Location: The Local Place, King’s Hawaiian
Type: Bakery and quick service restaurant
Specialty: Fast food Hawaiian-style
Cost: Good!
Craig’s Favorite: Other than Dole Whip? Bakery: Paradise Cake; Food: Hawaiian Chicken with Potato Mac Salad

If you’ve been to Disneyland, you know how popular the famous Dole Whip is.  The line to get one is almost always longer than the line to get into the attraction its attached to – the Enchanted Tiki Room.  And it’s tough to give up valuable ride time for even a treat as delicious as this one is.  However, now you don’t have to!  Just recently a fast-food restaurant and bakery in Torrance, CA called “The Local Place” began serving the delicious frozen treat.  You can get both the regular Dole Whip and the Dole Whip Float at this wonderful place that specializes in food from the islands of Hawaii.

Known for their famous bread, King’s Hawaiian owns a couple of local restaurants in the Los Angeles area – the King’s Hawaiian Restaurant and this one simply called The Local Place.  Obviously, at both places you can get their signature round loaf of sweet Hawaiian bread, but they have a variety of other baked items as well – from one of my favorites Rainbow Bread (great for communion) to dinner rolls, breakfast pastries, cookies, cakes, and other great tasting treats.  One of the best of their baked items is the Paradise Cake. Three delicious layers of yummy, soft, spongy, melt-in-your-mouth cake featuring guava, passion fruit, and lime flavors and topped with a smooth whipped cream frosting.  I’m not normally a whipped cream kind of person, but it works so well on this cake and this combination of flavors really is subtle, smooth, and creamy overall.

If you decide to eat there, many people swear by their breakfast options – especially the King’s Hawaiian French Toast.  Imagine that yummy King’s Hawaiian bread served french toast style.  But for me, I love the lunch/dinner menu.  If you’ve never been, you need to try the Hawaiian Chicken Plate with steamed rice and potato mac salad.  Potato mac salad is such a staple of Hawaiian plate lunches and King’s Hawaiian is about the best I’ve had.  I always take home an extra side for eating later.  The Hawaiian Chicken are deep fried nuggets of chicken in a semi-sweet batter that gives it both a mix of savory and sweet tastes in one bite.  But if that isn’t your thing, they also have a bunch of other options – teriyaki beef and chicken, kalua pork (which is a pulled pork with salt and smoke flavors), mahi mahi, chicken katsu (fried chicken in a panko batter), and other great items.  There are tons of other terrific items on the menu that you’ll just have to try for yourself.  Some Hawaiian favorites include Loco Moco, Spam Musubi, and Lau Lau!  So come for the Dole Whip but leave with a full stomach!