Hawaiian cuisine, though historically rare in New York, is gaining renewed attention through a growing number of dedicated eateries that seek to bring the flavors of the 50th U.S. state to the city’s diverse food scene.

One of the earliest and most recognized Hawaiian restaurants in New York is Noreetuh, founded in 2015 by Honolulu-raised chef Chung Chow and his business partner, Jin Ahn. Known for serving island staples such as macaroni salad and loco moco, Noreetuh has become a touchstone for residents and visitors searching for an authentic taste of Hawaii.

Building on this foundation, Chow and Ahn opened Huli Huli Hawaiian Rotisserie on the Lower East Side last winter. Despite occupying a limited space, roughly the size of a minivan, the restaurant focuses on preparing huli huli chicken—a Hawaiian specialty named after the Hawaiian word for “turn,” referencing the rotisserie cooking process. The chicken is roasted until its skin is dark brown and coated in a sticky glaze reminiscent of teriyaki. The menu includes a meal priced around $14, which pairs two crispy pieces of the chicken with shiitake ginger rice and a creamy macaroni salad that draws comparisons to game-day ranch dressing.

Meanwhile, another newcomer, chef Chi Jan Chan, has been making waves with his take on musubi, a popular Hawaiian snack consisting of rice and various toppings wrapped in seaweed. Raised in Honolulu’s Chinatown, where musubi is a staple snack akin to New York’s dollar slice pizza, Chan began selling musubi via social media and pop-ups after relocating to New York in 2022. This fall, he launched Kine Musubi, a compact restaurant on 72nd Street.

Kine Musubi features a menu with classic and inventive musubi variants, including options with shrimp patties, Japanese tamago, and Korean gochujang. The traditional Spam musubi—a staple in Hawaii—consists of sliced meat atop warm rice, garnished with furikake or garlic fried rice, and enveloped in a seaweed wrapper, priced at $6 each. Unlike the widely available prepackaged musubi found throughout Hawaii, Chan crafts each piece by hand, brushing them with a homemade teriyaki sauce that soaks into the rice. The musubi are often served with accompaniments such as pickled radish or tuna salad and are recommended to be eaten fresh to preserve the warmth of the rice and the crispness of the nori.

While some classic dishes, such as the loco moco with beef patties and mushroom gravy, remain elusive in the city, these ventures underscore a growing appreciation for Hawaiian culinary traditions in New York. Enthusiasts continue to seek out new spots to enjoy these flavors, contributing to the gradual expansion of Hawaiian food’s presence far from the islands.