Post #493966 by Mateotiki on Sun, Nov 15, 2009 8:21 PM

I don't know what it's like in the rest of the country, but Houston used to have at least 10 Hawaiian restaurants of the fast food variety. These were spread out all over town so I'm not sure that competition in close proximity was an issue. It looks now there are only 3 left: Alisi's, Aloha Grill, and Aloha Hawaii. The seven that have closed (two Aloha Hawaiian BBQs, two Big Island Hawaiian BBQs, Little Island Grill, Aloha Cafe, and Maui Tacos) have done so in the space of about 8 months and I don't think it was because of poor food quality. Little Island Grill catered my luau. I went to Aloha Grill on Saturday and talked to the owner, Donna Gao. She said it's slow and is not very encouraged by future trends. She thinks people either just don't know enough about Hawaiian food, don't like it, or simply would rather have a hamburger. And last I heard, the burger industry is doing just fine.

Are such restaurants in your parts thriving or suffering the same fate?