Ohana Hawaiian Grill — Restaurant in Crestview

Arrived at the restaurant at approximately 5:15pm on a Friday afternoon. The cashier immediately greeted my guest and myself. The menu screen appeared to be off kilter. There were two large screen tv. Attached to a single down rod turned sideways next to each other. One appeared to be ready to fall and was not directly in line with the other.

The cashier was pleasant and helpful as she took our order of a Regular Plate which comes with 2 scoops of rice, one scoop of macaroni salad, steamed veggies (broccoli and cabbage) with two meats served on top. Our meat choices we identical which included Chicken Katsu and BBQ Chicken. We were given cups for our drinks and proceeded to the drink station. The drink station is located on the west end of the service counter right next to a single glass exit door where the sun was blaring in. I noticed that the ac did not appear to be working at that time as it was very unusually warm inside the restaurant. There were no other customers inside dining. I attempted to get ice from the dispenser but nothing came out. I notified the cashier and within a few minutes another employee brought out an open bucket of ice from the back. She grabbed a chair from the dining area and used it as a ladder/stool to remove the lid from the drink/ice dispenser machine. ( it reminded me of when I was at Captain D’s a few years ago when the employee brought out a bucket of ice and sat it on the floor while removing the lid to the ice bin. Then picks up the bucket of ice from the nasty floor and pours it into the ice dispenser). Anyway, I was then able to get ice. I wanted ice tea so I filled my cup with sweet tea and about puked when I took a sip. It was soured tea. I notified the cashier in which she took steps to rectify the situation. So I decided to get a Dr. Pepper instead. The cashier was kind enough to replace our cups with fresh ones. Our food was ready by this point and was put into a to go bag. But we had planned to dine in. There were other customers few as they were drifting in. And a couple or three door dash or equivalent. I believe that the drink station is lacking in so many areas. First it was in direct line of sunlight shining in on the containers of tea heating them for who knows how long. And the ac not apparently working correctly ( I noticed a fan at the east end of the counter sitting on the floor. I believe that many factors contributed to the sour tea, including staff not checking on it or ice. The floor had food stuff that needed to be swept. Someone could have slipped and fell and possibly causing serious injury. It was apparent that no owner was on duty during dinner time. Now getting to the food. The chicken Katsu was hard and overcooked, the bbq chicken was cooked to perfection done but lacked flavor. The macaroni salad was very nice but needed black pepper which wasn’t on the table but I found those tiny packets on the service counter too late. The steamed veggies we very good but lacked flavor as well. And the veggies would have been much better served in one of the compartments and the dry rice under the meats that would have soaked up some flavor from the two sauces that were provided. Staff did replace the tea, but I drank soda Oh well. I also noticed there was no music and the only sounds were coming from the kitchen with an occasional clatter of a pan or lid. The other 3 employees were sitting in a booth behind me having a feast and chatting. I don’t recommend this place with all due respect. The other place on the north end has them beat hands down. I don’t see this...

So, tonight I decided to try out Ohana Hawaiian Grill and see how it compares to Pounders. I went for their 3 meat dish, and I gotta say, the service and speed were just okay, nothing special. The meats themselves were pretty good, and the cool thing is they have more meat options than Pounders.

The only downside was that they didn't have the same rice and macaroni salad as Pounders. Instead, they had plain rice, and both the rice and the macaroni salad were kinda lacking in flavor. It was a bit pricey, but they gave a generous amount of food, easily enough for two people.

Overall, I might go back to Ohana Hawaiian Grill again to mix things up a bit since they offer different options compared to Pounders. It's worth a try for some variety!

UPDATE: So I went again and it was still about the same. I do think it is still a good place to have a variety of choices and the...

Wasn’t super impressed with my food. Ordered through DoorDash. It was quick delivery! I’ve been wanting to try this place for three reasons:

1. I love Hawaiian food

2. I wanted to compare to another restaurant in town called Pounders with similar food

3. because I haven’t been able to find good Katsu chicken anywhere in Crestview

The chicken was crispy and good, the sauce that came with it gave it so much flavor!

The rice and macaroni salad were both just ok (just plain white rice and hot mac salad - I usually like my mac salad cold). This was warm, probably because it was sitting in a closed takeout container with hot food. Plus, nothing has ever beaten Pounders white rice with teriyaki sauce and crushed red chili flakes and cold macaroni salad bursting with flavor.

I also ordered the crispy shrimp as well. The batter was too thick and the shrimp itself...