Hawaiian Bros Island Grill sets opening date for yet another Kansas City restaurant

Locally owned Hawaiian Bros Island Grill has set an opening date for its new restaurant in Ward Parkway Center.

It plans an 11 a.m. April 28 opening at 8805 State Line Road. It also will have several VIP events next week for first responders and medical personnel, educators and local businesses.

Other new locations are in the works in Independence for a June opening, in Lenexa for July, and south Overland Park (in a former Burger King) for August. The company also is finalizing plans for a midtown location for a July opening, and the Metro North Crossing area for later this year.

In addition, Hawaiian Bros is opening at least 15 locations in Texas this year, including 13 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and two additional restaurants in Austin. It wants to have more than 30 locations by the end of the year.

While many restaurants have shut down because of the pandemic, Hawaiian Bros has been thriving.

“I definitely think we were well positioned for this time. Our food travels well, the speed we can make it, it’s affordable,” Scott Ford, president of the company, told The Star last fall. “We do a crazy amount of curbside.”

Hawaiian Bros offers a traditional Hawaiian plate lunch with a scoop of white rice, a scoop of macaroni salad and a protein — slow-roasted pork, grilled teriyaki chicken, and sweet-and-spicy chicken.

Hawaiian Bros is also known for its Spam Musubi (rice, seared Spam, glazed in teriyaki sauce and wrapped in seaweed) and Dole Soft Serve, a tropical frozen dessert.

It first opened in Belton in early 2018 and currently has area locations in Lawrence, Lee’s Summit, North Kansas City, Overland Park and Shawnee.

This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 11:04 AM.