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    Hanai Hawaiian BBQ

    4.9 (13 reviews)
    Closed Closed

    Hanai Hawaiian BBQ Photos

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    HANAI HAWAIIAN BBQ ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Outdoor seating
    Dogs allowed

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    Ahi Tuna Nachos-
    Elizabeth K.

    Ahi tuna nachos were absolutely delicious! The service was amazing. When I called to put in the order, they said it would be ready right away. Honestly, some of the best tuna nachos I've ever had, and I've been to Hawaii! And I cannot wait to go back for more.

    Spam musubi
    Khristina S.

    I was so excited to finally make it to Hanai Hawaiian BBQ!! I've been trying to get here since the very first pop-up in June 2025. I ordered 2 spam musubi, one cut in half for my kids to try and one for myself, two teri bowls for my kids, and a Pig & Poke plate for myself. The pork was a little on the dry side, but the poke & slaw was great. The mac salad helped the dryness of the pork. I am so happy to have finally made it here and I can't wait to come back.

    Cuurent menu (as of May 16, 2026)

    LUNCH Best plate lunch I've had without having to fly home to the Islands! (And I am pretty darn picky about food. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it has to be good, otherwise where's the pleasure?) AMBIANCE Important note: they are in the same building as Buffalo Brewing Company, so don't get confused, you are in the right place. So nice and cool (and clean!) inside, but there are also open windows with seats facing out and a few tables outside. Also important: check their hours when planning to go so you aren't disappointed that you missed out. And you are missing out if you don't go. Though now I am wondering if I will regret sharing this slightly hidden gem - it won't be hidden for long. FOOD Other people already posted pictures of the Pipikaula short rib plate, which is good because I forgot to take a picture before I ate mine. We found out the Big Belly Bento is new to the menu, but it was also a huge hit. We got the unagi sauce and gochujang sauce on the side - so glad we did, because in addition to dipping the pulled pork in the sauces (the way it was meant to be eaten) I stole some of the sauce and dipped some of my short rib bites, and then I ate it with my mac salad and my Asian slaw. The rice vinegar in the sauce went well with the vinegar based slaw. The sauces normally come on the pork and short ribs. Heat warning for those who have low tolerance: it's a slow and delayed heat in the spicy poke and the gochujang sauce, so go easy until you find your sweet spot (and eat a bite of rice or mac salad if you got it wrong). Spam musubi was made to order. Personally I like it cooked a little more, but that's a personal preference. And watching other orders go out? We got food envy watching the big portions of won ton chips for the poke (or pulled pork) nachos even though we were eating our own delicious food. Which also showed how much thought goes into it - won ton chips because tortilla chips got soggy and made the food too salty. SERVICE Can't get any better. I saw the owner check on people eating outside (I'm sorry I didn't get his name!) I'm very happy we went a little later than peak hour so we could chat with him. Any little quibbles were due to supply chain issues, so I am looking forward to coming back and seeing how things progress as those issues get ironed out. Because even with those issues, the food was great. Delicious. Amazing. Unexpectedly fantastic. (Now I need a nap aka kanak attack - incidentally, there's a plate lunch with that name.) We started planning our next trip before we even finished paying our bill. And sent the details to a friend and her son before we even started the drive away. After all, how often do you want every single thing on the menu? Or think everything sounds good? And if you don't go - well, just go. Thank me later. DINNER YES, we went again for dinner, because we wanted to try other stuff (did I mention we wanted everything on the menu?) And they are closed tomorrow. This time one of the college kids joined us. We guessed and got him the Local Boy plate. Then a POG (which he said was really good). The only thing he didn't do was lick the plate. So we got him a piece of guava cheesecake (last one!) and finally managed to satisfy the bottomless appetite that plagues teenage boys. The Loco Moco was good, but classified as a meal for when you are feeling slightly delicate (i.e. hungover). Not going to lie, we overheard people having food envy so we told them what it was, in case they wanted it. I had Auntie's favorite - loved the garlic poke, the chicken not as much. But that's probably because you just can't top the pipikaula short ribs (which sold out!) And POG #2 - I can hear you judging, so I challenge you to try it and NOT want to get another one. Go ahead, it's ok. Someone has already had 2 in one day, so don't feel ashamed, you're only doing as recommended by some crazy person who's really happy for a taste of home. You're very welcome! And...SNACK (does this count as meal 3 from Hanai?) We took home Ahi Poke Nachos, but had the won ton chips packed separately because we knew we weren't going to eat it for several hours (um hello, did you see how much food we ate already?) And I got a 1/4 shoyu poke to go too, because hey, much healthier midnight snack than ice cream or chips. It was a very generous serving, but I would never be upset about that. And usually I hate big pieces of raw onion, but I think these had been soaked or something so it was nice and crunchy, but didn't make me want to cry from onion-y flavor. Little details that add up to lots of pleasurable eating. SO GOOD - we actually didn't mix the poke into the chips, we just loaded individual chips with the poke (he didn't like the shoyu poke, so more for me!) Thank you Hanai-Guy, those name I have learned is David - we can't wait to see you again! Also, you are such a great find that I think I got some "cool" points.

