Ono Hawaiian BBQ — Restaurant in Citrus Heights

This was my first time at Ono Hawaiian BBQ. It's too bad, I wanted to like this place, but it just wasn't worth it. As many other reviews mentioned, the Drive thru experience was bad! I tried to order, only to be told something almost indecipherable. All I could make out was that I needed to come inside. They didn't take my order. So, I pulled forward, thinking I would get to the front soon. Wrong! I then tried to back out , but a car pulled in behind me. So, then I finally got through the Drive thru, and I was ready to go somewhere else. But I was picking up food for someone else in addition to myself, so I went inside and ordered and waited, and waited... while waiting I noticed that maybe 1/2 of the employees, if not fewer, were wearing masks. Only a couple were wearing gloves. Most were busy chatting with each other. So, about 20 minutes later, they call out a number (that was well past my number, btw) and I mention my number and they inform me that the island fire chicken takes longer. Of course, if I had known that I would have ordered something else. So, I continued to wait for another 8 to 10 minutes before I received my order. The order was at least correct. I made sure to check it out before I left, although there were no sauces. No one asked if I wanted any and I didn't know that they had any available until I was leaving. In terms of food quality, it was okay. The side salad was good, although a bit soggy, and the island fire chicken actually had some kick to it. It wasn't as spicy as I would have liked, but it wasn't bland either. We also had the crispy shrimp, island white fish, and chicken katsu (which seemed to have more breading than chicken) and overall it was just okay, but a bit on the greasy side. It was not worth the wait, especially since there are other places in the neighborhood that have better food and more importantly, substantially better service. This was my first and last visit to Ono Hawaiian BBQ. I won't be back. I was very disappointed, because I like Hawaiian food and I was hoping to have a new place to grab some food in the neighborhood, but this place was just not worth the effort. I'm sorry, but I can't...

I've tried really hard to support this new business that opened up just before the Covid shut down. The food is yummy, but I feel like is a bit over priced for what you get, especially considering the customer service and being too frugal. I've eaten here 4 times.. each time something has disappointed me. This time I ordered the number 3, BBQ chicken and chicken katsu with 2x rice 1x Mac salad. If I hadn't wanted extra sauce they might not have given me any katsu sauce AT ALL, I mean, at least include one with the order. Also the portion size for the Mac salad has gotten smaller, two portions rice one portion Mac salad, but the portion of Mac salad seems more like a half portion compared to the rice, maybe they round out the scooper of rice but not the Mac? I duno, seems a bit stingy to me. The BBQ chicken is a good portion, I wish the chicken katsu had a couple more strips. I was never asked if I wanted a drink. Do drinks not come with a combo plate? I ordered from the drive thru and it took quite a while. I expected the meat to be hot/freshly cooked due to the time it took, it was just barely warm, the katsu was crispy.

Customer service is definitely lacking. If customer service picked up a bit and they stopped being stingy about their food, this place...

Really wish I could give a better rating, buuut.. we ordered through Doordash 4 times - the first time our meals came with teriyaki sauce on the side. The second time we ordered, there was no sauce, and it made the meals significantly less flavorful. So the third time we included a note in the instructions asking to please not forget the sauce on the side. It came with no sauce. The fourth time, today, we decided to try one last time and included the note, and I also made sure to call and speak to someone directly at the restaurant asking them to please not forget the sauce in my Doordash order. The employee said okay, and we received our order.. with no teriyaki sauce. Never again lol. Coming from someone who has worked in food service for over 10 years, I understand mistakes happen, but to me this doesn’t fly. If a customer called asking me to do something specific with their order I would make it a priority to ensure that their request was fulfilled. Especially since I mentioned that this has happened a couple times now.

That being said, the food is still decent without the sauce and the portions are big, but due to the customer service we won’t be ordering from this location anymore. Please pay attention to...