A new quick-serve restaurant is taking shape in the parking lot of Salem’s Willamette Town Center, the site long known to locals as the former Lancaster Mall. Hawaiian Bros Island Grill is being built at 909 Lancaster Drive NE, bringing its island-inspired, plate-lunch style menu to the mid-valley.
What’s Going Up at Willamette Town Center
The chain is joining the tenants at Willamette Town Center, according to Statesman Journal. City records cited in that report describe the project as a 2,800-square-foot building that will include a drive-thru along with both indoor and outdoor seating. Hawaiian Bros bills itself as a quick-serve concept built around island-inspired comfort food served plate-lunch style, per the same account.
That plate-lunch format has become the brand’s calling card nationwide. The menu centers on the Hawaiian plate lunch, with grilled proteins, rice and macaroni salad, according to KCUR. The company traces its roots to 2017, when four founders launched the brand, with the first restaurant opening in Belton, Missouri, the following year, KCUR reports.
A Chain on a Growth Tear
Salem’s location follows the chain’s first Oregon storefront, which held its grand opening in Newberg on Jan. 19, 2026. That Newberg restaurant occupied a 2,774-square-foot building built on the site of a former Round Table Pizza, according to the Newberg Graphic. Ahead of that opening, the franchise said it was hiring more than 60 staff to prepare, the outlet reported.
At the time of the Newberg opening, Hawaiian Bros counted more than 70 locations spread across 14 states. The franchise’s operating principal said then that the group had plans to open a few more locations in the Portland area and hoped to keep growing across Oregon, the Newberg Graphic noted…