Local Stop

I had wanted to try the local spot for a while but never got the chance because the lines were always oo long for me to wait. Yesterday we went to the Ewa beach eat the street and decided to stand in the long line to check this place out so i stood on line for an hour. I ordered the mushroom malasada burger, the Puerto Rican sushi (I think that’s what its called) and the pastele stew. When I got the food the cook thanked us for being patient so they get one star for that. I tried the burger and it was a big disappointment. No flavor, it was cold, just a dab of sauce or maybe it was mayo I couldn’t tell. The burger tasted like it was from a frozen patty dry and no flavor the mushroom tasted good but I don’t know what to make of the malasada. I took several bites of the Burger hoping to get to the goodness soon but it was a fail and sadly had to trash it.
9 bucks down the drain. The sushi was another fail the rice had no flavor even the mango salsa was a disappointment but it looked really ono on the sample table. The pastels stew was good hence the 2 extra stars. Overall food looked good and presentation is good but if you want flavor in your food… keep looking.

I like me some pastele. I like me some stew. I love me some pastele stew and gandule rice! Full of flavor and hearty! I have no room for their red velvet malasada dessert. That’ll give me more of motivation to come back.

The location of the lunch wagon is unpredictable. We bought a punch card through Amazon Local when it was located in Waipio Gentry. Shortly after, it became a late night lunch wagon at Pali Momi. Went to that location on 4 occasions, and the wagon was not there. We finally did get to try it, but the full menu was not available. Food was so-​so and a bit pricey for the portion size.

Lately I’ve been finding food trucks parked at the most peculiar places. This one is parked in the driveway of Pali Momi Hospital. Not a problem though bc this is late night, and that’s what I like about this food truck. Most food trucks are only open during the day.
What I don’t like is that more than half of their menu runs out after being open only for two hours. Been here twice and happened both times. Pretty sad to look at the menu and all you see are cross outs, especially the ones that sound really good.
For our first time, we got the char Sui chicken and yellow seafood curry. The curry was a no bueno! Very bland! And there were so many pieces of broken mussel shells that it made it difficult to eat. The char Sui chicken was way better than the curry, but overall just ok. Don’t think I’ll order it again.
For our second time, we tried the kalua pig nachos since it was one of the very few items left on the item that night. It was actually good and a large amount was given. What could have made it better is if the shredded cheese were a bit melted. The kalua pig though was different… Good different. It didn’t taste store bought. So, I’m gonna say that they make their own. Kudos for that!
I’m still planning to come back. But, I’ll be sure to be here right when it opens so that I’ll be able to order from a full menu next time.

You gotta try the Pasteles and Spanish rice! Incredibly good… Couldn’t keep it on my plate. Friendly service and you can’t beat the price. Very satisfied!

Great service from friendly order-​taker/​chef. Typical lunch wagon plates but definitely among the better tasting (if a bit salty at times).
Kalua pig nachos are tasty, have a substantial amount of chips and kalua pig but better to take home and share with a bunch of people rather than eating as a meal.
Roast pork plate had tender roast pork with a little-​too-​salty gravy. Use only a little gravy and it was perfect but pieces that were soaking in the gravy were just too salty. But better over-​seasoned than under-​seasoned when it comes to gravy.
Hamburger steak used the same gravy but tasted like pre-​made (possibly frozen) patties. I think things are better when they have their 14 oz. version — «home made» for sure.
BBQ wings were tasty and tender. Probably work better as pupu than as in a plate — ended up with all of this rice left over.

Got the King Kamehameha malasada burger & thought it would be amazing… but was disappointed. Nothing special about the sweet/​salty combo. I was having too difficult of a time trying to eat the burger itself. The malasada bun is not soft like a normal malasada (which would’ve been much easier to eat!) so made it very difficult & messy. I’d opt for a regular burger instead.

kick ass ono kalua pig nachos along with the red velvet malasadas!
can’t go wrong with it!

The good: Salty + Sweet is IN!!! I’m so happy to have found a food truck that has capitalized on this new concept! And what better option for «sweet» than our own hawaii Malasada! I love the burger, kalua pork, aioli sauce, halo greens, and onions — perfect blend of salty and sweet! (mainland restaurants have used donuts as the sweet, and burgers or fried chicken as the salty)
The bad: Expensive for how small it is – take advantage of the Unilocal Check-​In $ 2 off special! Original price for King Kam Burger is $ 9. Malasada was a little hard, but I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be this way though, but maybe to make sure it doesn’t get soggy?
Overall — like I said, props to Local Stop adds the local touch to the Salty + Sweet concept — it’s def worth trying out! :)

