There is no sauce wall at Ono Hawaiian BBQ. Unlike a mainland smokehouse, where you sauce your own meat from a row of squeeze bottles, here the sauce is applied in the kitchen and it is part of the item you ordered. Choosing the sauce means choosing the plate. Here is what each one actually is.
The house Hawaiian BBQ glaze
The most-ordered sauce in the entire category, and the one on the chain-defining Hawaiian BBQ Chicken ($12.49). It is built on soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic and pineapple juice — the chicken thigh is marinated in that mixture, char-grilled over high heat, then finished with a thicker reduction of the same sauce.
Three things separate it from mainland barbecue sauce. The sugar caramelizes on the grill rather than smoke penetrating the meat. The pineapple enzyme tenderizes the thigh. And it cooks in eight minutes, not three hours. This is a barbecue-flavored glaze on grilled chicken, and the word barbecue is a naming convention rather than a cooking method — the Hawaiian BBQ menu guide covers why the whole category works that way.
Belongs on: chicken thigh, and thin-sliced beef — the same glaze goes on Hawaiian BBQ Beef ($12.99).
Teriyaki
The quieter sibling. Teriyaki Chicken ($12.49) is the same char-grilled boneless thigh at the same price, but the sauce is thinner, sweeter and more soy-forward, with none of the tang and less of the smoky depth in the BBQ glaze. Because it is thinner it coats rather than lacquers, so you get less of that sticky caramelized edge.
The teriyaki glaze also does duty outside the plates: it is what goes on the grilled Spam in a Spam Musubi ($6.49), where its sweetness against salty Spam and plain rice is the entire reason that item works.
Katsu sauce
The one people ask about most, and the one least like anything on a mainland menu. Katsu sauce is thick, dark, sweet and sour, and it tastes closer to Worcestershire and ketchup than to soy — fruity and vegetal underneath, with a vinegar edge that cuts fried food precisely.
It arrives with Chicken Katsu ($12.49), which is boneless thigh dredged in panko, deep-fried, then sliced across into strips. Critically, the sauce is served on the side rather than poured over, which is why katsu is the best cold leftover on the menu — the panko keeps its structure. Dip strip by strip; do not flood the plate.
Belongs on: anything fried. It also improves Crispy Shrimp ($12.99) and Island White Fish ($12.99) if you ask for a cup.
Heat: Island Fire and chili pepper water
The only spicy item built into the menu is Island Fire Chicken ($12.49), and the description that matters is this: it is genuinely warm, not aggressive. It is the spicy option in a chain whose baseline is sweet, which means it reads hot next to a teriyaki plate and mild next to anything you would order at a Sichuan restaurant.
Beyond that, the traditional Hawaiian answer is chili pepper water — a thin, sharp condiment of small hot peppers steeped in water, vinegar, salt and garlic. It adds heat and acidity without adding sugar, which is exactly what a sweet, rich plate lunch is missing. It is a local table staple rather than a standard national menu item, so availability at any given Ono Hawaiian BBQ varies by location and it is worth asking rather than assuming.
Sauce heat and sugar, side by side
| Sauce | Heat | Sweetness | Best on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaiian BBQ glaze | None | High | BBQ chicken, BBQ beef |
| Teriyaki | None | Highest | Teriyaki chicken, Spam musubi |
| Katsu sauce | None | Medium, sour edge | Anything fried |
| Island Fire | Mild to medium | Medium | Chicken thigh |
| Chili pepper water | Hot | None | Kalua pork, rice |
The plates with no sauce at all
Two items deliberately go naked, and both are better for it. Kalua Pork with Cabbage ($12.99) is salted and slow-cooked until it shreds — salt is its seasoning and adding a sweet glaze would fight it. Grilled Chicken Breast ($12.49) is unsauced white meat and the leanest plate on the board, which also makes it the lowest-sugar order here. Both are covered in the Ono Hawaiian BBQ nutrition breakdown.
One practical rule for takeout: ask for the sauce on the side if you are eating more than thirty minutes later. Glaze sitting on rice for an hour turns the plate into one texture.