Drop in for a bite

Tastee Tiki offers surfer-friendly fare and a friendly vibe

Close your eyes outside Ossies Surf Shop in Newport and let the smell of salt air mixing with the savory scents wafting from the Tastee Tiki food cart whisk you away to the Hawaiian Islands.

Whether fueling up before or after a surf session, simply enjoy the surf vibe or are just plain hungry for good food, the ample outdoor seating, tiki-inspired decor and wetsuits drying nearby elevate this food cart to an experience.

Started by surfer James Book the cart features a menu inspired by a love of travel, coastal lifestyle and Pacific fusion cooking.

“Our whole brand is centered around the surfing community.” Book said. “Surfing makes you hungry. We make healthy food for surfers, but non-surfers seem to really like it too.”

Lifelong cooks, every year the Tiki staff chase surf south in the winter and return in the spring, sometimes with new tweaks to the menu.

“We go down to Central America every winter and cook for the tourists.” Book said. “It’s a fun way to keep our cooking skills sharp while still giving us water time.”

The site in front of Ossies Surf Shop is not just convenient, it was planned.

“My best friend who owns the shop knew I could cook Hawaiian, so he was excited for us to start this,” Book said. “We make food that we all like. My favorite thing on the menu right now is the Musubi Deluxe.”

Thanks to the state of Hawaii, the humble can of Spam has been elevated to a local favorite item called musubi. As it says in the Tastee Tiki menu, “If you know, you know.”

For the cart’s OG Musubi, they take marinated Spam, fry it, pack it with rice tightly in nori and finish it with their secret marinade. The Deluxe Musubi is the OG Musubi served with the home-made pickled onions, herb and sesame topper and dipping brine.

Other featured menu items include the Kahlua Pork Sliders: three toasted King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls topped with Kahlua pork, house-made pickled onions and mild Mayoracha Tastee Sauce.

Tastee bowls provide options to create an island-style plate lunch for the meat eater, the vegetarian and even the vegan. With options like Kahlua pork or teriyaki chicken, northwest mushrooms and vegetables or teriyaki tofu as the protein, all bowls come with rice, organic greens, house pickled onions, spring onion and sesame seed topper and house-made Tastee Tiki sauces. And of course, mac salad.

“The mac salad is my version of my favorite Hawaiian mac salad,” Book said. “It’s Hawaiian auntie approved. Same with the musubi.”

Got keikis? Tastee’s got you covered. The kids’ menu includes kids chicken bites, grilled cheese sliders and pork sliders.

Besides cooking, Book is a life-long musician, which is why music is a big part of the cart’s presence when the weather warms.

“We have open mics on Fridays beginning in June that are pretty much standing room only,” he said. “We also get a lot of touring musicians coming through.”

Book grew up in Northern California and lived in Los Angeles playing music for 20 years before heading to Oregon. 

“I’ve been on the Conan O’Brian show and once opened for the Rolling Stones,” he said. “Now I cook chicken by the side of the highway and I couldn’t be happier.”

Owning a recording studio also helps Book secure music acts to perform on the outdoor stage.

“We put the lights up May 1,” he said. “We will go till 8 pm and sometimes a little later. And usually on Fridays I will come out from behind the stove and play a little bass.”

The love of the ocean extends to the Tastee team’s choices about sourcing ingredients and supplies. The cart is a Surfrider Foundation Certified Ocean Friendly restaurant, using compostable/renewable Greenware containers and cutlery and, to the degree feasible, organic and locally sourced ingredients.

As Book transitions from cooking to spending more time with the recording studio, his partner Tani Machette will be taking over the chef duties full time.

“Tani will be keeping it going but I’ll still be around,” he said. “We both love this thing we got going here!”

Tastee Tiki is located just outside of Ossies Surf Shop at 4900 N Hwy. 101 in Newport and is open daily from 11 am to 6 pm Sunday through Thursday and 11 am to 8 pm Friday and Saturday. For more information, go to 541-264-8588.