10.29.2010

Pounders Hawaiian Island Grill



About
473 S. Main St - map it!
Pounders is a casual Hawaiian joint that is open Mon-Sat 11-9. They serve up the good old rice with meat combo. They range from chicken cooked in various ways to traditional Hawaiian Kalua Pork, smoky, slow cooked pork and Locomoco, a hamburger patty on white, sticky rice with two eggs and smothered in brown gravy.

Menu
view menu!
The menu is split in half by meats + sides entrees and Pounders Originals. The meats + sides are combos of your choices of one, two, or three meats ranging from Kalua Pork to Papalani Chicken (a must try!) and a side of macaroni salad and rice. They also have burgers and other meat-lover-heaven goodness. The food is hearty and comes in large portions. I love that they have a balanced menu filled with "safeties" and more intriguing traditional Hawaiian food.

Price Range
The price ranges from $4.95 to $24.99 (but that's for like, 5 people). Kids can eat there for $2.99. I would say it's a bit pricey for what it is, unless you're willing to bump it up and share. Extra meat comes in a heaping to-go box, so that is totally worth it. For a meal for two, you can expect somewhere around $20 with drinks. Single person, anywhere from $7 to $12 with drinks.

Verdict - 3 stars
Hubby went out on a Friday night to grab Pounders to go and waited an HOUR for one order. There were groups there that came after him that got their order before he did. That definitely dampened our mood. We had the Kahuna, (an order of 3 meats, a side of rice, and a side of macaroni salad) with a side order of extra meat and extra rice. The Kalua pork was pretty dry and bland compared to the ones I've eaten before and the macaroni salad tasted strongly of bulk macaroni salad, the one eerily similar to the one that we served at Honeybaked Ham, scooped out of a huge white bucket and very mayonnaise-y. The rice was disappointing because there were so much meat but a tiny scoop of rice (like literally 3 tablespoons of rice) so if you're ordering for one, definitely get an extra scoop of rice (even though it's super pricey at $1.50 for the amount they give you). The Papalani Chicken was definitely our favorite- so flavorful! They were sold out of Kalbi and gave us two Teriyaki Chickens instead of the Pounders Chicken we ordered alongside the Kalua pork. So with a screwed up order, an hour of standing around wait time, and two tiny scoops of rice with bland Kalua pork later, we give it 3 stars for the Papalani Chicken alone. We'll try Pounders again sometime after the initial shock wears off.
Pounders Hawaiian Island Grill on Urbanspoon

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