Top 5 Guide: Denver Spots That Take You To The Hawaiian Islands

My name is Vicky Collins and I publish Bucket List Community News. I grew up in Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. When we moved there shortly after Hawaii became the 50th state, there were only a few hotels along Waikiki Beach.

I came to Colorado to go to college at CU Boulder. It was the first time I saw snow fall and I recall the Hawaiian kids running barefoot outside their dorms as they saw it for the first time. Although I have been on the mainland for much longer than I lived in the islands, Hawaii still calls to me, and every two years or so I return.

People still ask me how I could give up the ocean for a landlocked state and I must confess to this day that I miss the comfort of the waves, the green blues of the sea, and the yellow oranges of the sunsets over the Pacific. I continue to seek out the things that remind me of home and share them with my friends and family, so I have compiled this guide for those who want to experience the magic of the islands and bring the aloha spirit to Denver.    

Where to Shop for Island Food

It is impossible to beat H Mart, the Korean supermarket in Aurora, with its dazzling array of fresh produce, seafood and Asian groceries. It reminds me of a walk through Maunakea Market in downtown Honolulu. You could spend hours walking through the aisles and exploring exotic items and brands. I always leave with a cart full of yummies.

If you’re looking for something a bit closer to Denver, Pacific Mercantile at Sakura Square on 19th and Lawrence is a friendly neighborhood Japanese grocery with many of my favorite Hawaiian treats. There is spam and island seasonings like beef tomato that take me back to lunches with my dad at the Waimanu Grill or Columbia Inn near his warehouse on Waimanu Street in Kakaako.

There are multiple brands of arare (rice cracker snacks), nori (seaweed) and iso peanuts, which were favorites when I was a girl. Plus sushi, including the sweet tofu wrapped inari, kimchi, mochi and lots of miso brands. In addition, it’s a great place to purchase reasonably priced stoneware and sake pitchers to give an Asian feel to your table. 

Then there are rice cookers, which are essential for anyone from Hawaii who moved to the mainland for college and discovered they could not get steamed rice like they did back home. Finally, there are rice paper-wrapped candies that melt in your mouth, similar to the ones we used to get as elementary school students walking from Aina Haina Elementary to the Yick Lung store in the nearby shopping center on our way to the library where we waited for mom to pick us up.  

Between H Mart and Pacific Mercantile, you can make your own great Asian food and enjoy a taste of all the flavors the islands have to offer. 

Best Place for Shopping

Far East Center is just south of the intersection of Federal and Alameda. It is referred to as Little Saigon and is like a visit to Chinatown and beyond. Anchored by Saigon Bowl, Truong An Gifts and Little Saigon Market, it is an all-you-can-need cultural marketplace to transport you to the Far East. Plus, it’s the home of great Chinese New Year celebrations.

At Truong An Gifts, your first impression is the smell of incense, followed by red and gold paper lanterns and paper dragons to celebrate the new year. Golden happy cats greet you and the store is filled with things to discover, like jade, teas, Chinese medicines and traditional clothing. Truong An Gifts has everything you would see walking for blocks in Chinatowns around the U.S.

Mimi Luong is the matriarch of the store and the Far East Center. She is front and center every year when the Far East Center invites neighbors from all over to celebrate the Lunar New Year or Tet, as it is called in Vietnamese culture. The Far East Center has been celebrating for over a decade with its dragon dances and cultural activities.  

“I feel that Lunar New Year celebrated at the Far East Center has been a cultural event passed down from my parents,” Luong said to Bucket List Community News’s Maya Paustenbaugh in February 2024. “We are able to share our culture with the community and let them know our traditions on how we celebrate with line dances, cultural performances, and the different types of foods that restaurants are serving—just to share with everyone our culture.”

Little Saigon Market, located in the same complex, serves a variety of Asian flavors. Bags of rice, massive jackfruits cut into family-sized packages, beautiful lychees, noodles and all the fixings for pho make for an interesting visit, as do a seafood/meat market and exotic foods like snails. The prices are very reasonable, too.  