    Menu
    Ruby S.

    This place is amazing! The staff are so friendly and attentive answering any and all questions I have. The food is just delicious I had the spam masubi and both cheesecakes on the menu I will definitely be going back! The ambience is also super cute I loved the artwork on the walls it's a very cozy spot I went an hour before close and there were not a lot of people. Overall 100/10 it's so good!

    Short rib plate
    Alicia D.

    Picked up some to go and have no regrets. Both the pork and rib plate were awesome. Passion fruit glazed cheesecake, excellent! We will definitely go back.

    This is an amazing gem to come to Buffalo! I've been craving plate lunch ever since I visited Maui a few years ago and this hits the spot! There are others who try to make "Hawaiian bbq" but this is finally a real taste of the street food. The ribs are insane and the fact I can order a musubi in Buffalo makes this place a new favorite.

    Beef short ribs

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    3 months ago

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    5 months ago

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    3 months ago

    The find was so delicious. I had the short ribs. And will definitely be returning doon!

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    8 months ago

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    Ask the Community - Hanai Hawaiian BBQ

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    Mahar Moe

    Mahar Moe

    4.4(62 reviews)
    7.3 mi

    Ordered takeout. I don't like to rate restaurants on takeout, because it's never as good as…read moresit-down, but here I am anyway. The cashier was a little gruff, but the woman running back and forth between the kitchen and the front had a better business sense about keeping customers happy. She didn't want me to wait long, so I think she rushed the kitchen a little bit, which I appreciated, but also may have led to some of the demerits on the food I mention below. I was happy to see one dish I ordered, the pig intestine with fish, on their picture board above the cash registers. That gave me confidence that they knew what they were doing and it was the best dish by far out of the three I ordered. The intestine was fresh and flavorful, the spice level was high, but also not too salty. It was a lot of food. Only drawback here was the fish (tilapia?) seemed to be heavy on the breading. The other two dishes were disappointing. Penang curry with pork had good vegetables, but the sauce had too little flavor since they went too heavy on the coconut milk. The pork seemed like chicken, not pork. Way too soft and flavorless. The Singapore Chow Mei Fun had good noodles and veggies. But the curry powder was not blended in. Eating it, I could still feel it in powder form. It was also far too oily. Overall, I think they had a lot of options but next time I'd steer more towards classic Chinese, since that seems to be what they do well. I hope next time the flavors will be stronger and blended better (i.e. powders actually stirred in). I'm willing to give them another chance, since they do have a lot of dishes I like. Last note: the online ordering service does not indicate that dishes come with rice. I thought they would have rice by default, but then when I added the penang curry to my cart, it asked whether I wanted rice or noodles or something else. So that made me think I had to order rice separately, which meant I had twice as much rice as I needed. It also said "quart of white rice" was sold out, but "pint of white rice" was not, yet the rice that came with my meal came in a quart container.

    Tried this restaurant for the first time today. I ordered shrimp Kung Pao! Just the right amount of…read morespice and a few different vegetables. Looking forward to trying another dish.

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    Mahar Moe - Dining room

    Dining room

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    Kumo - Japanese crabmeat ravioli

    Kumo

    4.3(29 reviews)
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    Kumo Sushi has some of the freshest fish I've had in Western New York. Everything we ordered was…read moreincredibly fresh, and the sushi was absolutely delicious. The presentation was beautiful too every plate looked like a work of art. Sorry, no pictures this time... I was way too excited to start eating! One thing to know before you go: if you want ginger or wasabi, you'll need to ask for it since it doesn't automatically come with your sushi. The staff was friendly, the restaurant was very clean, and overall it was a great experience. I'll definitely be back!

