Ono Hawaiian BBQ — Restaurant in Buena Park

Ono Hawaiian is one of the local spots where you can eat some "ono" Hawaiian food in Buena Park. The experience with online ordering is easy. Our order was prepared and ready near the time given, and pick-up was tolerable. The restaurant was busy each time, so there was some wait, even for early dinner pick-up time. Other times, it's been a smooth experience.

I enjoy the food here, and the staff prepares the meals consistently. The chicken katsu and fried shrimp have a crispy outer with tender meat inside. The mayo-heavy and creamy macaroni salad pairs well with the entrées. Sometimes, the macaroni salad can be a bit vinegary. You may like Ono's version if you like creamy Hawaiian-style mac salad. The plate portions are also generous. The musubi offered are also tasty. I've had the classic spam and the BBQ beef.

Please make sure you get all the sauces when picking up your orders. A few times, the katsu sauce for the chicken katsu plate wasn't included in our takeout, which was a little disappointing.

The staff manages to provide quality service, but I can understand when it gets swamped during peak dining hours. Overall, I've had good experiences at Ono Hawaiian. I don't dine in much here, but the space is kept clean and relaxing when the crowds don't build up. There are also a few tables just outside the door.

We also used coupons that were only redeemable through online ordering. The company's website, newsletter, and social accounts occasionally offer coupon...

3☆ = Good. Not very good, not excellent, but not just fair, or even poor. It was good. Here's the low down...

On the positive side they definitely give you a lot of food! A combo of 3 items, 2 small scoops of rice (maybe a total 1-1/4 cups of cooked rice), a large scoop of macaroni salad, and boiled cabbage costs $11.59 + tax, so around $12.52 at 8% sales tax. Their all you can pump Teriyaki sauce is 3☆ good and their fried shrimp was 4☆ very good! Their chicken for dipping into the Teriyaki sauce was 2☆ fair (rather bland), but a very large piece!

On the negative side, their fish is bread crumbed then deep-fried and had an awful sharp ginger taste...1☆ poor for me. I'm sure if you like the taste of sharp ginger, then you'd probably rate it higher. Their macaroni salad was dreadful, 1☆ poor, just covered in mayo with no other discernible flavoring... Imagine boiling pasta, spreading mayo on it and then serving it. Yep, that's the flavor of Ono Hawaiian BBQ's macaroni salad! Nothing Hawaiian about it at all! The rice was sticky and smashed, not at all fluffy like fresh rice. Yep, you guessed it, 1☆ poor. The boiled cabbage...lol...totally laughable! No flavor! What am I? A prisoner of war back in Germany in WWII? Here's your boiled in pure water cabbage... mmm...yummy! NOT!!! 1☆- poor-

So $12.52 for a lot of poor to very good food and a definitely hearty serving earns Ono Hawaiian BBQ a middle of the...

(REVIEW 4 YEARS AGO)

Love this place!!! The food is so ONO (Delicious) and. brings me back home to Hawaii!!! The serving portions are huge and very filling and Im a guy!!! I sometimes have to take home my left overs because i cannot even finish the whole plate lunch!!!

I love the BBQ Chicken, Chicken Katsu (Fried Breaded Panko Chicken) and the Seafood Mix Plate!!!

(REVIEW FEBRUARY 18, 2023)

Quality of food did not taste authentic like back home in Hawaii this time. I ordered:

#1 BBQ CHICKEN PLATE Barely any flavor and it wasn't even close to hot!!! It tasted as if they served it without even heating it up after sitting around for a long while at room temperature! Very unsafe food handling practices! Mac was nice and cold but had no authentic flavor

#2 CHICKEN KATSU Lacking flavor and breading was really hard to bite!

The whole kitchen and whole staff changed. The food and flavored has changed.

I haven't been back here at this location for about 3 or 4 years ago.

I been going to Aloha Hawaiian BBQ since they have authentic island food and their portions are twice the amount for about $14.99

Staff needs retraining on how to...