Luau Larry's — Restaurant in Avalon

Tried out Luau Larry’s for the first time while visiting Avalon for a “day-cation” and while the atmosphere of the bar was fun and tropical, the service was absolutely terrible (even for a bar). Typically when you sit at the bar, the seats are available on a first come, first serve basis. After about five minutes of being seated, we were asked by a group of three if we would mind moving down one stool so they could have three stools, which we didn’t mind doing given that they asked politely and there was no other room at the bar. After about another 10-15 minutes a couple of (apparent) locals came into the bar and greeted the bartender loudly as they walked in and approached the bar wanting to sit at the stools. There were two people that came in and two stools to the right of us. As soon as they approached the bar, the bartender walked from around the bar and asked us rudely if we could “move over”. I was a bit confused as to why but thought maybe the two people that had just come in were expecting one more person so we moved down one stool. To my absolute dismay, the woman plopped down beside us and proceeded to use the stool that we had just moved from as a leg rest as the bartender began getting their drinks ready. The woman proceeds to rudely talk about us to the bartender and the other person with her that it was “just one spot over” and that we shouldn’t be bothered by it. She was clearly already drunk as she slurred her words. As previously mentioned, we wouldn’t have minded moving over if they needed the room for an actual person, however the fact that the bartender shooed us down a seat just so that his (obviously) best frequenting customer could use the stool as a leg rest was absolutely appalling. The rest of the time he stood there talking to them and didn’t even glance back our way once. When I asked for the check, the bartender gave me the wrong one and after telling him it wasn’t my check, he said “what did you get?”… He’s the one that served us!!! And we only ordered one beer each… not complicated. Needless to say, we will never be going here again. Terrible service and terrible attitudes of both the workers and the local...

To quote a Harry Potter expression: Exceeded Expectations! We were debating between here and Buffalo Nickel and decided to come here since it is closer and has more variety on their menu. We had to wait about 5 minutes to get a table at around 7 pm, which is not bad at all. The ambiance is an indoor tiki bar, with shack-like straw decor, some booths and some tables. I liked it! The menu is a mix of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers, pizza and salads, with a long list of their signature cocktails. We ordered the clam chowder, the crab cakes, the sausage pizza and the Estrella (a pilsner) and a Spicy Mexican Lollipop to drink. If you order their Wiki Whacker, you get a straw hat or a sticker, which is a cool incentive to order this fairly deadly looking drink by my standards! The clam chowder was excellent! It was thick, not very salty and full of clams, which didn't seem to come out of a can, likely we see with typical clam chowders. The only negative was the potatoes, which could've done with 1 more minute of boiling. This is definitely one of the top clam chowders I have had on the West Coast. The sausage pizza was delicious - cheesy, good bread crust (not too thick, not too thin, not too crunchy, not too gooey), and absolutely delicious sausage pieces. The menu said it is a management favorite and I see why! We got the 9 inch size and we still had 2 pieces left between the two of us. The crab cakes came last on our list and are a reason for giving this place 4 stars instead of 4.5 stars. There was too much breading and the crab meat itself needs more seasoning and a nice spice mix. The coleslaw, the tartar sauce and the oyster sauce accompanying the crab cakes were all great! The drinks were excellent too. I definitely recommend getting the Spicy Mexican Lollipop - it is a primary mango flavored drink with spicy Tabasco and tahini mixed in. It tastes like a mangonada but so much better. The Pilsner was great too. Given its location on the main boardwalk, we expected the pricing to be higher, but it was actually quite reasonable. Service was good and we had fun. We definitely recommend coming here for an evening of food and drinks if...

To be clear, my visit was in the off-off season of post New Years Eve when there were only 2 or 3 restaurants open in all of Avalon after 4 pm. Larry's was the only thing open on the concourse except for a couple of take-out places. I understood from a local that, since Covid basically shut down the island's tourism, getting and keeping workers has been a huge challenge. Especially in the winter, when many return to their homes for holidays (taking 4-6 weeks off). This is not all that surprising given the high cost of living on the island when reduced hourly work might not pay the bills. So with that said, Luau Larry's was absolutely doing the best they could with only the cook, one waitress, and the bar tender. . So, I'm rating the service at 4* even though our experience was more like 2* because we totally understood they were doing a herculean effort to keep up. Even after 10 hours on the job (non-stop since lunch, she said), our server was friendly. Same with food. My coconut shrimp with Cole slaw was tasty enough (fairly standard bar fare) arrived cold, but the sweet potato fries were excellent. Their signature Buffalo Burger was a bit over cooked to my friend's taste but was good. The place is fun, I'm sure it's a lively place in season. There are a few large tables up front to accommodate groups and families, several tables in the back and a long bar (where you can order food) which seats 20 or so. Apparently the have have live music sometimes. I would go again, in better times; but if all the other places were open, it would be a second choice for supper. The place is certainly a 'feature' of the island, so do try it for a cold beer after the beach, or a burger when you...