ʻOno Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Bellingham

Beautiful drinks.

[Addendum a year later] Came back here in summer of 2025. As I’m passing through town, this is perhaps the most important stop.

Absolutely stunning bar. Normally, I don’t go to bars, because I enjoy mixing myself and it’s much cheaper. But this place is insane in how worthwhile their cocktails are.

Drinks:

All of their drinks are crafted with care and carry a touch of personality of the place. They have a through theme — hawaiian-inspired, I think (?)— and all of their cocktails and food match it in a creative way.

The mai tai was one of my favorites, with clarified rum and a fantastic orgeat. Uncomplicated, as a mai tai should be, but complex nonetheless.

The Ube’ Bee was probably the best drink for my palate, tasting more like juice with notes of alcohol, but hitting you out of nowhere (like a great tiki drink should). Same goes for the Matcha-based drink — a complicated thematic experience that carries the bitterness of matcha and creaminess of coconut.

Food:

The only food I got to eat here was their fries, but those were great. Sweet and salty with some nice herby complexity. All of the stuff on their menu looks awesome though, so if I had the budget I would try it out (I was just here for the alcohol though).

Experience:

Both times, I was here with friends that don’t drink, and had the best experience. The bartenders were absolutely fantastic, with nice chatting and recommendations. The food and non-alchocolic beverages were great too, allowing my friends to enjoy their time here. Basketball stuff on the TV and karaoke added a nice touch to the ambiance. Even sweeter was the Nintendo Switch you seemed to be able to rent while in bar (we didn't though).

All in all, this was my second time dropping $100 just on alchohol here and it's the only place where I'd be willing...

I'll start by saying the food and drinks were decent and tasty but the service was subpar and is mainly the basis for my rating.

My wife and I walked in and waited to be seated but were not acknowledged for a few minutes despite being one of the few small groups inside. The bartender was visible, making drinks and other tasks, but nobody else was around the seemed to work there.

After a few minutes the bartender finally walks up and seats us. Then after a small wait, the waitress comes around to give us water and take our orders. The drink order was very prompt (2-3 minutes), but unfortunately the food was not. We ordered a spring roll appetizer and some rice bowels; these took right about 1 hour to come out, which I found to be ridiculous considering how few people were in the restaurant. The emphasis of attention seemed to be the bar, but ironically our waitress never stopped by to refill waters (today was one of the super hot, unusual days too, so water is important). My wife got up and had to grab one of the water carafes that was sitting at the bar since it was taking so long and we were never acknowledged other than ordering food/drinks.

Besides this, other tables took a very long time to get cleaned. I just feel like as someone who did their time in food service that prioritization would be set, and those working would know how to function. They need more people working front and back it seems.

Overall I am confused that many of the reviews here rave about the service being excellent, delicious food, etc., but I just don't see it. I'd come again for drinks, but I don't think I'd get food. Dinner at this price point should not rob me of 90+ minutes...

Honestly im really saddened to leave this review because we’ve been here countless times over the years and the ramen was dare I say, best ive ever had. I really loved coming here when it was (Culture Cafe). Now that they changed owners, as you can guess… its not good anymore. I wish i could get a refund really of how expensive the food was and how lack luster it was, for $56. The waitress wasn’t nice. She got our order wrong 2 times. The first time she gaslit us into thinking we ourselves ordered the wrong thing. We ordered ramen, fries, a burger, lychee martini, and a “guava pog juice”. She gave us ramen, fries, lychee martini, and pineapple pog…. AND guava pog. We looked confused as to why she got 3 drinks? We said i think this is someone elses. And she goes “nope. You ordered that. I literally repeated it back to you and you agreed.” We didnt, but alright. The best thing to do in this situation was to take the drink back, we didnt want to pay for something… we literally didnt order. She did not. I said maybe we misunderstood. Hmm. And she goes “yep.” And walked away. We didnt get the burger, either. I usually order the “tonkotsu” ramen and ive loved it every time, generous portion sizes too…. But when i ordered this, the ramen was like cup of noodle ramen, the pork was honestly pretty disgusting. It was burnt to char, it wasn’t soft and tender how it used to be, there was literally no seasonings….. no flavor… no spice. The only good thing was the fries (and they were borderline burnt). Upon getting our bill, $56 for stuff we literally didnt order, she messed up our order twice was really disappointing. Take my word, and...