Aloha Eats

I’m obsessed with this place. Staff is always friendly food is always great. People you don’t know what your missing out on!

Order the musubi and the katsu, it was so good I even went back and ordered more musubi to go, I’m from Richmond and we have something similar to aloha eats but aloha eats is by far the better haiwaiian place, wish they had one here, but oh well at least I have something to look forward too when I visit chocago

Huge portion sizes and delicious food! I’ve had the Hawaiin BBQ Chicken Plate and Pork Katsu Plate and both were fantastic. A unique little restaurant in a great area on Clark

One of the best Hawaiian food I had in a very long time. I got the chicken katsu and beef combination. The katsu was super crunchy and the beef was very well marinated. It came with rice along with a side of macaroni salad — AMAZING! I also got katsu spam musubi as appetizer and IT’S A MUST TRY! I highly recommend this place! I would pick this place every time if I’m nearby.

This is my second time coming here and I love this place. I’m from California where Hawaiian bbq is common so it was hard finding one in Chicago! I’m so happy I found this place one day while grabbing some Molly’s cupcakes! I get the bbq beef plate with extra macaroni salad no rice and the shrimp appetizer 7 piece! It was so good!!! I’ve tried the chicken katsuya too but the bbq beef has the best freaking flavor. I also love their Hawaiian canned sodas. This time I had apple ice tea. It’s so good I honestly love this place and I’m so happy I found it!

This is a gem of a find! I was excited to try some more Hawaiian food. The restaurant is a little small but if you come when its not busy you can eat here. The food is similar to street food and even comes in the styrofoam containers. I got the rice, beef/​chicken, and the macaroni… delicious! My friend got the spam plate which he said was also very good. The servings are heaping so come hungry. I can’t wait to come back and eat some more off their menu. BTW, the also had siracha lollipops at that time.

Since I’ve only been once I’ll likely update this later (I don’t think one time visits are fair to establishments) but I couldn’t help but want to share my instant love of this place.
There’s only one person who works the cash register as well as the ever busy to go order calls. She’s honestly a saint for maintaining her calm during the rush I walked in upon, and I found her quite friendly considering how much she was juggling (honestly I was in admiration)!
Had the spam katsu musubi to go to crunch a craving of nostalgia and comfort (for the cheap to!). For those that like crunchy contrasting soft rice, salty contrasting the balance of plain rice and umami notes in soy sauce I recommend it if you’ve never had it before. It’s definitely a comfort food/​snack so if you’re looking to it as a meal stock up!

I haven’t been to Aloha Eats in years and I recently found out that the memory of the food is better than the actual thing. I used to come here a lot in the past and I even remember craving Aloha Eats. I’m not sure if the food has changed or if this is a real case of memory bias, but I wasn’t as wow-​ed with my meal.
I got the combination katsu chicken and bbq chicken plate. It comes with the two sides of meats, macaroni salad, and two scoops of rice. The highlight is definitely still the katsu sauce which I really continue to enjoy. The katsu is a lot more breading than chicken from what I remember. The bbq chicken was good but it tasted like teriyaki chicken and did not compare with other bbq chicken that has been smoked or grilled. The macaroni salad is still good, though.
The Hawaiian food scene is absolutely getting bigger in Chicago and competition is getting tougher. Aloha Eats is always a solid choice, but I might try some of the other competition next time.

We love Hawaii so finding a place that has this type of cuisine is rare in Chicago. We’ve had Aloha Eats via delivery a few times and twice in the restaurant. This past weekend we stopped in since we were in the neighborhood and ordered the Pork Katsu and the Spam katsu. My favorite part of the meal was the spam katsu but hey you can never go wrong with spam, right? The items came out piping hot right out of the fryer. The pork cutlet was quite tough. It appeared the pork was pre-​prepared frozen then fried. Edges of the meat were very tough and overall the meat was dry and tough. The breading is crunchy and heavy, with a bit too much oil. Note that if you get the platter you get either the katsu sauce OR the gravy. You must pay more if you want both so your rice will have to go sauceless since the katsu needs sauce so it doesn’t cut up your mouth when you eat it.
I really wanted to like the food since we love Hawaii but this is likely the last time we will try Aloha’s katsu. Perhaps the chicken katsu is better.

The spam musubi is quite good here, although it tends to run out a couple hours before closing.
The young lady running the cash register/​counter could afford to be a little less rude, both in person and on the phone.

I order from here nearly every week since I work nearby, and it’s definitely one of my favorite fried food staples to get me through a workday.
The mini chicken katsu or the mini tofu katsu are affordable, hot, and always enough food to last you a while (+ yay for hearty vegetarian options)! They also have really great french fries if you have a craving for fried potatoes.
It’s not good for your health by any stretch of the imagination, but it is delicious without pretention, and the people who work there are always really nice without being overly sweet or fake which I truly appreciate.

I have been to Hawaii quite a few times. Just lucky, I guess. It’s an amazing place. In part because the food is amazing. Often, traditional Hawaiian food is simple fare, with significant Asian influences. But Hawaiian food is neither Asian nor American nor really anything else you can quite describe. It’s a mix of many different cultures of food, but then it is unique as well.
Aloha Eats is amazingly authentic. Amazingly. Steamed white rice with every meal. Chicken and pork. Vegetables. Simple but rich flavors. And plenty of it. Enough fuel to get you out there surfing or snorkeling or whatever it is you’re doing.
In addition to it’s authenticity, Aloha Eats is a perfect example of the spirit of aloha. The staff is friendly and helpful and full of good vibes. Mahalo, Aloha Eats. Please go BYOB!

