Get a taste of aloha when Hawaiian Bros brings its plate lunches and spam musubi to Iowa
Iowa is about to get a taste of Hawaiian plate lunches. Later this year, Kansas City-based chain Hawaiian Bros Island Grill opens the first of 10 fast-casual locations across the state, starting in Davenport.
Future locations are on the agenda for Des Moines, Ames, Cedar Rapids, and Iowa City by 2027, according to Grant Kreutzer, the head of franchising at Hawaiian Bros.
Hawaiian plate lunches feature a protein, cold mac salad and two scoops of white rice. This dish gained prominence in the 1880s as Hawaii’s pineapple and sugar plantations grew. The workforce, who predominantly came from Asian nations, brought their lunches, made from leftover meat from the night before.
At Hawaiian Bros, only six plate lunches make up the compact menu. The Huli Huli chicken features grilled teriyaki chicken. The Molokai chicken mixes sweet and spicy sauce with a smidge of heat. The savory Honolulu chicken infuses garlic, green onions and sesame. The spicy Kilauea chicken, the hottest dish on the menu, rounds out the poultry options.
For pork, Hawaiian Bros serves a slow-roasted kalua pig, a staple in Hawaiian cuisine, prepared on a wood smoker at the back of the restaurant.
Another Hawaiian favorite, spam musubi, combines rice and seared spam glazed in teriyaki sauce that’s then wrapped in dried seaweed. ”If you love spam, you’ll love this dish,” Kreutzer said.
A mix of seasoned vegetables rounds out the plate lunch options.
Diners can order a salad topped with Huli Huli chicken and chow mien noodles.
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For dessert, the restaurant serves Dole soft serve in pineapple and a rotating flavor. The dish gained popularity at Disneyland as a low-calorie, dairy- and gluten-free treat.
Kreutzler, who calls the cuisine "island inspired," said the company uses sushi grade rice, doesn’t place chicken on a bed of cabbage that’s considered traditional in Hawaii, and does not use carrots in the mac salad, another staple in Hawaii. “That’s what our customers prefer,” he said of diners of the restaurant that expanded to 37 locations in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New York, Missouri and Illinois.
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Customers order from a kiosk and can expect their food to arrive in about 30 seconds. Kreutzer said Hawaiian Bros does not use frozen products, fryers or microwaves, so diners can expect fresh food cooked daily. Locations also feature a drive-thru.
Hawaiian Bros already started construction on the Davenport location, slotting in a former Wendy’s location at 2955 E. 53rd St. It plans to open this summer.
BraveHart Development LLC — a partnership between Brandon Vonnahme, David Pedelty, and Troy Hart — is behind the Iowa expansion. The partners already operate franchises such as Scooters Coffee, Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Choice Hotels, Verizon, Waxing Studio, and Anytime Fitness in the Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Wisconsin area. Another franchisee, DKPM Investments Corp., will open five Hawaiian Bros in the Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, area.
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Hawaiian Bros plans to open 10 restaurants in Iowa, Davenport first
