Before anything else, the fact that saves you a wrong turn: the original Me BBQ is now at 2427 Kuhio Avenue, and the shop that opened at its old Uluniu Avenue address under a very similar name is a different business. Reviews online get mixed up between the two, so it pays to check the address. Navigate by the address and you will land at the right counter.
Me BBQ is the family-run Korean plate lunch spot that fed Waikiki from Uluniu Avenue for three decades, until the landlord ended its lease in 2022; it reopened a few minutes’ walk away on Kuhio Avenue. Hawaii News Now profiled the family in January 2026 — same owners, and they say almost everything, from the marinades to the banchan, is made in-house. We went ourselves in May 2025 to confirm the important part: the plates.
The facts
| Name | Me BBQ (the sign says “The Original Me BBQ is Back!”; the logo says “Since 1992”) |
| Address | 2427 Kuhio Ave, Honolulu — corner of the Pacific Monarch, Prince Edward St side |
| Hours | Monday–Saturday, 9:00 am – 9:00 pm; closed Sunday (on the in-store menu board in May 2025, and the same in Hawaii News Now’s January 2026 story) |
| Style | Takeout-first counter with a handful of tables inside |
| Prices | Plates $18.95 – $25.95, noodles $14.95, breakfast $8.95 – $9.95 (May 2025 menu) |
How the menu works: plate, bowl, or side
The wall menu runs to forty-plus numbered items, which looks intimidating until you learn the system. Most mains come three ways:
- Plate — the main plus four banchan of your choice and rice. The full experience.
- Bowl — the main, one banchan, rice. The lighter lunch.
- Side — just the meat. The quiet genius option for a hotel-room dinner (more below).
The lineup covers charbroiled meats (kalbi, beef, spicy pork, chicken, squid, shrimp — plates $18.95–$23.95), Korean noodle dishes including naengmyeon-style cold noodles, soups from kimchi to oxtail, fried items, and the Hawaii-Korean specialty meat jun — thin-sliced beef dipped in egg and pan-fried, a dish you will rarely see outside the islands and should not leave without trying.
One more surprise: the place opens at 9 am and runs a proper breakfast list — bacon, Spam, or sausage with two eggs and rice or toast — under $10. In present-day Waikiki, that price reads like a typo.
What we ordered: the Sunny’s Special
First visit, so we went straight for the combination the regulars and the news crews talk about: the Sunny’s Special ($25.95) — kalbi, chicken, meat jun, and fried mandu on one plate, plus our four banchan picks (cucumber kimchi, bean sprout namul, stir-fried cabbage, japchae).
The kalbi is marinated deep and grilled with real char, the chicken is juicy with good browning, and the meat jun is soft inside its thin egg coat. The mandu stay crisp. With the banchan cutting through, we finished the whole plate without the usual plate-lunch fatigue.
The honest part: the flavors are gentle
Set your expectations correctly: this is not punch-you-in-the-face Korean barbecue. The seasoning is noticeably milder than what a Korean barbecue restaurant on the mainland — or in Seoul — would serve. Our first bite registered as “quieter than expected.”
Then we realized what this place is actually for. A few days into a Hawaii trip, after the garlic shrimp, the burgers, and the fried everything, your body starts asking for something gentler. Me BBQ is precisely that meal: warm, homemade, vegetable-forward thanks to the banchan, and easy on a tired stomach. Mild is not a flaw here. It is the use case. It also makes this one of the easier Korean menus for kids or spice-averse companions.
The takeout move
We ate in on this visit, but Me BBQ is takeout-first, and that is how we normally use plate lunch places: carry it back, open something cold, eat on the lanai in slippers. Two ideas for next time:
- One plate could feed two as a relaxed dinner with drinks. Portions are serious.
- Order “side” (meat only) when you just want pupus. Kalbi and meat jun would make good beer food, you skip the rice you did not need, and it costs less. A room microwave should bring it back well enough.
Bottom line
Walkable from most of central Waikiki, open from breakfast through dinner six days a week, priced like real life instead of a resort, and run by the same family that has been doing this since 1992. Just remember the two rules: 2427 Kuhio Ave, and not on Sundays.
We also publish a Japanese-language version of this guide: ミーバーベキューのメニューと値段まとめ.
