I recently visited Aloha Food Factory, an Alhambra restaurant that’s been open since 1994, on a gloomy, uncomfortably humid day. Halfway through my meal, it began thundering, the grass skirt decor inside the restaurant fluttering with each boom. It really felt like I was in Hawai’i — and not just because of the weather. Like many restaurants scattered across the Hawaiian islands, Aloha Food Factory blooms in its simplicity; it remains faithfully devoted to giving regulars soul-filling food at affordable prices. Expect paper plates and plastic cutlery alongside the simple, meat-heavy menu. The portions are enormous, of course, and the food is transportive — even when it’s not a Los Angeles rainy day.
Aloha Food Factory’s decor is playfully kitschy: There are surfboard motifs, palm frond wall paper, and monstera seat cushions. Taped up specials line the walls and artificial thatched roofing oversees the dining room. In some ways, it feels like dining in someone’s lived-in home on the North Shore.
In one corner of the restaurant, find a compelling condiment station. Help yourself to bottles of shoyu and hot sauce, the latter of which may be necessary to cut through the richness and saltiness of many of the meats on offer.