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FUUD: Dean’s Drive-Inn in Kaneohe

By Catherine Toth Fox • December 30, 2011 • Food

One of my favorite things to eat — at drive-ins and anywhere — is beef teriyaki.

But ever since the Kandas closed their lunch wagon at Kewalo Basin, I couldn’t find one that compared.

Until yesterday.

I had heard rave reviews about the beef teriyaki at Dean’s Drive-Inn in Kaneohe. My parents — also diehard Kanda fans — checked it out and nodded its approval. But I had to check it out for myself.

I had been meaning to try it for awhile now — Dean’s opened in 2006 — but I finally had an excuse to be on the windward side. So we pulled into the little strip mall off Kamehameha Highway and checked out the one thing I had been craving all week.

Here’s what our lunch looked like:

Find it first!

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Picture 1 of 10

That's really the first part of your challenge: finding Dean's. It's located in Adon Plaza, a small strip mall just off Kamehameha Highway that's incredibly easy to miss. (We did.)

Dean’s Drive-Inn, 45-773 Kamehameha Highway. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 to 4 p.m. Friday, closed Saturday. Phone: (808) 247-1300

Adon PlazaDean MishimaDean's Drive-InnDoreen MishimaHawaiiKaneoheteriyaki beefWindward Oahu
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Here's to (a better) 2012

About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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9 Comments

  • Reply WildeOscar December 30, 2011 at 5:25 am

    Picture 10 of 10 is priceless. I haven’t had pineapple upside down cake in over 20 years. It was always my choice for my birthday as a child, and my mother was a better cook than she was a baker, but this she always did well. She’s been gone many years now. I should bake one myself in her honor.

    • Reply Catherine Toth December 30, 2011 at 11:28 am

      You should! Make that your NYE must-do! And send me a pic!

  • Reply M December 30, 2011 at 7:38 am

    Hello Cat!
    Fuud pixs Friday!
    Dean’s drive-inn here I come!
    Happy New Year to you and Derek!

    • Reply Catherine Toth December 30, 2011 at 11:29 am

      Have you been? I think you’d like it. People there are really nice, too.

  • Reply rayboyjr December 30, 2011 at 9:39 am

    Hey Cat … damn!!! … my kind of food … that looks so good it’s not even funny!!! … love drive-ins that have fresh fish on the menu … I gotta remember this place the next time I’m over on that side … I head that way only about once a year!!! …

    … I can’t imagine where that is … guess I’ll have to Google it …

    … Happy New Year!!! …

    • Reply Catherine Toth December 30, 2011 at 11:29 am

      I forgot to mention it’s a little pricey. That plate — I got a mini — was about $9. But had a lot of food; took home some, in fact. So it was worth it.

  • Reply KAN December 30, 2011 at 2:01 pm

    I LOVEx10 Dean’s. I get fish and brown rice every time I go (whenever I’m home, that is). Nice folks too. But you’re right – parking is terrible there.

    • Reply Catherine Toth December 30, 2011 at 3:35 pm

      Brown rice!! You’re so good! I can’t get myself to order it when I’m at a plate lunch place!!

  • Reply matt December 30, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    the fish is great there. if the ahi belly is on the menu, get it. best thing on the menu, imo. in fact, I had it last week (also the brown rice). topped it off with my son’s leftover teri burger patty from maruki-tei, but that’s another kaneohe fuud friday subject, I guess.

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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