Where Time Stands Still: Gina’s Bar-B-Q
The Market City eatery is part of my core UH memories, a destination for lively service and heaping, homey Korean food.
I left Kaua‘i after high school in 1995, moving into an older dorm at UH Mānoa. The room had two bunk beds, desks, lamps, a landline and the mini fridge and TV my roommate brought. I plopped down my suitcase and a cloud of dust whirled off the worn carpet. I felt far from home.
On weekends, my roommate and most others headed back to the comforts of their family homes. I was left to wander a ghost campus with closed eateries and a cafeteria with bland and pared-down offerings.
Photo: James Nakamura
With no car, I started taking extended walks. Gina’s Bar-B-Q was a 45-minute trek from my dorm, down a road that cut through neighborhoods, ran along Mānoa Stream and ended up at Market City Shopping Center. While there were other eateries like Catch of the Day, Duk Lee and Torito’s, Gina’s felt the most familiar.
Gina, her sister and their employees were a lively bunch, shouting orders while scribbling the next ones on notepads, all in Korean. They reminded me of my own relatives—spirited and loud. They joked with customers with a no-nonsense warmth, mock-scolding them for breaches of etiquette like ordering single plates to share, even though the heaping portions were far too much for one person.
Gina’s Bar-B-Q served the first plate of food that tasted to me like real cooking, with soul.
Photo: James Nakamura
My favorite order is still the Gina’s Special, a towering plate of kalbi, bulgogi, barbecue chicken, spring rolls, three scoops of rice and four choices veggies. It was enough food to last through the weekend during my UH days. In fact, it still is.
Market City Shopping Center, 2919 Kapi‘olani Blvd., Kapahulu, ginasbbqdj.com
Read more from this series:
Where Time Stands Still: Stadium Giant Malts & Bar-B-Que
Where Time Stands Still: Kim Chee II
Where Time Stands Still: Bravo Italian Restaurant
Where Time Stands Still: Maguro-Ya
Where Time Stands Still: Nanding’s Bakery
Where Time Stands Still: Yagura Restaurant
Where Time Stands Still: Buzz’s Original Steak House
Where Time Stands Still: Andy’s Sandwiches & Smoothies
Where Time Stands Still: Yanagi Sushi
James Nakamura is the creative director of HONOLULU Magazine.
