Big Island Grill — Restaurant in Hawaii

I've been here twice. The place looks very ordinary, family friendly. The prices are reasonable & the food is great. It's a very busy place & I like it. On the day we went we had a very bad experience with the waitress. She's probably a nice local gal but she doesn't have a filter, & was a bit of a scatter brain. I asked for coffee w/cream & sugar. The table already had sugar but she never brought the cream. I went to the adjacent table & took theirs. Grand daughter ordered a "ceaser salad w/chicken " but with the dressing & cheese on the side". The waitress commented, "oh you don't like those things huh?" We explained to her that the kid has a ton of allergies. So they brought a pile of spinach leaves w/ chicken on it...it didn't look like romaine lettuce. The next order from my daughter resulted in a big misunderstanding...a fight ahictually. I couldn't believe what happened. Actually I don't know how it happened. Probably both were at fault but I could see that the waitress could not listen closely enough to take an order & she was too busy making stupid comments to hear the customer. The last thing my daughter ordered was fruit punch. I heard it clearly (& I'm hard of hearing). Then the waitress asked, "what would you like to drink?" The waitress was all around not good at her job. She gets no stars. My food was really the best. I had teriyaki steak & it was so tender & delicious. Food gets 5 stars. But because the experience w/waitress escalated into argument I gave 1 star to restaurant. In retrospect I should have immediately canceled my order & walked out...I wasn't thinking. So spent almost $70.00 for lunch/included large tip for waitress having a hard day...felt sorry for her. This is not the right...

We aren't sure what the fuss is about. We were seated in a timely fashion and drinks came quickly. Seating in the restaurant is crowded and our party of 5 was seated at a table for 4, with the direction that the 5th person had to be sure not to push into the walkway. The menu has a lot of variety, which could be appealing if the execution was better. The teriyaki chicken was a huge portion and pretty good, but the side of mashed potatoes was almost cold. The salads were drenched in dressing. I'd recommend asking for it on the side. The fish and chips were made from fresh fish, but that also made it difficult to eat because it falls apart easily. The tempura coating is light which is tasty, yet not strong enough to hold together the fish. The fried shrimp was adequate. Nothing special, although the portion was large. The shrimp itself didn't have much flavor, but the panko coating had a nice crunch. Everyone liked the French fries. They are very understaffed for a restaurant that is very busy. Yes, I know about island time, but I only saw 2 servers in the whole restaurant. They need at least 4.

Overall, the best I could give would be 3 stars for basic, average, uninspired food, but dropped down to 2 stars because of the poor seating...

We stopped by Big Island Grill for a late lunch after spending some time at the beach. When we arrived, there was only one car parked in front of the restaurant, and the "OPEN" neon sign was hidden behind it, so we initially thought the place might be closed or had already finished for the day. Fortunately, it was open.

When we walked in, there was only one customer inside, but people started to come in gradually. By the time we left, a few people were waiting near the entrance for takeout orders.

We ordered the Loco Moco ($19), a mixed plate with Korean chicken and teriyaki chicken ($21), and a POG drink ($5). The Loco Moco was decent, although the meat wasn’t particularly juicy and the gravy was fairly standard. The chicken plate had a bit of a noticeable meat smell, but overall, the portions were generous and filling.

Service was a little on the slow side—both when taking the order and waiting for the food—but it was manageable since we weren’t in a rush.

The building itself felt a bit dated, but the interior was bright and spacious, with a relaxed Hawaiian vibe even though there weren’t booth seats. It was a casual and laid-back atmosphere, which matched the island setting...