So, How Does The Street Party Work, Anyway?

We explain how to use the VIP pass for Michael Mina’s The Street in Waikīkī—and whether it’s worth $37.

This small-but-filling bowl of cold chuka ramen from The Ramen Bar is one of the 13 dishes and drinks you can get this month with The Street Party Pass at The Street, A Michael Mina Social House.

Photos: Catherine Toth Fox

Starting this week, The Street, A Michael Mina Social House, which opened earlier this month at the International Market Place, is offering a way for people to sample 13 chef-driven restaurant concepts without having to purchase a full dish from each.

SEE ALSO: Michael Mina’s The Street is Reinventing Food Courts

It’s called The Street Party Pass—literally a pass on a lanyard you wear around your neck. It costs $37 and, with it, you can visit up to seven of the 10 restaurants and three bars to get a sample size of one of their menu items. The item, scribbled on a small chalkboard, is selected by each stall and rotates every month. You can’t pick whatever dish or drink you want.

You also don’t have to use the pass in just one day; you can spread out your grazing over 30 days.

The Street Party Pass, which costs $37 and is good for 30 days.

So here’s how it works:

First, buy the pass. This was the hardest part, to be honest. The website says to purchase one from the concierge desk and we had no idea where that was. We first went to the customer service desk outside The Street and the two workers there said The Street Party Pass wasn’t available yet. We decided to ask someone inside the food court and found a young woman wearing dozens of passes around her neck at Aloha Ice. I’m still not sure if this was the concierge desk, but she sold me a pass for $37 and explained how it works.

We walked around and noticed small blackboards at each stall, placed near the cash registers. These are the dishes available for pass holders. You can also bypass the line and order right at the register. (That’s another perk of the pass.)

It seems like a cumbersome process for the workers, who have to use a Sharpie to scratch off one of the seven numbers on the pass and ring up an unpriced item that’s not on the actual menu. I’m sure this will eventually sort itself out.

Little Lafa is handing out this small plate wit a single flatbread topped with harissa chicken and fresh herbs.

Kai Poke offers a small crispy taco filled with salmon, avocado and tobiko, along with a bowl of rice topped with your choice of poke.

Maui Onion Burger serves a slider with a smashed burger topped with melted American cheese and fried onions on a house-made sweet-potato bun—plus a handful of sidewinder fries.

my favorite dish was This smaller version of the popular strawberry-hibiscus shave ice from Aloha Ice.

The verdict? The pass is a great deal, particularly if you’re sharing dishes. (The drinks are too small to share.) You don’t get a ton of food, which is a good thing if you want to sample a few of the restaurants at once. (Trust me, you don’t want a full plate of St. Louis ribs from International Smoke, a cheeseburger and full order of fries from Maui Onion Burger, and a huge bowl of chuka ramen from The Ramen Bar for dinner. It’s just too much.) But, since the items rotate once a month, I wouldn’t come back in the same month to use it, either, unless I lived or worked in Waikīkī.

So, get it? Sure. But use it. And bring a friend.

2330 Kālakaua Ave., thestreetsocialhouse.com

The 2018 Hale ‘Aina Awards ballot is now online! Vote for your favorite restaurants now through June 30 for a chance to win dining certificates from our Hale ‘Aina winners. Click here to vote now. Winners will be announced at the Hale ‘Aina Awards Ceremony on Sept. 17. Stay tuned to this page for updates.

READ MORE STORIES BY CATHERINE TOTH FOX