Dean’s Drive Inn a family eatery

A young customer seeking a photo with Dean Mishima gave up his chance because the man he met at Dean’s Drive Inn didn’t look like the one who appeared on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” alongside host Guy Fieri.

Mishima had bleached his hair as a joke for the 2014 show taping, but by the time the episode aired, his hair was back to its normal jet-black, and the boy was convinced he wasn’t the same man, Mishima said.

Thanks to his wife, Doreen, Mishima now maintains the bleach job and empathizes with what women go through.

About the business: Dean’s Drive Inn opened in 2006 as a five-table restaurant in Adon Plaza in Kaneohe and quickly became popular. “I used to do catering for 300 to 400 people out of that kitchen,” Mishima said. “Every day I drive by there and I can’t believe it.” (Don Goyo’s Mexican Food is in the spot now.)

In 2015 Dean’s moved into the much larger 30-table space that previously served as a Zippy’s, on William Henry Road.

The business generally is about 60 percent dine-in and 40 percent takeout, said Doreen Mishima, who works the front of the house with daughter Melissa. Dean’s also offers catering, as well as party space. Impending renovations will slightly shrink the space, but the restaurant will remain open during the work.

Dean Mishima is assisted in the kitchen by his son Brad, while son Chad works for a food distributor, just as Mishima did in his early days.

Mishima’s culinary education started with chef Greg Anzai at the old La Mancha restaurant on Keeaumoku Street. Anzai offered to teach him to cook to give him career options beyond delivering produce.

A 1973 Castle High School graduate, Mishima has cooked at Smitty’s, where he learned to make pancakes, then Liberty House and Macy’s, as well as in the cafeterias at Mokapu Elementary, Keolu Elementary and Farrington High schools.

Mishima and Anzai remain fishing buddies.

About the food: “Local boy, local food,” is Dean’s motto, and the menu, handwritten by Melissa, is chock-full of local favorites, from loco moco and teri chicken to burgers and salads. “I just cook simple kinds of food,” Mishima said.

Dean’s offers up to three fresh island fish options each day, with a choice of sauces. The most popular is ginger-shoyu, but Mishima also offers butter and capers, and furikake.

Vegetarians will find choices from a $3.75 veggie hot dog and $4.15 veggie burger to plate lunches for $10.50. Some customers grumble about his prices, “but I buy quality ingredients,” he said, motioning to his teriyaki steak, a half-inch thick, sliced pupu style and served with a superdelicious sauce. Its nothing like the thin pieces of beef in treacly sauce common to other takeout places.

For a time Mishima also ran Sodakinegrindz, serving cool treats out of the pink building not far from his original location. The restaurant still serves the same Samurai-brand frozen treats as did the snack shop, including the Hawaiian Frost, a swirl of brightly colored strawberry and vanilla soft-serve. Gelato recently was added to dessert choices.

What to order: Top sellers include the surf and turf, ahi cakes with sweet chili aioli and teriyaki beef steak ($14.50); Asian chicken salad served in a deep-fried won ton shell ($9.75); and pulehu rack of lamb (three pieces for $16.95 or six for $29.95).

How to order: During peak times, place larger orders in advance, by phone. Dean’s has the added bonus of a drive-thru window for pickups.

With regular plates, choose a side dish of soup, tossed salad or macaroni salad. Mishima makes two soups daily, one creamy, one brothy. When Crave was there, the choices were a rich cream of mushroom soup and chicken with watercress.

Grab and go: Parking is available on three sides of the building, while the drive-thru pickup lane is on the mauka side.

Grab and Go focuses on takeout food, convenience meals and other quick bites. Email ideas to crave@staradvertiser.com.