Giovanni’s began by driving a converted 1953 bread truck around the North Shore, then parked in Kahuku town in 1996. Customers started signing the truck, and the graffiti-covered white truck is now a landmark on the drive between the North Shore and Lāʻie.
Why we love it
The garlicky shrimp scampi is messy, rich and exactly what you want after a morning of North Shore beaches.
What to expect
Pull off Kamehameha Highway in Kahuku and you’ll see the white truck covered in signatures, with a covered pavilion and picnic tables beside it. Order at the window: shrimp scampi swimming in garlic butter, a hot and spicy version that lives up to its name, or lemon butter. Plates come with two scoops of rice. Expect a line at lunch and a wait while your order cooks. Bring wet wipes, because the shrimp come shell-on and you eat with your hands. Plan about 30 to 45 minutes.
Know before you go
- Order
- Shrimp scampi, or hot and spicy if you like heat. Giovanni’s says both sauces have won food-show awards.
- Hands on
- The shrimp are served shell-on in garlic butter. Expect to get messy.
- Seating
- Giovanni’s bought the land in 2006 and built a covered pavilion in 2010, so there’s shaded seating.
- Other trucks
- A second truck has run in Haleʻiwa at 66-472 Kamehameha Hwy since 1997, and a Honolulu counter is open on the second floor of H Mart, 458 Keawe St.
- Hours
- Hours vary by listing. Call (808) 293-1839 before a long drive.
Photo: Phil Whitehouse via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
