Restaurants in Aloha

Hamburger Mary flipped her first burger in 1972 in San Francisco’s SOMA district. From her humble origins as the lovably eccentric icon for a late-night beer-and-burger joint, she has now crisscrossed the nation with her brand of family dining, which welcomes all open-minded people and focuses on members of the LGBT community. With cleverly mismatched dinnerware, diners dig into a menu rooted in Angus beef burgers such as the Buffy the Burger Slayer or the 1-pound Proud Mary. Bold colors splash the walls, and colorful collages and artwork frame a fun, quirky space to encourage diners to get out of their comfort zone and finally attempt to bench-press their family members.

After a wrong turn to Philadelphia led him to a transcendental encounter with a cheesesteak, Charley’s Grilled Subs’s eponymous owner opened his first sub shop on The Ohio State University campus in the late ‘80s. More than two decades later, Charley’s slings philly steak subs and gourmet fries in more than 300 locations around the world. Classic cheesesteaks join barbecue cheddar, sicilian, and chicken configurations on the hearty menu alongside grilled deli subs and salads topped with seared meats. Crispy golden fries invite crumbles of bacon and dollops of cheese, ranch, and other deluxe toppings, washed down with sips of lemonade freshly squeezed with lemons, kiwis, strawberries, and 1958 Edsels.

H5O bistro & bar executive chef Ron Baker crafts innovative dishes with local and organic ingredients and sustainably sourced seafood. His efforts helped earn the eatery—located inside Hotel Fifty—a 2012 Diner’s Choice Award of Best American Food from OpenTable. Ron's recipes roster includes salmon covered in a shrimp cracker crust and beef tenderloin paired with duck-fat-roasted fingerling potatoes. Even his breakfast menu features myriad eclectic dishes, from the fried-chicken benedict to the french toast made with challah soaked in Grand Marnier custard.

The restaurant itself is as innovative as the menu, with touches such as an oversize painting of colorful koi on one wall and flames that erupt from a bed of rocks in the modern open fireplace. In the lounge area, a white table shaped like a face holds seasonally changing cocktails and vinos from the wine cellar. During the warmer months, outdoor seating proffers sweeping views of the waterfront located a frisbee toss away, which means it's 14 miles away if you're really good at frisbee.

Pow Pow Wings, a casual sports bar written up in The Columbian and Clark College's The Independent, serves up 13 styles of wings and 10 sauces. A raspberry-chipotle sauce was recommended by The Columbian, whereas the ghost pepper-infused Super Pow was reported to create "an inferno on the palate" by The Independent. Pow Pow Wings also grills burgers that can be doused in any wing sauce or topped with a stack of fried-mozzarella sticks. A full bar supplies beer, soft drinks, and other libations, and pinball machines and foosball distracts patrons from shouting curses in Esperanto at the sportsmen on TV.

When her two sons came back from Europe raving about the traditional liege sugar waffles, Mary did what any good mom and professional pastry chef would do: she learned how to make them. But Mary wasn't content with mere imitation––she wanted her waffles to be something unique, and so she spent several weeks crafting her own super-secret recipe that blended Belgian-style traditions with hard-to-source ingredients. After all that work, she knew her waffles were made for more than just maple syrup, and a slew of waffle-based dishes was born, incorporating toppings that include everything from thick-cut bacon and housemade salsa to scoops of small-batch ice cream and Guittard chocolate. Soon, she began serving the treats out of a converted Dutch-style door window in her husband’s Bread & Ink Café, and her waffles quickly gained enough acclaim to be featured in Bon Appetit, as well as an episode of the TV show Portlandia.

Now operating from two locations, the staff still gives diners the option to devour their waffles on the go, but welcomes guests to linger longer in the warmth of covered indoor- and outdoor-dining spaces. There, steaming cups of locally-roasted Kobos coffee and glasses of blackberry-basil lemonade help wash down the waffley goodness, while a full line of frozen take-home waffles await to be warmed in home toasters or Mrs. Butterworth's loving embrace.