Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Kanaka Island Grill

    4.5 (44 reviews)
    Closed 12:00 pm - 7:00 PM
    Updated 1 month ago

    Kanaka Island Grill Photos

    KANAKA ISLAND GRILL ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?

    You might also consider

    More like Kanaka Island Grill

    Recommended Reviews - Kanaka Island Grill

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Combo fried chicken and guava ribs
    Aimee P.

    Solid experience. I would have taken off some points for the wait, but no big deal, we're adults and can find something to occupy time by talking to each other or catching up on phone tingz. All good cause it was worth the wait. The portion was big and made it worth it. The fried chicken was tasty, good and crunchy. It had a light and crispy batter. The sauce was good too. The guava ribs was also good. Float in point and the meat was fall of the bone. The potato mac salad was ok too. Will add to the food rotation. A win for us. Mahalo for sharing the Aloha.

    Combo Plate
    Andy V.

    Placed in a random parking lot off of a very busy road, Kanaka was a great find while on an empty stomach. I spend a lot of time trying to find new places to try and Kanaka caught my eye very quickly! I came in around 2pm on a Tuesday and they were already out of a couple of their meats so get there early if you want them! I ended up with the pork chops and the fried chicken, while the pork chops were pretty good, the fried chicken was definitely where it's at! I would highly recommend getting that and enjoying it along side their potato salad! The worst part was really just the location, wish it was a little more open around there.

    Garlic shrimp and Huli Huli chicken--ono!
    Jane C.

    This one my go-to Hawaiian spot in Portland, no doubt. I wen live on da island for over one decade, so my Hawaiian food standards stay high. I tried pretty much every Hawaiian place and truck up here, and most of 'em... meh. But Kanaka Island Grill? Dey do 'um RIGHT. Straight up ono grindz -- broke da mout kine. I always grab da combo plate. Gotta get da Huli Huli chicken -- legit da best Huli Huli I've had on da mainland, period. Then I add either da galbi or da garlic shrimp -- tastes like da shrimp trucks back home on da North Shore. Portions solid, ingredients good quality, and you can tell dey cook 'um with aloha. If dey was closer to my side, I would be dea every week easy. No sleep on dis spot -- go check 'um out, you gon' be happy you did!

    Poke bowl
    Emily B.

    Excellent poke bowl and great service. Would love to come back and try the other options. The Mac salad has potatoes which I've never experienced before but it was also very tasty. Highly recommend!

    Kalbi short rib plate and fried chicken plate (I took the Mac salad out to refrigerate)
    Deb K.

    As a connoisseur of local hawaiian food in the Tigard area, this was the third food truck we've tried. The kalbi short ribs were tender and flavorful. The Mac salad was slightly sweet which we enjoyed. While it is entitled potato-mac, there was very little potato in the two servings we had. But it was still tasty. The rice was too dry for our liking but that is the same at every food truck we've tried. We didn't care for the fried chicken. It was had a strong taste of flour and the sauce was just okay. IOW, we've had M much better at other hawaiian food trucks. $42 for the short rib plate and fried chicken plate. About what we expected. Give em a try...

    fried chicken with the salad
    Ann N.

    i was craving hawaiian food so my friend and i grabbed dinner here. we came at 6pm and there was a group who had ordered ahead of us. i think the worker was running behind (taking longer than usual) because i heard him tell the customer he gave them a discount and he was very apologetic. they were out of rice and i think beef? but that was fine because i didn't want those things anyways. our orders also took longer than expected but he was the only one working so we understood. there is a very nice and clean dining area. there's only 4 tables, but it was not busy so we had no trouble seating ourselves. the bathroom is also very clean and spacious. it's the best food cart bathroom i've ever been in. the toilet has heated seats with a bidet which was very impressive and unexpected. i wish i had that in my bathroom the food was pretty good. hawaiian fried chicken is usually pretty sweet, so i expected this to be sweet, but it was more of a savory flavor. the sauce on top was not my favorite. i feel like it was not the best flavor to complement the chicken. i still really liked the texture of it though, it's just not my favorite hawaiian chicken i've ever had. the kimchi salad i was also disappointed by. it did not taste anything like kimchi, it only had the red color. the green salad was pretty good to me but i did not expect the chips on top. i enjoyed the dressing on top of in though.

