The Butuyan Family immigrated from Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Philippines in 1969 to the island of Oahu. The sugar plantation town of Waipahu, Hawaii is where Elena’s Restaurant opened its doors for business. Elena and Theo expanded Elena’s Restaurant to 3 lunch trucks, where it received additional accolades at food truck rallies and many local events.

As the originator of many popular Filipino dishes such as the Popular Pork Adobo Fried Rice Omelette™ and Sari-Sari, Elena’s continues to create new dishes today inspired by their original family recipes and local homestyle cooking. Over the past 40 years, Elena’s has established itself as the home of the finest Filipino foods in Hawaii.