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Southern Grinds

5.0 (4 reviews)
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8 years ago

Helpful 11
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Love this 8
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10

9 years ago

Helpful 4
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Love this 1
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8 years ago

Helpful 1
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Love this 1
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9 years ago

Omg ! This place is amazing ! A definate MUST -TRY !!! They are so delisious I'm craving them right now !!!

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Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

Giovanni's Shrimp Truck

3.9
(5.5k reviews)
0.2 km
$$

Literally the best shrimp I ever had. Absolutely delicious!!…read more I don't say that lightly either. It was otherworldly!! The staff was great too!!!! I'll be back!

Giovanni's is one of those places where memory does a remarkable amount of the seasoning. I've been…read moreeating here across decades. Enough visits that this is no longer about catching them on a bad afternoon, ordering the wrong thing or failing to understand what the place is supposed to be. I've tried the different shrimp, stood in the lines, eaten at the tables, navigated the parking, brought people here and returned because, for a very long time, Giovanni's was simply one of those places you went when you were on this side of the island. At some point, repetition becomes evidence. The truck itself has become an artifact. Covered in signatures, battered by time, photographed millions of times. There was probably a period when all of that felt charming. Now it mostly feels tired. There is a difference between patina and neglect and the surrounding experience has increasingly crossed that line for me. Flies, crowded tables, overflowing activity, rough parking, heat, trash nearby. You can romanticize rustic only so far before rustic starts asking for a pressure washer. Then there is the service, which has consistently been the hardest part for me to understand. I don't need anyone performing hospitality like they're auditioning for a resort commercial, but basic warmth costs nothing. Too often the interaction here feels impatient and transactional, as though the customer is somehow inconveniencing the operation by showing up to buy the food. After enough visits, you stop calling that an off day. And then there is the plate. The shrimp itself is actually the least offensive part. It is generally cooked reasonably well. Tender enough, rarely destroyed and when you get a good batch you can understand why this formula became so popular. Everything around it drags it down. The rice has repeatedly been soft, clumped and bordering on mushy. I am annoyingly particular about rice, but rice is not some decorative substance placed beneath the main event. It matters. When half the plate is rice, screwing it up is not a minor detail. The garlic is abundant, certainly, but abundance and care are different things. It often arrives more like a wet mass of processed garlic than the fragrance and texture you get from properly chopped fresh cloves. Add the butter and oil and you certainly get intensity, but after several bites the whole thing becomes heavy rather than interesting. The little salad on the side generally feels like an afterthought that has been waiting for someone to remember it. And that is ultimately my problem with Giovanni's. The entire experience feels as though its reputation arrived at the destination years before the restaurant did and everyone decided there was no longer much reason to keep improving. People will continue coming. Of course they will. The name is famous, the truck is recognizable, the photographs are practically mandatory and nostalgia is one hell of a business model. I understand it because it worked on me for years. But strip away the mythology and ask a brutally simple question: If this exact plate came from an unknown truck with no history, no signatures and no reputation, would you still wait in line for it? I wouldn't. Two stars. The shrimp can still be decent and I have too many memories here to pretend the place means nothing to me. But nostalgia should bring you back to a restaurant. It shouldn't be responsible for making the food taste better. I kept returning because tradition can turn habit into taste. I'm done confusing the two.

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Giovanni's Shrimp Truck order wait line
Giovanni's Shrimp Truck order wait line
Garlic Shrimp Scampi
Garlic Shrimp Scampi
Shrimp Scampi

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Shrimp Scampi
808 Corn Stars

808 Corn Stars

4.8
(13 reviews)
0.3 km

The good: Service was friendly and quick…read more The ok: Corn was a little dry and overdone. Also, I was hoping for Kahuku grown corn, but it looked like regular corn. I could be wrong about the corn they used, but I had have had better. It wasn't terrible, just serviceable. The bad: They tipped themselves with my credit card without my knowledge. They stated a total, I paid with tap. They said thank you and said it would be 7-8 minutes and so then I walked away. Initial charge showed what they stated but then I see that another 15% was added a day later. I take responsibility that I didn't stick around for the tip screen but I honestly thought our transaction was over after I tapped. I totally would have tipped as I always do but I wasn't asked as they let me walk away. They also could have just asked me verbally for a tip when I came back to pick up my order rather than take it from me. It was only a few bucks but it's the principle; you shouldn't just take from a customer without their knowledge or permission.

The simplicity of corn. Only 2 things on the menu…read more The southwest and the kahuku. Doesn't get any simpler than that. Southwest has the mayo Mexican seasonings and Parmesan all, pretty much an elote And the kahuku butter garlic salt pepper (More seasonings on both I just don't know lol) Both taste good, depends what your craving. Service is honest, and she tells you 7min for your corn. The woman in the front is also super sweet and friendly. It's a little stand that'll bbq the corn and season for you. So simple and so good.

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Onolicious goodies
Onolicious goodies
808 Corn Stars
10.26.24 small stand at Kahuku Land Farm

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10.26.24 small stand at Kahuku Land Farm
Moores Soul Food  Kitchen

Moores Soul Food Kitchen

3.9
(16 reviews)
22.8 km

Mmmm... Delicious!!…read more The wife and I caught a quick glance of Moore's Soul Food Kitchen truck while they were parked at Geiger in Ewa Beach. It was the first time we saw this truck, so we both couldn't help but be curious about the goods.. especially my wife lol. First off, the owner was super cool! Being that my wife is from Louisiana, every time we hit up a soul food spot, she asks where they're from. Today, we learned that the Moore's family is from Florida and have been in Hawaii since the 80's. Since we already had an early lunch, we weren't tryna get too crazy on the ordering as I typically do. My wife decided to try the chicken wing plate which came with 10pc chicken wings and fries. After debating on the flavor choice, we agreed on chipotle mango. When the owner hand delivered the plate to us, she asked for our honest review... and here it is!! Haha! FIVE STARS! :) Happy to report the wings and fries were amazing!!! Loved the homemade sauce that the wings were tossed in. I was expecting a little kick after catching a scent of hot sauce, but they weren't spicy at all. I appreciate the naked wings too btw. They were so juicy and flavorful, and I love when my food is piping hot! Excited to try other offerings and even other flavors of wings. Hopefully more menu items are available the next time we stop by. Today there were a few things marked SOLD OUT. As far as hours of operation and locations, the best thing to do is follow them on instagram (which I don't have), but calling their number to check the schedule is another option. Hope you love it!!

Came here one Wednesday at the Ewa beach location and I was very disappointed. Ordered the chicken…read morewing combo with fried and a small size of mac and cheese. The wings had NO flavor!!! It's like they just deep fried it without any seasoning or flour. Then they just threw buffalo sauce for flavor. The fries were frozen fries that you could get from your local grocery store. Nothing special. Hand cut fries would have been a lot better. The mac and cheese is a big zero. No taste and it wasn't the best kind of cheese. As a "soul food" restaurant, I was very disappointed. I've been to a lot of soul food places and a lot of them stand out in a good way. They marinate there chicken, and fry it with flour, they hand cut the fries and fry it with peanut oil, and lastly they scratch make the mac n cheese. Saldy this restaurant failed to put more effort into their food. Which is why im giving them a big fat ZERO. Only put one star cuz I have to. I won't be coming back.

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Menu 8/26/24
Menu 8/26/24
Menu 8/26/24
Menu 8/26/24
Food truck is at Waipahu High School today

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Food truck is at Waipahu High School today

Southern Grinds - soulfood - Updated July 2026

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