Paniolo Santa Maria Style BBQ — Restaurant in Hawaii

My wife and I went there on a weekday night. The owner greeted us at the door and recommended the tri tip steak and Ono plate. He told us that the Ono recipe was handed down to him from his dad! We excitedly ordered his recommendations.

There was a gentleman playing the saxophone on a stage in the outdoor area, so we sat at a table near the stage. He was an awesome performer and his music was very relaxing to listen to after a long day of hiking and sight seeing. We got there a little later in the evening and unfortunately his set had ended after only hearing just a few songs. But once he finished he stopped by our table, thanked us for listening and we chatted it up for several minutes.

The food came out and the steak was awesome and my wife very much enjoyed the Ono. She later remarked that the Ono was the best seafood she had eaten during our entire 12 day Hawaiian vacation!

The only problem we had was we ate here on the second to last night we were on Kauai and didn’t get a chance to return. You better believe when we get back to Kauai, this will be our first dining spot!!

Many thanks to the owner for a great meal and the musician for a pleasant evening. It’s nice to eat and relax at a place that is...

The food is decent. A bit pricey for the quality. I had the tri tip cheesesteak at the recommendation of the waitress. The steak was just okay (could've been seasoned better) but the veggies and cheese were good in it. The BLT was okay, but lacked mayo, which seems like a travesty if you're from the south where these are a normal part of restaurant menus. The salad was tasty.

They have a single waitress for the entire place and that means you may not see her again after you order. I guess that's why they have you pay/tip after you order instead of after your meal and service. She was probably doing the best she could but the lack of service was disappointing since we could never get her attention. They should try to find someone else or seat fewer people so you can actually ask for those simple things after your food arrives.

We apparently arrived on open mic night, so just a heads up that the entertainment will either be pretty decent or entertaining for all the wrong reasons while people live out their dream of being a musician now that...

My Photos on Yelp and TripAdvisor: We stopped her in Kapaa after going to the Thursday Tent Festival in Kapaa. They have live music and outdoor seating, as well as some indoor tables. You have to ask them to get you a key if you need to use a restroom, but the service is really good here. It is more laid back than a regular restaurant, a more fun and lively atmosphere. My husband got the chili hamburger with onion rings, and it was huge and had a really good flavor. I ordered the Steak and Cheese sandwich, with sweet potato fries and it was soooo good. The portion was very large and was plenty of food to eat. They have a special BBQ sauce that they make, and we put it on EVERYTHING! My parents in law got the Tri-Trip Steak and the Tri-Trip Salad. The portions are smaller on the plates, but the quality of the meat was higher. The pricing is good for this restaurant compared to a lot of other places. We would definitely go back if we went...