as the cashier and cook spoke to each other) This alone told me it’s not authentic. Plus, the young girl (cashier) rendered herself pretty useless. When I asked her what is Mochiko Chicken, she took a toothpick, poked at a piece to show me, said «here!» then popped it into her mouth. Wow, that was helpful! Luckily, there was a guy waiting for his order that explained things for me.
The menus posted outside did not have any descriptions, so I asked what’s in a combo. She turned around & shouted to the cook, what’s a combo? He yelled back and pointed at the menu behind the glass and said «here!» He was losing his patience I assume.
I checked in on Unilocal and there was a 10% off deal. There was also a Unilocal sign at the counter offering the same deal. When I showed her my check-​in, she asked, «what’s that?» I flipped their sign around to show her, at which point she asked the cook again what’s Unilocal?He responded loudly, «why are you asking me that question!?» and mumbled something, probably how he’s going to kick her ass after they close. Whatever it was, it worked and she took 10% off.
We ended up ordering a small BBQ chicken and a combo, which included BBQ beef, short ribs and chicken. Both came with rice and mac salad. The chicken plate was good, as the chicken was tender and has decent flavor. The combo: The beef was fatty, chewy and low quality. There was only one small piece of rib w/​little meat, and the chicken was the same as the other order, so not too bad. The mac salad was average, nowhere near the awesome ones I had on other islands.
Overall, we were full and didn’t get sick. But we would never come back here on our next visit to Honolulu. Hopefully the girl cashier will get another job doing something that requires a lot less intelligence.

Been here for a quick dinner and saw that they also serve breakfast too! Love that I can bring my dog along and the breakfast selections are great. The special combo comes with 3 meats, eggs your way and choice of fried or white rice. Not to mention you can order any of the other plate lunch can or burger options. $ 6.75 for breakfast and great portions. Can’t go wrong!

Not a real BBQ lol Just cooked chicken…
today Special? $ 8.29 Pork Chop + BBQ chicken Combo= 1 piece Chicken + 2.5 piece super thin pork chop

Note that this review is 5 stars for a plate lunch level restaurant.
This place was never on my go to list for plate lunch simply because the don quihote area is especially crazy to drive in with all the fobs. But when I’m in the area, I don’t mind stopping in to get some tasty plates that are much cheaper than the zippys around the block. It’s a Chinese business so expect to be served accordingly. The people manning the register are usually friendly and helpful.
The grilled garlic chicken had been my go to for nearly ten years and the portions and taste has not swayed from when I first started to eat there. If my memory serves correct, the price has been pretty much the same too. $ 8.19 for a full plate. The orders can come out a little slow, but I’m fine with getting a freshly cooked product. Just be aware if you are on break the time needed for some items.
All in, it’s a good plate lunch place.

1. VERDICT/​VALUE: You may not win on price, but you can beat the rush at Zippy’s, Regal, Rainbow’s, and other plate lunch places by coming here and enjoying decent food!
2. FOOD: There’s a good selection of plate lunches to choose from and the place is pretty solid for breakfast and dinner. Today’s review is for breakfast.
The Ham and Eggs ($ 5.79) features two eggs cooked your way, two slices of chopped/​cooked ham, on top of white or brown rice. I chose fried rice ($ 0.59 more) and it’s alright — more flavor from the oil, but it only had some kernels of corn in it.
The Omelet with your choice of meat ($ 5.49) we had today featured Vienna sausage and it came on top of your choice of rice.
While the price won’t win over the competition, the food is decent and you’re coming here because the competition has fewer available parking spots.
3. SERVICE: Mandarin Chinese speakers would benefit most here; however, English speakers like myself manage just fine. It’s a take out window, so it’s good for what it is. They are training a new lady as of this writing, so be patient!
4. ATMOSPHERE: It’s really take-​out window; there are communal picnic tables out front, which is your best choice for dining; otherwise, you’re taking your meal with you.

My four stars are for the breakfast special; fried rice, 2 eggs, Vienna sausage, spam and Portuguese sausage. The bf was filling, service was quick and the $ 6.95 price very reasonable. The mean is vast, ranging from Loco Moco to Cheese burgers. Truly comfort food. Not a bad place to eat outdoors.

