Known for its hearty plate lunches, Rainbow Drive-In’s Kapahulu location is still a hot spot among locals. The biz recently launched a new happy hour menu, available from 3 to 5 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays.
“We mixed in popular dishes with local favorites (for the happy hour menu),” explains marketing director Crystine Ito. “It includes not only things that our local guests like, but also what our visitors like, like the loco moco plate.”
The happy hour menu features $5, $10 and $12 specials. The eatery’s small Slush float, chili rice bowl, chili fries, gravy fries and saimin are $5 each during happy hour.
“We don’t do alcoholic beverages, but I feel like fries are on every single happy hour menu,” Ito says. “We wanted to make sure that we had all of our fries — our gravy fries (regular price $5.50), chili fries (regular price $6.95), and regular fries with the barbecue burger (regular price $6.25) — on the menu.
Featured $10 specials include the chili plate, barbecue burger with fries, and Spam and two egg plate. No matter what they order, customers can rest assured that the happy hour portions are the same as the regular-priced dishes.
“You’re going to get the same big portions,” Ito confirms.
Finally, $12 specials include the drive-in’s chili dog plate, barbecue pork plate and loco moco plate. The chili dog plate (regular price $12.95) features two wieners served with the business’s famous chili.
“The chili dog plate is very popular,” Ito says. “It’s definitely reminiscent of Hawaiʻi school lunch; it’s a local favorite.
“The dish that I think is overlooked a lot of the time is the barbecue pork plate,” she adds. “A lot of locals really like it, but you won’t see it (featured) in the magazines. But if you try it, it’s really good, and it’s good with the chili.”
All plate lunches come with one scoop of macaroni salad and two scoops of rice.
In-person and online pick-up orders are available for happy hour menu items. Customers can phone in their orders, or order online for pick-up during the happy hour time period, Ito confirms.
“We hope people will come and enjoy it,” Ito says. “It’s a small way for us to offer a little bit of a discount for our customers. We wanted to be able to do something new.
“We were thinking about it (this concept) from the beginning of the year,” she adds. “It is subject to change; maybe every so often, we’ll add something new or take something off. You might start seeing items that are not even on the (regular) menu during happy hour.”
CONTACT
Rainbow Drive-In
3308 Kanaina Ave., Honolulu
rainbowdrivein.com
Instagram: @rainbowdrivein
Happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays
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Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
