Java Kai — Restaurant in Kauai

Great reviews for a reason! Day one we came for the smoothies. We came back the next day for breakfast after seeing their food.

Planning a hike yesterday, we wanted some protein, but not a heavy meal so we decided to have smoothies with a protein boost added in. I got the papaya date shake and my wife got the Little Monkey. Both were excellent. Generous too. They filled the cups to the brim! Careful putting your lid on so you don't squeeze some over the side (he said from experience).

With no hiking planned this morning, we went back for breakfast. Great coffee, which one would expect. My wife got bagel and lox and I got the Sunrise Brekkie. Both very good but I forgot to take pictures I was so hungry. But should you decide to get sweets for breakfast, I did get some photos of their pastry cases. Great looking treats. I also noticed they have some gluten-free cookies available. Seemed like other gluten-free choices available on the menu too.

Oh, and as you can see from the little counter sign, you can order online. I would highly recommend that between 8-10 AM. And if you only want drinks, it might be faster to walk around to the back side of the building where they have a window that takes drink orders only. It's also where you pick up online...

the food and drinks are good! there is a bit of a long wait after ordering your food (we waited about 25 minutes) but that’s to be expected at such a busy place, so no complaints about having to wait, we understand and don’t mind. the issue is that some of the staff members are clearly in such awful moods and it makes for an uncomfortable atmosphere. i’ve worked in the food service industry myself and i understand how miserable it can be. but if you’re getting to the point where you’re rolling your eyes at customers, making annoyed comments under your breath, and snapping “excuse me” with a sour and angry expression and tone, maybe the food service industry isn’t for you. i hated working in that industry so i found a different job. it’s not fair to your polite customers who are tipping you generously and paying a LOT of money for their food and drinks to have to feel like an inconvenience to you and your establishment. also, as a note to customers who will be dining here, remember to clean up after yourselves and put your dishes away!! there are signs clearly stating to clean up your mess and buss your table, so do it! the employees are busy enough without having to clean up after you...

My husband and I visited on 7/28/24 around 10:30. It was noticeably busy, but we were able to make it up to the counter and order by 10:45. We were given a buzzer for a burrito, a bagel, and a smoothie. We sat outside and waited until around 11:10 since it seemed like it had been a while. We went in and asked, and saw our smoothie sitting on the counter but no food. We were told we could take the smoothie but that food would take “8 more minutes”. We knew they were busy, so we said that’s all good and headed back outside to wait. At 11:30, we still hadn’t received our food and so we went back in to ask and they said “5 more minutes” and offered a refund if it wasn’t ready in 5 minutes. At 11:40, our buzzer finally went off, and a new server brought the food to the counter. We honestly didn’t care about getting a refund, but it was pretty frustrating to have waited nearly an hour for breakfast sandwiches and get offered a refund but not honored one. The food was fine, but we were pretty turned off by the staff who didn’t seem to understand why we might be frustrated about waiting that long for food. We were bummed — wish it could’ve been a...