Three eateries in Hawaiʻi just made Yelp’s “Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S.,” with Adela’s Country Eatery on Oʻahu coming in at No. 5.
The Conversation caught up with Elizabeth Chan, the head of business development at this small business where customers are giving a big thumbs up to colorful noodles.
"We've been absolutely thrilled. What we understood from Yelp is that it's partially customer nominations. So to have such an excellent and supportive base of customers, we've been so blessed to have that," Chan said.
While the Kāneʻohe shop was innovating ways to become more sustainable, it hit on an idea that put it on the map for foodies in search of something new to tantalize their tastebuds.
It's about to celebrate its fourth anniversary in March.
Featured on The Conversation before, Adela herself can often be seen preparing their signature noodles made of ʻulu (breadfruit), sweet potato, kalo (taro), moringa and even avocado. When you visit the shop, you'll see a sea of green, purple and yellow.
The restaurant has packaged noodles for purchase, along with made-to-order plate lunches and desserts for takeout.
"I think that if we scale up, we don't want to lose that artisan nature where we're connected — we're really connected to our local farmers. So there's a finite amount of produce that we can access in our islands," Chan told HPR.
As for what's coming up in 2023? Chan said they have been tinkering with other noodle products.
"We've been looking into Kona coffee pasta. I'm not sure if we'll keep pursuing that one long-term. But long-term for 2023, we will definitely be expanding our dry noodles — so the pantry, longer shelf life items that our customers can take home and experiment with as well," Chan added.
Also on the Yelp list is Kaaloa’s Super Js Authentic Hawaiian on Hawaiʻi Island at No. 2 and Maui Bread at No. 72.
At the top of the list is Broken Mouth in Los Angeles, a Korean-Hawaiian restaurant whose chef-owner hails from Kaimukī.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Feb. 6, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.