Jams and Grinds

The cuisine of the Ige family — already an Island favorite for decades — also is available at a fun, ever-changing venue in Aiea.

Ron Ige, owner of Ige’s Restaurant & 19th Puka, explains that his mom started a business years ago, selling local favorites like saimin and chicken teriyaki. All the kids helped out, and soon, Ige was dreaming about starting a restaurant of his own. “I just had a wild idea that I was going to start a restaurant one day,” he says.

Now, Ige has been living his dream for the last eight years, serving up a lot of his mom’s classic recipes amid an exciting, versatile atmosphere.

“A lot of the recipes are basically ones that my mom taught me,” he says.

Ige’s Restaurant & 19th Puka serves up a different options for the Mix Plate each day of the week. On Tuesdays, Ige’s offers Fresh Corned Beef. Wednesdays mean Korean Fried Chicken, and Thursdays bring Roast Turkey. Plus, all Mix Plates and dinner specials are 15 percent off Monday-Thursday. Choose two entrees from the ones above or from options including Chicken Katsu, Shoyu Pork, Grilled Atlantic Salmon, Baby Back Ribs and Shrimp Tempura with rice, potatoes or fries and soup or salad for $15.29.

Monday-Thursday also has lower drink prices. Beers cost $3 and imports cost $4.

But that certainly does not mean you should miss out on Fridays at Ige’s, when it serves up its popular Hawaiian Plate ($17.99) that comes with Lau Lau, Chicken Long Rice, Teriyaki Flap Meat, Lomi Salmon and salad.

Everyday dishes also include Joal’s Teriyaki Flap Meat Salad Special ($11.99), Grilled Mahi Mahi ($13.99) and Shoyu Pork ($13.99).

And just as the menu changes day-by-day, so does the entertainment. On Mondays, sing along for karaoke night. Tuesdays, magician Santos Kidd roams the restaurant to perform tableside magic for patrons. From Wednesday through Saturday, come in for live music, with different bands taking the stage each night. Thursdays feature Hawaiian music, and Saturdays are for contemporary, easy listening bands including Island Magic.

Friday, which Ige says is the most popular night of the week, is themed Flashback Fridays. Enjoy bands such as King Pins and H20, and dancing begins at 8:30 p.m.; so get ready to hit the floor and dance to the music.

Ige’s Restaurant & 19th Puka