The Connection

Northern Virginia is home to innumerable cuisines. Salvadoran, Korean, Vietnamese, Southern barbecue, Ethiopian … the list goes on and on. But there’s been a dearth of Hawaiian cuisine in the region — until Hula Girl’s grand opening in Shirlington changed that.

Hula Girl is one of the newest neighbors in the Village at Shirlington, but its roots go much deeper than its new location alone. Beginning as a food truck during the economic downturn several years ago, the restaurant quickly filled a void in the patchwork of cuisines that knit the region together.

“Lo and behold, the truck kind of just took off,” said owner Mikala Brennan. “Our lines got longer and people kept finding us.”

And the customer base was diverse. East Coasters found a new outlet for culinary adventures, and native Hawaiians got a little taste of home.

“Hawaiian food was this weird hole here that had not been filled,” Brennan said.

In 2013, Brennan determined it was time to grow the food truck into something bigger. She initially set her sights on space in Washington, but quickly determined that moving across the river would meet the restaurant’s needs better.

“As I kept looking in D.C., I just wasn’t finding what I wanted. One of the big things for me was to have something all on one floor,” she said. Two floors “just didn’t appeal to me. … I want it to be residential. I want it to be a community. I want it to be a neighborhood place.”

Walking through the Village at Shirlington one day, Brennan noticed an empty storefront with a sign in the window advertising its availability. But to her consternation, it turned out the space had already been taken. A month later, though, the landlord called to tell Brennan the deal had fallen through and offered her the space.

“I had already looked at the space. The kitchen was done really well; I knew we would have to do a lot of demolition in the front end, but I felt like OK, we’ve finally found it, after a year-plus of looking,” Brennan said.

It didn’t take long for Brennan and her crew to settle in and make the space their own. While the food is always a linchpin of any restaurant, it’s crucial not to underestimate the importance of the décor and ambience, and Brennan spent a lot of time thinking that through.

“I think a lot of people can look at Hawaiian and it can go in a lot of different directions,” she said. “… I wanted to bring elements in that were Hawaiian, but I didn’t want to bang people over the head with it. I wanted it to be subtle.”

The final result is less tiki bar and more friendly, comfortable beach-chic. Light-colored wood tables and walls serve as the foundation for the space, and lively artwork dots the walls.

But at the end of the day, the Hawaiian food is the star of the show. The poke – traditional Hawaiian raw fish salad – and Spam musubi are two of Hula Girl’s top sellers, Brennan said. The musubi, a sushi snack containing marinated Spam, can be an acquired taste for some, but it generally wins over a number of converts, Brennan added.

Don’t discount the mainland entrees. Brennan says the non-Hawaiian dishes pack a punch despite their stateside roots.

“We have beautiful New York steaks in here,” she said.

And vegetarians won’t be left out of the fun, either. The menu boasts several teriyaki plates, one featuring tofu as the protein of choice, served with rice or a salad. Also, Brennan says, the woodear mushroom salad is a bit of “a sleeper hit.” Teeming with sweet potato noodles, edamame, daikon, and of course the featured mushrooms, it’s great by itself — or with grilled chicken or steak for the omnivores at the table.

The bar offers a plethora of cocktails, wines, and beers to wash down your meal. “Our mai tai is one of the best things that we have,” Brennan says, and the wine list sports many regional and further-flung offerings, beginning with Maryland and stretching out to the Finger Lakes region of New York and beyond. The beers, Brennan says, are a blend of local and Hawaiian breweries, ranging from Adroit Theory in Purcellville to Kona Brewing Company on the Big Island.

The restaurant’s first few months of life have been a whirlwind of growth, but Brennan says they’re not finished yet. She’s still aiming to get one of the D.C. area’s most famous Hawaiians – President Obama – in for a meal before he moves out of town.

“I briefly went to the same high school as he did and we were born in the same hospital,” Brennan said.

Based on the reception Hula Girl has received from the community, he wouldn’t be disappointed.

Details

Hula Girl

4044 Campbell Ave., Arlington

11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Hidden gem: The woodear mushroom salad. “I think when people do kind of find it, they’re like ‘Oh my gosh, this is so great,’” says owner Mikala Brennan. “I wanted to do something that was vegan-friendly.”

Point of pride: The bathroom, which is decorated with photos that bring meaning to Brennan’s life. “A lot of them are pictures of my mom,” Lynda “LB” Brennan, who was a Pan-American flight attendant. “If you look closely at the pictures, it’s a story.”