For a quick trip to hog heaven, visit any of the three Kono’s Northshore restaurants, where kalua pig is fixed every which way but bad.
It’s not a poi-and-laulau place serving the usual Hawaiian dishes — here the slow-roasted pork, savored for its pull-apart tenderness, is stuffed into burritos, wraps, sliders, tacos and sandwiches that make good quick bites.
Kono’s whimsical logo — a pig standing on a surfboard — depicts the sun-and-surf vibe of the restaurant’s laid-back decor (lots of corrugated tin touches) and funky chalkboard menus. It’s the kind of place that draws young, athletic types — who can afford to indulge in a milkshake without worrying about their cholesterol — where they can add avocado and jalapenos to anything.
THE BUSINESS
You don’t have to go out to historic Haleiwa, where the original Kono’s was founded in 2002 by Mike Motyka. New owner Stan Glander has opened shops in Kapahulu and Kailua.
Glander, a national hotel executive in Philadelphia, was on vacation in 2015 visiting family on Oahu, and decided to move back home. But he needed something to do, and when he saw a line coming out the door of Kono’s during a drive to Haleiwa, he knew that’s what he was looking for. He wanted to take on a profitable business with a quality product, and “I thought I could do better at it.” Luckily Kono’s was up for sale.
A year after taking over the Haleiwa restaurant, he opened in Kapahulu, then Kailua the next year. The Surfing Pig in Kaimuki, a full-service restaurant, followed in 2018, also featuring kalua pork.
Each restaurant makes its own pulled kalua pork — “we roast it every night for 12 hours,” Glander said. The recipe came from the original owner, but has been tweaked with seasonings and more smokiness, he said.
The menu has remained the same overall, except that he added tacos and a few other items when he opened the Kapahulu store. “So many people come back and want the same thing.”
THE FOOD
Kono’s bestsellers are the hefty burritos called “bombers,” named after popular surf breaks along the North Shore, and are simply da bomb. All breakfast varieties ($9.50) include eggs, Jack and cheddar cheeses, and pan-fried potatoes, wrapped in a warm flour tortilla, and are served all day.
The favorite by far is the Chun’s Bomber, loaded with kalua pork and a strip of bacon — “I cannot eat a whole Chun’s by myself,” Glander said. Other variations are the Pupukea, with tomatoes, onions and green bell peppers; or the Local, with Portuguese sausage. Add avocado, sour cream or jalapenos for a couple of bucks more.
For a different kind of calorie bomb, try one featuring buttermilk biscuits: two biscuits with bacon and eggs, topped with white sausage gravy ($9.75); the slider trio ($10.95), with one each of kalua pork, bacon and Portuguese sausage, made with egg and cheese; and a bomber with a biscuit, bacon eggs and gravy ($9.75), all rolled up in a tortilla.
Healthier options include the Pig on Grass ($12), a salad with “a pile” of Kalua pork; an avocado veggie wrap ($10.50); and bagels with turkey, salmon or just veggies ($8.95 to $10.95).
Milkshakes ($6.99) are made to order with three scoops of ice cream, in concoctions like mud pie, banana cream pie and cinnamon roll, among a dozen or so flavors.
Freshly squeezed lemon and limeades ($4.25) may be ordered with shots of strawberry, guava or pineapple flavors.
BUILDING THE BRAND
Kono’s has made its own line of hot sauces since 2016. These can be used freely in-house or purchased by the bottle ($11): mango-pineapple, chipotle and habanero. The sauces are just one type of merchandise branded with the surfing pig logo, falling in line with Glander’s multipronged marketing strategy. Hats, shirts, coffee mugs and more are sold in the restaurant and online. Any customer wearing a logo tattoo, hat or shirt gets a discount.
Glander plans to branch out beyond Hawaii, even internationally. “I think that Kono’s is a high-quality brand that can be anywhere, it’s unique,” he said.
He has worked on standards and procedures to insure consistency. A franchise is scheduled to open in Las Vegas this year, and he’s hoping to secure another in Southern California. He said he’s gotten calls from interested parties all over the mainland and from Australia and Japan.
“Our brand had grown tremendously,” he said, with a constant presence on social media handled by two staffers responsible for posting fresh content. But “the biggest bang has come from being consistent and friendly … we call that extra aloha.”
His son Zach, vice president of operations, who’s held every job at the Kapahulu location, is even more enthusiastic about the expansion plans than his dad. He said opening a new restaurant four years in a row was “like growing children; they’re our babies. …This is like chasing a dream. My dream is to have a Kono’s on every continent.”