    Sides that came with poke
    Jamie S.

    Got take out on a Sunday. They were out of a few things we wanted, but that means it is good, right??? YES! The poke, pork ribs and char sui chicken were great. Large potions. Good rice. Mac salad was different with potatoes but still good. Will be back. Good service.

    Spicy Ahi
    Allen G.

    We went in a Saturday evening and they were out of the dishes I wanted to try. Next time I'm in Tigard best believe I'm going early. My daughter had the Kauai shrimp and I had the Grandmas fried chicken Char siu chicken combo. The Mac salad reminded of home and the Poke was on point. The staff kept everything clean and organized. I cannot wait to get back the Tigard. Hopefully they'll have the guava ribs

    Fried chicken
    Dennis C.

    Located in a small plaza with other food trucks. The garlic shrimp was tasty, just a bit on the salty side, and the sauce kinda made the rice mushy. The fried chicken was the real winner though, super flavorful and not dry at all like a lot of places. I'd definitely come back to try more.

    garlic shrimp
    Kathleen N.

    first time here and got the fried chicken and garlic shrimp. garlic shrimp was garlicky and so flavorful! my only complaint was that the rice underneath was in a pool of garlic butter which i did not like and ended up only eating the rice on the side. same complaint with the chicken--there was too much teriyaki sauce in the rice that it made the rice too salty. other than that, the chicken was fried perfectly! the mac salad was different.

    Kalbi and aunties fried chicken
    c.k. d.

    The food just hits right! I'm from Hawaii so, of course, I'm super critical on all these local food spots. And when I tell you this is the spot !!!! I feel like a bunch of these spots (hawaiian food) have the same bland taste. But this spot -- tastes like family made it :') we got Aunties Fried chicken and the Kalbi Ribs. Horrible photo of the food but was too excited to eat!! Made it on my top fav local food spots in Portland !

    Grilled chicken, juicy with great flavor!
    Matt M.

    You only get grinds this good Hawaii! Don't miss out on the shrimp and beef ribs! I guarantee you this guy stole his shrimp recipe, it tastes exactly like a certain shrimp food truck on the big island (he knows which one ) Eat here ASAP!

    Outside

    See all

    6 days ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Lina C.
    0
    96
    11

    5 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    6 months ago

    Helpful 10
    Thanks 5
    Love this 12
    Oh no 1

    2 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jane C.
    329
    115
    137

    9 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Deb K.
    138
    608
    1023

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of CRAIG N.
    14
    159
    63

    4 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dennis C.
    158
    67
    118

    9 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    10 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of c.k. d.
    0
    13
    15

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 2
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Matt M.
    0
    38
    57

    11 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    5 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Brad S.
    61
    17
    0

    5 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of BA R.
    0
    10
    0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Erin O.
    50
    22
    5

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    10 months ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Robert B.
    65
    51
    20

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 months ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 2
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    11 months ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 months ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Dori H.

    Dori H.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 months ago

    It's da best! Best macaroni salad, awesome Huli Huli Chicken. My husband had Char Sui Chicken and loved it too. Ono all the way.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Khiem M.
    175
    13
    0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    1 year ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 2
    Love this 1
    Oh no 2

    Page 1 of 2

    Ask the Community - Kanaka Island Grill

    You might also consider

    Hina’s Island Grindz and Catering

    Hina’s Island Grindz and Catering

    4.8
    (196 reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$

    Food iz broke da mout onolicious. Being from Oahu, Hinas iz da BOMB!!! Auntie behind da window iz…read morebussin okloe (ass) cuz she da only one in da truck makin da delicious kau kau (meal) and takin your orders. We had the Hurricane chicken and Meat jun and wuz choice!!! Wuz so loaded da plate, couldn't cloze it! Be shua to let her know dat you first timer to her truck and she'll give you free soda(s)!! But vert important, text her see if she open and da food you want still available cuz she get short hours and she run out food fas cuz always get line at her truck. Check out Hinas folks if you lookin for ono Hawaiian local food and around Tigard area. Sorry for da Hawaiian pidgin lingo. Cheee Whooo!!!