    This is where my son decided he wanted to go for his 29th birthday dinner. We've never been here…read morebefore and it's close by our house so I figured why not ? It has a very, very small parking lot, which is pretty inconvenient. I had to park all the way down the street. We approached the restaurant and it looks so cute from outside with that big lucky cat. I don't know the names of these things so don't laugh at me, lol. We get inside. It's quite small inside. Also, they have a big cage that people can sit in only one though, and I wanted to sit in there, but it was already occupied by a family. The decorations are cute, but they don't have very many at least not on the side that we sat. We sat to the right when you walk in the door. The menus look like you're opening up a humongous encyclopedia or an almanac but there aren't that many pages in there so don't let it fool you. They have lots of different types of sushi, Japanese food, Chinese food, etc. My son got a salmon roll and a caterpillar which he said was amazing. I got General Tzo's chicken , which was much better than any Chinese place I've ever had it from. This was the real deal. But first I had pork eggroll and it was so good. They served it cut in half with duck sauce all over it and it was so good that way I loved it. Then I ordered a nice size bowl of pork lo mein. That was the best lo mein I have ever had in my life. It was absolutely delicious. My son tried some the next day and said that that was the best lo mein he's ever had. The employees were nice. Took a while for our food to come, but that was OK. We weren't in a rush. I ordered a Diet Coke and it seems that all Japanese and Chinese places that I go to lately they only give you cans of pop which seems weird to me, but whatever ! And this seems like a higher end type restaurant too. It's not a cheap little restaurant. This is a pretty pricey place, but like I said, it is delicious. I highly recommend going there and eating. Hopefully, you'll be as satisfied as my son and I were.

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    Kumo - Gyoza, crab "ravioli", and chicken katsu appetizers (takeout obviously)

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    Interior

    SATO - Okonomiyaki

    SATO

    3.6(391 reviews)
    2.9 miElmwood Village
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    I've gotten Raman and Sushi for takeout in the past and it has always been very good! Recently…read moreordered the chicken teriyaki don rice bowl (also takeout) as pictured. Online ordering was very easy and pick up process is smooth and timely! Although I haven't dined in, staff always seem friendly. Parking may be challenging as there is no parking lot and you will need to find street parking, but there are several side streets around.

    We literally NEVER have a good experience with SATO. Tonight was another witness of their terrible…read morecustomer service. Here goes: We were on our way home and called to place an order. The hostess told us that they would not take a pick up order until 8:30 (um ok....). But since it was 8:12, we decided to WAIT until 8:30 to order rather than finding an alternative to feed our family who already picked out their orders. So, we waited in our car for 20 minutes, and called back ready to place are order. The hostess said that the kitchen is now "not taking orders". I explained the situation and asked if we could just get a few ramen since we just waited at her direction. She must not realize that rent on Elmwood is expensive, or that there are bills to be paid, or that humans ordering food pay the bills, or that an owner would appreciate this $100 ramen order or the many orders we place all year, or large eat in bills because there is no attempt to keep us as a customer. We live in the neighborhood and love to support local restaurants and businesses and our family of 6 places large orders. Last time we were in to eat the service was bad as well. It took about 20 minutes to get our drinks. And the time before that we came on my daughters birthday and they said they weren't seating parties of 6 even though the entire restaurant was open. Hmmm. We literally could see every open table. My daughter in her 10 year old birthday crown telling them how much she loved ramen didn't even make them flinch since they seem to have delicious broth and no souls. We will keep spending our money at local establishments that treat customers like humans.

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    SATO - Lake Erie Water, I prefer mine filtered and chilled. This place is more like 3 stars but could easily be 5. It's all in the details.

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    SATO - Sashimi Plate (Chef's Choice) There were five pieces of nigiri and 8 piece CA roll

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    Teton Kitchen Thai & Japanese Cuisine

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    4.4(1k reviews)
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    One night in the area as we are traveling through and picked this restaurant based solely on the…read moreimpressive yelp reviews. Glad we did. Hard working people working in this restaurant as we could see as we peaked in the kitchen on our way out the door. Small place with huge menu. Decisions, decisions on just what to order. Hubby chose the shrimp bento box. He enjoyed. I ended up with the Tom Kar soup and california rolls. I loved the soup. And it was the good kind of california rolls...not the fake crab stick...the salad style (see my pic). The decor is quirky and kind of a no frills type place. Nothing fancy or high end by any stretch. Quite a few tables occupied, and lots of takeout orders. Seems the word is out that they have delicious food. I do recommend if you want your sushi fix.

    Have you seen the viral date night idea of making battleship boards and then getting sushi and…read moreplaying battleship with sushi? Well, of course my husband and I had to try it and what better place to get our food from than Teton. Because we needed a lot, and definitely had left overs, we went with the love boat for 2 all variety of fish for $69.00, as well as two tuna handrolls. I love their tuna handrolls. They are scrumptious. Teton is great for gluten free people and they modify to make sure everything is good to go. There was so much food. The sushi and the rolls were great and fresh. The ordering process online is extremely easy, even when you are ordering with a dietary restriction. If you want quality fish, go here. Taka, the owner, is great. Do something different, order some takeout and play homemade battleship with your spouse or a friend.

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    Hanai Hawaiian BBQ - asianfusion - Updated September 2026

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