Dining Scene
Lunch Break: Pastas, salads, panini star at Pomodoro's on Bishop Street

By Debra Yuen
TGIF Editor

Mika Kashiwazaki, in a tomato costume, brings attention to Pomodoro's Cafe in the Dillingham Transportation Building. The eatery offers salads, sandwiches, pasta and other Italian-accented fare. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Formerly the Bishop Street Cafe, the eatery was renamed and refocused toward Italian fare in early September. It's a narrow place boasting a hefty menu, with vegetarian and meaty choices in all categories from salads to baguette and panini sandwiches, from pastas to soups and other specials. Everything is less than $7.

Pick a pasta such as penne or linguine; then pick the sauce, from spinach and gorgonzola to basil pesto (very nice, with chopped tomatoes and artichoke hearts, too) to carbonara or meatballs.

Several kinds of pastas and several sauces are offered daily; little tomato icons mark the day's specials on the board. They believe in large quantities here: At $6.49, a pasta meal comes with bread and a big salad or soup. You won't go back to the office hungry.

The house salad ($4.49) is classically simple and perfect: A generous bed of romaine lettuce is topped with Roma tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and bits of fresh basil, all dressed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Those grilled panini sandwiches are tempting, too; several kinds (Mediterranean chicken and feta, avocado and bacon, tuna melt, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella) are available each day at $4.49-$4.99. There are also appetizers (polenta, bruschetta and more) and specials that sometimes include hard-to-find risotto.

And now, in the It's A Small World Dept.: Turns out owner Robert Zabriskie is a fellow Kalani High School graduate (Class of '77) and played basketball on teams that were among the school's best. Go, Falcons!

Pomodoro's Cafe, at 725 Bishop St., is open 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. weekdays. Eat outside, where tables accommodate dozens in a passageway in the historic Dillingham Transportation Building. 537-6951.