    Like all the other reviews say, BIG PORTIONS!…read more It's very true. The portions here are huge! Definitely worth the $18. It lasts for a few more meals. The food truck is located next to a few other food trucks so you won't miss the bunch of them. There's only about two tables to sit at for all the food truck goers so be aware of that if your plan is to stay and eat there. I ordered the hurricane chicken ($18). Very well worth it! It comes with two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni salad. The container was so full that the lid wouldn't even close! She wrapped it up in a plastic bag since the lid wouldn't close luckily. The hurricane chicken was so crispy and had a good mix of seasonings that didn't overpower the crispness of the chicken. It was delicious! The lady running the truck was very friendly as well! She's definitely doing what she loves! I would come back again to try the other items on the menu. It all looks so yummy!

    Photos
    Auntie's sliding front window
    Auntie's sliding front window
    Trio w/Poke ($28)
    Trio w/Poke ($28)
    Death Row Plate

    See all

    Death Row Plate
    Iolani's Plate Lunch

    Iolani's Plate Lunch

    4.8
    (212 reviews)
    9.9 mi
    $$

    FOOD: FANTASTIC, DELICIOUS, AND ADDICTING. I reorder the mochiko and guava chicken all the time…read more The way he makes it is perfect every time and the portions are huge! SERVICE: Owner always does me right! He posts his schedule on instagram weekly, so I always know when to go. It's also great that he puts his phone number in the bio so that you can text/call to place an order ahead of time. He is always super friendly and whips up a banging meal in less than 10 minutes! AMBIANCE: It's a single food truck so don't expect outdoor seating or nothing.

    Soooo I have been in search of some legit Hawaii food for about 6 months now. I stopped by…read moreyesterday, he was closed. But today, I had the time to swing by and fortunately he was open, but SOLD OUT. Fortunately, he had a few things left over. So I said yes to a mix plate. Nolan's Hawaii accent is still thick it made me feel like I was back home on the west side for a second (!!!!thank you!!!!) I met some people outside the food stand, a business man from Hawaii and some California people I mistaken were from Hawaii as well, lol. It was an awesome interaction, from the moment I got there I got greeted by strangers waiting for food, to going up to the window and asking "so what? No more nuttin left?" Nolan's response was "Nah I only get mochicko chicken and kalua, you likem?" Haha that was a definite yes! Won't miss out on home food esp if word of mouth was already out there. So I waited a few minutes for my food, and the box was heavy. Haha it felt like when you would eat at your aunty and uncles house and they pack you the party left overs. I opened my plate lunch and I was greeted by a huge portion of chicken, pork rice and Mac salad. And let me tell you, the Mac salad didn't have so much frills like what you would see in a Portland Hawaii food joint. It was sauced, and seasoned. PERFECT! No need for all the extra add ons. As I started eating, let me say that kalua pork was no joke so moist and easy to eat not even close to dried out. The chicken tasted nice and crispy with just enough marinate and fluff. I haven't found this anywhere in Oregon..until here. Yeah sure there's a poke and katsu bar in the shopping center next door... but I take the random food cart in the parking lot any day over something franchised

    Photos
    Front
    Front
    We had poi at home and shared all we ordered.
    We had poi at home and shared all we ordered.
    Sold out

    See all

    Sold out

    Kanaka Island Grill - foodtrucks - Updated August 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...