On a recent weekend, my family and I ventured to check out my old (but also new) college stomping grounds. I graduated from Hawaii Pacific University back when the college still had its headquarters along Fort Street Mall. Now, HPU calls Aloha Tower Marketplace home, and the facilities are new, expanded and vibrant. The visit served a dual purpose to also check out some of the new eateries along the water.

We had no idea what we’d find but eventually stumbled upon Patrick’s Roadhouse Five-0.

It’s easy to miss, as you have to traverse the length of Aloha Tower Marketplace to the very end (the old Gordon Biersch), and the restaurant’s entrance is around the corner.

But once you find this hidden gem, you’ll quickly be charmed by its eccentricity. The walls are decorated with knickknacks and cool pieces of history — my daughter especially loved the pterodactyl hanging from the ceiling.

And once you try the food, you’ll be hooked.

We started our meal with garlic fries ($8) and sweet potato fries ($8). The former is a garlic lover’s dream. It’s got mounds of fresh minced garlic, and the fries are coated with garlic oil and garlic salt. The latter, meanwhile, featured a sweet-and-sour sauce instead of the traditional aioli, which I rather liked.

For entrees, the menu features what you’d expect to find at a classic road house — hearty meals made with lots of love.

The Queen Lili ($24) is a three-egg omelet with sauteed mushrooms, spinach, onions, red peppers and Swiss cheese, with fresh avocado on top and diced potatoes and toast on the side. Pro tip: Ask for the sourdough toast; it’s a winner.

My husband got the patty melt ($18), a classic American grilled sandwich with ground beef patties, melted cheese and caramelized onions. So iconic is this sandwich that the description for the patty melt simply reads “an Irishman on a hot day.”

I chose the Governator Special ($28) … because with a name like that, how can you not? It’s dubbed as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mother’s secret recipe. Is it true? I’m not sure. Is it delicious? Absolutely, yes. It includes a three-egg scramble, roasted red peppers, avocado, chicken apple sausage, Swiss cheese and grilled onions. It’s a big bamboocha of an omelet, so while the price might seem steep, you’ll have enough leftovers for another meal.

So curious was I about this dish name that I looked it up later on. Patrick’s Roadhouse Five-0 is a spinoff of Santa Monica’s famous Patrick’s Roadhouse. And for those who don’t know, Santa Monica is home to Venice Beach where Schwarzenegger trained at Gold’s Gym and Santa Monica College where he took some courses. I like to think that my behemoth of a protein-packed dish is something Schwarzenegger would wolf down.

Finally, those who follow this column know that I like something sweet to end my meal, so we opted for the Koko Head ($18). It’s your choice of pancake or French toast with strawberries, bananas and Nutella. With all the food we ordered, I was sure we’d have leftovers from each dish, but I polished this sweet treat off with no regrets.
Everything we had was so good, and to quote one of Hollywood’s most iconic lines: “I’ll be back.”

Nicole Monton is the managing editor of Crave and contributing editor for Kaka‘ako VERT magazine. Follow her on social media (@nicmonton).