Pier 9 by Sam Choy — Restaurant in Honolulu

In a nut shell, the experience of dining at Pier Nine by Sam Choy (PN) is like being back to my college campus cafeteria, which was reminiscent of a depressing era. It, much like PN, had a fairly decent spread of unimaginative food, with timid workers trying to peddle products they would never exchange money for; and the students forced to dig deep to be creative in combining different food station components to assemble something eatable and tasty because they do not have any means of leaving the campus, which is surrounded by an ocean and rocky reef and a highway packed with road rage speed demons.

The burger station spat out reheated, overcooked, leathery patties in store bought sesame seed buns. Sauces of bbq, teriyaki, and thousand island, as well as deluxe-status-making toppings are laid out in self serve containers. The cook--the patty reheater--will over cook that under seasoned "meat" (is it?), which is his only role in the burger assembling process.

The pizza station has only three kinds of pizzas at one time. I'm sure if you're willing to wait, a customized pizza can be assembled from the limited toppings. The crust reminded me of Sbarro or something that was crispy without any meaningful taste. The sauce tasted...manufactured.

The most interesting appliance in the joint were the panini presses. The sad thing were the choices of cold cut meats and toppings--no bacon in sight. I'm sure if given some time and experimentations--with some pizza sauce or salad dressings--a respectable cuban sandwich could be, theoretically, made.

There are no trays provided to carry multiple plates at a time for those trying to minimize the amount of trips between table and food stations. After busing your own table into the trash container located across from the restrooms, I am left to wonder if the cooks and workers know what a great burger or pizza or sandwich should be because the cashier surely did not...

I’m a student at hpu. Half the time the dining hall doesn’t have what’s on the menu online or on the screens in the dining hall itself. The experience is very overwhelming. Super crowded and loud. Once I went in and asked one of the men working at the grill about something on the menu. He told me they didn’t have it and said it was in another place at the dining hall. I went and looked and there was no such thing. So I had to wait another 15 mins in line. I ended up just leaving and not eating lunch because it was just too overwhelming and frustrating. Also the younger ladies working there sometimes have the worst attitude. Once I asked for a cookie and the lady rolled her eyes at me, put the cookie in the bag, and tossed it on the counter instead of handing it to me. Also overall cleanliness is a concern as multiple times I’ve watched them put spilled food back into the containers and mix different foods together from different containers. I’ve found hair in my food a couple times that definitely wasn’t mine. I could go on with complaints but that’s all I feel...

11 buck all you can eat lunch?

Game on.

Its not a huge selection but the burger and salad alone...