Luquins Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Hawaii

The food is still amazing, however the ambiance is completely gone. Winding your way on the uneven wooden floors through the original restaurant, was part of the dining experience. Sadly a fire took the antiquated building, but our memories live. The old rooms had no air conditioning while the windows were opened and ceiling fans spun faster than a prop plane. The new location is in a former KFC. They tried to get the Mexican restaurant feeling, but that did not happen. We were seated at a table near the entrance and froze from the blast of continuous arctic air blowing directly at our table. Having made reservations that were near closing time (thinking the wait for food would be shorter) there was only ONE, O.N.E. 1 WAITER FOR THE ENTIRE 11 TABLES in the packed restaurant. I ordered drinks myself at the bar, because I waited 20 minutes for a menu/drink order. The solo waiter hustled and did his best, but the restaurant was PACKED. There were several other employees working who just stood and watched. One of them brought our chips and salsa, while waiting for menus, after I flagged him down. The solo bartender had 7 patrons seated at the bar, as well as the only one to make drinks for the person's eating in the small, austere dining room. It took 15 minutes to get my blended lilikoi margarita that SUCKED! Bartender forgot to add simple syrup, making it a sour undrinkable concoction. She did rectify my drink after I said it was tart to say the least. Warm chips and salsa now costs $3. I think they were free at original restaurant. Chimichanga delectable, also increase in price. They were out of flan, but had other overpriced desserts. I ended up ordering the key lime pie slice to go. It was tasty, but my slice was soooo tiny. Like a 1/16th of a pie. Hopefully as the food is a Mexican food lovers delight, the awesome owners can hire more staff and maybe move to a bigger...

I don't think I've ever left a 1 star review of any restaurant, but there's a first time for everything.

I guess I'll start at the very beginning, ordering. I went to the website and looked at the menu. I chose 3 ala cart items: a bean burrito, an al pastor burrito, and flauta carnitas. According to the online menu (from THEIR website) it should've come out to around $35 dollars, but to my surprise it came out to $45 plus tax.

So onto the food. We were expecting a completely different product. We'd hoped for the type of burrito that comes wrapped in parchment and foil, the kind you can pick up and eat with your hands. (See photos for what we actually got) To be sure we were disappointed, but if the food is as good as the reviews say it would be a total loss ... if only.

Food quality was abysmal. I started by trying to extract the flauta from the guacamole by eating the guacamole. It was a challenge.

Apparently, they're real big on salt here. I've never had salty guac, in fact I'm not sure I've eaten anything this salty that didn't come out of a plastic bag - with a touch of vinegar it've been on par with some Kettle Chips flavors (with a little less salt it'd be similar in flavor to soggy fried with extra salt)

So, eventually, I got to the actual flauta. Not crispy, not seasoned (except salt), and just meh. awful, but the flavor profile of baby food has more depth.

The al pastor was no better, flavor wise, and the tortilla was like leather. The plastic fork (part of the $1.50 per plate to go fee) just didn't cut it (no pun intended), so as much as could be stomached, eaten like slop.

Again, this food had no flavor. The lettuce had a little lemon, which was nice, but no cilantro - no fresh onion or green onion - no chilies - just salt.

The bean burrito didn't get touched.

The portions were huge, which was nice, but a ton of food that isn't great isn't...

Having grown up in California, and my hispanic heritage, it's very hard to give any Mexican food here a 5 star but, that's only due in part that they dont have alot of the ingredients out here that we use traditionally in Mexican cooking. I've been hard pressed to even find Mexican oregano at times, and you can't find epazote here, etc...But, I digress...the only reason I'm giving Luquins a 4 star is because of that which I stated. Otherwise, their food is very good. Ono. They make a really yummy relleno, and my husband and I ordered their sirloin carne asada (not traditional skirt or flank) is really very tasty, and mine was cooked perfect med.rare, and his was perfect medium (just like he ordered)we both commented how well seasoned it was, and that it was really tender and delicious (and I'm not typically a sirloin fan). I really like their tacos, beans, enchiladas, and the salsa is good but mild, ask for the hotter hot chile sauce and mix together if you like spicier. Yum! Their portions are certainly generous, enough for a gal like me who loves her Mexican food..The atmosphere is nice, not cheesy, but with tasteful and fun Mexican decor. Not tacky. They have a full service bar and I see patrons like to sit there and chat over drinks. It really is a very nice, and well run place. The staff are all SUPER nice, friendly, and they really make it so pleasant to be treated well, like, everyone is just so welcome. I highly recommend this nice little spot if you're here in Pahoa. It really is worth it and the key lime pie and Flan...