A Hawaiian-inspired restaurant founded in Dallas is going west to Fort Worth: Pine Isle will be open in early fall at 3005 S. University Dr., near Texas Christian University.

Pine Isle is from Kevin Singharaj, who debuted the original Pine Isle in Dallas in 2025 as a takeout shop focused on Hawaiian dishes including poke, Spam, and the Hawaiian plate lunch — a comfort food dish featuring a protein like chicken paired with rice and macaroni salad, which has been a trendy item around DFW in recent years.

Singharaj, whose family owns the Zaap Kitchen chain, once lived in Hawaii and brings a personal and artisanal level to the genre, earning a following among foodies in the know.

"Hawaii was very special to me," he says. "Life was totally different there, and I want to provide an insight into my experiences in Hawaii to DFW residents."

The menu at Pine Isle features Hawaiian favorites like Spam musubi, the Spam version of sushi with a slab of Spam on top of rice; and loco moco, a plate with a beef patty and sunny side egg on top of steamed rice with brown gravy.

There's a big selection of lunch plates including Kalua pork with cabbage, teriyaki beef, garlic shrimp, miso chicken, chicken katsu, fried chicken, and kalbi Korean barbecued beef ribs. Other options include tuna poke bowls, poke nachos, hamachi, ahi tuna tataki, and garlic kimchi fries.

They recently added chicken teriyaki, which can be ordered a la carte or as a plate lunch; plus spicy Spam musubi; and spicy fried musubi.

Fort Worth will follow the same menu, quality, and overall experience as Dallas, but with a little extra.

"The biggest difference is that we’ll finally have indoor seating and an outdoor patio," Singharaj says. "Our Dallas location is only 950 square feet and was built around takeout, so this will give customers a different way to enjoy the food."

"We’re taking over the former Dutch’s Burrito Bar space, so we’ve had to get creative with the layout and operations to make sure we can maintain the same efficiency we’ve built in Dallas," he says. "I’m sure there will be some growing pains along the way, but our goal is simple: serve the same quality food and provide the same level of hospitality that got us here in the first place."

They weren't actively looking to open a second location, but Fort Worth turned out to be a perfect place for expansion.

"When Pine Isle started taking off, our first focus was investing back into the original store," he says. "We wanted to make sure we could handle the growth before chasing another lease. But this Fort Worth location just made sense. It’s right by TCU, and I also knew the area well since our Zaap Kitchen Fort Worth location is only a few minutes away."

"On top of that, customers have been asking us to come west for a while," he says. "Fort Worth has grown a lot over the years, and we’re excited to be a part of that growth."