Hawai’i’s Loco Moco
Going Crazy for Hilo’s Hometown Cuisine
Story and Photos by John Penisten
Hometown Favorite
Until fairly recently, Hilo, on the east side of the Big Island of Hawai’i had the reputation of a soggy, rainy, old town. And while that may be true (it does get 128 inches of rain annually) the Hawaiian Islands‘ favorite hometown does have other redeeming qualities. One in particular is its fascination with its popular hometown culinary creation called loco moco.
Loco moco is a distinctly local Hawaiian-style edible known and loved throughout the islands of Hawai’i. The humble loco moco is Hilo’s unique contribution to Hawai’i’s diverse culinary tradition, despite its Spanish sounding name. The loco moco has evolved to become one of the islands’ most popular and desirable local comfort foods. This original local-style cuisine was created in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i almost 75 years ago. But only in recent years has loco moco caught on with visitors and residents to become a much sought after local culinary treat.
Loco’s Origins
The history of loco moco goes back to the years just after World War II. According to local newspaper accounts by Rudy Legaspi, a former county government official in Hilo, the loco moco had its origins with the Lincoln Wreckers Athletic Club, an informal organization for local teenagers during the late 1940s. The group used to hangout at the Lincoln Grill Restaurant across the street from Lincoln Park in downtown Hilo. Legaspi was a former member and unofficial historian of the famed Lincoln Wreckers Club.
The Lincoln Wreckers Club played in the town’s “barefoot” football league of the time. The club had some success on the field but their main claim to fame was the creation of the iconic dish called loco moco. The popular local dish has become a staple on restaurant, café, and food counter menus throughout the islands.
“Crazy” Scores
The loco moco dates to 1949, after Richard and Nancy Inouye opened the Lincoln Grill Restaurant. The Lincoln Wreckers Club members would hangout at the eatery, playing the pin ball machines, card games like cribbage, dropping nickels in the Wurlitzer jukebox and constantly feeding their hungry appetites. And in those post World War II days in Hilo, when the teens didn’t have much money in their pockets, the standard fare was a bowl of saimin noodles or a hamburger. And those things didn’t always fill up and satisfy the hungry teens.
So, the club devised a plan to ask the Inouyes to create a special dish just for them, something filling and affordable. For the task, the Wreckers nominated a guy nicknamed “Crazy” for his wild and madcap play on the football field. “Crazy” (whose real identity remains unknown) approached the Inouyes with the club’s request and the rest is history.
All in the Name
The original loco moco consisted of a saimin bowl of hot rice, smothered with a hamburger patty and generously topped with rich brown gravy, all for just $0.25 cents. Somewhere along the way, nobody seems to know for sure when or why, a fried egg was added to the dish. The name of the dish came later when it became a favorite and one of the most requested off the menu items at the Lincoln Grill. Since “Crazy” made the initial request for a special dish just for the club, the group named it in his honor, using the Spanish word “loco” for “Crazy.” The word “moco” was added later for no other reason than it rhymed and had a nice ring about it. And thus was born the humble “loco moco.”
The Lincoln Grill continued serving up loco mocos until it closed in 1963. But the popular dish caught on and it wasn’t long before the lunch counters, drive-ins, cafes, and restaurants in Hilo began offering their own versions of the popular dish. It eventually spread throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Today, loco moco can be found on lunch menus throughout the Aloha State all because of a bunch of hungry teens in Hilo and a barefoot football player named “Crazy.”
Variations of the Loco
There are many variations of the loco moco but the essential ingredients of a bowl of hot rice, topped with a meat entrée, brown gravy and an egg remain the same. The meat variations include bacon, ham, kalua pork, SPAM, Portuguese sausage, teriyaki beef and chicken, beef stew, mahimahi, shrimp, oyster, and several others. There are even Korean and Chinese versions in some places.
Big Locos for Big Appetites
Some of the more popular loco moco outlets in Hilo include K’s Drive In, 194 Hualalai Street; Café 100 at 969 Kilauea Avenue; and Hawaiian Style Café, 681 Manono Street in Manono Street Marketplace. These outlets feature a loco moco menu with multiple varieties. Café 100 features a Super Loco Moco which includes a bowl of rice, two eggs, hamburger patty, a slice of SPAM, and Portuguese sausage. They also have a Kilauea Loco Moco that includes the bowl of rice, two eggs, hamburger, SPAM, four sausage links, a scoop of chili on the rice, a small side of Korean kim chee, and a scoop of macaroni salad.
Over at Hawaiian Style Café, besides the standard loco mocos, they offer The Big Mok which has SPAM, Portuguese sausage, link sausage, 2 eggs, and gravy. The Da Tita Mok has fried rice with chicken cutlet, hamburger, SPAM, 2 eggs, and gravy. The Mok-A-Sauras, for big appetites, has SPAM, chicken cutlet, kalua pork, hamburger, 2 eggs, and gravy. Heart doctors might object to the loco moco’s high cholesterol content of the meat, egg, and gravy but the dish remains a favorite for many.
So, when you are next in Hilo at lunch time or just about anywhere in Hawai’i and want to try an original, head for the nearest lunch counter, drive-in, café, or restaurant and check out the loco moco menu. And if it’s not on the menu, ask for it. They might make one special just for you. And you don’t even have to be “Crazy,” just hungry. Bon appetit with Aloha!
A previous version of this story appeared in Hawaii Westways Magazine.
Other Hawai’i Stories
Hilo Sunny-side Up! It’s Not Just a Rainy Old Town | by John Penisten | May, 2023 | Medium
About the Writer
John Penisten is a photojournalist and longtime resident of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawai’i. He has authored the guidebooks Hawai’i the Big Island, Kaua’i the Garden Island, Adventure Guide to Hawai’i, and Experience the Big Island: The Road to Adventure. His personal adventure book Green Hills and Blue Lagoons: A Peace Corps Memoir covers his travels and experiences as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in the Fiji Islands, South Pacific. His travel stories and photos have appeared in a variety of print and online publications. John admits to enjoying an occasional loco moco despite the lectures and warnings of his primary care doctor about following a plant-based diet.
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