{"id":48989,"date":"2026-11-12T01:55:21","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T09:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?p=48989"},"modified":"2026-11-12T02:17:40","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T10:17:40","slug":"hawaiis-popular-side-street-inn-coming-to-california-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/hawaiis-popular-side-street-inn-coming-to-california-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii&#8217;s Popular Side Street Inn Coming to California Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As we were the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/VitalVegas\/status\/2120733913807299043\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first to share<\/a>, a buzzworthy Honolulu restaurant, Side Street Inn, is coming to downtown&#8217;s California Casino in early 2027.<\/p>\n<p>The restaurant has been a fixture in Hawaii for more than three decades, earning a passionate following.<\/p>\n<p>Side Street replaces Aloha Specialties at The Cal. As we were the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/aloha-specialties-restaurant-to-close-at-the-cal-after-41-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first to report<\/a> (sensing a pattern?), Aloha Specialties closes Nov. 22, 2026, after 41 years.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_48990\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48990\" style=\"width: 845px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-48990 size-post-thumbnail-crop-845xAUTO\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn-845x563.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"845\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn-845x563.jpg 845w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn-924x615.jpg 924w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn-423x282.jpg 423w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn-306x204.jpg 306w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn-190x126.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/side_street_inn.jpg 1400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 845px) 100vw, 845px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-48990\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Side Street Inn was never an inn. It opened as a bar featuring two of our favorite things: sports and karaoke. The hope is there will be zero of that at The Cal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"><span data-prompt-literal-paste=\"\">Another fun fact: The &#8220;Side Street&#8221; in the restaurant&#8217;s name was Hopaka Street, a small side street near Ala Moana shopping center<\/span> where we used to perform as a street mime. We are not making this up.<\/p>\n<p>Side Street Inn seems a perfect fit for The Cal given the casino&#8217;s longstanding relationship with Hawaiian visitors. The California is pretty much an honorary ninth Hawaiian island.<\/p>\n<p>Side Street Inn was founded in Honolulu in 1992 by Colin Nishida. Nishida turned a modest neighborhood bar into one of Hawaii&#8217;s most acclaimed restaurants. Sadly, the chef <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honolulumagazine.com\/colin-nishida-beloved-chef-and-restaurateur-leaves-a-culinary-legacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">passed away<\/a> in 2018. His legacy lives on in his food, however. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honolulumagazine.com\/how-side-street-inns-colin-nishida-went-from-bar-owner-to-restaurateur-of-the-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Side Street Inn is best known for its pan-fried island pork chops, garlic chicken and signature fried rice. Side Street Inn&#8217;s fried rice is loaded with bacon, Portuguese sausage, green onions, peas, carrots and char siu, whatever that might actually be.<\/p>\n<p>Now, they have our attention. We are a noted fried rice aficionado.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_48996\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48996\" style=\"width: 1000px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-48996\" style=\"border: 1px solid #000000;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/fried_rice_magazine.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1328\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/fried_rice_magazine.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/fried_rice_magazine-845x1122.jpg 845w, https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/fried_rice_magazine-423x562.jpg 423w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-48996\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">We were a staff writer at this magazine for several years prior to our realization we completely made it up.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Other menu favorites include sizzling Korean-style kalbi short ribs, yakisoba, roast pork poke, crispy fried chicken gizzards and Hawaiian-style pulehu short ribs.<\/p>\n<p>We grew up in Hawaii, so we should recognize many more of these terms than we do. We lived there during the pre-gizzard era of Hawaiian cooking, thankfully.<\/p>\n<p>Side Street Inn is known for its family-style dining, with hefty portions intended to be shared.\u00a0It&#8217;s unclear how much of the Hawaii menu will make the trip to the Cal location, but we&#8217;re confident the pork chops and fried rice will be featured items.<\/p>\n<p>Side Street Inn has received numerous awards over the years. The restaurant received national exposure when it was featured on Anthony Bourdain&#8217;s &#8220;No Reservations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The arrival of Side Street Inn at the California should provide some comfort to despondent fans of Aloha Specialties. We tell everyone not to get emotionally attached to anything. It&#8217;s Las Vegas. People don&#8217;t listen.<\/p>\n<p>The Cal has catered to Hawaiian visitors for decades. The casino even uses the slogan &#8220;Aloha Spoken Here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Side Street Inn brings a lot to the table for The Cal and owner Boyd Gaming, including an established brand and &#8220;plenny goodwill.&#8221; Yes, that&#8217;s Pidgin. There&#8217;s a lot of it spoken at The Cal, along with the aloha.<\/p>\n<p>See more at the official <a href=\"https:\/\/sidestreetinn.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Side Street Inn site<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If Side Street Inn&#8217;s fried rice is half as good as people say, 8 East at Circa had better gird its loins.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we were the first to share, a buzzworthy Honolulu restaurant, Side Street Inn, is coming to downtown&#8217;s California Casino in early 2027. The restaurant has been a fixture in Hawaii for more than three decades, earning a passionate following. Side Street replaces Aloha Specialties at The Cal. As we were the first to report [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,23,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-downtownlasvegas","category-vegas","category-lasvegasrestaurants"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hawaii&#039;s Popular Side Street Inn Coming to California Casino | Vital Vegas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As we were the first to share, a buzzworthy Honolulu restaurant, Side Street Inn, is coming to downtown&#039;s California Casino in early 2027. The restaurant\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/hawaiis-popular-side-street-inn-coming-to-california-casino\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaii&#039;s Popular Side Street Inn Coming to California Casino | Vital Vegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we were the first to share, a buzzworthy Honolulu restaurant, Side Street Inn, is coming to downtown&#039;s California Casino in early 2027. 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