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GET TO KNOW KAINOA'S HAWAIIAN GRILL:
Jeremy Claridge and his wife grew up in a small town in Arizona called Fort Thomas, just 20 miles west of the original Kainoa's Hawaiian Grill.
Kainoa’s was established by a man named Eric Blair. Eric is an architect by trade. But he always wanted to get into the restaurant business. He continued to have this thought that he needs to open a Hawaiian restaurant.
When Eric approached his wife with the idea, she was reluctant to agree because the food business can be so tough and demanding to be in. He continued to pursue this idea and was finally able to convince his wife of it as well.
Like any new restaurant, especially in the Heela valley of Northeast, AZ, the preferred cuisine is Mexican food. So to throw a Hawaiian restaurant in the middle of all that, it wasn't really well received initially by the public. So he had his struggles for sure, but now he was probably one of the busiest restaurants, extremely successful, with 12 years in and still hitting sales records.
Eric created all the recipes by himself and made sure to do the research to create authentic and real Hawiian food. This required him to visit Hawaii several times to be taught and to learn how to ensure this technique.
THE OWNERS:
Jeremy was a paramedic in Arizona for 17 years and had just started flying helicopters in 2005. But his real passion was to be a Crop Duster. So finally, after being an EMS for so long, he told his wife, you know what, it's time to do what we want to do. So that is what brought them up here from Arizona.
That move completely changed their lives. Once Jeremy and his wife decided to move to Idaho, they knew they wanted to take their favorite restaurant with them, Kainoa's Hawaiian Grill.
Jeremy sat down with Eric (the original owner) and had a very real conversation with him. Jeremy expressed that Kainoa deserves to reach more people than just a small town in AZ. Eric believed that Jeremy would take care of his brand and knew he was someone he could trust.
It will be four years in September since Rexburg, ID hosts Kainoa's Hawaiian Grill.
THE POPULAR ITEMS:
picture cred: Kainoa's
Their biggest seller by far is the combo number one: Two meats and two sides with a drink. The reason it is so popular is because of how they prepare and cook their meat.
The chicken is so flavorful and is marinated for anywhere from 24 to 36 hours to ensure the best taste. Everything Kainoa’s makes is fresh and prepped in-store and nothing is purchased from the outside.
THE OWNER’S GO-TO:
Jeremy expressed that his favorite by far is the Katsu Chicken or the Mini Ono Fries with Katsu chicken. “It is life changing” (Jeremy Claridge).
THE SECRET MENU:
Trash plate and it looks exactly like it sounds, but it's fantastic. It is rice, with a big old serving of chili over it with some cheese, and a diced up hot dog. It is a must try!
THE ENVIRONMENT:
Jeremy continues to be a Crop Duster in the summertime and runs the restaurant year round. Luckily he gets a lot of help from his wife and four children.
His wife is able to do a large part of the management and front operations and their three older ones help with the business and are very much a big part of it as well.
They have one daughter, age 17, and she's kind of their lead cashier because she's been doing it for so long. Their oldest son is a kitchen manager and helps out a ton, and then their 14-year-old son is just starting to learn the ropes and has great potential in the business, they are a big part of what they do as it has been really neat to have their kids be able to earn their own money and buy their own cars and gas. Jeremy expressed that it has been really fun to do this as a family and to sit and see the sacrifices that go into it but to also see the victories.
THE CUSTOMERS:
Jeremy expressed that it's actually been a really neat test to see somebody who grew up in Hawaii or the Pacific islands come in and taste their food and express that this is the real deal.
You always get those critics whose grandma visited Hawaii years ago. This is not what it's supposed to be like, but there's a pretty decent Polynesian community just right down in Rigby. When they come into their local Hawaiian Grill, they love it and spend a lot of time inside with their family sharing joy over their meals.
Jeremy expressed that Kainoa’s has such loyal customers and gives an example:
Two gentlemen come into their restaurant at least four days a week on their lunch break or after work. The owner expresses “He just loves this place, you know? So it's kind of fun. There's a good handful of those”.
THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE:
One of the things that's really important to the restaurant identity is the Aloha spirit.
Jeremy and Eric really push this into their employees too, “We call them our Ohana, they're our family, you know?” (Jeremy Claridge). They strive to keep the environment nice, clean, and warm. Even the small efforts like having a cashier greet the customers with a big smile goes a long way.
I will definitely be coming here on a regular basis so buckle up Kainoa’s family!
RESTAURANT BASIC INFORMATION:
Thatcher
3533 W Main St.
Thatcher, Az 85552
(928) 792-2118
Rexburg
115 S 2nd W.,
Rexburg, ID 83440
(208) 356-3500
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