Hawaiian News

Hawaiian Bros imports comforting tropical plate lunches to Dallas

The comforting plate lunch.

Photo by Kathy Tran

Dallas is about to get a big plate of Hawaiian food with the arrival of Hawaiian Bros, a fast casual concept founded in Kansas City that specializes in authentic island comfort food including the classic Hawaiian plate lunch.

Hawaiian Bros was founded by brothers Cameron and Tyler McNie, who learned traditional recipes and cooking techniques used by native Hawaiians for generations. They opened their first location in Kansas City in 2018.

There are currently five locations in the K.C. area, plus locations in Chicago; Belton, Missouri; and Austin. North Texas is their next frontier.

They're already operating out of Revolving Kitchen, a commercial kitchen facility in Garland, but will open brick-and-mortar locations in late spring/early summer, as follows:

Hulen: 4732 Bryant Irvin Rd, Fort Worth
Denton: 2220 S Loop 288
Alliance: 2301 N Tarrant Pkwy, Fort Worth
Frisco: 11560 Dallas Pkwy.
Upper Greenville: 6011 Greenville Ave, Dallas

Eight locations in the works include Hurst, Allen, Waco, Mesquite, Addison, Richardson, Euless, and Murphy.

The food
The classic Hawaiian plate lunch is a starch-tastic experience that comes with two scoops of rice and macaroni salad, plus an entree/protein such as teriyaki chicken, teriyaki beef, or pulled pork.

At Hawaiian Bros, the menu includes:

Huli Huli Chicken – Hawaiian Bros' signature marinated teriyaki chicken
Luau Pig – slow-roasted Kalua pork seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt
Molokai Chicken – sweet and spicy grilled chicken with a little heat
Honolulu Chicken – savory chicken infused with garlic, green onions, and sesame
Macaroni Salad – classic Hawaiian side featuring a "secret blend" of spices
Spam Musubi – rice with seared spam glazed in teriyaki sauce, wrapped in seaweed

All plate lunches are available in small, classic, and large sizes.

They're also doing Dole Whip, the cult-favorite dairy-free soft-serve created by Dole in 1986. Hawaiian Bros. has the original pineapple flavor as well as an occasional rotating flavor.

Hawaiian Bros president Scott Ford says in a statement that the founders had a Hawaiian vision.

"From their first taste of Hawaiian cuisine, our founders Cameron and Tyler McNie, knew they wanted to share the flavors of Hawaii with the mainland," Ford says. "They also very purposefully centered their business around the value of Ohana —knowing the blending of community, connection and food would be the best way to honor the Hawaiian culture."

openings

Spicy Food News

New restaurant Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine does it for real in Plano

Dallas Spicy

Fried rice and chicken at Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine

An authentic Chinese mom-and-pop restaurant has debuted in Plano: Called Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine, it opened in late 2025 at 4140 Legacy Dr. #310, at Coit Road, in the same center as Sprouts, taking over a space previously occupied by 369 Chinese BBQ, a long-timer that closed in 2025 after more than a decade.

Dallas Spicy Chinese Cuisine stands apart in the Chinese restaurant field thanks to a trio of elements:

Unusual dishes
They offer an array of Sichuan, Shanghai, and Taiwanese dishes, some not commonly found in DFW, such as:

Hot & Spicy Crayfish
Cumin Beef
Sweet & Sour Pork Ribs
Sauteed Bullfrog with Pickled Peppers

Dishes like their humongous Braised Lion’s Head Meatballs, a Huaiyang-style dish from Eastern China featuring pork meatballs simmered with Napa cabbage, and their Spicy Stinky Tofu — a Chinese tofu dish often sold as a snack at roadside stands — are earning raves for their home-cooked authenticity.

The menu has a big assortment of vegetable dishes, mostly stir-fries such as stir-fried shredded cabbage and stir-fried green beans with garlic, which has emerged as a major crowd-pleaser.

There are rice and noodle dishes such as chow mein, beef noodle soup, and dan dan noodles, a Sichuan classic with noodles, minced pork, scallions, and peanuts. An "American Chinese" category on the menu offers familiar staples such as honey walnut shrimp, orange chicken, and broccoli & beef.

Set price
A second distinction at Dallas Spicy is their "set price" dinner, like a Chinese version of omakase, featuring 10 dishes for about $150. It can be ordered in spicy or non-spicy versions.

The pandas
Dallas Spicy is obsessed with pandas: They've made pandas their decorative them, putting them everywhere: panda wall stickers, panda condiment shakers, and a massive installation featuring dozens of stuffed panda toys tacked to the wall in a heart shape.

The owners are hard to reach; they rarely answer the phone. But they'll provide attentive service if you dine in. They vow to be more than just a restaurant. According to their manifesto, they're a place "where stories are told through taste."

Dallas Spicy decor Pandas rule the decor at Dallas Spicy Chinese.Yelp

openings