People’s Cafe

A CLOSER LOOK AT THIS WEEK’S HOUSE SPECIAL: SHORT RIBS SPECIAL ($12.50)
with Serena Valdez

For nearly 80 years, People’s Cafe has been serving delicious local Hawaiian and Filipino dishes in downtown Honolulu. It may be easy to overlook when driving down Pali Highway, but it is a restaurant you’ll want to notice. The atmosphere is friendly and the staff caters to any requests customers have, including trying to use ingredients that are MSG-free.

This week’s dish is also inspired by customers. Per popular request, the newest addition to People’s Cafe is the Short Ribs Special — so new to the restaurant it’s not even on the menu yet. The sizzling dish features a sizable portion of short ribs drizzled with barbecue rib sauce, four skewered shrimp and a 4-ounce serving of king salmon with a side of either rice or poi all atop a bed of cabbage.

The short ribs are steamed, and then cooked to finish on a stovetop grill before being smothered in house-made barbecue sauce.

To offset the savory taste of the short ribs, the grilled shrimp is seasoned to deliciousness with lemon pepper and garlic salt.

Although currently a weekly special, the Short Ribs Special will be added to the regular menu by January 2014. This will mark the first official menu item that has short ribs, says Thomas Ventura, chef and owner of People’s Cafe.

Salmon also is grilled to perfection and is lightly seasoned with lemon butter sauce.

People’s Cafe

1310 Pali Hwy., Honolulu
521-5552
Monday-Saturday, 6:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday, 6:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.