So we were walking around and I wanted to check out Don Quijote just to see what it was like. In the back of my mind I also planned to grab a bite at Santouka — I was even excited that they had a location here. So we walked around the store — perfect for goofy Hawaiian souvenirs to bring back home to the mainland. Then we decided to eat and took a walk outside where all the different restaurants were. We passed by Santouka and it was actually a sit down restaurant and not a food court service window — that, the fact that they are cash-​only, and the fact that I’ve had it before and they have a location in San Diego which I visit often made me decide to take a pass. Instead I decided to get a combo plate at AAA Local BBQ. Had to chuckle at the name. Didn’t those kinda names go out with those huge phone books we used to have to thumb through to find things like restaurants? That kinda name would get you listed near the beginning of the restaurants section but nowadays people are more likely to search google, Unilocal,foursquare, etc. Maybe they’re just old school like that. No matter. I ordered mochiko chicken and pork adobo. Hadn’t had mochiko chicken in years. This is strictly local food and even Hawaiian places on the mainland are unlikely to have it. That combined with pork adobo that I suddenly also wanted plus macaroni salad promised some totally ono grinds. Ok. This place might be just diner level in quality. Not the best pork adobo and maybe even the mochiko chicken wasn’t as good as when a girlfriend from years ago made it for me — but the combo of all things combined and being able to eat it in the early evening on a bench outside Don Quijote facing the parking lot while people watching — a simple thing like this made me quite content. Service — well, they take your order, take your money and then call out when it’s ready — that’s all there is to it so you can’t really mess that up. Parking — plenty of parking since Don Quijote’s parking lot is a pretty good size.

It is located at the Don Quixote shopping area. We got the BBQ pork, Mochiko Chicken combo that included brown rice and macaroni salad. The chicken had a sweetness to it, the pork was soft and tender, and the macaroni salad creamy. I am going to miss this when I get back to California.

Breakfast is cheap. Great quality an fast service. Also the portions a large for the price.

Always great food and service. The cashier knows the orders of most of the regulars. Showing a good eye to detail.

Bacon. At any time. (During open hours.)
AAA Local BBQ, in the strip of eateries near Don Quijote, serves quick, basic breakfasts, like bacon, eggs and rice. Solid, dependable breakfast for $ 5. With brown rice too at no extra charge, no less! Eggs pretty much any way you like ‘em, with a picture menu of the different cooking methods, in case you needed to know what «over-​medium» stands for.
So the best part? Breakfast available ANY TIME. ($ 1 more after breakfast hours.) But a minor fee to chow down on bacon in the middle of the day.
Apparently they also have some other food items like BBQ chicken or hamburger steak (think a full-​blown L&L menu), but I never got beyond «bacon available any time». Pfft, why would you need to?
Best. Find. Ever. Breakfast time!

great place for some fast plate lunch: D
i recommend the pork adobo omelet with cheese&green onion ^-^v or the regular garlic chicken

I grabbed a mini mochiko chicken lunch plate from AAA during my 30 min lunch break (ha!). It came out pretty fast and the mochiko chicken was decent, not the best I’ve ever had, but it fit the bill.
THe lady behind the register was a little weird. She was wearing sunglasses (maybe she was hung over… it wasn’t like the sun was shining in her face). She was also a little difficult to understand so I had to stand by the window instead of sitting on the benches, since I didn’t want to miss my order.

I was starving and the entire strip of food vendors seems far from amazing, but what’s a hungry girl to do?
I took a quick stroll scanning through the menus and all I see are local dishes. I need something different and luckily I saw a picture of a beef stew dish. I love local food, but some times even when I’m starving I am willing to venture off and try something other than the norm. The picture looked appetizing and plus I have the option to choose brown rice.
I ran home, enjoyed my beef stew and to my surprise the mac salad was sinfully good down to the last bite. This dish was really saucy because it’s beef stew, and the cubed beef was tender and delicious. For a meal that is just under $ 7.50 and this type of quality, it was definitely a good find.

Went to AAA for a quick bite before grocery shopping at DQ. The place is pretty much an L&L with similar options. I got the BBQ burger and french fries for less than $ 5, a pretty cheap option if you feel like fast food in the area. The food was alright.

Gah… I hate it when you’re looking and looking for food… and you’re at your last resort… here…and it’s terrible.
I had the garlic ahi, and the ahi was so tough… it was hard to eat. I did not enjoy my meal. I will not go back even though I’m starving… I’d much rather go into don quijote and grab a musubi or sandwich.
Unilocal 365 Challenge #289/​365

I decided to eat at AAA Local BBQ after shopping at Don Quiote, but somehow most of the restaurants there are not that good, including here. If you want more for your money, better to go L&L hawaiian BBQ or some other local fast food. I ordered the 3 items seafood platter for $ 8, which was ok, but the portions were small:
3 item Seafood plate — 2 ½ stars — for $ 8, I got grilled mahimahi, ahi and shrimp. The Ahi was dry, not too tasty except maybe a little fishy. The Mahimahi was soft and tasty, but I got such a small piece, smaller than my palm, that all I got was a taste of it, and the shrimp was ok, but a little chewy and old tasting. My son usually loves to eat shrimp, but after one bite, he threw it away. I guess it’s ok if you want something right after shopping at Don Quiote, but just a short drive to L&L at ward, you’ll get tastier and more food with your rice. There wasn’t enough taste in the seafood and so much rice that we had to buy a miso butterfish in Don Quiote to add taste and to fill with the starch. The mac salad was average.
Service — 5 stars — the girl was very nice and friendly, and gave us extra forks, water and napkins for us to split the food. Service here is way better than any of the L&Ls I’ve been to.
I guess I need to give it another chance and buy the full mahimahi plate so I can see if it compares to L&L.