HighwoodDa Local Boy

When the pandemic hit in 2020, Nate Domingo, born in the Philippines and raised in Maui, lost his job as a chef at a Kaanapali Beach resort and so followed his wife, Diana, to Illinois, where she pursued a graduate degree and he got a job at a Highland Park car wash. His coworkers there told him the Hawaiian food he cooked for them was too good to give away, so he and Diane started a catering business and then a food truck. Last year, riding a wave of word-of-mouth enthusiasm, they opened a restaurant across from the Metra station in Highwood and called it Da Local Boy, in honor of their 7-year-old, Sky, who, Nate says, still has to approve every item before it goes on the menu. Sky has excellent taste. The Hawaiian specialties like huli-huli chicken and pulehu short ribs are better than anything I’ve eaten in Hawaii and are served authentically: with scoops of white rice and macaroni salad. And yes, the restaurant has great Spam musubi, although if I had to quibble, it is missing the particular tang infused by four hours under a convenience store heat lamp. There’s a cooler filled with Hawaiian soft drinks, cheerful servers brimming with aloha, and island music playing at all times. It’s easy to imagine you’re at a locals’ fave in Lahaina — as long as you don’t look out the window. 320 Green Bay Rd. dalocalboy.com