I read about the malasada burger a while ago and finally tried it the other day at Eat the Street Mililani. They just had the King Kam burger left and they had red velvet malasada that they used as the bun. The burger itself was nothing special. Tastes like the frozen patties you buy at Costco with zero seasoning and pretty dry. The malasada itself though was pretty good but I think it would have been better as a dessert. The malasada as the bun was kind of weird… Still not sure if it really works.
Service sucked. There wasn’t any other customers around when we first started looking at the menu and the girl asked us if we had any questions. We said we were just looking so she wandered somewhere else. Then when we were ready we waited for her to come back and as she was approaching us I opened my mouth and was just about to order then she switched eye contact from me to the lady behind me and just walked right past us as the lady behind me started asking all kinds of questions. After all the questions and when the lady was about to order, I was expecting the girl working there to tell the lady that we were next and she was going to take our order first… but nope she just completely ignored us. I know she knew we were there first and was about to order… I was just standing next to them staring at them in shock. I wanted to just leave but I really wanted to try the burger so I sucked it up and stayed. Bad choice. Burger was tiny, expensive, and nothing special. I really wanted to like this place but the combination of bad service and mediocre food won’t be bringing me back to hunt down this truck.

I’d give this truck more like 3 ½ stars. I ate their famous malasada burger and wifey had the peanut chicken. They didn’t have the other malasada burgers, just the original, but I swear ours was the special «red velvet» malasada burger. Better for us. We bought 3 of them for me and the two kiddos.
We also were able to use the Unilocal check-​in and get $ 2 off twice because my lovely wife suggested we split up our order to take advantage of separate check-​ins. Smart and beautiful. I’m a lucky guy.
As expected, the burger was pretty damn good. Anytime you got the sweet/​salty combo, I’m pretty much sold. Not the best burger ever, but I’d eat it again if I’m ever near Costco or returning some malfunctioned Oceanic Cable equipment.
The guys liked it, of course, but the girls didn’t care for it so much. Wifey commented that the burger and her peanut chicken was pretty mediocre. Baby girl didn’t even take another bite after the initial one, which is pretty surprising. She usually likes dessert more than the actual meal.
I’d eat there again. Service was good. Meals were quickly prepared. Reasonable prices, I guess. Too bad the whole family didn’t enjoy it, though. I’d have more of an excuse to eat malasadas.

Not Just Insane Burgers
We all know that Local Stop has their famous Malasada Burger if you’ve been to an Eat the Street or their wagon in Waipio. Their burgers are so delicious with a juicy, meaty patty and a bun made from a melt in your mouth malasada. Sweet and salty! You get to kill two birds with one stone: D So good, but you can’t have them too often.
Today, I was getting my car serviced at Tony Honda and I had an hour to kill. I knew exactly where I was going! I just walked across the street and in front of Costco was their wagon. Checking in like a good Unilocaler I discovered that they have a check in deal!!! $ 2 off your whole purchase! OMG!!! Going up to the window I got nothing but kindness. They are the nicest people!
On this visit I wanted to try something new. They told me that the shoyu chicken and the pastele stew are also popular. I went with the stew for $ 7 ($ 5 after my deal!!). It was like a pastele deconstructed. Everything you love about that dish all in the stew! I have found something new and delicious at the Local Stop: D

(Eat the Street experience)
I ordered one of their most popular malasada burgers: the King Kamehameha ($ 9): an all-​beef patty, kalua pork, bacon, and the other usual burger toppings inside a malasada.
The malasada was excellent, with the firm crunch on the outside and a soft inside. The sweetness from the granulated sugar contrasted well with those savory, salty meats. The kalua pork and the beef patty were juicy, and the bacon added that smoky essence that really can’t be beat. Yes, everything is better with bacon. All the flavors came through in a controlled manner, an impressive burger!
For those of you at November’s Eat The Street that also got to try the dessert malasadas (utilizing strawberry and blueberry sauces), I totally envy you. Unfortunately, even this foodie will hit a food coma.
Check out Local Stop and try their malasada burger today!

Located at the entrance of Costco in Waipio (they will also be at Mililani Tech Park every Wednesday I believe), this lunch truck offers plate lunches such as steak plate, loco moco, and hamburger steak, however, I did not come for a plate lunch, I came for a Malasada Burger.
What is a Malasada burger? Well, it’s exactly what you think it is. Instead of using a hamburger bun, they cut a freshly cooked malasada in half and use the two ends as the buns. They had four different types of burgers (you can take a look at the pictures to see the menu) and I had the mushroom swiss burger which was quite good. The hamburger patty itself is nothing special, it needed a little more «zing» as my friend put it, but the burger had a nice sauce, was cooked well and the sweet taste of the malasada was very complimentary to the saltiness of the hamburger. The malasada itself was actually one of the best I’ve had, much better than Champions or Leonard’s.
Now, this is not a burger you can eat while in the car, this is a burger where you need to sit down, clear everything from your eating area and have a lot of napkins ready as you will get sugar everywhere! One idea we had was to flip the malasada bun so the sugar side would be touching the burger so it wouldn’t be as messy, however, it would lose its aesthetics as the presentation of the malasada burger is half the fun (trust me, if you post a picture of the Malasada burger on your Facebook you’ll get a lot of comments haha).
Would I go back? Yes, this is not something I can eat on a regular basis, but it’s definitely a good treat to have every once in a while.

