Hawaiian Bros Island Grill has opened its first physical restaurant in the Indianapolis area, serving up island-inspired plates from a spot at 7910 S. U.S. 31 in the Greenwood Place shopping center, and the fast-growing chain already has its next Hamilton County location lined up in Noblesville.
The new restaurant sits near the Johnson County city of Greenwood and the Marion County town of Southport, according to WISH-TV. Before this opening, Hawaiian Bros had already been serving downtown Indianapolis and the near-north side through carryout and delivery, but this marks the chain's first brick-and-mortar location in the metro. Meals run $10 to $16, and the menu features chicken, pork, Spam or vegetable plates served with steamed white rice and macaroni salad — a combination with roots stretching back to Hawaii's sugarcane and pineapple plantations, where immigrant laborers in the 1880s shared lunch pails of rice and leftover meats that evolved into the now-standard two-scoops format by the 1930s, according to Wikipedia.
Dessert comes in the form of tropical Dole soft serve, also known as Dole Whip, and the kitchen notably skips fryers, microwaves and freezers altogether. That no-shortcuts approach is part of a broader operational model the chain has built to keep drive-thru lines moving despite cooking everything fresh — a system Hawaiian Bros redesigned specifically for speed after its earliest locations blew past sales projections, per the same account from Restaurant Business.
A Grand Opening With Big Giveaways
The south-side restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and stays open until midnight Thursday through Saturday. Hawaiian Bros will host its official grand opening at 11 a.m. on September 12, and the first 100 customers that day will walk away with a free T-shirt and a gift card worth anywhere from $25 to $500. One lucky guest will also win free Hawaiian Bros for an entire year.
Noblesville Location Set For High-Growth Corridor
The chain's next Indianapolis-area restaurant will land in Noblesville's Promenade of Noblesville development, near the Meijer store at State Road 32 and Little Chicago Road. That 60-acre development is anchored by Indiana's first 90,000-square-foot Meijer Grocery store, which opened in July 2024, according to PR Newswire. The master-planned corridor includes commercial outlots, residential units and corporate offices, placing Hawaiian Bros in one of Hamilton County's busiest suburban growth zones.
From a Missouri Storefront to Nearly 100 Locations
Despite the tropical branding, Hawaiian Bros didn't start in Hawaii at all. The chain was founded in 2017 by Oregon-raised brothers Cameron and Tyler McNie alongside childhood friends Paul and Joel Worcester, who learned traditional Hawaiian recipes from a Native Hawaiian restaurant owner in Oregon before relocating to open their first physical location in Belton, Missouri, in February 2018, according to Startland News. The brand now has nearly 100 locations spread across 14 states.
That growth has been driven almost entirely by franchising. Since opening its franchise model in September 2022, Hawaiian Bros has signed multi-unit development agreements covering more than 270 future restaurants, with system-wide average unit volume reaching $2.4 million to $2.5 million and top-quartile locations topping $3.5 million annually, per BizBuySell. Operators looking to join the system face steep requirements, including a minimum net worth of $5 million and $2.5 million in liquid assets, with total startup costs per unit ranging from $1.4 million to $4.1 million.
Cultural Pushback Over 'Aloha Spirit'
The chain's rapid mainland expansion hasn't come without controversy. Hawaiian Bros faced widespread backlash in 2024 after attempting to trademark the phrase Aloha Spirit for restaurant services, prompting Native Hawaiian activists to push back against the commercialization of Indigenous language; the company voluntarily withdrew its trademark filings in early 2025, according to SFGATE. Hoodline covered that fallout as part of its Las Vegas expansion coverage earlier this year, and the chain's suburban push has since continued through Midwestern markets including Ohio and Illinois.
Back in Indianapolis, another local player is also feeding the city's appetite: Circle City Eats operates a facility at 1021 N. Pennsylvania St., part of the area's broader food scene as national chains like Hawaiian Bros stake their claim in the region.
