- Our next spot is a lively Asheville eatery rooted in Aloha spirit.

Huli Sue's Barbecue and Grill is a delicious fusion of Hawaiian island flavors plus Southern style barbecue.

So you're gonna find everything from pulled pork brisket to poke bowls with fresh fish options.

And the guests just rave.

(upbeat music) - Huli Sue's Barbecue and Grill is modeled after the Fish and the Hog, a restaurant in Hawaii.

And we lived there for 15 years and fell in love with the Hawaiian cuisine, but also had a tremendous love for barbecue.

So when we came and moved to Asheville, we decided to bring a little bit of the Aloha spirit.

- So my background is a Texas style barbecue.

And then coming from Hawaii, obviously spending 15 years there, influenced me a lot in my cooking and my recipes.

And coming to Asheville, we noticed there was kind of a gap there and an opportunity to introduce the local population to Hawaiian style.

- So we rented the space, it was a real estate office in the historic Grove Arcade, which was built in the early 1900s.

And we had the challenge of matching our ambience and our vibe that we have in Hawaii.

And so how to mimic that in this art deco-y kind of post-modernism building was a little bit of a challenge, but I think we got it.

We just made it bright and cheerful and threw some Hawaiian eclectic art on the walls.

And we have the surf channel going all day.

If you've gone to our restaurant in Hawaii, even though it's 180 degrees different from here, you'll feel the same vibe.

You know, we have Hawaiian and Asian influenced flavors all through the menu, something that you can't get anywhere else in the Blue Ridge Mountains, really.

So it's a challenge to create such a big menu.

We do have a big menu, but it's important for us that you can come with your wife and your wife chooses, you know, poke nachos, but you get barbecue and then your kids can have a hamburger or we'll have fish tacos.

So you don't get bored of what you have here.

- The first time I came here with my family, we were welcomed like we knew these folks forever.

In fact, Lisa, one of the owners met us at the door, sat us down, talked to us.

And really ever since then, it's just like being family coming in here.

Not only that, but the menu has something for everybody.

I am eating the Hawaiian teriyaki burger.

I have not had this before.

This is a first time, first attempt.

I tend to go for the bowls, either the poke bowl, hooli chicken bowl, amazing stuff.

- So I've got their French dip and it's a beast, man.

It's got their brisket and cheese and bacon.

And then it's got some jus to dip it in.

What I love about Huly Su's are the owners.

That's first and foremost.

Ben and Lisa are two of the nicest people I've ever met in my life.

And of course the food.

The food is a lot of it's stuff I had never had before.

So unique to my palate and unique to downtown Asheville.

- My favorite thing here, okay, two things.

The poke nachos are amazing.

And also Ben makes really great homemade spam, which he recently put on the menu as a spam bowl.

And it's phenomenal.

- Oh, I have the combo bowl.

So this is the hooli chicken and then the pork katsu and the chili shrimp.

There's not a bad thing on the menu.

It's like everything I try is better than the last thing I had.

And I'm from Texas.

So I think that the barbecue is really authentic.

- So out of our bar, we do a number of Hawaiian style tropical drinks.

Three days out of the week, we run a bunch of specials on that.

We have a Mai Tai Monday, where we get $4 off of our Mai Tai.

We have Aloha Fridays, which is we give a discount off of all of our tropical drinks.

And then on Thursdays, we run something fun called 808, which is you get a beer and a shot for $8.08.

We just want to feed people.

It's large portions.

It's fun food.

It's approachable.

It might be a little bit out of somebody's comfort zone, but we have a large menu and there's something for everybody.

- Well, we want the guests to feel Aloha all day long.

And Aloha means sharing and love.

And, you know, we want a guest to enter as a stranger and leave as a friend.

It's all about the experience.

Of course, it's about the food, but it's about the hospitality.

It's about exceeding expectations, about feeling as soon as you walk in here, you've known everyone from day one.

It's family.

- Huli Sues Barbecue and Grill is located in Asheville, inside the Grove Arcade.

They serve lunch and dinner from noon to 8 p.m., Monday and Thursday through Sunday.

They're closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

You can visit them online at hulisuesbbq.com or give them a call at 828-505-0397.