We’re on it

Whoa! So many new places to try! I am sad bc I want to go to Taste Tea - but every time there is a line out the door :P 

EO:  Based on this wrap up, how many do you think will make it past a year of operation?

Man, more new trucks that look awesome!  I wanna try that new Philly cheesesteak truck!

Hi, I'm the owner/manager/cook/dishwasher for Santacruz Taco Co., The Maunakea location was our kitchen and we decided to open it up to try and test reception in the area but have since moved to do farmer's markets instead, we are currently serving at the St. Clements FM on Thursdays from 4:30-7:30 and at the Kailua Elementary FM from 4-8 PM on Saturdays.

if you need more info please follow us at facebook.com/santacruztacoco or email us at santacruztacoco@gmail.com

Thank You.

Julio

Twirly Fries eh?  Sounds like a good reason to go back to Waikele.

Yay for Them Dining!

98 comments. 83 photos. 1 day. i'm gonna have to cancel my rumba lessons, tackle this sucker and get back to you.

Awesome stuff! List has been updated, folks!

Great List!!

Hello Mari, I love food and love to eat all kinds of food but as I get older I need to eat healthier and in moderation. I still go out and check out all these great eating places but not as often. I have to Eat to Live vs Live to Eat.

if you were a book, you'd be two years worth of Jane's Defense Weekly. you must have a staff of 20 and friends in the business licensing and alcohol permitting departments of the city of HNL. what about 'ainokea'? you're giving everybody a guilty conscience.

69 pics and 92 comment !? i'm going to have to set aside a night to tackle this weighty work.

Hello Mari,

What a great list of places to grind.

diane seo ur texts re frostcity (awesome! ur kind of place etc) drove me there hours after u went, even tho u had already done the reporting and sent me ur pic. i tried the ginger and black sesame -- loved both, but earthy sesame was easier to eat forever and edged out spunky ginger, which sis loved. never tried shave ice w/ marshmallows, heart of palm or popping balls before, but all worked. next up: watermelon and peanut.

Chef Padovani is opening his restaurant in the old U'raku spot? That's one place I'd be sure to get a reservation in. As for the location, well let's say that the previous occupants have moved on. Chef Fukui still has a hopping place in Restaurant Row.

Hello Mari!
Looking forward to trying all these ono places!

holy moley. it this a post or a doctoral dissertation? Hungarian chimney cake truck? betcha LA doesn't have one, yet.

Yelp has two entries for the new Jollibee here, but this one has pics of the menu:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/jollibee-waipahu
They really gotta work on that picture of that "burger steak" on the menu, blech. Looks more like mustard than gravy. Thankfully by looking at the Yelp photo it's much better IRL!

Here's the other one with more reviews:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/jollibee-waipahu-2
Funny how most of the reviews start with "yes, I waited an hour in line..." :-D Seems to be mostly positive though.

Hello Mari!
I been to Jollibee when I was in the Philippines.

Aysus manang, shuapose you go eat dey Halo Halo and pried shiken.

On man, all that food. please pass my Ritz crackers :-)

So will there be photos of Mari with the Jollibee mascot? ;-) I am curious about this place, must try it once the initial mania has died down. Heard the lines were going out the door and down the street yesterday.

Guess I'll post this here...in last few weeks it has become apparent to me that Honolulu is definitely food truck crazy, or at least jumping on the novelty of it for now. According to their tweets EatGogi got cleaned out on Wednesday--during lunch. Some people got shut out after waiting awhile, ouch. I think a lot of people got word that they were going to close for about 7-10 days for upgrades to the truck so they wanted to get their fix in. Lucky I stopped in the day before!

Zaratez Mexicatessen is doing well in Kapahulu and I think they've been sold out a few times although it's usually happened late in the day.

And meltHNL it seems is getting very popular very fast, to the point where large pickup orders are common which results in longer waits for walk-up customers. Also I don't know what happened today but they tweeted they were going to have a turkey special, get a Melt of Shame, etc. etc. then I get there maybe 30-40 minutes from the time the opened and the menu is not what it's supposed to be, it's scaled down. Drove all the way into town and got denied. Now I read some tweet that someone *did* get to eat a turkey special today from them so I don't WTF is going on. But I guess these things can happen.

So what I am saying is this food truck thing is really catching on so be prepared to have a plan B just in case things get crazy or unforseen circumstances arise. And hey it's not like there's a shortage of places to eat in town right? I got my regular spots and a few new ones that I haven't tried yet so no biggie.

Hello Mari!
Sooo much new places to check out and they all look sooo good too! I want to lick my screen!

What a great idea for the photo blog! Love seeing what is new in town since I've been gone--can't wait to get back and eat!

oh Falafel King, why must you be in Waikiki...do they validate? After seeing it so many times on TV I must find a way to try this though. Especially since there's french fries involved!

I second third forth that OH WOW!

Oh WOW! That vegetarian RIgatoni dish looks awesomely delicious. Might have to sneak in some Meatballs or Sausage. After all, what's a Marinara without real protein. (Okay, it's just thickened Tomato Sauce.)

Gotta love Rainbow Dine-In & Take Out. It's close to my place.
http://bit.ly/rainbowdinein

I made it out to Zaratez today for a sampling of 4 tacos with each of the meats they were offering. I would've ordered something bigger but I was still recovering a little from my "Gluttony at the Gogi" episode yesterday hehe. All the tacos were pretty good but my faves were the chorizo and the chicken. I heard the burritos are the big sellers right now so I need to get me one of those soon, as well as other menu items of course. ;-)

pics:
da tacos: http://twitpic.com/320mnr
da truck (with Paul, and most of the day's menu!): http://twitpic.com/324fic

Man that was a fun week of vacation checking out the new trucks (meltHNL, Zaratez) and visitng my "old" friend the Gogi truck. Can't wait for the next one!

Sadly nonstopmari the page updates at dark o'clock in the morning WHEN THOSE ESTABLISHMENTS ARE CLOSED!!!!! So what am I supposed to do except salivate and drool all over my mouse and keyboard and just count the minutes till they open.

Didn't make it out to Zaratez Mexicatessen today. Bummers.

I might try Yajima-ya today.

Interesting to see Xtreme Tacos and Zaratez mentioned together in the same article. In one of those the world is a small place moments, when I was at Zaratez the other night picking up my dinner, there was a couple there ahead of me. The man was wearing an Xtreme Tacos polo shirt. Come to find out he's here from the mainland helping to get the Xtreme Tacos truck certified and ready for business. I don't know what he ate, but the lady had Zaratez's humugous burrito, and was shocked at the size of it. But it met with her approval. It was neat listening to both of these friendly rivals talk shop and approve of each other's dishes.