Aloha! If you have never experienced Hawaiian Barbecue, you are missing out, my
friend. Ma'i Island Grill has been around the ASU area for quite some time now. Initially starting out in the now demolished West Arches complex on University, owner Jay thankfully moved across the street on Forest where they have lived happily for several years.
The place is tiny, tiny, tiny. Four tables with two chairs each, a small counter against the wall and three outside tables. More then likely you are going to have to take your food to go since this place normally has a line out the door. Oh, and make sure you bring cash --- it's the only form of payment they accept.They have an ATM but occasionally it's broken.
The wait and claustrophobia is well worth it when your Styrofoam container arrives. Inside you'll find a large portion of tender juicy pieces of grilled meat, an ice cream scoop of rice and creamy macaroni salad. Everything on the menu is good, but the grilled chicken or beef is the real deal here. Add a Hawaiian Iced Tea and your total after
throwing $1 and change in the tip jar is $10.
We're pretty sure they put some sort of addicting substance in their food because once we tried it, we wanted to eat it every day. Unfortunately,that's not possible because sadly they are closed on the weekends. And to make things worse, with ASU on break, they are operating on summer hours. Your window of opportunity is only from 11 a.m till 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.
