Chalk one up for the aloha spirit. That’s what the Tabura brothers, Lanai and Adam, credit for their victory yesterday in "The Great Food Truck Race," Food Network’s contest that took eight food trucks across the U.S. to compete for top sales in various cities. The Taburas, along with friend Shawn Felipe, comprised the Aloha Plate team. They won $50,000 and their own food truck, a lively yellow vehicle decorated with hula dancers, ocean scenes and a volcano, from which they delivered lettuce wraps and teri and Spam burgers.

Aloha Plate easily won the contest at their final destinations in Arlington, Va., and Washington, D.C., with $14,850 in earnings. Runner-up Tikka Tikka Taco, which served Indian-style tacos, trailed with $11,774.

The competition took contenders — who offered such fare as cheese steaks, sliders and healthy bowls — to cities that included Beverly Hills, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; Pocatello, Idaho; Rapid City, S.D.; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Chicago; and Annapolis, Md.

The show had teams digging for potatoes, butchering bison and cooking everything from geoduck to Maryland blue crab.

Key to Aloha Plate’s win was the coconut wireless, people with island ties spreading the word of the truck’s presence in each city.

At almost every stop, Aloha Plate was met with a long line of customers. Often, local halau showed up, turning their appearance into a celebratory event.

Aloha Plate was guided by the mission to "spread aloha, one plate at a time." What they found was that no matter where they traveled, they were met with aloha just by virtue of being from Hawaii.

"The aloha spirit is alive and well all around the nation — and the world," said an emotional Adam Tabura, who has already received congratulations from across the globe. "People fall in love with you" once they find you’re from Hawaii. "Everyone wants a slice of Hawaii."

Aloha Plate has already been approached to open franchises on the mainland. In Hawaii it plans to sell bentos and Spam musubi at 7-Eleven.