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Hawaiian Brian’s a taste of the islands...

When Michael Holmbeck was growing up in Hawaii, there was a pool hall in Honolulu called Hawaiian Brian's.

No pool will be played at Hawaiian Brian's in Springdale -- and the only "Brian" is a rooster pictured on the menu -- but if Shanea Holmbeck has her way, a visit to the restaurant will be like a mini-vacation in Hawaii in every other way.

On the Menu

Hawaiian Brian’s

HOURS — 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday

WHERE — 701 N. Thompson St. Suite 2 in Springdale

PHONE — 419-4929

WEB — hawaiianbrianshappi…

The Springdale location -- in Margaritas Plaza on North Thompson Street -- is the second for Hawaiian Brian's, which started life in August 2012 in the Yacht Club food trailer court in Fayetteville. The food -- which is Hawaiian inspired with a touch of Shanea Holmbeck's Ozark roots -- caught on, and the business went brick-and-mortar four months later in Evelyn Hills Shopping Center.

"Most of the menu is food Michael ate at home growing up," Shanea Holmbeck says. "It's not stuff you'd see in restaurants."

And while Holmbeck admits diners are sometimes leery of dishes they can't pronounce and have never had, "it's comfort food," she says. "All you have to do is try it."

At the Yacht Club, offering free samples was like bait, she adds, laughing. "They'd almost always come back and order!"

Since opening in Springdale, Holmbeck has seen some dining differences between the two communities. In Fayetteville, the most popular dish, hands down, is shoyu chicken, a boneless, skinless thigh boiled in a sweet Hawaiian sauce until the meat is tender, served with a scoop of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad ($8). It's Michael's grandmother's recipe from the Philippines.

So far, Springdale customers are choosing chicken katsu -- also a boneless, skinless thigh, this time coated in panko breading and fried, served with katsu sauce, rice and macaroni salad for $8 -- or loco moco, a 1/4 pound hamburger patty served on a bed of rice with a fried egg on top, smothered in brown gravy ($8).

Also popular on the breakfast menu are Spam-n-eggs -- two slices of fried Spam with two eggs, a scoop of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad ($6), eggs and pancakes with Spam ($8) and King's Hawaiian French toast ($6).

At lunch or dinner, the menu features the S-O burger -- beef and kaula pig blended into a patty and served on a sesame seed bun with Michael's homemade "Pele" salsa ($9) -- and the Manapua meal, a steamed bun stuffed with either shoyu chicken or kaula pig with rice and macaroni salad ($5).

Dessert is King's gelato -- Hawaiian French toast with a scoop of salted caramel gelato ($5) -- or the ever-popular shaved ice.

And on some days, there will be something completely different. On a recent weekday, Holmbeck made kalua pork nachos. On another day, diners could sample Spam sushi. And on weekends, she plans some "fancier" specials.

Fact is, Holmbeck has lots of plans -- a patio along the south side of the Springdale location, complete with all the Hawaiian flair already under way inside; a location closer to Rogers; another Fayetteville location; and a beer and wine license for Springdale, probably in May, when she'll begin serving locally brewed beers.

In the meantime, she guarantees diners will be greeted with "aloha," thanked with "mahalo" and by the time they leave, they'll be "ohana."

NAN What's Up on 03/28/2014

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