Episode 8: Side Street Inn

Rating by Yelp.com: 4 stars
Cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiian
Price Range: $11 - $30
Operation Hours: Mon thru Sun 2pm - 2am 

Aloha viewers, today Best Grinds looks to explore the eateries commonly labeled as sports bars. Sports Bars are often gathering places for friends and families where they can casually socialize and hence the main, watch sports while enjoying the eatery's fine cuisine and beverages.  After doing research online by E-word of mouth, we have discovered Side Street Inn is a very popular bar that various demographics choose to visit due to its lively ambiance and flavorful meals and drinks.  Side Street Inn has been the hidden hot spot for many local residents for years.  They’ve been locally and nationally recognized as being the gathering place for the island’s best chefs such as Alan Wong of Alan Wong’s Restaurant, Russell Siu of 3660 on the Rise, and many more.  Side Street Inn opened its doors in 1992 by Chef and Owner, Colin Nishida and had won numerous awards since then. The restaurant offers something for everyone from sports lovers to wine connoisseurs with multiple satellite-ready, big screen TVs to enjoy sports games and a full bar with a wide selection of both domestic and imported beers.

Best Grindz Takes You On Da Strip! [Video]

Upon entering the restaurant I must say the ambiance lived up to its reputation; Side Street Inn was lively as I have been told, with all customers being comfortably being loud and socializing with no formal boundaries to limit them. Staff were exceptionally friendly, parking was available (for a fee) and seats were generous and looked clean, therefore in terms of service quality and facilities I'll give this place a thumb's up, no pun intended. However, I must say this food fell short when it came up short. I ordered three of the most popular cuisines on the menu as recommended by our friendly server (as you will see in our podcast video), and I was not very impressed by the taste. Sure the large portions for family style sharing is great, but the cuisines were quite salty and did not have a good balance of flavors at all. The pork chop pieces were inconsistent as while some pieces were more tender than others while some pieces were way too dry and for a second I thought I was chewing a car's tire. Overall, the place is great as a social gathering place, but if it were me I would stick to only ordering commercially standard drinks such as beer that taste the same regardless of where you order it from.

Likes

     Good lively ambiance

     Clean facilities

     Parking availability

Dislikes

     Inconsistent meals that were not properly seasoned

Official Best Grindz Rating...3.5 stars!!!

Episode 7: Wild Bean Espresso

Rating by Yelp.com: 3 ½ stars

Cuisine: Coffee & Tea, Shakes, Food Stands

Price Range: Inexpensive, Under $10


Lunch wagons are increasingly becoming a popular concept here on Oahu and a variety of trucks are popping up with different concepts rather than the typical “lunch” wagon concept. Halle Nguyen, owner of Wild Bean Espresso came up with one of the most unique concept of opening up a coffee truck and having her baristas dressed in lingerie while they prepare and serve drinks. Halle came up with this concept while attending school up in Seattle which was where she got exposed to similar concepts of entrepreneurship trucks and thought to herself, “Hey, why not open one in Hawaii? And so she did! Today she owns 2 trucks and will be opening up her third truck next month. So if you are looking for something to “perk” you up or a little eye candy, head on down to Wild Bean Espresso located conveniently along Waimanu Street near Ward Center.

Best Grindz Takes You on a New Adventure! [Video]

My experience at Wild Bean Espresso was definitely a unique one because it was my first time trying it out.  Wild Bean Espresso knows how to truly lure in customers to try their refreshingly wonderful drinks with their friendly attitude and unique uniform.  When I first approached the truck, I was greeted by all three lovely ladies and was immediately introduced the menu and their popular menu items.  My drink was made to order and did not take very long.  As they were making my drink, they constantly made small conversation with me on whether or not I like my drink more on the sweet side or not, which shows me they’re being interactive with their customers.  After receiving my drink and having a taste, it was made with just the right amount of added liquid sugar and the espresso and chocolate was mixed to the right amount, making my iced mocha not too bitter, not too sweet, but just how I like it.  The only disadvantage they have is they’re located around a construction area therefore the loud noise can become very overwhelming.  Parking although may not be an issue for me when I went, but could be an issue to many others because there is absolutely no parking around the area so customers can only park on the side of the street for a short time to purchase drinks.

Likes

     Friendly Staff

     Personalize Flavor to Customer’s Preference

     Interaction with Customer

Dislikes

     No Parking

     Loud Construction Noise

Official Best Grindz Rating...4 stars!!!