Kuleana Rum Shack — Restaurant in Hawaii

Sure wish we had the same experience as so many others leaving reviews. We went there specifically because we love rum and need gluten free (GF) options. We were sorely disappointed on both accounts.

The locally produced rum they’re peddling really is not great rum. Rum is my go-to drink and I’ve tried rums from everywhere I could for the last 20 years. For the price they charge, it is pretty poor quality rum. Ironically they have some really great rums behind the bar but they are not offered as a flight. Their top priced rum is much more expensive than Ron Zacapa but you’d be far better advised to get the Ron Zacapa, trust me. There is a reason there is no market for “unaged” rum…. It’s because it’s more comparable to fragrant disinfectant than it is to rum. I wish the company the best, but they have a long way to go.

Next is the GF deal. You can’t label things as GF and not have a dedicated fryer. This shouldn’t be news to anyone, and severely limits your options if you’re celiac. Of course we wouldn’t have driven almost an hour to the Rum Shack had we known. The only item she wanted out of the handful available was a seared tuna. Well they were out of tuna so instead charged the same for a different type of fully cooked white fish. Whatever.

It would have been fine if the server wasn’t so blatantly unfriendly and unhelpful. You’d think for a place trying to sell rum from a new company you’d want to engage with the customer trying this new rum for the first time, but no, it was basically here’s the laminated do it yourself chart for the rum, “any questions?”. In fairness they offer a specific rum tasting, but the servers running that section REALLY have their work cut out for them with THAT rum. Who knows, maybe she got too much sun or was hung over or something. Certainly not pleasant though. And for the price they’re charging the service should be MUCH better.

The only thing reasonably priced was the burger and fries. And it was good. But you really can’t judge a restaurant by the burger they offer. Anyone can do a good burger.

Finally, while the location and atmosphere are quite nice (despite being an outdoor concept, and get windy), they decided playing 90’s soft rock hits was a good thing to do….. kinda weird, and of all the music available, makes me curious. I would have asked the server but she would likely have said something snide and...

An absolutely delightful experience. We came for over to Kona from Hilo-side for my mother’s birthday, and this was absolutely a highlight of our trip. The staff is absolutely delightful, knowledgeable, friendly, and full of interesting information about the food and drinks, and the history of each. Our main waitress, Joy, was wonderful, always ready to provide recommendations and information, but the other staff was equally helpful and ready to step in if we needed something. We didn’t get the name of the other waitress or the busser who helped us, but both of them were friendly, helpful, and engaged. True teamwork that helped elevate an already wonderful experience. Then the food! Every single thing we were served was delicious. We were there before the dinner menu, so we ‘only’ had access to the pupus and salad part of the menu. But that’s far from a bad thing! We ended up having the poke nachos, glazed shrimp, and mochiko chicken, and all of them were both delicious and well presented. When we wanted a little more food and they couldn’t make us the kalua quesadillas, they made the kalua pig into nachos instead and they were lovely! We did a rum flight, and the different rums, as well as the fresh pressed sugar cane juice, were very interesting and presented cleanly and with information on each. When we moved on from the flight to cocktails, Joy was full of excellent drink recommendations, tailored to our preferences. Every single drink we had was delicious, and the Mai Tai is truly the best in the world. It’s not at all your typical Mai Tai flavor, but it’s exceptional. Add all that to a company dedicated to the preservation of authentic Hawaiian sugar cane varietals and a true local spirit, and this is an experience not to be missed. I’ve definitely found a new favorite stop Kona-side, and a new place I have to take friends when they come visit. Good job Kuleana Rum Works! Every minute of our experience in the restaurant was outstanding: drinks, food, and service. We’ll definitely be back....

Update summer 2023: Still bad service for locals and what a weird response to my initial review.

Initial, Summer 2022: Let us do an exercise in logic:

5pm – person A, B, and C want to meet up to eat at the Kuleana Rum Shack for dinner. Person A looks on opentable and does not see any reservations so person A calls to make a reservation. The host at the Kuleana Rum shack says that there are no openings until 8:30pm but will put a note to notify Person A if anything opens up sooner. Person A is happy with that and is sent text for an OpenTable conformation for 8:30p.

7pm – Person C gets to the Kuleana Rum Shack early and request a reservation in person and the host says 8:30 will be the earliest reservation but if something opens up Person C will be notified. Person C does not know that Person A made a reservation already. Person C goes around the area to kill some time.

7:15pm – Person A arrives in person and asks the host if anything has opened up. The host says that it looks like their table will be ready at 8:15 instead. Person A, and B, meet up with Person C to kill some time together.

8pm – Person C gets a call from the Kuleana Rum Shack saying the table is ready and all peopl go to get seated.

8:50pm – While already seated, Person A gets a call from the Kuleana Rum Shack notifying them that the table is ready.

Based on the series of events, did the Kuleana Rum Shack notify and seat reservations in the right order???

Kuleana means responsibility in Hawaiian and apparently it is not their Kuleana to seat reservations in the order at which they are received. There are other nuances with the reservation process that were off but I will spare people the details.

Additionally, the drinks did not appear to have any alcohol in it. We did not try the rum taster to see what their rum taste like straight but all three of us did not taste any hint of alcohol in our drinks. We were also baffled when told the ahi tower was out but they had ahi for the nachos. The wait staff didn’t...