“Big Boy makes you say ohhh boy!!!” Well not really, but that’s their catchy slogan. The first Big Boy started in 1936 by Bob Wian in Glendale California. Today there are over 455 Big Boys Restaurants throughout the United States and Canada. If hamburgers and diners with an unconventional flare humbles you then Bobs Big Boy might be the place to rekindle old memories.

The place is a total diner inside. I like the big overhead lighting and the big windows that let in an ample supply of natural light.

I started out with a small green salad. It came with one slice of tomato and one cucumber slice, the rest was Romain Lettuce. Not to mention, it was the top part of the tomato, so I had to cut around it just to eat it. I substituted the fries that came with my sandwich for this salad.

I ordered the Mushroom Melt, $8.95. It came with portobello mushrooms, peppers and melted swiss cheese all on toasted, sliced bread. Oh, also, it was flavored with a marinara sauce. I was happy with this dish but I think it would of tasted so much better with a different type of bread. This boring white sandwich bread wasn’t doing it for me.

Shane ordered the French Dip, $8.25. It came with lean sliced roast beef on a hoagie bun and served with au jus. All sandwiches came with fries. Shane said it was, “one of the boriest sandwiches he has ever encounterd.” The size of the sandwich was a little disappointing and the taste had no wow factor. It would have made a good snack if made at home but not a meal. I didn’t taste it, but it did look pretty boring.

His sandwich also came with toast. I don’t get it, who wants to eat bread after a sandwich?

Country Fried Steak and Eggs, $9.49. Ray couldn’t have been happier with this dish. I tried it and yes it was awesome. The gravy was perfect and the country fried steak was fried to perfection and the hash browns were golden and crispy. I liked his dish more than mine but refrain from taking too many bites because he liked it so much.

Overall, I hate to say it, but this place was good enough, definitely better than what I expected. As most of you already know, I’m not a fan of diners. To me, they scream cheap, poor quality food for people that don’t know any better or don’t care but this place proved me wrong. Oh, Boy! But just so you know, service sucks.

View Larger Map

Bobs Big Boy
2828 PAA Street
Honolulu, HI 96819
(808) 833-8440

If you haven’t noticed there’s a few places throughout Oahu that tend to have lines out the ying yang. It’s crazy because I’m like, “what the fuck is going on over there, what are they cooking that so special?” I need to know. Obviously Eggs’n Things are one of those places. Now this place has to advertise directly to the Japanese because there’s an abundance of them here.

Waiting in line, I felt like I was outside an I.N.S. (Immagration Naturalization Services) office.

Once we were sat inside, I was quite impressed with the nice clean finish on the inside and it was a little bigger than what I had expected it to be just by looking from the outside. Their menus are on a wooden board, English on one side and Japanese on the other.

Sara got the Blueberry Waffle, $7.50. This was really good, but not really what I expected their waffles to be like. I saw big thick waffles in my head you know. This place is know for having ginormous dishes. Come on guys, step up your game.

Shane got the Coconut Waffle. He loved it and could not have been happier. Oh, Shane, such a stoic, easy to please man.

Ray got the Banana Waffles, $7.50. He said they were great, but soon regret his order when he laid eyes upon Justin’s plate.

I took this picture to show just how thin this waffles were, thinner than pancakes. The bananas tasted really fresh and were bounteous. Now don’t get me wrong, everyone loved them, but some people have preferences. If you prefer thin waffles you should fucking come here if you don’t order something else.

Since everyone else got waffles I decided to go with crepes, that way I could take a little bit of waffle from everyone else and still have my crepe. Lesson #1, think like a fatty, just don’t look like one. The great thing about crepes is that you don’t really get any surprises with them, they’re thin pancakes, they will always be thin, if they come out thick, someone fucked up and you got pancakes instead. I ordered the Strawberry Rolled Crepe, $8.95. I love crepes, but as a lone ranger. Somehow every time I order them filled I end up being disappointed. This time was no different. The menu said they were, “delicate thin pancakes.” I should of taken that to heart because, delicate they were. By the time I got to my second crepe, it started to crumble and deteriorate. It literally dissolved into such small pieces that it made eating with a fork a skill. Let this be a lesson to me.

Justin got the Potato, Bacon and Cheese Omelet, $10.75. All omelette’s are made with three fresh eggs and come with pancakes, rice or potatoes. As soon as Ray laid his eyes upon Justin’s dish he knew he had ordered the wrong dish. Then he tasted it and it only confirmed that this dish should belong to him. Justin said, “ten out of ten, I give this dish a ten, it couldn’t have been better.”

These are they pancakes that it came with. For $10.75 this dish could easily be shared by two. There you have it, guys. That’s their secret, fantastic omelette’s.

Alright guys, it’s story time. So just as we’re finishing up with our breakfast I notice the this ginormous milkshake the waitress has in her hand. My eyes are fixed on her as she walks right next to my table and hands it to this cute Japanese girl. All of them do the cute, little Japanese giggle. Ray tells me to stop staring, but I can’t, I’m memorized. “Fuck you, mind your own business,” I say and then I turn to the cute Japanese, smile, and nod my camera to her, which is code for, “may I take your picture?” She nods, I gesture for her to pick up the milkshake, she willingly obliges. Japanese girls are so adorable.

View Larger Map

Eggs’n Things
1911 Kalakaua Ave # B
Honolulu, HI
(808) 949-0820

Located right outside of Waikiki is a local diner, with real local prices. This is the type of place that I hoped to be writing about when I first started this blog. Not diners, but just cheap places. After all, my blog is called, “cheap places to eat in Oahu Hawaii” I would hope that I could live up to the name at least sometimes. The truth of the matter is, there’s just not that many super duper cheap places to eat out here. And to make matters worst, the grocery stores are more expensive than dining out at times. Well, Rainbow Diner is exactly what I would expect from a diner, not good, cheap, and yes, very affordable.

There’s seating outside, under a shaded cover. I got in line and scanned the menu for something that would satisfy my morning breakfast appetite. Holly shit, are they for real, Loco Moco – $3.25, Toss Salad – $2.00, Hamburger – $1.55, BBQ Burger – $1.70,
Pancakes – $3.75. The list went on and on. I don’t think I saw anything over 7.00 and only a few items over $6.00. Blood rushed through my veins, my sweat pores started to dampen and,” I desperately wanted to make love to a schoolboy,” well not really, just thought I’d throw a quote from Dumb and Dumber but ya’ll get the point.

I got the Breakfast Special, two eggs cooked the way you like, choice of meat, with rice or white or wheat toast for $4.50. I picked the mahi mahi. Now, when I say it’s not good, maybe I’m over exaggerating, it was decent and then it got bad. Perhaps I picked the wrong thing to eat. Who has fish for breakfast, right? Everything was fried in heavy oil so after I was done eating I felt like my insides were heavily coated with lard. Who knows, maybe it’ll help speed up the digestion process.

Here’s a picture of the fish over eggs.

French Toast, $4.25. Again, this was decent. Ray said it was kinda like grilled bread with powdered sugar. Nonetheless, he ate it and it served it’s purpose by filling the empty hole in his belly.

Rainbow Diner is a very basic as can be diner. The whole time I was here I only saw local people. I want to say that I’ll never be back, but something about this place, the diner, locals, low prices and basic food reels me back in. Sometimes basic food is all I need and does the job. I said before, I rarely go to the same place twice unless it was just that good or just that cheap. Cheap humbles me. I’ll give this place one more chance before I check them off, but it won’t be for a while

View Larger Map

Rainbow Drive-Inn
3308 Kanaina Ave.
Honolulu HI 96815
(808) 96815