A Taste of the North Shore Has Landed in The Colony
The Shacks at Austin Ranch has been building a quiet reputation as one of the more distinctive dining corridors in North Texas, and this summer it added a chapter that feels genuinely different from anything else in the immediate area. Kono’s Northshore opened at the development and has been drawing diners who are curious about what Hawaiian comfort food looks like when it travels well.
The concept draws its identity directly from Oahu’s North Shore, that stretch of coastline known less for resort polish and more for the kind of unpretentious, generous cooking that feeds surfers, locals, and anyone willing to follow their nose down a back road. At Kono’s, the anchor of the menu is slow-roasted Kalua pork, the dish most associated with traditional Hawaiian gatherings, where a whole pig is cooked in an underground imu oven for the better part of a day. The version here carries that same idea of patience and smoke into a fast-casual format that suits the open-air, come-as-you-are character of The Shacks.
What’s on the Menu
The kitchen isn’t limiting itself to one register of Hawaiian food. Island-style breakfast creations sit alongside the plate lunches that form the backbone of the midday menu. The plate lunch — a scoop or two of rice, macaroni salad, and a protein — is the everyday meal of Hawaii in the same way the blue-plate special was once the everyday meal of the American South. It travels, it satisfies, and when the components are right, it is hard to improve upon. Kono’s is working with that template and adding the kind of flavors that give it a specific address: the North Shore, where the cooking leans toward the bold and the portions tend toward the generous.
For residents of The Colony who have not spent much time with Hawaiian food beyond a chain context, this is a reasonable and low-barrier introduction. For those who have made the trip to the islands and found themselves craving something specific on the flight home, it offers something closer to a real reference point.
The Setting at The Shacks
The Shacks at Austin Ranch is a development that was designed with a certain informality in mind, and Kono’s fits that spirit without effort. The surrounding landscape of Austin Ranch — the planned community that has grown steadily along the western side of The Colony — gives the dining district a neighborhood feel that larger commercial corridors sometimes struggle to replicate. Families walking the area on a weekday evening, residents who live within a short drive, and visitors who have heard about the growing food scene in this part of Denton County all find their way here.
The Colony has been accumulating new dining options at a pace that would have surprised residents from even five years ago. The summer of 2026 in particular brought several openings that each occupy a distinct lane. Shady’s Lakeside arrived at Hidden Cove Marina with burgers, tacos, and a lakefront perch on Lewisville Lake. TOCA Social opened at Grandscape with a soccer-entertainment hybrid that is unlike anything else in the region. Kono’s lands in a different register entirely — quieter in concept, rooted in a culinary tradition that is underrepresented across North Texas, and planted in a neighborhood setting rather than a destination retail campus.
Why It Matters for The Colony
The Colony sits in a part of the Metroplex that has historically been defined by the retail and entertainment gravity of Grandscape and the recreational pull of Lake Lewisville. What the city has been adding around those anchors is a more varied texture of local businesses — the kind of places that give a community a daily relationship with its own commercial life rather than just a destination relationship.
A Hawaiian plate lunch spot at The Shacks at Austin Ranch contributes to that texture. It is not trying to be a landmark. It is trying to be the place you go on a Tuesday when you want something specific and satisfying, or on a Saturday morning when you want breakfast that doesn’t taste like every other breakfast option within fifteen minutes of your house.
Kono’s Northshore is open now at The Shacks at Austin Ranch in The Colony. The development does not carry a street address in the current listing, but it is accessible within the Austin Ranch corridor on the city’s west side. Given the volume of openings this summer, it is worth checking the restaurant directly for current hours before making the drive — but by most accounts, the slow-roasted pork alone is reason enough to make the trip.
