Plate lunch was invented as portable food — tin pails carried into plantation fields — so Ono Hawaiian BBQ catering has an unfair advantage over almost every other barbecue chain. Rice and macaroni salad hold temperature and texture for hours, and the proteins are grilled or fried rather than smoked, so nothing dries out on a folding table. Here is how to price and portion it.
Ono Hawaiian BBQ prices at a glance
The prices referenced on this page, collected up front. They vary by location and change without notice.
| Guests | Simplest order | Approx. cost |
|---|---|---|
| 4–5 | 1 Family Meal | $46.99 |
| 8–10 | 2 Family Meals | $93.98 |
| 12–15 | 3 Family Meals | $140.97 |
| 20 | 4 Family Meals + 4 Island Favorites combos | ~$243.92 |
| Per child | Keiki Meal | $5.49 |
Start with the Family Meal
The one published package is the Family Meal at $46.99, built to feed four to five people with multiple proteins plus a large rice and a large macaroni salad. That is your baseline unit, and it works out at roughly $9.40 to $11.75 per head depending on how you count the fifth person.
Compare that with the obvious alternative — four regular plates at $12.49 each, or $49.96. The Family Meal is marginally cheaper and gives more variety across the tray, which is the real reason to order it. The honest caveat is that it is sized for a household, not an office. Beyond about eight guests you are stacking Family Meals rather than ordering catering, and at that point it is worth calling the restaurant.
Per-head arithmetic
The portion rule is blunt and it holds: one plate per adult. Hawaiian plate lunches are dense, the two scoops of rice do most of the filling, and portions that look modest on the tray are heavier than they appear. Do not order 1.5 plates per person the way you might with pulled pork by the pound — you will throw food away.
What actually travels
- Chicken Katsu ($12.49) — the best cold leftover on the menu. Panko keeps its structure and the katsu sauce is served on the side, so it does not go soggy in transit.
- Spam Musubi ($6.49) — engineered to travel. It is the single most reliable item to add to any catering order and the one guests reach for first.
- Hawaiian BBQ Chicken ($12.49) — the signature, and the safest crowd-pleaser. Ask for the glaze on the side for anything over thirty minutes out.
- Kalua Pork with Cabbage ($12.99) — holds heat better than anything else because it is already shredded and moist.
What does not travel well: Crispy Shrimp ($12.99) and the Island White Fish ($12.99), both of which are battered and both of which soften within twenty minutes. Order those to eat in. And never let anyone microwave the macaroni salad — the lid comes off, it gets eaten cold, and only the rice and protein go near heat.
Ordering, lead time and variance
Ono Hawaiian BBQ runs roughly 90 restaurants, most of them in California, and it does not publish a single national catering price sheet the way the by-the-pound mainland chains do. That has two consequences worth planning around. First, large-format trays, hot-holding equipment and delivery are handled restaurant by restaurant, so prices and minimums vary by location. Second, a store can genuinely turn around several Family Meals with modest notice, but a twenty-plus-person order placed at noon on a Friday is asking a lunch-rush kitchen for a favor.
Practical guidance: call the specific location, give 24 to 48 hours for anything above about fifteen people, and confirm whether they will portion rice and mac into large containers rather than individual plates. If you are comparing across chains, our BBQ catering menu guide lays out how per-pound pricing stacks up against the plate model.
Build a better tray
The cheapest way to add variety is not more Family Meals — it is the Island Favorites combos at $13.99, which put two proteins on one plate. Add one Hawaiian BBQ Mix ($14.99) for the kalbi, a stack of musubi, and a couple of Fresh Mix Salads ($4.49) for the guests who do not want a rice-based lunch. The rice and mac salad standard covers the rest.