Island Plate Lunch to open second location with Hawaiian bakery & soft serve

Hawaiian restaurant Island Plate Lunch announced plans to open a second location late October closer to midtown with an expanded menu, Hawaiian soft serve ice cream, and a Hawaiian and Asian bakery.

“Being a pastry chef, I kind of miss it,” said Renee Eder, owner and chef at Island Plate Lunch. “I wanted to get back into pastries, and Tucson doesn’t have anything like that where you can get Asian or Hawaiian desserts. This is my chance to do it.”

Eder, a formally-trained pastry chef and Hawaii native, opened Island Plate Lunch in December 2016. While the restaurant offered baked goods on special, production was limited.

The new location, officially named Island Plate Lunch & Bakery, will take over the vacant 3,600-square-foot space at 3695 N. Campbell Ave. The space will feature 72 seats and a small patio.

“I was hoping to be closer to the U of A,” Eder said. “And it’s more central. I have customers that come from Bisbee to Green Valley, so I wanted something a little closer with ample parking.”

The expanded menu will include the return of former menu favorites such as sweet-sour spareribs, meat jun, and shoyu chicken. Additionally, the restaurant is adding a poke station with more fish options.

A self-serve pastry display case will show off 18 pastries, while a refrigerated display case will show off cakes and more. The bakery will also serve Hawaii’s famous Samurai Hawaiian Frost soft serve.

Island Plate Lunch & Bakery Pastry Highlights

• Malasada – like a beignet, served warm
• Poi doughnuts – doughnuts filled with fermented pounded taro
• Japanese polo buns – sweet bread (popular in Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan)
• Hawaiian dobash cake – chocolate sponge cake
• Haupia cake – sponge cake with coconut pudding
• Chantilly cake – like a German chocolate cake without coconut but with the addition of macadamia nuts.

Tentative operating hours will be 6 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Keep up with Island Plate Lunch on Facebook.