Roll With It: Smash Burgers and Sausage Dogs at Meat and Buns

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Hunger hits me like a blow to the gut as my plane taxis to a gate at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. Too late for lunch, too early for dinner—my stomach doesn’t care. I swoop up my friend Mahina Chong, and we head out to the edge of Mililani for smash burgers we’ve both been craving. Thankful for light holiday traffic, we make it there in 30 minutes.

On this Good Friday, the white Meat and Buns step van parks in the lot across from the Freedom gasoline station on Kamehameha Highway. You can’t miss the blue and red flags advertising wagyu burgers flapping in the wind. Standing in front of the truck, which conducts business from a sliding door window, the smells of beef, onions and cheese waft from an exhaust vent directly into our nostrils.

The Menu

Photo: Thomas Obungen

The menu of two burgers and one sausage dog has no room for frills. Sometimes there’s a special if you’re lucky. The highlighted wagyu beef comes from Browsey Acres, a cattle ranch in Southern Oregon owned and operated by retired mixed martial artist couple Travis Browne and Ronda Rousey. We later find out that Browne is cousins with Meat and Bun’s co-owner, Claude Abou-Sayf.

The OG Dawg. Photo: Thomas Obungen

Meat and Buns makes its pork sausage from scratch without a casing and serves it banh mi-style with pickled veggies, cilantro and garlicky aioli.

We recommend:

The Plain Jane ($9.99) with bacon (adds $2.50) and grilled onions (adds $1) is the entry-level burger, but it punches above its weight. A solid quarter-pounder with torn iceberg lettuce, juicy tomatoes and melting American cheese on a fluffy brioche bun. This is your classic roadside burger, one of the better ones I’ve had in a while. Note: The Plain Jane does not include a side of Maui Onion kettle chips like the other items. If we didn’t have easy access to solid smash burgers in town, I’d drive up to Mililani for one again, no cap.

The Plain Jane with bacon and grilled onions. Photo: Thomas Obungen

The Wagyu Burger, available in single ($16.95) or double ($21.95), is the premium heavyweight option. The massive half-pound-plus burger easily fills 80% of a plate lunch clamshell and will knock you out when you’re not looking. The wagyu beef is beefier. The cheese is cheesier. It’s a solid mass and guaranteed to fill you up. For $22, it had better do at least that.

Double Wagyu Burger. Photo: Thomas Obungen

How It Rolls

Photo: Thomas Obungen

Meat and Buns consistently sells out a few hours before the advertised closing time of 7 p.m. Abou-Sayf says he and partner Reyn Oshiro prepare more before each service but always manage to sell out around 4 or 5 p.m., often after an early dinner rush. They have popped up at Howzit Brewing in Kaka‘ako, but intend to stay in Mililani for now.

If you’re like me and grew up in Mililani and still ended up loving food, either your mom was a good cook or you ate in town a lot. I’m not saying this to hurt Mililani’s feelings because the same can be said about Kailua and Hawai‘i Kai. It’s the painful truth. Along comes a food truck like Meat and Buns, and suddenly I’m compelled to jump on two freeways and a highway to cure my smash burger fix. It’s no wonder these guys sell out early—Mililani knows a good thing, and they’re keeping it around. 

Where: Around Mililani (check Instagram)
When: Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (or sell-out)
Payment: Cash or card
Follow: @meatandbunshawaii on Instagram

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