Kansas City meets Paris at Hawaii burger bastion

The island of Kauai be best referred to as the “Kingdom of Beauty.” God ( Akua in Hawaiian), many Hawaiians will say, was showing off with His creation when He made Kauai. Our family ( Ohana) has been blessed to call the “Garden Island” our second home for nearly two decades.

When off island, we hunger for her beauty and serenity. Over the past five years, we also have been hungry for the locally raised Kaiwe Reserve brand beef burger crafted at a local restaurant named Streetburger. This hunger is shared by many of the 1.5 million annual visitors to Kauai who stop by this quaint dining spot on Route 56/Kuhio Highway near Kapa’a. Most are on their way to the popular North Shore spots of Kilauea and Princeville.

In just five years, Streetburger has done something few vacation-based restaurants can accomplish: it has won the locals and tourists alike. In fact, according to owner David Barnes, the COVID travel slowdown to Hawaii actually helped locals get to his burger house without having to compete with those “mainlanders” from every continent. During the past 18 months, they have been buoyed by the 72,000 full-time residents of the eldest island of our gorgeous 50th state. Even now, as things slowly progress back to “normal,” the locals fill this 100-seat indoor/outdoor vestige of cozy and comfortable Hawaiian aloha.

Dining in or carrying out, this burger bastion of the finest beef on earth sets a new benchmark for quality. I suggest dining in so you can sample the 26 craft/draft beers from Hawaii and the world.

The menu features 17 different six-ounce monster-hand-sized burger sandwiches, all with hand-cut homemade fries and the most delicious homemade ketchup you have ever tasted.

Recently while dining at Streetburger with my friend John, I ordered my favorite Bacon BBQ Burger, and John had his Parisian Frenchie, dripping with brie, caramelized onions, arugula, and garlic aioli. Both recipes are included below as they are rather simple to prepare, except for your flight to get your fresh Kaiwe beef (give yourself 12 hours’ roundtrip time from LAX). There are no substitutes for Kaiwe beef. No Ka Oi (“none is better”).

Back to my fascination of how a scrumptious Kansas City-style barbecue burger (3,860 miles from K.C.) and a “fabulous” French burger (7,404 miles from Paris) can be found in this gorgeous island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Let’s see: palm trees, sandy beaches, Napali coast, breezes off the Sleeping Giant Mountain… then suddenly we hear this family speaking with a Southern charm that would be the envy of every Gone with the Wind enthusiast. There they were, declaring their Bacon BBQ Burger to be the “best ever”! And as we smiled in agreement, we heard a young couple behind us bragging about their Frenchie Burger in French. Yes, this couple took the 7,500-mile trek for their honeymoon to the place where Elvis made history in Blue Hawaii.

Truly, this popular burger mecca is “taking it to the streets” of Paris, Athens, Rome, Kansas City, and of course Kapa’a! It is so impressive to see this faraway land of people immersed in the aloha spirit serving God’s family from every corner of His earth. Streetburger and Kauai may become the new crossroads of the world!

Ke Akua Pu (God be with us)

JOE MICATROTTO, SR., K.C.H.S., has been a founder and CEO in the restaurant industry for more than 45 years, including among his credits Buca di Beppo, Panda Express, and MRG Marketing & Management, Inc. (Micatrotto Restaurant Group). He and his wife, Connie, are members of the Las Vegas Chapter.

Bacon + BBQ Burger ~ Frenchie Burger

Ingredients:
6 oz. fresh Kaiwe beef, ground
1 tsp. salt and pepper, blended
2 strips crisp hardwood bacon
3 tbsp. BBQ sauce, your favorite
2 oz. white cheddar, sliced
2 oz. fried onion strips

Frenchie Burger Ingredients:
6 oz. fresh Kaiwe beef, ground
1 tsp. salt and pepper, blended
2 oz. warm brie
2 oz. caramelized onions
1/2 oz. arugula
2 tbsp. garlic aioli

Directions:
Broil burger to taste. Place on your favorite bun (brioche or Kaiser) and layer these tasty goodies. Open very wide! (streetburgerkauai.com)