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Plate Lunch on Oʻahu: What to Order and Where to Find It

Two scoops rice, one scoop mac: a practical guide to Oʻahu’s favorite everyday meal, plus poke, musubi, malasadas and shave ice.

By the Travel Oahu Local Style Editorial Team Updated 2 min read
Yellow food trucks and picnic tables under shade trees on Oʻahu
Photo: Daniel Hobiera on Unsplash
In this guide7 sections
  1. What is a plate lunch?
  2. What to order
  3. Plate lunch vs. Hawaiian food
  4. Where to eat it
  5. Also worth trying
  6. Frequently asked questions
  7. While you’re nearby

If one meal sums up everyday eating on Oʻahu, it’s the plate lunch: a main dish, two scoops of white rice and a scoop of macaroni salad, served in a takeout box. It’s filling, affordable and found everywhere from drive-ins to food trucks. Here’s what to order and how to eat it like a local.

What is a plate lunch?

The standard formula is “two scoop rice, one scoop mac” plus a protein. The style grew out of Hawaiʻi’s plantation era, when workers from many cultures shared lunches — which is why a single menu can include Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Portuguese, Chinese and Hawaiian dishes side by side.

What to order

  • Chicken katsu: breaded, fried chicken with katsu sauce — a safe first order.
  • Kalua pig: tender, smoky pulled pork, traditionally cooked in an underground imu.
  • Loco moco: a hamburger patty and fried egg over rice, smothered in brown gravy.
  • Teriyaki beef or chicken: sweet-salty and grilled.
  • Garlic shrimp: the North Shore food-truck specialty.
  • Mixed plate: can’t decide? Many places let you pick two or three mains.

Plate lunch vs. Hawaiian food

Plate lunch is local comfort food; Hawaiian food is something else — dishes like laulau (pork wrapped and steamed in taro and ti leaves), poi, lomi salmon and kalua pig. Many plate-lunch spots serve some Hawaiian dishes, but dedicated Hawaiian-food restaurants are worth seeking out.

Where to eat it

  • Drive-ins and lunch counters around Honolulu — Kapahulu Avenue near Waikīkī is a good street to wander.
  • Food trucks on the North Shore and in Kakaʻako.
  • Grocery delis and poke counters, which often sell excellent plates and poke bowls to go.

Menus, hours and prices change often, so check a place’s own listing before you make a special trip.

Also worth trying

  • Poke: cubed raw fish, usually ahi, seasoned with shoyu, sesame or limu.
  • Spam musubi: grilled Spam on rice wrapped in nori — the classic road-trip snack.
  • Malasadas: Portuguese-style sugared doughnuts; Leonard’s Bakery on Kapahulu Avenue is famous for them.
  • Shave ice: finely shaved ice with syrup, often with ice cream or sweet azuki beans underneath.

Frequently asked questions


What comes in a Hawaiian plate lunch?

Typically two scoops of white rice, one scoop of macaroni salad and a main such as chicken katsu, kalua pig or teriyaki beef.


Is plate lunch the same as Hawaiian food?

No. Plate lunch is a mixed local style; Hawaiian food refers to traditional dishes like laulau, poi and lomi salmon.


While you’re nearby

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