I really like the food here. It does a close (not perfect) replication of the L&L experience in Hawaii. Not worth eating in and service can be VERY slow so definitely order ahead for pickup (parking in the neighborhood can also be challenging).

I’m not too sure why it has taken me so long to write a review about Aloha Eats. Perhaps I want to keep it a hidden treasure. But alas, I think the world needs to know the greatness of this tiny eatery.
Being born and raised in Hawai’i myself, I definitely know good plate lunches when I see one. A plate lunch, is a traditional fare found commonly at Hawai’i restaurants that comes with two scoops of rice, mac salad, and a whopping side of meat. Aloha Eats provides plate lunches at a reasonable cost with my favorite being the chicken katsu – moist chicken battered and deep fried in egg and panko crusting. I think it may even be better than L&L Drive Inn! They also sell spam musubi, saimin, and other goodies. I only wish they served poke bowls.
Aloha Eats is my go-​to place whenever I’m craving local eats from Hawai’i.

Say aloha to my stomach, you delicious eats. Went with the double chicken combo for $ 9.80. The value is great, especially for this neck of the woods. I got like 4 juicy slabs of ‘bbq’ chicken (more like teriyaki), 10 crispy slices of chicken katsu, 2 scoops of rice, 1 scoop of macaroni salad and some cabbage. winner, winner, aloha eats dinner

Want to feel incredibly full and good about yourself without breaking the bank? come to Aloha Eats. This place will satisfy that Hawaiian comfort food craving that you may not even know you have.
Came here with a group of 4 and ordered the Chicken Katsu with beef combo ($ 12.50), Hawaiian BBQ mix plate ($ 12.85), Fried Shrimp plate ($ 10.75), and the Loco Moco ($ 8.90) as well as spam musubis ($ 4.75).
Pros:
— Chicken Katsu: crispy and juicy
— Hawaiian BBQ plate: meats grilled to perfection, so tasty
— You can substitute rice for macoroni salad or more cole slaw!!!
— Quick service and very affordable and HUGE portions
Cons:
— Spam musubi is only okay, probably wouldn’t get it everytime when I’m here
— Loco Moco’s gravy tasted a bit artificial and could be improved on lots
Definitely a place worth dropping by and you will leave satisfied.

It’s was aiiite… I was really excited about this place and it kind of fell short of expectations. Every hawaiian BBQ place I’ve ever been to has left me with a picture of crazy-​full styrofoam platters and yummy sauces. This place had neither. The price point was a little higher than I am used to, which was kind of expected considering this place had no competition. But their sauces cost extra? which was kind of unheard of for me at a Hawaiian BBQ place. normally the teriyaki/​bbq and katsu sauces are free flowing!
That all being said, their spam masubi and BBQ chicken were quite good. What was disappointing was that there was only one piece of short ribs in the combo platter I got…
Would I be back? Probably? Hell, they have no other competition in the city.

I always order to-​go food from here for me and my husband. Gotta get that combination plate of chicken katsu and beef! Those two meats from this restaurant are so good! And that potato salad!!! *drooling*
Price is very reasonable and the service is good. This restaurant never lets me down!
Also tried their spam musubi– it’s not bad for here in Chicago. But if I have to compare it to Cali or to my husband’s homemade spam musubi, it’s alright… Haha I’m very picky with food
Definitely get that combo plate! I’m actually thinking of getting one today after work. Writing this review is making me hungry for that combo!

Growing up in Hawaii and moving to Illinois has made me miss a lot of things. Most of those things are food. I love going to Aloha Eats because it always cures my homesickness! It’s the typical plate lunch fare (kalbi, katsu, bbq chicken, etc) that you would find at L&L or another similar restaurant, but Aloha Eats does it right! Every time I get the bbq chicken it’s never dry and it’s just sweet enough for my tastes. Their katsu is also pretty good as well! I think their musubi has a little bit too much rice, but I like to order them as well and have them for a snack later in the day.
If you’re in the area and looking for quick meal with a lot of food at a low price, this is the place to go. One of the mini plates is more than enough to satisfy. If I get a combination plate, it’s definitely enough for two meals.
If this is your first time eating a plate lunch, I would definitely recommend either the Hawaiian BBQ Mix Plate or the Loco Moco! Also you have to go with the original ‘two scoop rice, one scoop mac salad’ for your sides if you want a really authentic experience!

Aloha to me and these big portions! Fantastic Hawaiian here in Chitown.
I grew up eating katsu from my parents making them, to ordering a large tray in from our local Chinese restaurant during family gatherings. There is something about a nice fried piece of chicken cutlet that just gets the job done, and that’s one of the best items here at Aloha.
I ordered a mini chicken katsu box ($ 7) along with fried spam musubi ($ 5). Yep, you heard me, FRIED SPAM. While it was supposed to be mini, the chicken katsu came out to be a lot of food for just one meal. The battered chicken in panko flakes was fried nicely– not too heavy or burnt where you could no longer taste the meat. The macaroni salad was very creamy but not overpowering, making it a great side.
As for the musubi, that in itself was a meal. I can’t say that it was that different from a regular spam musubi, so I’d save the extra calories and go with the basics. Never had spam before? Now would be the perfect time to try it.
Only negative thing I’d say is that they were a bit stingy with their katsu sauce. They only include it if you order some kind of katsu, and will charge you $ 1 for more (esp those that want the sauce but didn’t order anything fried). Usually stores offer these up for free, but oh well… minor detail in an overall great lunch.
Keep doing your thing Aloha!