The Daley — Restaurant in Honolulu

UPDATES read to the end for updates

Swung by The Daley looking for a good burger. The burger itself, not bad. Decent flavor, cooked right. That’s where the compliments end.

The rest of the experience was a disaster. I stopped in around 11:30 a.m. on July 14 and witnessed one of the worst-run kitchens I’ve ever seen. Two guys were working, but the larger white guy wearing a bandana was the main problem. He had the worst attitude by far and was behind just about every sanitation issue I saw.

He didn’t change gloves after touching his face, including scratching his nose, and then handled food and utensils without a second thought. I watched him cross contaminate nonstop, no handwashing, no glove changes, nothing. If that’s how they act in front of customers, I can only imagine what goes on when no one’s watching.

Then the most disgusting part. While messing around with the other cook during food prep, the bandana guy swung a slice of cheese at the other’s face, hit him square on the cheek, picked it back up, and slapped it onto a burger like it was part of the recipe. That’s not quirky, that’s nasty. If cheese slapper has a problem with this review, he should self reflect.

Loud music, nonstop profanity, zero professionalism. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone called the health department and sent in a secret inspector. Honestly, they should. This hipster attitude and performative nonsense doesn’t belong in a kitchen.

Hawaii has too many great food spots that actually care about what they’re serving. The Daley isn’t one of them.

NOT GOOD FOR CHINATOWN.

EDIT

I contacted the Hawaii Department of Health. They also witnessed and confirmed the health violations.

"On Tue, Jul 15, 2025, 13:40 Nakanishi, Shani L. wrote: I went to inspect The Daily for the complaint. The cook did not change the gloves after touching his face. The manager scolded him and got him to washing hands and change his gloves. No miss handling of cheese slices was observed. The manager will be having a meeting with the staff to discuss the glove use and...

The Daley

I have to break this down in three sections: the food Service Environment

The food was outstanding …best smash burger I’ve have… not the best burger but the best smash burger. I ate 1/2 of the double down burger before I remembered to take a picture. Two patties both crispy char outside and juicy inside. The sauce could be a dipping sauce . Just good with the burger. Not my favorite kind of bun but it was good. My favorite fries!!! Grade A

The service was confusing…. When it was time for my order the guy was taking my order and checking the other orders at the same time. I said I want two burgers … the first one just the single burger and the other one a double down/fries/diet coke. $45 plus tip $52. I will explain later why that price was not shocking.

Order comes out and he said thats two regular burgers. I said i ordered a single and a double… he said im looking at the receipt….you also have a double. I said I guess i will just save it somehow. The cook jumps in and says we can give you a refund. Ok. That never happened. The guy comes over with a reciept from the customer that ordered before me and he said this is your new reciept. They acted like they were giving me a refund and did nothing.

The place was too hot and humid to enjoy the food. At one point i asked if there was water or if they sold bottle water. The answer: No I did notice a jug of water near the trash but I guess the guy forgot about that. Later I learned about outside seating but wouldve changed anything.

No parking, we paid to park in a lot and walk. The area is a little sketchy but no issues. We were on our way to the airport after staying a few places that charge more for food so I wasnt shocked at the Daley. At this point I just wanted something better than fast food. So we found this highly rated place. Maybe they just want locals in there… not sure. I would recommend this place for...

The Daley is a quaint little burger joint in downtown Chinatown. They have a simplistic menu, offering only their amazing smash burger (single or double patty), crinkle cut fries, a shake (I didn’t try the shake as it wasn’t available when I stopped in), and a veggie burger option.

The smash style burger patty was great!! I had never heard of a smash burger before, but after trying the Daley burger I am a convert. Regular burgers just don’t cut it in comparison. The burger is nice size with just a single patty, however they do offer a double for those who go in feeling really hungry. The crinkle cut fries are delicious! They have that taste of fries when you fry them at home in grease on the stove. Very good, but I swear you can feel your arteries clogging lol. They serve you a generous portion of fries too. The real star of the meal is the house-made pickle sauce. Think like McDonald’s Mac-sauce, only less thousand island-y tasting and with big chunks of pickle in it. SO GOOD. My only real complaint is they didn’t have any other condiments when we ate there other than ketchup- this could have changed now though. Some hot sauce or Tabasco or mustard would have been a nice addition.

The restaurant is VERY small. I think there is less than 5ish high-top tables with the tall bar stool seating (which is pretty uncomfortable, but I don’t believe one should be sitting in there for too long just to eat a burger.) I also question the accessibility of the seating for those with mobility issues. There is additional seating around the bar. You can watch your burgers be made as the flat top grill and cook are right behind the bar so you’re able to see your meal be created which is cool.

If you’re a fan of a good burger or want to try a unique burger sauce I def...