Food Trucks Heading Out West

In 2010, Poni and Brandon Askew began to take notice of a trend emerging in cities on the Mainland — street food vendors were becoming increasingly popular. Yet it seemed to them that local street vendors were not gaining the same level of momentum.

Wanting to change that, the husband and wife created a Twitter account for Street Grindz, which quickly amassed a number of followers, to establish a community of vendors and consumers.

“Until we did this it was very difficult to find our street food vendors,” Poni explained. “They were typically parked in discreet locations. It was my goal to make them easier to find.”

In early 2011, they wanted to take their community of vendors offline and into the streets. The event that resulted has become the wildly popular Eat The Street, which now happens once a month in Kakaako, and it’s visiting University of Hawaii-West Oahu from 2 to 7 p.m. June 14.

“UHWO is the perfect venue for Eat the Street,” Askew said. “It’s centrally located between Kunia, Ewa Beach, Kapolei and Nanakuli/Waianae … We are very excited to have our event on the West side.”

Vendors at UHWO will include All Kine Grindz, Aloha Pops, Beyond Burgers, Cake Works, Hawaiian Fresh Farms, Le Crepe Cafe, Olay Thai, Pop Pop Donuts, Tin Hut BBQ, Wurst Wagon and many more.

The Street Grindz team also is the entity behind Honolulu Night Market — also held in Kakaako — that features art, clothing and entertainment in addition to food.

“What I believe is that Hawaii loves and supports small business and food. It’s the perfect mix, and two to three times a month Street Grindz creates venues for small businesses and the local community to connect,” Poni said. “It’s magical and very gratifying.”

Street Grindz already looks forward to hosting future events at UHWO. The next is planned for August.

Public entry is free. For more information (and to get a free bounce house coupon), visit streetgrindz.com.