Ono Grindz Hawaiian Culture Shirt - Aloha Tee, Hawaii Heritage Gift, Pacific Islander

Ono grindz — Hawaiian pidgin for "delicious food," and the highest compliment a local will pay your kitchen, your lunch truck, or your auntie. Two words, all the recommendation you'll ever need.

"Ono" is the Hawaiian word for delicious — and also the name of a sleek, lightning-fast game fish (wahoo) that any local fisherman is happy to catch. "Grindz" is Hawaiian pidgin (Hawaii Creole English), the rich plantation-era creole that grew from the mixing of Hawaiian, English, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Filipino tongues on the sugar and pineapple plantations of the 19th and 20th centuries. "Ono grindz" is the phrase you say standing over a plate lunch, a poke bowl, a piece of butter mochi, a styrofoam clamshell from the saimin stand — anything that hits.

For locals, this tee is shorthand for the food culture that runs through every island lunchroom. For visitors, it's the souvenir of that meal you can't stop talking about months later, the one that introduced you to the words "ono grindz."

Soft unisex tee. Multiple sizes and colorways available.