Makers & Tasters:

Makers & Tasters was a project started by Co-creators and Co-owners Brandon and Poni Askew. They first started by creating the company Street Grindz, which are in control of pop-up events like Eat the Street, Honolulu Night Market, and Art After Dark. The couple wanted to create a sustainable platform for Hawaii’s small businesses.

“ Makers & Tasters is the latest market platform from Street Grindz, Hawaii’s big-impact small business incubator. Since 2010, we’ve connected chefs and artisans with their customers through monthly events and pop-ups… We believe that passionate, local entrepreneurs are the key to creating a sustainable future. Getting there takes integrity, hard work, and risk-taking. It takes Makers who mean business. We are passionate about doing everything we can to help them succeed. With Makers and Tasters, we’ll be reaching even greater numbers of people. A daily market in a fast-growing part of Honolulu means more creative, entrepreneurial jobs and dollars staying right here in Hawai’i.” [From the Makers & Tasters About page].

I was first interested about Makers and Tasters through friends and social media outlets. The pictures and comments made about the food and atmosphere made me excited to go and visit.

When you enter Fisherman’s Wharf, you are welcomed with the Makers & Tasters location to your right with the boats and dock to your left. There is ample parking and it is free! I was so relieved to know that there wasn’t going to be a parking meter, attendant, or valet for my visit there. I hate having to pay for parking for a place that I would have to spend money for food and drinks.

Once we parked, we went around to one of the entrances near the main dining area. The whole area is colorful and casual. There are 3 main areas that are provided. All the way to the end is a wooden deck that has wooden benches and big umbrellas for shade. The alcoholic beverages are provided at a bar and none of the alcohol is allowed to leave this area. The next area is the dining area with quaint colorful chairs and tables with big red umbrellas. The ground is made of concrete so it’s comfortable to walk around on. Around the main dining area are all of the food trucks and booths. There are many vendors that showcase their food. Because of the amount of vendors, Makers & Tasters likes to focus on 15 food trucks a month and has a rotation of all the vendors.

When I visited, it was early dinner time. The food trucks that were available were Taste Yum, Shaka Shrimp, Chamorro Grindz, ‘Nalo made Lemonade, Wieners Gone Wild, The Garden Oven Pizza, and Flyin’ Ahi. Because we arrived at 4:30pm [Their open hour for dinner], most of the vendors were still prepping for their dinner customers. We were able to order food and decided to order from Wieners Gone Wild and Shaka Shrimp.

Wieners Gone Wild:

This food truck was very patriotically themed with an American flag on their banner. We went up to the truck and a very friendly lady greeted us with a big smile and a happy hello. We browsed the menu that was set up at the booth and decided on a Wild Wanger with Bacon, which consisted of “1/2 lb black angus wiener on a toasted hoagie bun with bacon, onions, and BBQ sauce.” It cost us $13.00 and we paid with a credit card. They take both card and cash, which was convenient for us. We waited for about 5-10 minutes for our “hot dog”. When it came out, it surprised me because the size and amount of food that was served. The hot dog was so big and could fill 2 people easily. The dish was served on a paper plate with a red and white checkered paper lining. The hot dog was placed on top of a bed of chips. The presentation was amazing and made my mouth water so much. The taste of the hot dog was amazing and the flavors all meshed together. The hoagie bun was toasted nicely, the wiener was crisp and not burnt, the BBQ sauce was sweet and not overpowering, and the onions were caramelized to perfection. Even though the hot dog was big, we were not tired of eating it. Usually if I have one type of food stuck in front of me I get tired of eating it and my mouth gets bored with the same flavors, but this place made it so that every bite had a juicy morsel of the sausage and the different spices of the sauce as well as the crispy bun and onions. AMAZING!

Shaka Shrimp:

I was skeptical at first with this food truck because of the fact that there are so many shrimp trucks on the island and usually the best ones are located in the North Shore of Hawaii. I felt like I needed to go to North Shore to get the shrimp that I always craved for, but lo and behold, Shaka Shrimp blew my mind and convinced me that I didn’t have to make the far drive to the North Shore to get the same yummy garlic shrimp!

The food truck has a cartoon looking shrimp holding up shakas with both hands. The menu was propped up on a chair and had a few items shown. We decided to get the classic garlic shrimp which was $10.00. The lady in the food truck was also super nice and asked us if we had any questions and to let her know if there was anything she could help with. We ordered and sat for about 8 minutes until the order was done. It came in a standard take out box. The smell was so good and also made my mouth water like crazy. We opened the box which contained a small salad with a slice of pineapple, 2 scoops of rice with the garlic sauce on it, and of course the garlic shrimp. The taste of the shrimp was incredible and fresh. The sauce wasn’t too potent of garlic, but just the right amount. The salad was decent. Overall the dish was pretty good and I was glad to have found a place to go instead of making the long trip to the tourist filled side of the island to get my garlic shrimp fix.

More Info:

Makers & Tasters hosts a lot of events, which are shown on a board in the main dining area. The board has info about upcoming Eat the Street events and pictures of different foods. You can also view a calendar of events at the Makers & Tasters site as well as the Street Grindz site. Some other events that are ongoing are Night Market, which is an event that happens at night and features local stores, food trucks, and live music as well as fashion shows. All of the events help to promote local businesses so that money stays in Hawai’i and doesn’t leave our islands to go to companies that are located outside of Hawai’i, which is considered sustainable tourism.

Makers & Tasters also has a new project starting in the summer of 2016 called the Pineapple Flea Open Market. This open market will be open every Saturday morning and features retail booths and food vendors. Most of the retail vendors will have local made items, handmade items, vintage clothes or products, and jewelry/goods. More information is provided on the website.

Another open area of interest is called Ten Eleven which is the newest bar venue provided by Free Spirits Hawaii. This bar is open Monday- Saturday and the Happy Hour is available from 5pm-7pm. During happy hour, there are $5 food and drink specials and live entertainment every Friday.

Art After Dark is available at the Honolulu Museum of Art and features food and drink while you browse the museum and check out the art. This event is amazing and has a different theme every month to help illustrate the need for culture and art in everyone’s life.

If you would like to check out the events please visit the website and contribute to the events that help small businesses grow!