Although their restaurant is right off Kuhio Highway in Kapa‘a town, Scotty’s Beachside BBQ receives a lot of its attention from all the food awards they win: from the Coconut Festival and Taste of Hawai‘i, for example. Chef Britt Whitfield just won a chili cook-off in Kilauea recently, a BBQ cook-off in Po‘ipu, and he is now once again working on a recipe for this year’s Taste of Hawai‘i.
“We do all the fundraisers,” owner Scotty Phelps said. “We pretty much say ‘yes’ to all of them.” In addition to helping out causes, it allows Scotty’s to show off their specialty — barbecue. Phelps explained that Scotty’s serves Kansas City-style barbecue, with tomato- based sauces — as opposed to vinegar or mustard in other styles — and the meats are smoked using hickory wood for a sweeter taste.
“Our beef brisket is smoked for up to 20 hours,” Phelps said. “Our ribs take four hours.” The meats slow-cook at 230 degrees in the massive smoker in the kitchen of Scotty’s. The multiple revolving racks cook many meats at once, while hickory wood chips smolder below. Phelps has three sauces to accompany the dry-rubbed meats: mild, hot, and sweet lu‘au plum sauce.
Phelps, originally from San Jose, Calif., worked for years in a steak house, moving his way from busboy to manager. Eventually he moved on to being a police dispatcher. Along the way, however, Phelps was always barbecuing and concocting recipes.
“I turned my hobby into a career,” Phelps said, adding that he had always wanted to open a restaurant. Now with the job of managing 25 employees and the responsibilities of a busy barbecue place, Phelps leaves the cooking up to Whitfield.
The floor plan of Scotty’s restaurant was Phelps’ vision, with innovative touches like glass garage doors fronting the ocean, and a tiered seating system.
“This way everybody’s got a view of the ocean,” Phelps said of the seating design. The ocean-front location has brought a new crowd of customers in recent years, thanks to the coastal path.
“Every day more and more people are on the path,” Phelps said. Scotty’s is planning on launching their “quick-stop breakfast buffet” the second week of June, for people on the path to quickly and conveniently grab some food, like eggs or oatmeal or cereal, said Korona Phelps, co-owner and Scotty Phelps’ wife. Perhaps they will also offer their puffasada, a creation of Whitfield’s that evolved from a pineapple coconut French toast he won an award for at the Coconut Festival one year.
“It’s kind of like a cream puff and a malasada,” Korona Phelps said. “It’s like a hot, stuffed cream doughnut.” The puffasada comes in flavors of berry, pineapple and s’mores. Speaking of the latter, Scotty’s also offers customers the option to make their own s’mores at their table, with a flame burning out of a singular burner surrounded by graham crackers, marshmallows and Hershey bars and skewers, bringing the barbecue to your table.
Scotty’s has recently ventured into catering, cooking for four to five weddings or parties per month, Korona Phelps said. They also offer “party pans” for pick-up or delivery. Scotty’s is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., closed Sundays October through May.
For more information, call 823-8480.
