About Aloha Salads
Fresh From Hawaii. Rooted in Aloha.
Our Mission
"Aloha Salads was established to serve fresh, locally grown food of the highest quality at affordable prices. We remain dedicated to supporting local farmers and fishermen while providing our customers with fresh and delicious ingredients."
Our Story
It started with a simple idea: Hawaii deserved a place where eating healthy could be fresh, delicious and convenient.
In May 2006 we opened the doors to our first Aloha Salads in Kailua, bringing locally grown ingredients to our community. What started as a small family business quickly became a neighborhood favorite.
Since then we have opened at Kahala Mall, Kapolei Commons, Pearlridge Center, Windward Mall in Kaneohe and Mililani Town Center. The menu has grown over those twenty years, but the dishes people come back for have not changed. The Aloha Passion and the Ono Island Ahi have been on it since the start.
Twenty years later, our mission remains the same. We are proud to serve food made with quality ingredients, support local farmers and fishermen, and bring a little more aloha to every meal.
Today, with six locations across Oahu, Aloha Salads is still a family affair. Our roots are in Kailua, our heart is in Hawaii, and we are committed to keeping fresh, healthy and affordable food accessible to everyone.
We are honored to be recognized as First Place, Hawaiis Best 2024, Peoples Choice Awards, Star-Advertiser.
Founder Story
From a Simple Idea to a Family Legacy
Twenty years ago, Sara Lufrano moved back home to Hawaii after living in Chicago. She missed being able to grab a fresh, healthy salad on the go, and at the time there wasn't much like it here. So she and her husband asked themselves, why don't we create it ourselves?
With a credit card, a lot of hope and plenty of hard work, they opened the very first Aloha Salads in Kailua. Living at Sara's parents' house, they stayed up late creating the menu and spent their days chopping, prepping and getting everything ready. On opening day it was just the two of them behind the counter. Then came a moment they will never forget: a line out the door.
What started as a small idea soon became a family business. Their children grew up in the restaurants, with their youngest just a newborn when they opened. Over the years both boys worked alongside their friends, becoming part of the family business their parents built from the ground up.
"It's wonderful to have the whole family be a part of this business."
Sara Lufrano
"Growing up, the restaurant's always been such a big part of our family. I can't remember a time when it wasn't."
Kekoa Lufrano
Mahalo for being part of our story. Here's to many more years of sharing fresh food and aloha.
Sustainability
For us, sustainability starts close to home. We buy local every week, not because it is a trend, but because it is how we have always believed food should be sourced. We rely on vine-ripe tomatoes from Green Growers, a Hauula farm, on a standing weekly order, alongside fresh produce from other Oahu farms. Our menu features fresh, local, never-frozen ahi sourced from Garden & Valley Isle Seafood, a Honolulu seafood company that delivers straight to our kitchens.
Our salad containers are made from molded fiber with no added PFAS. We also use PLA lids for our soup and bowl containers, PLA cold drink cups and lids, AirCarbon straws, and Karat PLA forks and spoons. Learn more about the materials we use on our Ingredients page.
Our Vendors
Every delivery of our local ahi carries strict traceability, including lot numbers, an origin of USA wild catch, and the named vessel that landed it.
Our long-standing relationships with suppliers and farms such as Green Growers Inc, Ho Farms, Garden & Valley Isle Seafood and Oribe Tea Co help us trace key ingredients back to their sources, from produce grown on Oahu farms to the local ahi we serve. Learn more about where our ingredients come from on our Ingredients Page.
Visit Your Local Restaurant
Stop by one of our six neighborhood spots across the island for a fresh meal.