May 2024: Our Top 3 Most Popular Food Stories
The upside of a crime, Kailua’s new big opening and 15 picks that rose to the top in two days.
No. 3: Thieves Stole Tight Tacos’ Equipment. Then This Happened
Ballesteros at the Palm Tree Music Festival. Screenshot courtesy of @tighttacoskaimuki
Published May 22, 2024
Yesterday was one month to the day since thieves drove off with Tight Tacos’ van and all its grills, tents, tables and everything else Reggie Ballesteros and Rizza Cozio needed to do off-site events and catering. Ballesteros’ first-person account tells what happened in the two weeks after—a huge outpouring of grassroots support that gave Tight Tacos heart and hope. That’s still ongoing, Ballesteros texted us last night. “I hear it a lot: ‘We heard about the theft.’” Catering gigs and business at the Kaimukī restaurant are still going up, he says, with sales now about a third higher than before. But there’s still no trace of any of the missing equipment.
No. 2: First Look: Hawai‘i’s First Tokyo Central Opens in Kailua
Photo: Maria Burke
Published May 14, 2024
Maria Burke, our former digital dining editor and still a Frolic contributor, was waiting to cover this story. A Waimānalo girl, she’s seen Kailua evolve over the years, including the presence of more chains. Few places have been immune to this, so I wondered why Maria was so excited about the coming of Tokyo Central, part of the Don Quijote retail group. In response, she listed a string of closures of longtime businesses she grew up with. The result, she said, was fewer Asian food and grocery options in a neighborhood with a large local Asian population.
It was a good reminder that all our neighborhoods come with different histories and, even in an age of globalization, are evolving toward different futures. “In a small community with three Safeways, a Foodland, a Whole Foods and a Target, Tokyo Central brings something totally different,” Maria writes, “and I couldn’t be happier.”
No. 1: Top 15 Picks of a Las Vegas Man Who Eats Out in Honolulu 180 Times a Year
Screenshot courtesy of @brickfiretavern
Published May 29, 2024
Two things I love most about this post: Young Park’s passion for Honolulu’s food scene and the fact that most of his picks come from small, locally owned businesses. Someone as volubly opinionated about food as Park is a rarity; rarer still is someone who can back up his opinions with corroborated details. Park makes it a point to get to know a dish, and sometimes the story of whoever made it as well: When he and his wife find a place they like, they eat there several times a week.
So when I pinned him down, he talked about specific qualities that set his favorite dishes apart; and if a restaurant’s better-known specialty was not a standout, he noted that, too. But even I couldn’t believe it when this post soared into the No. 1 spot just two days after publication. Young, if you’re reading this, how about sharing your favorite Las Vegas eats? For real!
For the record, the next three most-read posts were All the Food Coming to Filipino Fiesta 2024, 9 New & Coming Eateries on O‘ahu: May 2024, and Ka‘a‘awa’s Crouching Lion Returns With a Revamped Look and Menu.
