Surfboard Pizza

“Surfboard pizza” is a specialty of Don Ho’s Bar & Grill, founded in 1998 by the Hawaiian entertainer Don Ho (1930-2007). The flatboard pizzas (served on a mini-surfboard lifted off the table with two cans of pineapple juice) have various toppings.
 
In 2008, Trio Market of Wimberley, Texas (near Austin) offered its own version of “surfboard pizzas.” Austin’s Mangia pizza chain has served “football pizzas” that are somewhat similar in shape to these “surfboard pizzas.”
 
   
Don Ho’s Bar & Grill
Surfboard Pizzas
Our thin crust, flatboard pizzas come atop a mini surfboard and two cans of pineapples.  Surf’s Up!
 
Sunset on the Beach $ 7.95
Pavoratti dreamed up this one. Pure and Simple.  Cheese, Tomato and Fresh Basil
Waikiki Beachboy $ 8.95
Rain or shine, this one is da kine! Topped with shredded Kalua Pork and fresh diced Hawaiian Pineapple. Numbah’one with da locals!
Hawai’i Five – O $ 9.95
Book em Don Ho! This is the one that Hollywood made famous. Produced with Pepperoni and Fresh Mushrooms and Starring Sweet Maui Onions. Please, no need say cheese!
Chinatown $ 9.95
You likey try this one goodie for you. Fresh today, just for you we make special. Chicken Char-Siu Sausage, Cilantro Pesto and Sweet Peppers (no extra charge)
North Shore Hang Ten $ 11.95
Order this one and guarantee you goin catch waves today. Fully loaded with Rock Shrimp, Sweet Peppers and Macadamia Nut Pesto
 
7 July 1999, Chicago (IL) Sun-Times, “Aloha again, Don Ho” by Dave Hoekstra, pg. 49:
But the menu is more heavy on surfboard pizzas and fresh Waianae spit-roasted leg of pork instead of the watercress, tofu and eel Ho says he has been eating ... 
 
New York (NY) Times
FOOTNOTES
By MAURA EGAN
Published: August 19, 2001
(...)
Musician, actor and carpenter, Ho was a certifiable Renaissance man after he opened Don Ho’s Island Grill in 1998. The Honolulu restaurant dishes up surfboard pizzas, Molokai lobster and ‘‘stellar onion rings,’’ according to Elizabeth Stewart, our stylist and greasy-kid-stuff aficionado.
   
Google Books
Hawaii for Dummies
by Cheryl Farr Leas
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons
2005
Pg. 98:
You’ll also find well-stuffed sandwiches, entree-sized salads, Hawaii-style “surfboard” pizzas, and a few dressed-up entrees like macadamia-crusted lamb ...
   
Ryan’s Random Musings
July 10, 2007
The Demise of DCA
(...)
The restaurants at DCA used to sell unique items as others have mentioned here, like the surfboard pizzas, strawberry and apple churros, wolfgang (very short time), and even the winery had a much better menu.
 
Honolulu (HI) Advertiser (August 8-11, 2007)
Don Ho’s still riding wave of
success with surfboard pizzas
At least once a day, an unsuspecting diner will order a “surfboard” pizza only to be surprised when a waiter comes out with two large cans of pineapple juice.
 
“They’ll say they didn’t order them and ask that the server take them away,” laughed Mike Maielua, Don Ho’s Island Grill general manager. “But the two large cans of juice always come out before the pizza.”
 
Measuring approximately 4 to 5 inches wide and 14 inches long, the wooden surfboard is used to transport pizzas to guests’ tables where it’s then placed atop the two pineapple cans.
 
Austin (TX) American-Statesman
FOOD MATTERS
Surf into pizza in Wimberley
Distinct surfboard shaped pizzas at new restaurant
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
 
Dude, get surfboard pizzas in Wimberley
 
The culinary choices have expanded south of Wimberley. Trio Market has joined Cedar Grove Steakhouse and Casa Loma Tex-Mex y Cantina in the development at 9595 RM 12. Newly opened, Trio is featuring “surfboard pizzas” with their distinct shape, along with deli sandwiches and salads. It is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays, the same hours as the other two restaurants on the site.
— Dale Rice