Bun-stoppable

If there’s one thing Bunto Sliders + Fries owners Eric Leon and Nenisa Garingalao want customers to know, it’s that the food truck’s name is pronounced “bun-to” — like a hamburger bun — not “boon-to.”

“‘Bun-to’ doesn’t actually mean anything,” Garingalao explains. “It just means we don’t sell bentos; we sell bun-tos, or sliders. We started out at the Ala Moana farmers market in 2019 with breakfast sliders.”

Up until last week, you could find Bunto Sliders + Fries in Mililani. However, the food truck just moved to a new location in the Home Depot Pearl City parking lot. You can also find it at the Blaisdell farmers market on Wednesdays.

“Our concept is simple: Whatever you can put in your sandwich will also be good in a rice bowl,” Garingalao says.

Per Garingalao, pork belly and short ribs — in both slider and rice bowl form — are extremely popular. Pork belly sliders ($13) are topped with cucumber kimchi and sesame citrus slaw and served in a taro bun, while pork belly rice bowls ($13) come with pickled red onions, crispy onion slaw and avocado.

“The pork belly and short ribs take a whole day to make,” Garingalao says. “We have to braise it for five hours, then brine it for 24 hours. There’s a lot of prep for all of our menu items.”

For combos, customers can mix and match two sliders from the menu.

Choose from spicy garlic chicken, shrimp and crab ($1.50 upcharge), breaded chicken with tomato jam and more. Slider combos also include patrons’ choice of seasoned fries.

“We have barbecue, garlic Parmesan and sea salt fries,” Garingalao says. “Everybody loves our garlic fries, but I highly recommend trying the barbecue. We make the barbecue rub ourselves, and it has 15 ingredients in it.”

If you want a snack, Bunto offers drool-worthy dishes like fried rice ($7), short rib croquettes ($7), a breakfast slider ($5), poutine ($10) and pork belly bites ($6).

“We put pork belly in our fried rice, so that’s really popular,” Garingalao explains. “The croquettes are also unique — it’s a deep-fried risotto with short rib. Each order comes with six croquettes with a spicy sauce on the side.”

While the food truck accepts walk-up orders, Garingalao encourages customers to call ahead or order online.

“Preorders are best for us,” she confirms. “You can also order via Uber Eats and Grubhub.”

Bunto Sliders + Fries

1021 Kamehameha Hwy., Pearl City
(Home Depot Pearl City)
808-426-6464
Web: hibunto.com
Instagram: @bunto_hi
How to pay: Cash, credit cards
How to order: Phone and online orders preferred