One day Ray saw three Mexican’s wearing cowboy boots, hat and a pancho walk into Jose’s. The first thing that came to his mind was, “if the real Mexican’s are going there for lunch, the food must be authentic.” So the next time we were in the mood for Mexican the first thing that came to mind was Jose’s Mexican Restaurant, you know, the place where the real Mexicans go.

The chips and salsa here were free and yummy.

For starters we had three beef taquitos, $9.95. Why do taquitos always come in threes? It doesn’t seem like a practical amount to me. Anyhow, I really enjoyed my one and a half rolled taco. As you can see it really had some girth to it, which means to me more meat inside. It also came with sour cream and quacamole.

We decided to share the Chicken Fijitas, $15.95. It came with rice, beans, sour cream and totillas. Even though it wasn’t served on a sizzling skillet, I thought the fijitas had great flavor. The onions and peppers were sautted nicely and the chicken had a little kick to it from all the pepper.

By the end of our meal, we were stuffed like little pinatas. The chicken fijitas alone would of been plenty, but the taquitos were so good. I also hear they have great lunch specials to choose from, so bring the whole office gang and don’t forget to tip.

For directions click below
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Jose’s Mexican Restaurant
1134 Koko Head Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816

Get Directions(808) 732-1833

Salad Creations reminds me of Subway because the whole process is like one big accembly line to the creation of your meal. You go in, pick your lettuce, choose what you want to throw in, add meat for a fee, pick a dressing, have them toss it all for you, pay and eat.

Today I decided to be a vegetarian and had the Chopped Veggie, $5.99. The menu said it came with romaine and iceberg lettuce, green bell peppers, red onions, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, corn, chickpeas, tomatoes, carrots, and croutons. As you can see, the salad came in ginormous steel bowl. I really enjoy eating out of a bowl, so I like this idea. However, as for the salad, it was pretty fucking boring. I think they try to give off the impression of being very genorous with the portions by giving a ton of lettuce and not much of anything else. I had to dig and push all the green stuff to the side just to get a bite of anything else, Also, I couldn’t find corn, mushrooms, or artichoke hearts anywhere in my salad. How do you forget three different items? The girl must of been new, or retarded.

If there had been less green stuff I think my salad could of been really enjoyable.

If having your salad tossed is really not your thing, no worries, to each his own. Just order a wrap. This is the Santa Fe Chicken Wrap, $7.99. It consisted of grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, red onions, and green bell peppers, romaine lettuce, hot sauce, croutons, and creamy ranch dressing. For a little bit extra you could make it a meal and have chips and a drink. I have no complaints with this one. I liked the size of the wrap and everything tasted fresh.

Overall I think I’m a fan. If you don’t mind a lot of lettuce then you’ll love this place. You get enough to share for around 8 bucks and they have dressings galore to choose from.

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Salad Creations 425 South Street, #104 Honolulu, HI 96813 (808) 349-3333

Drum roll please. The winner for the Soup Nazi Award goes to . . . . . . . . . . . . The Green Door Cafe. The first time I got to experience her service was last year when her business was located in China Town. After the Chinese New Year parade we walked into the Green Door, because every other business around was jam packed. She was standing outside, not ready to greet us but ready to send us away, “are you guys sure you want to eat here? You didn’t see all the food stands out there?” We tell her we’re sure so she reluctantly seats us. When we finally decide what we want to eat, I politely say, “o.k. were ready to order,” as she walks by. She walks right past me like she didn’t even hear me. I’m thinking, maybe she didn’t hear me. Her tiny restaurantz is packed. At the time there were maybe 6 tables; it was a small place. I look around and realize that every table, but one or two, is in need of something, ready to order, water, napkins, wanting to pay, etc. and she is at the door in what looks like pajama pants, nonchalantly talking to someone at the door. When she’s done conversing she walks past me again, by this time we’re totally ready to order so I say a bit louder this time, “we’re ready to order.” She looks at me, and keeps on walking. Ray and Shane just laugh at me. Wow, she really was just ignoring me. So, when we finally get around to ordering, she tells us, “no, that’s not what you want, I’ll give you the fish instead.” Doesn’t ask, but tells us we don’t want what we just ordered and we’re getting the fish instead. Okay, I guess we’re getting the fish. This lady is my hero. I’m telling you the lady that owns this restaurant is famous for her brusque manorism. Another table comes in and there’s no place to seat so she takes them to our table and seat them there without asking either party if it was alright. Luckily they we’re good company. Anyhow, the food was just as incredible this time as it was back then. We actually wanted to eat at the Olive Tree this night but it was packed so we walked next door to the Green Door Cafe instead.

The new location is a lot bigger.

After skimming the menu, I was ready to order but notice the sign at the counter, “self service please order your food here,”

And right next to that sign was the infamous Soup Nazi. It was like she was too good to get up and walk to the tables and serve people. I got up to give her my order and she was seriously eating her food as she took my order, didn’t even hesitate to stop. She just kept on shoveling food in her mouth and chewing, my hero in action. I was mesmerized. While waiting for our food, we couldn’t take our eyes off of her. She took everyone’s order the same way, didn’t skip a beat, kept right on chewing.

Ordering the flat bread here is a MUST, $1.50 each. It ties in the meal perfectly and goes with everything. I comes out fresh and hot. I haven’t been able to find bread like it anywhere else on the island.

This is the Organic Mushroom Chicken and Black Pepper with Garlic Wine Sauce, $13.75. I know it looks a bit overloaded with black pepper but it didn’t taste that way at all. The mushrooms were delectable and the dish as a whole was just superb. I loved, loved it.

Who’s not a curry fan? Everybody who loves curry right? The Malaysian Chicken Curry here is complete with flavor; a truly exceptional dish. The only thing that could of made it better was the flat bread. I filled my flat bread up with curry and folded it over like a taco, orgasmic, like a love explosion in my mouth.

The Green Door Cafe is the kind of place where dealing with the service is worth the food because no matter what you order it’s guaranteed to be phenomenal. If your not a fan of Eastern Food come for the service. I’m not gonna guarantee you’ll see Soup Nazi in action but it’s possible. After my first experience at The Green Door I shared my story with a few friends and they had a story to shoot right back at me. I also mentioned her once before in one of my recent post on Cafe VIII 1/2 and I got this comment back from Ken,

“Regarding Green Door in China Town, well, the same owner opened up shop in Kahala Mall. That lady is on another level! Were to start with my dining experiment there…
(1) Some places don’t have a liquor license, right? That’s usually cool, I actually prefer it so I can bring my own. Green Door hits you with a $3/head corkage fee, yet they don’t have a liquor license…WTF
(2) God forbid it is a busy night cause that owner refuses to hire any extra help. The whole time she was running the show and boy did she seem pissed off. A smile now and then goes a long way.
Lastley,
(3) I get a hardcore elbow to the back of the head as she is rushing in between tables, NO APOLOGIES!!!

However, the food was good… go figure.”

She’s infamous I tell ya. Fuck the food, come for the service.

After our first experience with the soup nazi we were so flabbergasted that our friend Shane had to take a photo with her.

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Green Door Cafe
1145 Maunakea St
Honolulu, HI 96817

Get Directions(808) 533-0606