It may look like an ordinary Snickers bar, but take a bite, chew, swallow and … wait for it … there it is! A pop of chili-pepper spice, just enough to make a point. If you’re intrigued by the thought of sweet heat wrapped in peanuts, caramel and chocolate, better move fast.
Snickers introduced the chili-flavored Wimpy bar as a limited release last fall, along with the Irritable (espresso flavor) and Salty & Sweet (nicknamed Indecisive). A spokeswoman for the candy maker said only the salty/sweet flavor will be kept on. The other two are no longer in production. When they’re gone, they’re gone, which could be at any time in any given part of the country.
If only they’d asked my opinion, which is that Wimpy is the far superior flavor, and worth tracking down if chilies are your thing. I’ve only found them reliably lately at 7-Eleven stores, and supplies vary by location. I’ll try to leave some for everyone else.
BIG PLANS FOR BOB’S
Barbecue geeks ought to head to Kapolei, specifically the fairly new strip mall next to Walmart, where a Bob’s BarB-Que franchise opened quietly last week. It happens to be across a lane of parking from the new Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, a circumstance that Bob’s co-owner Christy Lei wasn’t expecting but is willing to roll with.
The original Bob’s was opened by Robert Wong in 1978 and is an institution on Dillingham Boulevard in Kalihi. A Kaneohe Bob’s franchise was open for a short time, closing last year.
But soon there will be many. New franchisee Lei and her partners plan to make Kapolei the first of five locations they’ll open this year — the next will be in Waipahu and Waimanalo, and she’s scouting spots in Waikiki and the Ala Moana area.
Lei is new to restaurant management, although she did work at a Panda Express when she first came to Hawaii from Fujian, China, in 1996. Her English wasn’t good then, Lei said, so she had but a single task: “I only needed one sentence, ‘Anything to drink?’”
Entrepreneurship runs strong with her, though. She went on to open a car dealership and developed real estate, then last year she and her family opened ChiChop, an offshoot of a Taiwanese fried-chicken chain, in Ala Moana Center.
Her key partner in the barbecue biz is Ryoji Soranaka, a 1992 Aiea High School grad who for 16 years has run a Hawaiian restaurant in Tokyo, Ogo Ono-loa Hawaii. Soranaka said his kitchen crew trained at the original Bob’s so the menu is almost identical, with steak, ribs and pork chops, plus local favorites such as kalbi and kalua pork. Sauces are the originals, brought in from the Kalihi Bob’s.
Special to Kapolei are favorites from Soranaka’s Tokyo restaurant, including shoyu chicken and pork adobo. Soranaka said Bob’s grilled fare is distinct from the Texas barbecue served at Dickey’s, which is smoked.
At Bob’s a custom oven is used to slow-cook the ribs as they hang, he said, then they’re finished with sauce on the grill. Dickey’s meats come with a range of Southern-style sides; at Bob’s plates come with two scoops rice and mac salad.
Bob’s plates run from $7.10 (teri chicken) to $18.50 (mixed ribs). Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 674-9999. A grand-opening celebration Friday with live entertainment starts at 11 a.m.
