Richard Figueroa and Loretta Tsang are the chef/owners of Happy Rico food truck. Their simple, white truck — that belies the elevated quality of their food — can be found on Mehana Street in Kaneohe or in front of Bellows Air Force Station in Waimanalo.
They are in Kaneohe from noon to 6 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays across from Zippy’s near Windward Mall, and in Waimanalo from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The pair attended culinary school in New York City and met while working at restaurants there. Figueroa is from Puerto Rico, where he learned to cook from his abuela (grandmother). Tsang was born and raised in Los Angeles.
Happy Rico offers fusion street food, including pastele stew, tacos, nachos and lumpia.
Figueroa and Tsang utilize traditional Puerto Rico-style techniques in their cooking, like wrapping pasteles in banana leaves instead of tinfoil and creating their own special masa mix.
“And then another big difference is that we use Spanish green olives instead of the jumbo black olives that you usually find locally with the pasteles,” Tsang says.
Figueroa and Tsang emphasize fresh, made-from-scratch ingredients and aim to provide a satisfying experience for their customers.
Their most popular item is the pastele lunch plate ($18), which includes pasteles, gandule rice, pastele stew and mac salad.
Another customer favorite is the surf and turf tacos ($20) — two pastele quesa tacos and two shrimp tacos.
“I know everybody’s doing birria, so I wanted to do something different,” Tsang explains. “And I figured to do a local-style birria taco using pastele stew meat instead of beef or lamb or goat.”
Another menu item garnering quite a bit of buzz is the pastele stew crunchwrap supreme ($14).
“Inside you’ll have the layer of gandule rice, pastele stew, the crispy tostada shell,” Tsang says. “And then, it’ll have lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sour cream, avocado cream, and then the whole tortilla gets folded in, and we actually crisp it up on both sides with the cheese crust.”
The biz’s pastele lumpia ($9) comprises three fat pieces of lumpia and a dipping sauce on the side.
The idea to open a food truck came to Figueroa and Tsang during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pair were in New York City but restaurants there were being shut down.
Tsang has a sister who lives in Hawaii, and she and Figueroa decided to move here in June 2020.
Tsang notes f her favorite part of the business is meeting customers.
“I mean, I love to cook and everything. That’s always my No. 1 one passion, but it’s who I’m cooking for — that’s what brings me joy, and to see other people really like it and give us feedback.
“That’s what I really like about it,” she says.
Happy Rico
Kaneohe and Waimanalo
787-666-9529
Instagram: @happy_rrrico
How to order: In person, by phone or through Instagram
How to pay: Cash, credit/debit cards, Venmo, Square, Apple Pay
