A new street food venue with an entirely different business model will open to the public Saturday.
Street Food Stadium is owned and operated by HL Honolulu LLC. It comprises 10 food trucks owned by HL, most of which are leased to food vendors for six-month or 1-year terms with the intention of providing diners a rotating selection of culinary options.
STREET FOOD STADIUM
>> 1687 Kalakaua Ave.
>> Opening Saturday
>> Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
>> streetfoodstadium.com
Pau Hana Market Waikiki
>> 234 Beach Walk
>> pauhanawaikiki.com
“We own all the trucks and equipment and built a commissary kitchen,” said Jonathan Imai, a partner in the business. “We lease these trucks out as turnkey businesses for people to get into the industry, or try something new,” he said. The commissary kitchen is available to the businesses to use prior to, during and after service.
One operation makes tacos with shells made of formed rice “with vegetables and meats inside, almost like sushi, but in taco form,” said Imai. Another will offer actual sushi, while a popular Japanese vendor, Gindaco, will offer “takoyaki,” or balls of squid enveloped in batter and grilled in a pan with round indentations.
There has been interest from Japanese companies that want to test their restaurant concepts in Hawaii using the food truck model HL offers, Imai said.
The business model is different from the traditional one, such as Oahu’s most highly publicized food truck venues operated by Askew Industries LLC, including Eat the Street by Street Grindz, the food operations at Kakaako’s Honolulu Night Market, and more recently, Makers & Tasters, a long-term food truck venue at Kewalo Basin.
In those cases, companies that own their own food trucks pay to lease space for their trucks at venues arranged by another company, such as the Eat the Street gatherings arranged by Askew Industries’ Street Grindz event planning entity.
Street Food Stadium will be open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at 1687 Kalakaua Ave., on the Ewa side of the street between Makaloa Street and Kapiolani Boulevard, across from Fern Street and next door to Home Bar & Grill.
Customers of the latter used to park in the lot now occupied by Street Food Stadium, said Imai. A limited number of parking stalls will be available at the venue. Parking is also available across the street and around the neighborhood.
Street Food Stadium is described in a marketing tag line as being where appetites meet asphalt, and it was launched after the success of its sister-concept, Pau Hana Market Waikiki, a food truck venue at 234 Beach Walk.
At Pau Hana Market, HL owns and operates the Samurai Grill food truck, which also will operate at the new spot. The Waikiki location is frequented by visitors and locals, according to reviews posted at Yelp.com, and just like at Pau Hana Market, Street Food Stadium will offer beer and wine.