Amigo's — Restaurant in Hawaii

Amigo's is a favorite of mine.

ATMOSPHERE: The small restaurant is located on the first level of the Akaku Center at the corner of Dairy & Alamaha. It's a simple space with a tiny bar and a few tables, and salsa bar.

FOOD: Beef Burrito I will always opt for ground beef over shredded, as like I said, it's a texture thing. Hallelujah, they offer both versions. Long-time Mauians will remember the defunct Taco Lei in the old Kaahumanu Center. That's how their beef burrito tastes like. It's huge, stuffed with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, refried beans, guacamole, and sour cream. I axed the rice & sour cream though. Comes with a minuscule amount of tortilla chips. Simple, tasty, and incomparable, IMO.

Nachos My friend unassumingly ordered this. I was thinking WTF?! Insert foot into mouth. What made this dish phenomenal was the ground beef. Just like in their ground beef burrito, the meat was bathed in a delicious sauce akin to a sloppy joe, and piled onto tortilla chips with the usual suspects. Move over, nachos at Polli's in Makawao. A new winner has been crowned!

Chilaquiles The first time I had this dish was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and loved it. Here, it was honestly just as good. I opted for Al Pastor pork which tacked on $4 more. The platter consists of tortilla chips covered in the pork and melted cheese, Mexican rice, refried beans and topped with two eggs of your cooking choice. Tasty, hearty and oh so delish.

Ultimato Breakfast Skillet It's really the ultimate pupu for me. This thing is huge and loaded with everything: sausage, bacon, potatoes, spinach, bell pepper, onions, mushrooms and two eggs on top cooked to order. Highly recommended.

Al Pastor Taco Salad A bit pricey but it was a very generous portion that I couldn't finish even with my hearty appetite. The plentiful chunks of pork were very tasty and tender, the shredded lettuce and sliced tomatoes fresh, the taco shell nice and crunchy. A dollop of sour cream, guac and pico accompanied.

SERVICE: Wait at the podium posted out front for someone to greet you. Everyone has been friendly so far.

OVERALL: They're...

Avoid this place like the plague. Sad to say no ALOHA spirit especially from the Manager Yecenia. So my husband & I had ordered two chimichanga meals Wed night. Mind you, the ONLY meal we shared that day. Within an hour, we both had an upset stomach and then towards the night had diarrhea until the next afternoon. So I call Thursday to voice my concern, the cashier tells me call back Friday. Call back Friday and cashier then asks for my info and manager Yesenia will call back. This is already foreshadowing no urgency in such matter.

So Yecenia finally calls and before I can even get two sentences in - she's already cutting me off talking over. Also stating food poisoning can show up in system 4 days after according to CDC. I checked the CDC form and it shows one of the symptoms for food poising is Staphylococcus aureus (Staph) with symptoms in 30 minutes to 8 hours after exposure: Nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps. Most people also have diarrhea. She was extremely defensive and not happy that I even mentioned a concerned. I have contacted Maui Health Department to look further into this.

"You story doesn't add up, no other customers complained, and you can't prove anything" is her response. WOW. So much for Aloha. No empathy or customer service. I asked if possible to get a refund since I'm a unsatisfied customer. She quickly denied a refund bc I didn't state I was unsatisfied in the beginning & now I'm switching up stories. Of course, I'm unsatisfied after dealing with an upset stomach and now a degrading Manager.

No apology, no refund, no customer service. Last time coming here and I will make sure to spread the word around the community. Avoid Kahului location. The Manager Yecenia is extremely unprofessional and difficult to deal with here if customers need to...

The staff here is extremely dishonest and unprofessional. We left a pair a glasses when eating earlier in the morning & they said they put them in safe & we could return to pick them up in the next morning once the manager was present - when returning to pick them up they tried to pass the blame on to un present staff & had to call each one of their staff members until they brought them back.

Response to Owner:

Thank you for your response. I would like to clarify a few points regarding my experience.

I was informed during my call that the items were placed in the safe by the manager, and I was assured I could pick them up the following day. I had left my name and the time I planned to arrive. Upon arriving, I noticed some confusion among the staff, which led to my frustration. As someone with a background in the food industry, I found the handling of the situation to be less than ideal, and I felt compelled to document my experience.

A simple explanation stating that the items were not available when I called would have been completely understandable and would have alleviated the confusion.

I do appreciate "Guera" for going out of her way to assist in locating the items, but a phone call could have easily resolved the issue. I hope this feedback can help improve communication...