Honolulu, HIPlate Lunch

Helena’s Hawaiian Food has served Hawaiian plates since 1946, with a menu that has changed little over the decades. The Kalihi kitchen remains a place for laulau, kālua pig, lomi salmon and pipi kaula short ribs. Order a mixed Hawaiian plate to try several of its long-running preparations together.

Rainbow Drive-In’s Kapahulu original has served mixed plates since 1961. Its mixed plate brings teri beef, breaded mahimahi and chicken with rice and macaroni salad; the menu also offers a pork cutlet under local-style gravy. The Mix Plate remains one of the drive-in’s leading orders. Start there for the combination that put the original on the plate-lunch map.

Highway Inn’s Kakaʻako room carries the Toguchi family’s Hawaiian cooking into town from its Waipahu original. Its tasting plate brings poi, squid lūʻau, kālua pig, lomi salmon, chicken long rice and sweet potato with a choice of pork or chicken lau lau. Order that plate when you want several of the kitchen’s long-running preparations in one meal.

The Kuakini Street counter is the original setting for Liliha Bakery’s loco moco. Its version puts hand-formed hamburger patties and eggs cooked to order over rice, then covers them with brown gravy. The combination is the reason to take a counter seat at this particular branch, even though the bakery now has several locations. Order the loco moco at the Kuakini counter.

At the North King Street drive-in, the boneless chicken plate comes with gravy and macaroni salad. The chicken is made from two large thighs, and a gravy-covered order is the pick to make here. Order the boneless chicken with gravy.