Mo’ Bettah’s Hawaiian Style brings sunny disposition to Lehi
Mo' Bettah's Hawaiian Style opened its new Lehi location on Sept. 30. Pictured here is the Ekolu Special mixed plate (three choices of meat), left, the Teriyaki Chicken mixed plate, back, and the Chicken Katsu, front.
The Teriyaki mixed plate.
Mo' Bettah's Chicken Katsu, center, Teriyaki mixed plate, and Ekolu Special plate, right.
Winter may just be around the corner here in the Beehive State — shudder — but you can still be whisked away to an island state of mind anytime you wish with a visit to Mo’ Bettah’s Hawaiian Style restaurant in Lehi.
Mo’ Bettah’s is a Utah restaurant chain that opened in Bountiful in 2008. Franchises in Salt Lake and Logan followed, and the Lehi location opened on Sept. 30 on Clubhouse Drive — in an area that is becoming quite populated with varied dining options.
Mo’ Bettah’s was jam packed during our Saturday evening visit. Ordering is handled in what we refer to as the Cafe Rio model, with the (somewhat long) line snaking around to the left of the dining room and all the important decisions made cafeteria style up at the grill/cooking area.
The restaurant, which lists a seating capacity of 96, looked to be totally full when we entered and got in line, leaving us seriously wondering if we would be able to find a seat by the time we had our food in hand. But as is almost always the case — probably following some weird science dining algorithm — a table magically opened up just in time.
Waiting in line gave us a chance to soak up the Hawaiian atmosphere, which was buoyed by the sight of surfboards and paddles on the wall, along with art depicting scenes of surf and beach turf.
There are four main plate options available on the menu, mostly depending on your choice of meat. Those choices are steak, chicken, Kalua Pig and Shrimp Tempura. In addition to the meat selection, each plate comes with rice, and macaroni or tossed salad. There are various plate sizes, depending on your appetite. We chose “regular” (which typically the largest size) for most of our choices and found the portions generous.
You can also order a Pake Salad, with your choice of meat — or with no meat if you prefer. Our salad included delicious strips of grilled chicken, wontons, Mandarin oranges, small tomatoes, carrot slices and, of course, lettuce. There were four choices of salad dressing, which came in squeeze packets.
We sampled all the different meats, and they were fantastic. Our favorite was the Kalua Pig, which was so tender it nearly melted in our mouth. The meats could be augmented with teriyaki or katsu sauce — and both sauces added even more delicious flavor.
The chicken strips and slices of steak were equally tasty. Although the latter was a bit difficult to cut with the plastic utensils-and-foam-plate combination.
The shrimp, which was served on a bed of cabbage, was also a highlight — and we really enjoyed the flaky tempura crust.
If you want to sample several different offerings, there are combo plates available. You can also order most everything on the menu as a side rather than a full plate.
For drinks, there is a standard soda fountain, as well as bottled water and cans of Hawaiian Sun fruit flavors.
Mo’ Bettah’s definitely does Hawaiian style proud. We could hang 10 there quite often.
MO’ BETTAH’S HAWAIIAN STYLE
Where: 2975 Clubhouse Drive, Suite C
Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Closed Sundays.
Prices: $3.50-$14.99
Info: (801) 768-7367, mobettahs.com
Dining