I bought the tippr coupon ($ 10.00 for $ 20.00 worth of food) because of the good reviews. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever use it because I work during the hours that they are open, but I decided to get it anyway because I figured I’d find time to make it there. I started following them on twitter and Facebook and found out that they opened a truck in Haleiwa. I asked if they would accept my coupon there and they said yes. We drove all the way out there and debated on whether we should get the burger or the nachos. We ended up getting the kalua pig nachos. It filled up the whole plate and was delicious. It was enough for 2 people! There was another party there that tried the burger and said it was delicious. Can’t wait to try it. I will definitely have to take another trip out there to get the burger.
P. s. The employees were awesome and friendly (huge plus) and the gave a kamaaina discount :)

At August Eat the Street, my son was craving the Malasada burger again, so I had to buy one for him. This time, he could only eat half, so I ate the other half insted of taking just a bite, and came to find that this original hamburger was very tasty and sweet with the malasadas instead of your usual hamburger bun. Something that nobody ever thought of, or made, so I give it a 5 star for being consistently tasty and original, that’s both a main meal and dessert in one.

What an innovation, the malasada burger. Two crispy on the outside fluffy in the inside, sugary malasadas. It’s not the same consistency as Leonard’s malasadas. Surrounding a juicy moist burger, with melted Swiss cheese, sauteed mushrooms, tomato, and crisp lettuce, named the «Local Stop.» I tried to hide my joy as I bit into it. In fear I had to share this tasty satisfying dessert slash meal.

Alas, my son asks to take a bit. I horribly say, «aren’t you full?» You see we just came from the Lunch Pa’iana located at Kam Drive Inn, where we ate other tasty foods. BUT we left and I couldn’t buy another one right there and then. Argh, guilt strikes me deep so I handed it over hoping and wishing he might not like it. Of course he liked it! Then he questioned me why I didn’t buy 2.
The blueberry brownie I willingly shared, though equally fantastic. On the bottom of it was a chocolate drizzle, accompanied with blueberry, topped with cream cheese and decorated with a mint leaf. The brownie was baked just the way I like it. Crisp on the outside and chewy in the inside.

Now that I know of it’s usual location I’ll be heading to Waipio Costco even though I have a Costco in my neck of the woods. I’ll be sure to buy 2 malasada burgers so I can devour one all by myself.
Unilocal Challenge 365: ¹⁴⁄₃₆₅

The Local Stop Lunch Wagon has been parked next to Costco for a month now, and I’m so sorry it took me that long to visit! I’ll be back soon, and I’ll be so very happy to see this lunch truck at events around town.
The malasada burgers are just right. A perfect combination of salty and sweet, with just a touch of sugar to remind you that you will have to spend some time recuperating. The malasada buns are made fresh daily, using a recipe modified to make them tough enough to soak up the juice from the burger. I had mine topped with mushrooms and cheese, and there are other options available as well.
I’ve posted a photo of the day’s menu. I had hoped to try the pastele stew, but it was not the special of the day – YAY!!! Decision made for me AND an excuse to return soon. The customer ahead of me ordered garlic shrimp and I was impressed by the size of the shrimp and the smell of butter and garlic. Hmmm… yet another reason to visit.
More than anything, owner Justin Alverio shows that he has pride in the food he is creating. He should. It is well worth the stop.

Mango baby back rib special. $ 9 for this gargantuan plate. Palms-​licking good.
Now, the Malasada burgers were so delicious that frankly… I thought I had sinned for loving it that much. I’d like to add that the dough for the malasadas are made fresh daily! My co-​worker ordered the Mushroom Swiss Malasada Burger and the mushrooms were sauteed right there. A bit of a wait-​but thank goodness they don’t use any of those food warmers.
Fresh goodies coming out of that truck. They also cater too! They provide Malasada Sliders for any occasions.
Great service!

I have heard so much buzz about this lunchwagon from the Eat The Street Event about these Malasada Cheeseburgers that everyone is talking about and now i know what the hype is all about. The Local Stop Lunchwagon, which is parked right outside of Costco in Waipio just opened today and i got the chance to partake in this Malasada Burger that all my other foodies were talking about. They have several types of Malasada Burgers. They have the Malasada Cheeseburger for $ 6.00, A BLT Malasada Burger for $ 7.00, A Mushroom Swiss Malasada Burger for $ 7.00, and i had the opportunity to taste the King Kamehameha Burger which has a Hamburger Patty, Kahlua Pig, Bacon, Sauteed Mushrooms, Nalo Greens, Swiss Cheese, and a Sweet Chipotle Sauce for $ 9.00 which was just unbelivably delicious.