Uncle Ricky's Hawaiian Grinds

(UPDATE 5/7/13: Only a few weeks after Uncle Ricky's changed owners, the place has now closed.)

(NOTE: Uncle Ricky's changed ownership in early 2013! Still the same food, from what I've heard.)

Uncle Ricky's Hawaiian Grinds is a Hawaiian plate lunch dive in Corvallis, Oregon. The business is still fairly new at the time of this posting; they started serving food to the public in March 2011, with their current Corvallis location opening in late April 2011.

I'm impressed with Uncle Ricky's menu. They offer an array of local Hawaiian classics, including the Loco Moco (the ever-famous hamburger patty, egg, and gravy on a bed of rice), saimin (Hawaii's version of ramen), and hot dogs featuring Redonodo's "Winners" (not wieners)! It looks like one of the few things they don't have is a brown rice option.

They even have other Hawaiian-themed stuff for sale, just to remind you of the 808

Condiments...vintage Hawaii stuff here

Menu (side 1)

Menu (side 2)

I ordered a mini shoyu chicken ($6): chicken marinated in a sweet and savory sauce (that includes ginger and garlic), with a scoop of white rice and macaroni salad.

Mini shoyu chicken w/rice and mac salad

The shoyu chicken was spot-on delicious. The flavors of the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, and ginger really infused into the chicken, and then the cooking process led to a wonderful shredded, juicy experience. The macaroni salad was OK, but could have used a bit more black pepper and some shredded carrot for color, flavor, and texture contrasts.

Uncle Ricky's rotates $10 specials, ranging from kalua pig and cabbage to Side Street Inn's two famous dishes (pork chops and fried rice)! Both of Side Street Inn's signatures are just hands-down foodgasmic awesome. People in Corvallis -- and anyone willing to drive to Corvallis -- are extremely fortunate to have such a place like Uncle Ricky's.

Uncle Ricky's passed my first test with flying colors...they know how to do proper shoyu chicken. Now it's onto the specials. If Uncle Ricky's continues to do well, they may become my go-to Hawaiian plate lunch joint. 8/10