New Diner's Drive In
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Many years ago, this was one of my late night haunts. I've stopped by here a couple of times recently and discovered that the "new" Diner's isn't nearly as good as the "old" one was.
Diner's combo special #1 - charcoal broiled New York steak with/without teriyaki sauce, mahi mahi, and fried chicken (US$6.45).
Homemade hamburger steak smothered in brown gravy and sautéed onions (US$5.65).
New Diner's Drive In
1333 North King Street
Telephone: 808.842.0344
Reid, I use to really enjoy going to the original Diners back in the 80's and early 90's. Remember the old commericals starring Mel Cabang? I would always get either the teriyaki beef/pork plate or the half chicken. What I also enjoyed was their mac salad which contained watercress, something you rarely or wont find in a mac salad these days. Their food started to go downhill when Diners was sold around 1995. Then it was sold again a few years back and has now been reincarnated as the New Diners. Frankly, I think their food really sucks, they spent great money renovating the place but did a lousy job on their menu. I heard "good" things about the place and was very disappointed when I tried their food.
Posted by: Jimmy en | February 20, 2006 at 12:17 AM
it reminds me of this old diner near me in los angeles called nick's. at some point, the "old" nick left, and an imposter nick took his place! they all but put a sign out front that said "new management, now with new nick". some people said the food improved because it was less oily, but c'mon, it's not a greasy spoon for nothin'.
Posted by: santos. | February 21, 2006 at 09:22 PM
Is the Diner's in Waimalu also "new"? I live right near it but I haven't been there in awhile. That location seems to retain some of the old Diner's menu after the changeover like the chicken katsu but it's still not the same. My dad knew something was different when his favorite, the oxtail soup ,didn't taste the same anymore.
Other things I remember about the old Diner's (along with the Mel Cabang commercials) were the hamburger combo which had an enormous amount of fries, and the spaghetti plate...spaghetti + rice + mac salad, only in Hawaii!
Posted by: juniorboy | February 22, 2006 at 12:33 PM
Reid - Diner's isn't even a blip on my plate lunch radar anymore. On my last visit home, the food was terrible. Too bad, I used to love Diners on Keeaumoku St......
Posted by: Kirk | February 24, 2006 at 06:51 AM
I remember going to Diner's Drive-In as a child back in the 80's. My parents would always bring me to the restaurants located in Kalihi and Waipahu. I remember in the Waipahu Restaurant, they would have 2 separate sections: 1) the choice menu (like at Panda's or Pattie's) and 2) the regular menu. I would always order the bentos. That combination of fried eggs, luncheon meat (I know it wasn't spam), and teriyaki beef covering a steamed rice. The daikon and umi was great too! My mom always got the teribeef plate and dad would have something different all the time. I'd make them get me a side macaroni salad. Now that I'm pregnant, I've been thinking a lot about the food I used to have there. If anyone knows where the old recipes are...they bettah bring em back out for the locals who loved their food!
Posted by: Geraldine | June 27, 2006 at 05:39 AM
my mom use to work the night shift at diner's back in the 80's and she'd bring home the leftovers for us to taste my favorite was the oxtail soup and half chicken, cannot have a plate w/o the mac, i'm throwing a potluck haw'n style and i'm in search of the mac salad recipe, i loved it with the teriyaki sauce drizzled over the mac.
thanks, press
Posted by: pressy | February 14, 2007 at 08:36 AM