Hawaii West

Mele Kalikimaka. This is a dumpster fire of a dive bar that probably hasn't been renovated since the first edition of that Bing Crosby Christmas album came out in 1945. That being said, that's why I love it. Sunny makes a strong drink, keeps the late night chaos down to an acceptable level, all while making me contemplate why I came in here? Free pool, sometimes food, and a guaranteed travel back through time to when bars were nothing more than bars.

We stopped in here on a total whim as we were looking for a nice quiet place without a lot of people so we could relax for a bit before moving on to some other things we were doing in Chinatown. This small hole in the wall is unassuming and won't grab your attention easily but we'd passed by a few times before and decided to check it out. It's small, dingy, grubby, and dark, there's one person working who chats with you a bit but really just wants you to order something. My partner got a mai tai and I ordered the "Jungle Ass Juice" because why the heck not? These are not your fancy tiki drinks (seriously what do you expect out of a place that serves "ass juice"??) but holy this is an absolute gem of a find. Prices are good, drinks are strong, and the place is relatively quiet.... outside of the three social media influencers that showed up, ordered a shot of fireball each, then recorded themselves belting out "Livin' On A Prayer" that they loaded onto the jukebox... and then immediately left?? That was amusing and hilarious and we chuckled to ourselves while continuing to work on our drinks. I like this place and it's going on our bar-hopping rotation through Chinatown/North Beach.

Five stars for Sonny (Sunny?) the Bartender! Backing up a bit, this place is a dingy, dark and thoroughly musty joint. There are a lot of hip cool new tiki bars popping up but this one is not that. Instead it is the legit remnants from before tiki bars went out of fashion and long before they came back in. This place is a DIVE. So if you like that sort of thing you'll love it. If you don't you won't. My recommendation is late night. Y'know, like how we popped in the first time close to 2am after a show, concert, or club. Right before hoping in my car parked in the garage next door to use the restroom before the drive. The plan being to order a coke and drink so we aren't jerks just going in for the restroom. Well we noticed a food menu...and it changed our lives forever. Spam burger(!), kimchi fried rice (with spam of course) and the star chef and bartender with an (awesome ornery) attitude - Sonny. Doesn't matter what time you come in; if they're open and she's there, she'll fry you up some delicious, salty, amazing late-night guilty pleasures and might also serve you up some trash talk. Seriously try a spam burger. Spam on a toasted bun with melted american cheese. Life changer. We have been a handful of times since and lucked out with Sonny every time. Anytime we hit the city we try and fit in a visit now. You should too. PS - we love you Sonny, if that wasn't obvious :) PSS - don't play Sunny by Bobby Hebb on the jukebox (like I did). She hates that

Attention Hawaii West and dive bar loyalists! Hawaii West is in danger of being evicted and replaced by a dentist unless we appeal to the boardofappeals@sfgov.org by April 12th. Don't let another San Francisco institution fall to the pandemic! Please send an email to make our case that this North Beach business which has been around since the 1960s should not be replaced with a professional business that will do nothing to enhance the character of the street and neighborhood. No offense to the dentist, but there are better options than a street-level storefront location in the middle of a historic neighborhood. And a dentist certainly isn't an acceptable replacement for a loved bar where memories are made (or perhaps forgotten) with friends. https://brokeassstuart.com/2022/04/07/50-year-old-bar-hawaii-west-being-evicted-by-new-building-owner/

Almost everything about this bar is sub-par (even the Schlitz cocktails), and that is what makes it so special. I hope Sunny lives to be 200. Note: For those who aren't aware, a Schlitz cocktail is Schlitz beer served with whipped cream and cherry on top of the can. A great drink, but at Hawaii West I like to stick to drinks with one ingredient or less.

I made plans to catch up with a friend and we were in the mood for a tiki moment, so I did a quick search and found Hawaii West. So glad we decided to try it out! The venue is charming and an extremely dive-y way. We mostly wanted Mai Tais, but we also ended up getting food. The food menu looked good! Here's what I thought: Mai Tai - Generous portion, decent prices and potency. We got two rounds! Jumbo Garlic Prawns - Juicy, decent portion. Great kimchi too! Loco Moco - Huge dish, I had to take half of it home. Overall, great experience! Very unique, might not be for everyone but it's a great time if you give it a chance.

It was refreshing to find something that's not Italian and not Chinese in this part of town. A limited menu of Hawaiian tastes, but just enough to get your fix in. Can definitely appreciate their loco moco, it's comfort food without trying to be something fancy (i.e. no sous vide short ribs or black garlic or other bougie nonsense like that). Cheese Lumpia: I'm a pushover for cheese, so had to try these. They had the familiar tight crisp lumpia fried shell. The inside had a partially runny partially clumpy cheese, like ricotta. It also had some finely chopped lumpia vegetables. Not quite as a good as like a mozzarella stick, but still tasty, especially with that spicy creamy dipping sauce. Spam Musubi: This was huge! Like the size of three spam musubis in one. Tasted fairly freshly made. The only flavoring that seemed to be used was wasabi. I kinda prefer when it's made with soy/oyster sauce since that adds a bit of moisture to the rice. Was okay though. Nolan's Loco Moco: Really liked this dish. They did not skimp on the gravy, which is the best part. Was very thick and full of umami mushroom goodness. The beef patty was thick and well done, easy to crumble into the rice. The fried egg had the right sunnyside up runny texture, even after being transported home. Very hearty. Fries: Thick cut. Not that crunchy. Covered in black pepper. Not really my thing.