Bonus: When you are done at the Far East Center, cross Federal to the east to continue the Chinatown theme. If you’re looking for dim sum that arrives the old-fashioned way on carts, you can visit the Empress Seafood Restaurant on Alameda or Star Kitchen on Mississippi. Both are well known in Denver for their pocket-sized treats.   

Best Hawaiian Macaroni Salad

Zippy’s and L & L Hawaiian Barbecue are the go-to places for Hawaiian plate lunches.  Unfortunately, Zippy’s has not expanded to Denver (though they did open one in Las Vegas, which has a large Hawaiian population), but L & L now has locations in Boulder, Aurora, Denver and Colorado Springs. When we visit, we frequently see people from the islands or military personnel who have served on tours of duty. 

A plate lunch consists of protein, two scoops of steamed rice and a side of macaroni salad. But this is not any ordinary macaroni salad. It is made in a unique way for the islands and is my personal favorite. It is so ono (good). Here is L & L’s recipe if you want to try it at home.  You can get it in the L & L cookbook, too.  

L & L also serves favorites such as teriyaki beef and chicken, kalua pork, musubi, saimin and the loco moco breakfast. Do not be fooled; the smaller plate at L & L is plenty big with protein, one scoop of rice and mac salad, but if you can not get enough, order the large one.    

Best Museum Exhibit

Growing up in Hawaii, you are exposed to the story of the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor from an early age. When I moved to the islands in 1961, many of those who had lived through it still remembered it vividly. The “Day of Infamy” is taught in schools, and December 7 is a solemn day at the Arizona Memorial, where the weight of the day can still be felt. Oil continues to seep from the sunken hull of the USS Arizona, which lost over 1100 servicemen.   

What I do not recall learning much about was the subsequent internment of Japanese citizens following the attack. That is why the Amache internment camp barracks display at History Colorado struck such a chord with me. 

From 1942 to 1945, Amache in Granada, Colorado, housed over 10,000 people, the vast majority of whom had been displaced from their homes and lives on the West Coast. The spartan barracks serve as a reminder to those who persevered despite being forced to relocate and leave their homes and livelihoods behind. Today Amache is a National Park Historic Site.        

You can learn more about what it was like living at Amache through the Denver Art Museum’s exhibit “The Life and Times of Tokio Ueyama,” on view until June. Forty paintings depict his early life in the United States and his forced incarceration in Amache, where his wife, Suye Ueyama, taught art in the camp to 150 adults. His work shows that among dislocation and loss there was creativity and resilience.      

Best Festival  

Hawaii is a true melting pot of Asian and Polynesian cultures, with everyone considered ohana, or family. Sloan’s Lake hosts the Dragon Boat Festival each July, which celebrates the spirit of Aloha as well as Asian and Hawaiian cultures. 

When I approached the performing arts stage, I was drawn in by Don Ho’s famous island song, “Pearly Shells.” It is not the islands’ anthem, but it comes close. Several hula groups performed, including Au Malama Halau, Tehani’s Hula from Westminster and Aurora’s Halau Kalama. You can see the heart-pounding Tahitian, the graceful hula and the Polynesian drumming all around the event. 

Some of the songs reminded me of my childhood days singing in the Na Kani Pela choir, which toured the mainland to commemorate the bicentennial. It is a long way from Hawaii’s Kodak Hula show or the Polynesian Cultural Center, but dancers transported me to the islands with alohas, muu muus, uli uli feather gourds and pu’ili sticks. If you walk to the food truck court, you can even get Kona shaved ice!

Living in Denver, I’ve found that while it’s no replacement for the islands, it’s still possible to connect with the tastes, sights and spirit of home. Whether it’s a perfectly scooped plate lunch at L & L, picking up snacks that take me back to childhood at Pacific Mercantile, or watching hula dancers at Sloan’s Lake, these little moments bring Hawaii closer—even here in the Rockies.

For me, it’s about finding the pieces of aloha that I can and sharing them with others—my own small way of keeping the islands alive in the everyday life of my family. So grab some musubi, watch a dragon boat race, or simply take a moment to feel the warmth of the aloha spirit; even though there is an ocean to cross, Hawaii has a way of finding us.