Betty's Burgers Honolulu — Restaurant in Honolulu

I have been doing a hunt,if you will, for the last couple months for the best burger. I am no critic by any means but like Hercules (Hur-cuel) from Murder on the Orient Express, I look for something I like and then enjoy it immensely. (I do not give any mention to the large chains of quick burgers because I do not enjoy them.) After going to two other locations and enjoying those burgers, my next stop was at Betty's Burgers over on S King Street and University. It was recommended my one of my colleges as a great burger place in town and to my amazement, he was spot on! First off, its a "blast from the past" if you will with a diner feel and the music to go along with it. I can only imagine that this is what Hawaii had back in the day. Which the owners Jed and Moe can probably attest to. With the stage set, I was only to dig into the plot. You stand in line and order at the counter. A large menu is posted on the wall to your right and is handwritten in very large colorful letters the incredible menu they have at Betty's. Many burger selections with many different flavor profiles. Chicken and even a plant based burger (which I have yet to try). I ordered a simple cheeseburger with fries. I wanted to see their quality in a simple burger before jumping into different flavors. The cashier was bubbly and smiling and very helpful as she rang my order up. I noticed that the to-go bags all had colorful drawings of sea life on them and asked if they hand draw the pictures on the bags to which she responded yes. Bravo. Next I was given a number to place on the table so the wait staff could correctly match the food to the customer and I sat down. I enjoyed perusing the art work on the walls as I waited and soon my food was to me in under ten minutes. It was piping hot. I had to wait to enjoy the very delicious steak fries until they cooled off a little. They are big fries too. You can see the seasoning on them which gives you that excited feeling to dig in! The outside is every bit as yummy as they look and pure potato on the inside. Well done! Next it was onto the burger! The bun was warm and soft like it was just made. I could smell the amazing juices from the tomatoes and cheese to the juicy burger itself. I took a bite and WOW was it amazing. Cooked to perfection with just a slight hint of pink in the middle! Every flavor had its place! They all complimented each other and made for a great burger. It was juicy and tender and moist. I could tell immediately that this was quality meat. You could taste the seasoned ground beef, not just a processed meat patty like you get at fast food. It appeared to be hand made due to its shape. It had a slight bulge in the middle like it was rolled and pressed by hand. The whole burger was by far the best I have had on the island so far. I will eventually be onto the next place to try their burger but I am enjoying my time at Betty's until then.

Mahalo Betty's...

Visiting from El Paso, Texas. Loved this really cool burger joint!! A group of 14 and we were accommodated with no issues. The ambiance is perfect. We ate outside in the beautiful Hawaii weather. I got the shroom and guac burger and added jalapenos. My husband got the deluxe burger and we got onion rings. Everything was so very good. The meat was seasoned and cooked perfectly. The attention to flavor detail is perfection. I didnt know what to expect when i ordered Jalapeños, but they took it to the next level. The Jalapeños were fresh slightly grilled, not canned or.pickled, which i would have been fine with, as thats what most places serve, but that was not the case here, and as a very picky Mexican when it comes to spicy anything, I can only say Thank you for that, it made my meal extra special, and yes, its the attention to those special little things that makes all the difference. The sauce on the burgers is delicious and the buns are soft and adds even more to the burger, it clearly is not there as a filler, but as an actual burger ingredient. The atmosphere is very relaxed. I loved the onion rings as well. Even the drinks, although just fountain drinks were really great, crisp ice cold coke zero for me and I dont normally get a refill, but on this occasion I had to, happily. Thank you so much for a wonderful meal and an even better...

Read all the reviews and was looking forward to trying this place...unfortunately, it was disappointing and I couldn't understand why there are so many 5 star reviews. Maybe we were there on an off day but this place is average at best. We dined in and the place was hot, loud, cramped, kinda dirty, and had lots of flies.

The food isn't bad. It tastes fine. The problem is they call their hamburgers "smash burgers", but what they served is not remotely "smashed". Smash burgers (like their name suggests) are supposed to be smashed thin/flat and have crispy edges that overlap the bun. What we were served were lumpy, small, thick burgers. They basically looked like someone grabbed a chunk of ground beef and threw it on the griddle, with zero shaping or smashing. The hamburger patty I was served only covered half of my bun. My son's looked the same...lumpy, misshapen and half the size of the bun. I guess you could say it was kinda like a smashed meatball shape. The fries were fine. Again, nothing amazing, but fine. They don't have a combo deal, you have to buy fries and drinks all separately, so it adds up.

Overall, the uncomfortable dining environment and the not smashed-"smash burger" just didn't make it a great...