Synergy is the name of the game for these two humble younger sibs to Wes Zane's Laughing Gravy constellation of Formaggio, Formaggio Grill and Good to Go restaurants. Borrowing a page from the Starbucks/Jamba Juice family, Good to Go (burgers), Good to Grill (meat) and Caliente del Sol (Latin spice) are all within walking distance at Kapahulu's Safeway Center. So if you set off with a craving for steak and change your mind once you get there, or your friend wants something else, well, you can always walk next door and pick up a fish taco. People love options.

The restaurateur has the option of “;borrowing”; between establishments as well. While waiting for plates at Good to Grill, my dinner companion, who didn't know about the shared heritage, wandered next door and came back to report, “;Hey, they have the same roast pork next door. Weird!”;

The splashier of the two is Good to Grill, which offers medium-priced, casual fare dominated by kiawe-grilled meat. The easiest way to explore the menu is to look to the right when you're in front of the cashier for a short list of combo meals ($11.99 to $17.99). Single-choice plates range from $7.49 for a pound of chipotle chicken wings that rival my favorites at the Shack, to $17.99 for pulehu rib-eye steak served with smoked alae sea salt.

The best combo I tried featured grilled salmon and lamb ($14.99), with the prime rib and garlic prawns ($17.99) running a close second.

Because of the fast-food nature of the establishment, I assumed the salmon would be cardboardy, but it was perfect, juicy without that touch of rawness that can happen when you're trying to avoid overcooking the fish. The thin slices of lamb were even better, having been marinated in herbs and spices to give it the flavor of Middle Eastern kebabs.

The prime rib was also delicious with its simple touch of salt and pepper and accompanying horseradish sauce. I didn't even have to use the au jus. The prawns didn't have much flavor, but that could also be fixed with the horseradish. The prime rib is also available in a sandwich for $8.99.

You would think the pork ribs ($12.89) would be the best thing on the menu, but the twice-cooked nature of smoking followed by reheating resulted in a leathery surface that required the accompanying hickory sauce to return its suppleness. Customers have also been quibbling about the chicken adobo ($7.49), which doesn't taste like any adobo I've tried. It's the same grilled chicken with an adobo sauce that lacks the vinegary zip of local adobos. On my order the only thing recognizable about it was a single peppercorn.

All the plates come with a choice of fries and white or brown rice, and a choice of mesclun greens or red potato salad. It's a tough call between the latter two. Both are quite good, though to balance the meat portion of the menu, I'd recommend the mesclun, with its healthful mix of lettuces, spinach, red Swiss chard, frisee and other greens, drizzled with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Also on the menu are pasta dishes, such as the salmon on linguine with dill cream sauce ($9.99) and grilled garlic prawns on linguine with peso ($11.99). And, when money is tight, you can always share a small thin-crust pizza, at $8.99 for the Margherita or $9.89 for a grilled fajita pizza with rib-eye steak, peppers and onions.

Finish with desserts of grill bananas foster ($6.89) or a cakey bread pudding ($5.89) with rum raisin sauce. This ain't diet food.

Spice up your life

Just as the name hints, Caliente del Sol offers tacos, enchiladas, burritos and other Mexicali fare with emphasis on fire, whether in the form of fire-grilled specialties borrowed from its next-door sib Good to Grill, or in an abundance of fire-roasted pepper and hickory barbecue sauces, or the three flavors of Tabasco and Cholula sauce on its Wall of Flame.

At $3.49 for a single taco and $3.69 for a single enchilada, this might be one of the cheaper meals left in town. One is actually a proportionately ideal meal, but if there were three on a plate, I could probably finish them all—particularly in the case of a lobster-mushroom enchilada ($4.69) with spicy lobster sauce, like a stripped-down lobster newberg adapted for a flour tortilla. Sorry, it's only an occasional special, although the spicy lobster sauce is one of the choices to accompany fish tacos or burritos ($6.89).

Just as at Good to Go, diners are confronted with an array of choices that seem more difficult to make here than any other fast food restaurant. You must choose your tortilla (soft four, whole wheat, spinach or tomato), filling, sauce and, in the case of quesadillas ($6.59), cheese. It takes time to consider and takes even longer for staffers to pull together.

One of the more ambitious offerings is a “;mole”; sauce with perhaps more chocolate than expected, giving my rib-eye enchilada the flavor of dessert rather than an entree. Its saving grace is that most people can't say no to any chocolate.

The payoff would rival that other island startup, Maui Tacos, and while Caliente del Sol also makes five salsas available to customers, the only thing missing are those extra toppings like diced onions and chopped cilantro.

For dessert, Kahlua cheesecake seems fitting.