I always say that, as far as most locals are concerned, there's an invisible gate across the entrance to Waikiki that says, "Beyond this point, there be traffic, parking hassles and tourist hordes. Enter at your own peril."

But lately I've ventured across the border on several occasions to check out the new Holokai Grill at Waikiki Beach Walk, and if you have business in Waikiki, I'd suggest you try it, too. The food's good, local friendly and not too pricey (given that you are, after all, in a resort).

Parking is easy. From Kalakaua, turn right on Beach Walk and just before you reach Kalia Road, turn into the port cochere of the new Embassy Suites Hotel; they'll valet your car for $5, and you can walk through the hotel to the shopping center.

The service is decent; although some of the servers are awfully green, they're clearly trying. The 152-seat restaurant, which includes a full bar with live music nightly, has been open only six weeks.

It's not too noisy, and even with all the carved tikis, the New Zealand war canoe and other kitsch, it doesn't feel too touristy. On three visits, I saw lots of locals in the place; folks who work in nearby hotels and even construction workers on break.

A lot of this probably has to do with the local boy who is chef there, Eldon Ricardo, 40, Kalihi-born and a Farrington graduate, but also well-traveled. He got his culinary degree at Dubrulle French Culinary School (now Dubrulle Culinary Arts) in Vancouver, B.C., and has lived in Sydney, Australia, as well as traveled around the Mainland.

Ricardo spent two years working with the talented Ron Viloria at Tiki's before being given the responsibility of developing the menu at Holokai Grill. (Viloria, by the way, recently left Tiki's to return to Guam for family reasons; he's working in Japan now — our loss.)

At lunch one day, I fell in love with the salmon BLT sandwich ($10), an inspired riff on the classic BLT that adds grilled salmon and a sliver of avocado to the mix. Bacon, salmon and avocado: salty, rich, creamy — what's not to like? With this and other sandwiches, you get the house coleslaw, which combines a melange of vegetables, not just the usual cabbage.

A friend who is dieting appreciated an interesting feature of the menu: Your Perfect Salad, a sort of customized salad bar where you don't have to serve yourself. You pick the type of greens (iceberg, baby greens, romaine or spinach) and the toppings you want — almost anything you can imagine from blue cheese crumbles to grilled pineapple. The base price is $7 for a generous serving of greens, choice of dressing, one choice of cheese and four choices from the regular toppings. For additional small charges (50 cents to $1), you can add more toppings or meats or fish ($3 — grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon or shaved pastrami). Nice idea.

Of late, wedge salads have made a comeback. Holokai Grill's combines a slab of iceberg lettuce with bacon, bleu cheese, tomato, cucumber, apple and spiced, candied pecans ($8).

Another day, I chose the North Shore shrimp bowl, a pile of garlicky, buttery shrimp in a bowl made from a deep-fried won ton with a goodly scattering of furikake and a drizzle of spicy ginger-cilantro sauce — a really nice flavor combination. But the presentation was a bit odd because the bowl sat on top of a bed of rice, making it a little difficult to get to that essential ingredient. Alongside would have made more sense.

One nice thing about Holokai Grill is that it takes reservations, but a girlfriend and I were able to walk in and get a table within 20 minutes even at the busy 7 p.m. dinner hour. At our server's recommendation, we ordered the kalua pork nachos ($8); I was skeptical because nachos so often are just not worth the calories. But this one was the bomb, made with crispy but not greasy deep-fried won ton pi instead of the usual corn chips, pepperjack and cheddar cheese, tender kalua pork, salsa and a TON of sour cream. I had to slap my own hand to keep from going back for thirds. And for eight bucks, we could have made a meal of it and gone away happy.

My lemongrass- and ginger-crusted onaga entree ($25) was nicely done, though the sauce was a bit too heavily salted. What was perfect on the plate was the side of steamed baby bok choy: absolutely perfectly prepared, not waterlogged or underdone as so often is the case with restaurant vegetables. The other side was a Kunia corn risotto; not a true risotto, more like rice and corn steamed in a broth, but delish.

My girlfriend ordered the barbecue platter ($18), combining the guava-glazed ribs and huliyaki chicken. We agreed that next time, she'd go for the chicken, which was nicely flavored and very tender; the ribs were a bit dry.

But we'd both order the side dish again: sweet potato fries. What a great combination of salty and sweet and smoky and fatty. Again, I had to slap my hand! (You can order these as a side dish at lunch; $3; $5 if you gild the lily and add cheese.)

We really didn't have room for dessert, but we ordered it anyway: the hula boat ($8), a sort of cross between a banana split and brownie a la mode. And we sailed away happy.

Reach Wanda A. Adams at wadams@honoluluadvertiser.com.