Aloha to Go Harbor — Restaurant in Florida

Met up with a couple of buddies to check out the new Ant-Man flick today and decided to hit Aloha to Go (Palm Harbor) afterward for some dinner. The one buddy who drove with me needed to get back home, so we placed an order to go.

I'll start by saying it was busy. And there were 2 employees working... the cashier and the cook.

We both ordered the Big Kahuna combo (their 3 signature meats -- teriyaki beef, shoyu chicken, and kahlua pork... and 3 sides -- pineapple coleslaw, mac salad, and white rice). We also ordered 2 pieces of spam musubi, each.

We saw several folks come in after us and get to-go orders and leave before us. I can only make a reasonable assumption they made online orders. about 20 mins into our 45 (or longer) wait, we heard the cook telling someone he was out of the Kahlua pork. About 10 mins after that, he shouted out to us (not in a rude manner, I should note) that he was out of pork and needed to make more.

When the food was ready, it came out to us on plates, and we informed him it was for to-go orders. He also had another order that came up right before ours that was the same situation... a to-go order that was plated for dining in.

Honestly, I can't blame either the cook, or the cashier. Seemed like they were doing the best they could, but were definitely drowning. They didn't even have time to clear and clean tables. So I would say that if you plan to go, maybe order online ahead of time. Otherwise, expect a lengthy wait if it's just the two employees working.

Having said all that, once I got home and could try the food, I was pleasantly surprised. The spam musubi was tasty. As was the white rice (good and sticky... enough that you could eat it easily with chop sticks). I liked the teriyaki beef the best. The pork seemed a little too salty to me, but was otherwise good. And the chicken was tasty. The mac salad and the coleslaw were the two that needed some work. There was almost no dressing on either. Personal preference for me... I would've liked a little more mayo/dressing on the mac salad. And the coleslaw needed it in general. It was almost non-existent.

I'm not typically over in that area, but if I am, I will definitely stop back in. The ribs that another customer had looked fantastic. And I really want to try the galbi short ribs. The only suggestion I have, would be to get the cook some help. He needed it, and it's just unfair to him to have to handle a restaurant full of...

We had never been here, but wanted to try it when Dave recommended this place - especially the Huli Huli Chicken. He said it was a lot of food and very good. I wasn’t that hungry, so I ordered the mini. I asked for slaw and rice, since the menu says “white rice and macaroni salad,” and the fried rice & slaw seemed to be the same price. But we were charged an extra $1.50. Husband ordered the Aloha BBQ ribs. He asked for fried rice & slaw, and again we were charged $1.50. But it, too, said “seasoned fries or rice AND macaroni salad or slaw.” Very confusing. When I asked why, the young man ringing us up said it was for 2 scoops of rice - 75¢ each scoop for each of us. But we only wanted one scoop each. And the menu says one scoop of rice was included. Why did we pay $3 more?

When we sat down to wait for our food, the cook (owner?) came out to ask about my mini. He asked if I wanted 2 scoops of fried rice and slaw and if Husband wanted the same. No. We really wanted just one scoop of rice and slaw. Then we asked why we were each charged $1.50 extra? He said he’d make it right, but he didn’t explain & we didn’t see him again.

Our friend ordered the shredded pork on a bun, with fried rice and slaw. Her meal came out last & she was unimpressed. She liked - and ate - the coleslaw. But she left her fried rice, and pork on a bun, behind. She said the bun was so wet with juices that she couldn’t pick it up. When she told the cook it should have been drained first, so that she could eat it like a sandwich, he offered to make her another. She declined. Didn’t want to waste more food. She told us it didn’t have much of a taste, but the chutney included with it was tasty & gave it more flavor. She didn’t eat much of the fried rice either, telling us that it was also tasteless.

We thought our food was good. The rice didn’t have a distinctive taste, but it was okay. The coleslaw was excellent. We ate it all. Ribs and chicken were flavorful to us. Husband and I brought our leftovers home to enjoy tomorrow night for dinner.

We were disappointed that the cashier knew nothing about the food or how it was served. When we asked if the slaw was vinegar or mayonnaise based, he did not know. When we asked about the difference of white and fried rice, he did not know. He did know that the fried rice was $1.50 extra. We hope to try Aloha again, but our first visit was not as good...

We've recently moved to the area from Chicago and were very excited to find a restaurant that served Loco Moco and other Hawaiian type food. Last night, we ordered online for pickup. The online system works really well. When we opened the containers at home, everything looked and smelled wonderful. Unfortunately, all the sauces were just too salty. I'm not sure because it was around 7pm and the sauces had cooked down and become more concentrated. We could taste the underlying flavor, which I believe was great except for the over-the-top saltiness. Additionally, my chicken katsu was so over cooked and fried that the chicken was completely dried and had a texture of leather. I was very disappointed because being Japanese, I was looking forward to a great chicken katsu. That being said, the macaroni salad and white rice were great. My husband said the location had very nice seating and the people were very friendly. We will definitely try Aloha to Go again because it might have been an off night. We...