Kaleo's Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Hawaii

If you're after delicious food at a good price, but incompetent service, Kaleo's is for you! We made a dinner reservation for four as we had seen reviews saying it could get pretty busy. As we arrived we were greeted by an enthusiastic and considerate parking attendant who directed us well, guided us as we reversed our car, and opened my door. When we entered, the atmosphere was warm and inviting, lots of chatter from other patrons, and a gentleman playing the guitar and singing. From there the service went downhill. I started by letting our waiter know that I had a dairy allergy and to please let me know if I ordered anything with dairy in it. Beyond that, no difficult requests. As three of us made our food and drink orders, our waiter walked away without reading back our order and without taking my partner's food order. It took him a few minutes to realise his error and return. When our drinks arrived, mine came with a large dollop of whipped cream. As the waiter put my drink in front of me, he belatedly realised it obviously has dairy. I asked if it was all the way through or just the cream on top. He said I could check with the bartender. So I had to walk up to the bar myself, watch and wait as I saw the bartender see me, decide to ignore me, continue to dry glasses, then wander over to finally acknowledge me. In an obnoxious tone, she then asked if I was dining in. I explained that I had got a particular drink, and was wondering if there was dairy throughout. In a very condescending attitude, she said yes, of course it did. As if, by existing on this planet, I should know. I returned to my table and swapped my drink with my partner, rather than having to deal with the service any further. Thankfully when our meals arrived, they were as we asked, and incredibly delicious. The food was well cooked and presented, serving sizes just right. We finished our meals, and our plates were cleared, and we waited to be offered the dessert menu. And waited. And waited. When our waiter finally came around to ask, we weren't sure we wanted dessert anymore, but asked to look at the menu in case we could be tempted. And then we waited, and waited again. It was a long process of waiting, where we decided we didn't want dessert, told our waiter so, then waited again for the bill. All of us went to the restroom individually in the time we waited for the bill. Then when it finally came, our two friends were a bit surprised they were paying double us for their meals, as their food was listed as "Market Price" with no actual price quoted to us when we ordered. When we finally had our cards taken away to pay, we weren't feeling very generous with tips, but understood some nights can be busy. We left what we felt was a good tip considering. Only to discover the next day that we had been charged more than what we had left. And in our ignorant tourist minds, we had left our copy of the receipt at the restaurant. When I called to request this be amended, I was met with disdain and another condescending tone. As I didn't have the check number, it would be difficult to find, and may take some time. As if it were my fault. While the monetary difference is negligible, the overwhelming disrespect I have been met with at this establishment is incredible. I come from a country with restaurants that pay its employees a liveable wage so that they do not need or even expect tips. And yet they are able to treat their customers with common courtesy and decency. After multiple calls back and fourth, the amount was amended. And I am thankful I will never have to deal with these...

Other reviewers had spoken about "bad blood" here, however we chalked it up to just a bad experience. Maybe there's something more here??

... I left this restaurant in tears.

My friend and I are visiting from the Continental United States and had thoroughly enjoyed our day down in Isaac Hale Park by the ocean.

We walked into the restaurant and were met, with attitude, by a man, whom I can only ASSUME is the restaurant manager. While my friend was in the ladies, I watched the restaurant manager talk down to patrons and what looked like the female owner.

While it was my turn to wash my hands, my friend was told by waitstaff to sit wherever we wanted to. As it was loud up front by the live music, my friend asked for something a little more out of the way due to my PTSD.

By the time I got out, the manager was back out, hoovering us towards a table up front.

I asked if we could sit by the window so we could have a little breathing room and his response said it all - "What if I have 4 Asian tourists come in and have nowhere to put them because you're sitting there."

He talked down to us like he was Lord of the Show and his eyes and attitude were disdainful and what could only be termed as "arrogant"...I responded, that we "are happy to wait for another table by a window as some patrons were finishing up dinner." He rolled his eyes and said to sit at our table. Then proceeded to loom over us to give us the nightly specials...

5 minutes later - 4 tables consisting of about 15 people left. It was an hour before closing.

I remarked to my friend that there were plenty of tables now... and she saw the look on my face, and that if he had come back all bets were off. She knew I was upset and she left for the car, while I went to the bathroom to calm myself and catch my breath.

We walked out without eating, and we strongly suggest you do the same. We will never return here. Thank GOD!!

What a thoroughly...

This place was recommended to us by some friends so we stopped here for a late lunch. And we were not disappointed. Like all places... being short staffed, this restaurant was not immune. Our waiter was not only serving people, but sitting people, and acting bartender, though he would admit that he is not a bartender and does not know how to make any drinks unless they're written down.

We started with appetizers, spring rolls with spinach and feta as well as the pork wontons. The spring rolls were lightly fried and the sauce served over them was good. The pork wontons were really good.

My daughter ordered thinly sliced Kalbi ribs which came with a mixed green salad, yummy house dressings and rice. The ribs were incredibly good. The pork was very moist and tasty. My husband and I ordered the blacken fresh catch BLT. I am not a blackened fan but this was entirely edible because of the sauce and it's cooling the properties. This is a huge sandwich with lots of goodies, lettuce, bacon, avocado, sprouts, tomatoes, and of course the blackened fresh catch. And it was all served on a homemade bun. It also came with a big mixed green side salad with their house dressing.

For dessert we split their cheesecake. We were told that the owner of the restaurant gets up every morning and makes it from scratch. If this is true the owner could make a mint just selling the cheesecake alone.

Another fabulous, off the beaten path restaurant that we would have never known about if we hadn't...