This week, the Sonoma Grapes will battle the Na Koa Ikaika Maui professional baseball team and big, beefy burgers will be sizzling.
Just head to Ichiro "Iron" Maehara Stadium in Wailuku to cheer on the home team and get your fill of some of the best and juiciest burgers on the island.
That's because Teddy's Bigger Burgers at the Lahaina Gateway is a concessionaire, and they know how to grill burgers right.
Article Photos
Teddy’s Bigger Burger owner Henry Telles flips some burgers as the Na Koa Ikaika Maui mascot waves his arms in anticipation before last week’s home team game in Wailuku.
The Maui News / CARLA TRACY photo
"Anytime there's a home game, we're here at the stadium," says Teddy's owner Henry Telles, who personally mans the grill himself. "We're here five to six days a week (on game days), Tuesdays to Saturdays."
Gates open at 4:45 p.m. and games begin at 5:35 p.m. Saturdays, it's often a double header. After this Sunday, the next home game will be July 10.
"The opening game was a couple of weeks ago, and we had a record crowd of 2,800 people," says Telles. "But it varies. Like today, it's 202."
Telles does brisk sales with hamburgers, cheeseburgers, crispy chicken and "even some veggie burgers I can throw on by special requests."
At the ballpark, Telles brings only five-ounce hamburger patties that are made by hand from 100-percent ground chuck. Cooked to a medium doneness, they are stacked with special sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles on fresh and fluffy buns. Prices start at $6 for a hamburger and go up to $9 for a cheeseburger with French fries combo platter. Other vendors sell hot dogs and such.
At Lahaina Gateway, you may sit down and dine in cool, air-conditioned comfort and order original and teri burgers in 5-, 7- and 9-ounce portions. You may double everything to indulge in two patties on one bun and you may ask the cooks to pile on toppings such as avocado, jalapenos, blue cheese, bacon and onion rings.
In addition, the Lahaina Gateway restaurant now offers grilled mahimahi sandwiches as a daily staple. Teddy's Bigger Burgers is also running with a 10 percent kamaaina discount on every menu item - all of the time - in Lahaina.
"We previously offered the discount on combos, but for a long time now locals can get 10 percent off just a burger, a shake and French fries at any time we're open," says Henry's wife and business partner, Lisa Telles, who runs the register and is chief financial officer and marketing director for their popular restaurant.
Do try the Bacado burger piled high with bacon, avocado and cheddar, and the extra-thick, made-on-Maui ice cream milk shakes.
"We're trying to be really community-oriented," says Lisa. "We're open to giving donations for fundraisers. We also try to keep it seasonal. This month's ice cream flavor is caramel cream. Maui's own Roselani ice cream is used to make the shakes."
Hours in Lahaina are from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays to Thursdays; and from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
For more details, call Teddy's at 661-9111.
