Hawaiian Grill Express

Reviews

• Sofia R.

  star star star star star_border 8 July 2026

  I was on a road trip with friends and made a pitstop around the area for gas and decided to eat here for dinner.
  
  This fast-casual spot is super low-key, kinda seems like an off-brand L&L BBQ. Glancing at the menu though, they mention a lot of very Hawaiian items so it seemed very promising...and it was.
  
  We ordered a range of things, but I ordered the Kalua Pork & Lau Lau combo plate with brown rice and also ordered the Malasadas to share.
  
  You get a TON of food for what you pay for. Both the Kalua Pork and Lau Lau were so tender and flavorful...amazing and just what I needed. Went well with their macaroni salad and brown rice.
  
  The Malasadas were cute and small, comes with like 10? Kind of oily and wish there was more sugar, but it was good.
  
  Overall, great spot. Wish I had great Hawaiian food this accessible to me around my area!

• Jennifer W.

  star star star star star_border 4 July 2026

  East Bay has a great Hawaiian bbq joint and it's Hawaiian Grill Express. The restaurant is clean, the staff are friendly, and the food was delicious!
  
  Bonus points for their large portions and their turnaround is fast. Our phone order was ready when we called it in and drove over.
  
  We got two orders of the bbq chicken plate and one order of the curry chicken plate. Three plates fed four adults and three small kids. The curry chicken plate was basically a Hawaiian bbq chicken plate with curry on top, but it was delicious. I kind of wished it had more curry.
  
  If you're in Dublin, give them a try!

• Rizma W.

  star star star star star_border 4 July 2026

  Cute, fast casual place with great Hawaiian food. Admittedly I've never tried Hawaiian food before, but I found this place on Yelp and the food looked fantastic so I decided to give it a try.
  
  I ordered the Garlic Shrimp Plate, which came with rice and macaroni salad. The shrimp was great. I got about a dozen medium-sized shrimp (tail off) sauteed with vegetables and copious amounts of garlic. The plate also came with a healthy portion of rice, and another sizeable portion of macaroni salad. Admittedly, I should have refused all of those carbs but everything was very good, so I have no regrets. :)
  
  The cashier invited me to take some of their sauces with my to-go order. I helped myself to some teriyaki sauce as well as some katsu sauce. The teriyaki sauce was a little bit salty for my taste but the katsu sauce tasted amazing over the rice.
  
  I called my order in, since the restaurant was a short drive from my hotel. It was ready and waiting when I arrived, so I was on my way with my dinner in no time.

• Kev H.

  star star star star star_border 19 June 2026

  Is it authentically Hawaiian?  I don't think so.  Does it taste good though?  Yes, it does.  And the price?  Super affordable.  And it serves foods in a really generous portion.
  
  For dinner, I got a mini meal of BBQ Chicken, which came with a scoop of rice, a scoop of macaroni salad, two huuuge pieces of chicken thighs (probably butterfly cut), and a bed of steamed vegetables.  All for $8.  Not a bad deal.  The chicken was grilled and tasty.  (My bf got BBQ beef which was even tastier!)  The rice and the veggies were fine.  The mac salad was tasty but perhaps I was more used to a thicker/creamier mac salad; this one seemed to have a thinner sauce.  Overall, it was a really good portion for me.  850 calories were a good amount for dinner for me.

• Rick S.

  star star star star star_border 14 June 2026

  Hawaiian Grill Express- Dublin California
  
  Dublin California is a really neat city for food lovers. Lots and lots of a variety of cultural offerings. Wide variety of slow food and fast food.
  
  Hawaiian Grill Express is sort of in the middle, offering a good hot meal at fast food speed. It's in a very popular mall anchored by a Target store. Parking is a little wonky since the mall is made up of big box stores with wide open parking, plus lots of small shops and restaurants with little alcoves of parking.
  
  I ordered the Mixed BBQ plate, which is a spin on Hawaiian style plate lunch. BBQ short rib, BBQ chicken, Teri beef. Side veg was cooked broccoli and cabbage, and I opted for brown rice.
  
  Counter service was friendly and quick. The meal was made quickly and portion size is generous for the price. Meat quality was.... okay. A bit on the overly fatty side. That's to say that fatty BBQ is a good thing to me...but the plate had a little too much of the "good thing!" LOL! Overall, the flavors were good- though how much it's really replicating Hawaiian plate lunch is questionable, other than the name of the restaurant.
  
  There are big dispensers of "teriyaki" and "katsu" sauces with pump handles and sauce cups for you to help yourself to... having tried both, I would NOT at all call them "teriyaki " or "katsu!" I really don't know what they are- but they are flavors that are never found on Hawaii plate lunch! They were just awful!! Mostly sweet and slimy! Good news is if they suit your fancy, you can pump it out for free! To me the odd thing is the restaurant can actually buy a decent teriyaki sauce and real tonkatsu sauce at Costco and Safeway!
  
  All in all- Hawaiian Grill Express reminds me of the many "Hawaiian BBQ" places that are around. They do have other things on the menu I would go back and try. But if I'm really looking for plate lunch- I think I tend to favor L&L.  But if in the area, this place does give very generous servings, and there is the bonus of awesome dessert places a few steps away!