AUSTIN, Texas — A group of Austin restaurants is coming together to help those impacted by the wildfire in Maui. As of Wednesday afternoon, the fire has killed 106 people and damaged a lot of property.
The "Dine with Maui" effort was organized by Amanda Wong, who operates austinfoodadventures.com and the Instagram account of the same name. The group of three dozen restaurants will donate 5% or 10% of their proceeds on Saturday, Aug. 19, to the Maui Food Bank.
Among the restaurants participating is Hawaiian-inspired Shoyu Sugar. According to a report from KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, Shoyu Sugar is owned by Hawaii natives Rudy and Malama Valentino, who are also holding a raffle to raise money. Customers can buy tickets for prizes like AirPods and a Yeti cooler.
Another participating restaurant, Poke Poke, owned by Jason McVearry and Trish Fortuna, has three Austin locations. The Statesman reports that the pair lived in Oahu for several years, and with Hawaii as their inspiration, they opened their first shop in Venice Beach before moving back to Texas.
The report states that McVearry and Fortuna had planned to run their own special to help Maui, but after reading about the Dine with Maui fundraise, they chose to participate.
The disaster in Maui also hits home for the owner of Eldorado Café, another participating restaurant.
"We do have some ties to Hawaii. More Oahu. Our in-laws live there and, in fact, a couple of our dishes are based on some dishes we ate in Honolulu. And so, it's a very beautiful, special place. And we wanted to help out any way we could," Joel Fried said.
Below is a list of restaurants participating in Dine with Maui. KGBBQ, Sa-Tén and Uroko will be donating 5% of their Saturday sales; the other restaurants will be donating 10%.
North Austin
- Choo Sando
- David Doughies (Lakeline Farmers Market)
- Din Ho Chinese BBQ
- Eldorado Café
- Interstellar BBQ
- JewBoy Burgers
- Kome
- Konfusedesi
- Merry Monarch Creamery
- Mum Foods
- Paprika
- Pedroso's Pizza
- Ramen Del Barrio
- Seoulju
- Shoyu Sugar
- Tacos La Catrina (both locations)
- Tan My
- That Burger
- Thai Kun
- Teaspoon
- T- locs Sonora
- Yeni's Asian Fusion
South Austin
- Kiindi
- Poke Poke (multiple locations)
- Proud Mary Coffee
- Song La
- SXSECO
- Un Mundo De Sabor
Central and East Austin
- 1618 Asian Fusion (Central/South Austin)
- Sip Pho (Central Austin)
- Fukumoto (Central/East Austin)
- Cuantos Tacos (East Austin)
- Fil n Viet (East Austin)
- KGBBQ (East Austin)
- Sa-Tén (East Austin)
- Uroko (East Austin)
Outside of Austin
- Ramen 512 (Cedar Park)
- Whipped Bakery (Leander)
Wong also organized the Dine with Ukraine event last year, which raised $50,000 for war relief efforts, according to the Statesman.