Kohala Burger & Taco — Restaurant in Hawaii

The McDonalds of Kawaihae - NO CHANGES!!!

Let me start out with, I’ve been eating at Kohala Burger and Taco since shortly after they opened. Their food was good then and even better now. And the people they have taking orders, always very nice … then and now.

But things have changed since I was here last year. Kohala Burger has a new policy of no changes to what they list on their menu. And they have this new method of ordering.

So here is my very recent experience ... I stopped at Kohala Burger as I always do, and noticed their menu changed quite a bit. On their menu it says “Sorry no changes. All burgers are cooked medium well (state law).” Fortunately I like my burgers cooked medium well, but we’ll get back to that.

So I decide to have one of their special burgers, but I can’t handle dairy so asked them to hold the cheese. The response … No Changes!! My only option was to do a “build it yourself burger”. What? You can’t just hold the cheese????

I did do the build it yourself routine. Then while I was waiting I looked up at the menu on the wall and was surprised to see that the price of the burgers was about 50% less if you ordered on-line. Then, this local guy comes in (the people there knew him), looks at the menu and proceeds to order on-line on his phone. Say whaaaaattttttt?

This new business model is nothing but ... how should I say it ... bizarre. I’m assuming the owner/chef must have thought it up. I noted other people complaining about this on-line in reviews and the owner stating that their policy is clear, no changes. And it is clear, it’s just really weird. I don’t know of another burger place that does this.

The order on-line routine, I’ve already heard people say it is for the locals. The tourists won’t know about it until they walk in and then they will just order the old-fashioned way. I kind of get it, give the locals a break and if the tourists have enough money to vacation in Hawaii, they have enough to pay more for a burger or taco.

Oh yeah, all burgers cooked medium well with no changes, just like McDonalds. I tried to find the state law saying that they have to be cooked medium well, couldn’t find it. And I happen to know Kohala Burgers’ competitors ask you how you would like your burgers cooked (well, all except McDonalds or Burger King although I’ll admit I never eat at those places). Hmmmmm, something’s fishy here and it’s not the tacos!

So here is my recommendation. Locals, you know the score. Order online and keep enjoying this very good food. Non-locals, go somewhere else where you aren’t expected to pay nearly double and where they actually listen to what you want.

Try Ultimate Burger in Kailua! ... Village Burger in Waimea or Annie’s down in Kealakekua (south of Kailua). They all use fresh, local ingredients. You won’t pay twice as much as the locals and if you need them to hold some ingredient they will smile and say ... no problem! Customer service and caring about what you...

While planning a trip to the Big Island, I was researching where I could find the best fish tacos since the place I used to love (Bite Me, by the harbor) had closed down. After some searching, I came across Kohala Burger and Taco. I was so excited as it wasn't far from where we were staying.

After spending the day at the beach, I dragged my husband, 3 year old daughter and in-laws there for lunch. In the end, I felt horrible for bringing them. I wouldn't say that the fish tacos were horrible, but they were not even close to the best fish tacos I've ever had. I will say that the fish was super fresh and cooked well, but the pineapple salsa made the tortilla so soggy that you couldn't even pick it up to eat it. My daughter's burger was so over seasoned that she wouldn't touch it. (however the bun was amazing).

The fact that the food was only okay wasn't even the biggest problem.. it was the price! Market price for the beach style fish tacos was $21. That price is for 2 tacos and that's it, no fries or any kind of side. All 4 adults ordered fish tacos, we added 1 side of fries and had a burger and fries for my 3 year old. We also had one iced tea, a coke and a dole whip drink. The total price was $120US (I'm Canadian, so that's over $160 Canadian!!) . To put it into perspective, we went to Jackie Reys in Kona for lunch 2 days later which is a much higher end restaurant and the fish tacos were only $15.95. I have absolutely no problem paying higher prices for meals if the quality and atmosphere are there, but Kohala Burger and Taco offered neither. I didn't love the atmosphere, but that didn't bother me since a lot of "hole in the wall" type places have the best food.

I don't often write negative reviews, but this one has really been haunting me. I've returned to the reviews again and again wonder how on earth everyone is raving about this place. There is no way a lunch should cost that much, especially one where everyone's corn tortillas were so soaked from salsa juice that you could barely eat it.

I guess we'll be on the search again for the best fish taco the next time we return to the big island.. one that doesn't cost as much as a fine...

Located towards the center of a strip of businesses. With entrances on two sides of the building, the water side you need to walk up a flight of stairs to get to the restaurant, the opposite side of the building is street level. The entry area is small, so it looks busy, but the line gets moved through quickly.

The interior is fun and cool, lots of vintage type signage. It is a little small, four picnic tables: seating 4, 6 (x2), and 8. There are two other small square tables. This shouldn’t deter you from coming, but we had a group of 7 and considered ourselves fortunate that we got a table to accommodate all of us. There is a window Oceanside, but you would need to be sitting right next to it in order to get a view outside. Like a lot of restaurants here, the temperature inside was pretty much the same as the temperature outside as they had open doors and windows.

The food was reasonably priced, comparable to what you might find elsewhere on the island. I got a taco special they offered : 3 ground beef tacos and chips and a cup of smashed avocado for $10. The tacos had two shells to prevent it from crumbling when you picked them up, but the double shell didn’t seem overpowering when eating as they’re was a lot of filling. The beef had good flavor, and was accompanied by shredded lettuce and a tomato salsa. My wife got a fish burger that was juicy and flavorful. Chicken tenders and fries for the children were also good. When getting a kids meal, they receive a token for an ice cream. We also got a milkshake for the road, it was excellent.

I really enjoyed this place and would go back again. My only hangup was that when we ordered they were unwilling to allow us to make changes. For example I tried to order the taco special without the tomato salsa, or at least on the side, But we were told that they couldn’t do substitutions. This could be because it was a special, or some other valid reason, but then I was pushing tomato salsa off of my taco. Otherwise...