Local kine grindz: 5 spots for Hawaiian food
Las Vegas is fondly nicknamed the Ninth Island because of the many folks of Hawaiian descent or folks with connections to Hawaii who make their home in the valley.
Locals have long known about the ono kaukau here, something that received national attention in May 2024 with a story in The New Yorker that explored what the magazine called the “decades-long romance of Las Vegas and Hawaii.”
That romance flourishes at restaurants across the valley. Here are five spots to find local kine grindz.
Aina Saimin &Diner
It’s late morning on a recent weekday, and Aina Saimin is already filled with diners at the counter and tables slurping from bowls of saimin, the noodle soup that blends ingredients from the peoples who immigrated to work in the agricultural plantations of Hawaii. The broth is lighter in style, housing noodles (less chewy than ramen), green onion, egg, pink and white coins of kamaboko fish cake, char siu and strips of essential Spam for standard saimin. Wonton min adds frilly wonton dumplings, nicely formed, and stalks of bok choy. There’s also a version provisioned with garlic chicken.
8636 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 110, instagram.com/ainasaimin
Aloha Specialties
The California Hotel &Casino, opened 50 years ago by Sam Boyd, the founder of Boyd Gaming, has long played a key role in the Hawaii-Vegas love affair. Boyd once lived in Hawaii, and early on, the property marketed itself to Hawaiian visitors and gamblers. The menu at Aloha Specialties hits all the classics of Hawaiian food: loco moco (hearty surfer fuel) or eggs with rice and Portuguese sausage for breakfast, thick planks of Spam musubi, saimin (including a fried option), and a host of proteins (kalua pork, teriyakis) served with rice and mac salad (correctly creamy but never cloying).
In the California Hotel, thecal.boydgaming.com
Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food
Kimo and Kalani Mack, brothers of native Hawaiian ancestry who grew up on Oahu, founded Mo’ Bettahs, which takes its name from Hawaiian pidgin for “excellent” or “outstanding.” The restaurant has three locations in Vegas and one in Henderson. Mo’ Bettahs menu is anchored by plate lunches featuring proteins — tempura shrimp, teriyaki chicken, grilled pūlehu chicken, fried katsu chicken, kalua pork, teriyaki steak — accompanied by white rice and mac salad, plus sauce. The restaurant, in a nod to more healthful eating, just introduced a steamed vegetable blend as a side or main course.
Multiple locations, mobettahs.com
Pacific Island Taste
A mural of Diamond Head and a swatch of the downtown Honolulu skyline stretches across one wall of this family-owned spot. Aloha shirts and other merch hang for sale in a corner. The pastry case tempts with take-away treats (call for what’s available that day). Spam musubi sports the proper sweet-grilled flavor. Poke, sliced in large cubes, is best simply rendered, with shoyu and onion. Kalua pork is smoky and tender, backed by savory lau lau bundles. Springy manapua buns filled with char siu are made in-house (and defy you not to eat them on the drive home).
545 E. Sahara Ave., Suite 101, pacificislandtaste.com
Zippy’s
It took this beloved Hawaiian diner almost five years to arrive in Vegas — years that included ongoing construction watch and social media speculation — but since debuting its first restaurant outside Hawaii in 2023, Zippy’s has opened another location on the Ninth Island, with a third on the way. Zippy’s, founded about 60 years ago in downtown Honolulu by the Higa brothers, is known for its extensive menu. But you can’t go wrong with loco moco swaddled in gravy, chili over rice (yes, that’s a Hawaiian thing), coconut cake (ditto) and Korean fried chicken. Check out the weekly specials on the website.
7095 Badura Ave. and 4590 S. Hualapai Way, zippys.com