Chris' Ono Grinds Island Grill - North Park

Where Tribute Pizza leans into Naples and craft beer culture, Chris' Ono Grinds plants its flag in Honolulu—spam musubi, huli huli chicken, poke bowls built for lunch breaks, not Instagram. This is the kind of place North Park needed once the neighborhood got too serious about its sourdough: unpretentious island cooking that pairs as well with a beer run to Tiger!Tiger! as it does with takeout on your apartment stoop.

The huli huli chicken is the reliable anchor—char-grilled, soy-ginger glazed, generous enough to justify the price when portions cooperate. Spam musubi makes a solid breakfast-on-the-go move for Observatory shifts or Morley Field picnics. The poke bowls are the gamble: when the fish is fresh and cold, they work; when it's not, you'll wish you'd stuck with the cooked stuff. Mac salad leans creamy, rice can run dry depending on the day. It's plate lunch, not fine dining, and the vibe commits to that—casual counter service, a few outdoor tables, the kind of spot where you order at the register and don't expect tableside anything.

Fair warning: consistency wobbles. Portions have shrunk according to long-timers, and they're frequently out of sweet potato fries by dinner. The staff remains genuinely kind even when the kitchen's struggling, which counts for something on 30th Street's increasingly transactional restaurant row. Come for the huli huli, order extra musubi for later, and keep expectations calibrated to "solid weeknight carryout" rather than "destination Hawaiian." Park on the side streets unless you enjoy circling the block.