Heavenly Island Lifestyle Hawaii Kai — Restaurant in Honolulu

Aloha, I went to this place yesterday (on a less busy Friday) & had a very bad experience. The manager, Jaime, & even workers, especially Keli, had attitudes & a lack of customer service which made us very upset. Even when we went to make a reservation for the next day for Saturday, it was a hassle & were ignored until we begged a 3rd person to come help us make one. When Keli ignored us, I asked our server to do it & she didn’t know how & then told Keli and we saw Keli’s hand movement waving her away when she told her we needed to make a reservation. It was upsetting. We only got a reservation because I flagged down a third person, another waiter, who knew how to make the reservation for us. Keli made sure to run over to tell him it would be a busy Saturday holiday weekend so to make sure to double check (why didn’t she just help us from the beginning instead of ignoring us multiple times?). That was what made it the most maddening & my toddler was even frustrated at how we were being treated as she watched on at the disrespect we received. The manager, Jaime, when told about all of the discrepancies twice that day just said, eh we’re busy, instead of showing some kind of customer service at any point each time we spoke to her or apologizing for what happened to us. We were intentionally ignored & even the waitress was subpar & made our whole experience so bad since she rarely came by our table & we had to actively seek her out many times. It seemed like the work & customer environment was not a good one at all with this leadership. They also don’t answer the phone for people to make reservations for the weekend which is why I waited to make my reservation at the end.

Honestly if that Friday had been my first experience there, I wouldn’t have come back to this place ever again. We came back today (on a more busy Saturday) for our reservation since my toddler loves their breakfast & had a very different & pleasant experience with great customer service plus the ambiance & mood of the workers was even nice today in comparison to the bad service we received the day before. We felt happy, the mood was great, the waiter, Jarran, was great & we had been there before when Zach was managing the place & the place just runs much more smoothly plus everyone (both workers & customers) are happier. We felt like we were on vacation & were treated great by Zach & Jarran; both even treat the children so great (which was not the case with the Friday crew who didn’t even offer a high chair). The work staff on the busier Saturday were great so there is no excuse for the Friday less busy staff to be so bad. What a great difference having a different manager & waiting staff on Saturday did to pick us back up & happy about the place. Kudos to Zach who was the amazing manager on Saturday & Jarran who was an amazing waiter who even made my toddler happy & comfortable to be there plus left giving him high 5’s.

This place needs to hire more people like Zach & Jarran for their awesome customer service, patience, leadership, & pleasant work environment for both workers & customers. Jarran & Zach, thank you because you are the ones who make us want to come back to this place to eat & enjoy.

I hope this place makes changes to ensure it doesn’t develop a bad reputation. I will change my rating from 2 to 5 later once there are positive changes to this place to ensure customers are kept happy. I left my first star for Zach, Jarran, & the Saturday crew, a second star because the food & drinks are great, but the last 3 stars will come with time if this place shapes up to the level of the Saturday crew. I am scared to bring family & friends later because it is currently a crapshoot for both: 1. if you get someone to answer the phone for a reservation (Yelp is not an option for older folks trying to make a reservation) & 2. You get the proper crew the day you come by to ensure great customer service & a great...

I really wanted to love this place because a friend of mine loved it so much they gave me a gift card to experience it myself. Sad to say I’m glad it wasn’t my own money wasted here. It was a Monday at 11:50am when I walked in and noted a sign that said wait to be seated, no staff near by so I waited, no big deal but it was a precursor to the lack of service for the entirety of my visit. I was acknowledged, not warmly mind you, and given a seat and a menu. I asked for the restroom and was directed in the direction. When I came back to the table there was a glass of water and cutlery there as well, nice, attentive. I made a menu choice and closed the menu so they could see I had made a decision. The server then dropped off another water, obviously didn’t realize I already had one and ran off to another table without so much as saying he would be right back to take my order. He did return and take my order of the pork belly Banh Mi sandwich. Another server dropped off my sandwich as she was whizzing by, and I asked if she could also cash me out. She stated she would get my server. My server eventually returned and although I had the gift card on the table ready to be used he just dropped his portable POS machine on the table and sped off. Didn’t even bother to ask how my food was. Which by the way was edible. The best I can give it. Not sure how the pork belly was cooked but it seemed steamed. No crisp or chard on it whatsoever, imagine steamed fat 🤢. Anyway the server finally returned and processed the gift card. Never asked how everything was. Before I left I overheard my server complaining to another employee that he was having to do everything, bus, serve, host, etc, he seemed irritated at her, and she was not taking it kindly. Extremely unprofessional. The place was not full or super busy but obviously he needed help. Where was the manager, they should be there for support. Not a happy, warm, inviting atmosphere. Still have money on the gift card. Won’t be using it,...

The main problem with the Heavenly in Hawaii Kai is the service. They have this weird practice of someone you’ve never seen dropping off your food order, literally just slamming it down in front of you, and then hustling off before you can even look up. This has happened every time I’ve been there, which is 3-4 times since I live within walking distance. Normally you have one waiter who takes your order, brings your food, pauses for a bit to make sure everything is in order and you have what you need, and then comes back to check on you and/or bring you the tab.

Last week I went there for breakfast only because the nearby Moena Cafe, which has great food and service, was hosting an event and I couldn’t get in. The waiter who took my order at Heavenly was patient with the changes I wanted to make on a standard menu item. Even though her explanation about how the changes would affect the pricing turned out to be confusing I give her credit for being nice. The issue was the the ghost who delivered my food, appearing and disappearing in a matter of seconds, a) didn’t warn me that the cast iron serving pan was extremely hot, b) wasn’t there long enough for me to confirm that the food was what I ordered, c) didn’t ask if I needed anything else. The original waiter appeared about 10 minutes later to ask if I needed anything (which I did) but also seemed ready to take off as though she didn’t expect I would ask for anything. She didn’t ask how the food was. Isn’t it kind of basic that a waiter will ask how everything is after you’ve started eating? Not here. In one previous visit the food was wrong (not what I ordered). Another time the pasta had way too much pesto sauce and was inedible. Both times, my dinner companions were almost finished with their food by the time the waiter showed up again so I didn’t have time to reorder. It’s just weird. I will not...