Aloha Food Factory — Restaurant in Alhambra

I am so sad to have to give this restaurant a one star review. We drove by it and I saw " macadamia nut pancakes" on their sign and told my boyfriend I knew where we're going for breakfast! They were not that crowded when we got there and the atmosphere was quaint with Hawain keepsakes around the room and different surf inspired tablecloths I was immediately enchanted. I am a huge fan of mom and pop restaurants! We waited at the door for a bit even though it didn't seem busy and then I finally caught the eye of a girl who asked me if we wanted to go. I said no we came for breakfast. She then got a young man who seated us, menus were on the table....that would be the last time anyone talked to us for literally 20 minutes. Another couple came in after and they were seated quickly and then he moved a family of six to another table. I took the time to read the menu (I'll admit I stared greedily at other diners coffee) the menu had lots of things I hadn't tried before and I was mapping out in my mind how many visits we would need to make for me to try to order all the things that tempted me. A man came out, my feeling is that he was the owner., and took the order of the people that came in after us and got them drinks. Then another couple came in and the young boy sat them. I waved him down and begged him to at least get our drink order. Apparently he couldn't, only the older guy....so three employees, only one taking orders and doing drinks.he sent the guy out who apologized took our order and then went to the big table and took theirs before getting our drinks. Fair enough they were there even before us and it was a sad hungry comedy watching their table and ours keep making gestures at the waitstaff trying to order ( they were busy....um...chatting????) Another table of two came in. They got our drinks and the family table drinks and coffee made me a little happier, the boyfriend not so much. The. The food started to arrive! I got my French toast and then the family got their food...no site of my boyfriends order of stir friend veggies. I had almost finished mine and the two tables that came in after we ordered had their food... No one would make eye contact . Finally we got the man to come over...if you lost track, three tables that came in after us got their food,and two of them finished before they checked on us!!! The man said, "what did you order? And then called to the kitchen for them to STARTt making it. My boyfriend said never mind we're leaving. No apology, no, .let me comp your bill...nothing and the door was packed. I added up from the menu what we owed and left if on the table. This was THE WORST SERVICE I have ever experienced..,,EVER! I don't even have tips for people to help except don't go or maybe take out? We eat out every meal and try new places all the time and let me just reiterate THE WORST...underline WORST service ever...oh and my food was cold..how does...

My rating is mostly on the taste of the food and a hint on the service

The food: The macadamia pancakes were amazing! We also tried the macadamia French Toast but it wasn't as fluffy still really good though. The breakfast plate was huge it came with a choice of meat, rice, and 3 eggs. We also tried the Kalua pork, cha shu, spam musubi, chicken Katsu, Portuguese sausage. The spam musubi wasn't that great, but all the rest were good. The chicken Katsu was a little bit more crunchy that most places and the sauce was jelly like but still really good. The Kalua pork was super moist and tender super flavorful without the "porkiness". The Cha Shu was a little dry but still good flavor. The sausage was not the best but not the worst so it was alright

The service: The service was a little slow. The lady was really nice but assertive. She seemed to be the only one in the front of the house and it was full. But the girl who helped her out when the place was full gave quite the attitude when we asked for water. She didn't bring it the first time around (we asked for 3 waters she only brought 2...given her hands were completely full) so we waited a while about 8 minutes before we asked again mind you this is a really small restaurant and everyone else was already serviced or their drink order was being taken. Her initial response was the coffee was being made before she even fully heard what we were asking her about. Her eyes said it all when she glared at us with the "really?!?" annoyed face. She really didn't seem like she wanted to be there and it showed in her service.

The size of the place: We were a party of 8 which is probably the largest party that can fit in this little restaurant that doesn't get in the way of their other customers. All other tables were of 2 to 4. There were about 4 booths that could fit about 4 people each then about 3 tables for 4 and 2 for 2.. it's an extremely small resraurant. It does have outdoor seating but I'm not sure they take orders outside unless they seat you out there.

Handicap friendly? Not really... maybe not at all if wheelchair bound. Its really tight spaces. You'd fit but may get in the way of other customers and the waitress. This guy couldnt use his walker once he got inside and they are about the same width as a wheelchair.

Restrooms? Yes but outside of the restaurant and you need a key (which is understandable)

Parking? Yes! More spots than tables at the restaurant it seems. Which is nice if you want to meet up with a friend there and bring 2 cars.

Takeout? Yes!

Overall great food! Great drink options! Service could improve, but when I go somewhere it's not for their service. Fun little Hawaiian...

I found Aloha Food Factory in Alhambra through a social media ad and decided to give it a try - BIG mistake. The service was absolutely horrible from start to finish. The staff seemed disorganized and overwhelmed, and it took an unreasonably long time just to place an order. When I got to the register, I was met with an extremely rude young lady with no respect. She asked me "inside or outside?" When I told her inside please she said "okay, what's your name?" I told her my name and she responded with "ok. What do you want?"

When I went to order, I was told they were out of nearly every chicken dish except for katsu, they were out of kalua pig, loco moco, and short ribs. Not exactly the variety you'd expect from a place advertising Hawaiian comfort food. A few people after us ordered a loco moco and were able to order it and were eating it at the table next to us... make it make sense. On top of that, the food handling practices did not seem safe at all. The cashier was also the same person wiping down tables and didn't wash her hands after wiping down the tables or handling any money. The busser lady (red hair with nose piercings) was the same person taking dirty plates, delivering food to tables AND preparing the cream and macadamia nuts on the pancakes/french toast... all without washing or sanitizing her hands. This definitely gave me second thoughts about eating anything from there.

After waiting about 30 minutes I went to the counter to inquire about my order. I spoke with the red hair girl and she said "I have part of it right here and the rest will come out soon" but she was saying this to me as she was walking away from me. Super rude and poor customer service. After waiting more than 45 minutes for the rest of our food, what we got wasn't worth the time or risk. I spoke with one of the younger Asian ladies there (she was nice enough to communicate kindly to me), she informed me that they can refund part of my order due to the wait, but I can still get that item if I wanted to. I appreciated that and that is the only reason this place is getting any stars at all. I will be waiting for my refund back to my card. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. Very disappointing.

If a restaurant isn't capable of handling an influx of customers at one time, please don't put out a social media ad to drive customers to your...