Kukui's (and Kai's Bar) on Kalapaki Beach — Restaurant in Kauai

The hostess Jayne and manager Shelby are what made our experience here wonderful!! Jayne is truly the embodiment of Aloha, when we arrived she informed us that they were a little busy because they had several large parties and that she would be right with us to get us seated. We waited for not even 5 minutes and she came back to let us know she would get us seated and that everyone was caught up so we wouldn’t have to wait too long on service. She kept telling us thank you so much, and really was just so so kind. You could tell she really cared made sure we were happy with where we were being seated and even exchanged a chair for my mom so she would be more comfortable. Truly such a beautiful sweet loving woman!! You really felt like you were family to her. Our server on the other hand may have had a bad day, or she really doesn’t care for her job. Coming from the food & beverage industry I understand that the job can be taxing and you can get busy which sometimes leads to being short with your guests but this lady really didn’t seem like she cared at all. Approached the table and just said are you ready to order? When I got my Maui onion soup it was pretty lukewarm and my server was no where to be found so I asked the manager if I could just get it warmed up a little more and she was so kind and apologized and brought it right out after it was heated up. The soup was great!! We got our dinner and my mom was not pleased with her entree of the kahlua coffee infused pork tenderloin. The sides had no flavor and the pork according to my mom was also dry and lacked flavor. The server did come to check on us right when we got our food but my mom hadn’t tried her dinner yet. So I waved her down a little later and let her know that my mom wasn’t happy with her dinner and she said what’s wrong with it? We explained what she didn’t like and she just took the plate started to walk away and then looked back at us and said do you want something else? My mom said no. I then ordered the vanilla crème brûlée which was tasty. We were done, she dropped off the check and said we took off your dinner, sorry, and walked away. We were sitting for about 10 minutes with the check, restaurant was basically empty and my mom wanted to leave so I found the manager to try to pay and informed her of our experience. I am usually not one to complain but as Shelby assured me, feedback is very important. She was apologetic, and so very kind, she thanked me for letting her know and I really felt heard in that instance. They also have kama’aina discount which she put onto the bill as well since our server did not. Thank you Shelby and Jayne!! We will...

Food is good, not great. But the staff is overwhelmingly bad. Ate here 5 times during my stay out of convenience, in such short interactions, had 5 poor experiences with staff. Inappropriate comments on wife’s pregnancy, closing lunch 15 minutes before said time, allowing kids to run around the restaurant at full speed and then KILL a baby chicken in their attempt to catch it, staff then left the dead baby in front of our table for 30 minutes before our server picked it up with bare hands and put it on a dining plate.

Lastly, what I hope wasn’t their manager came to the empty host stand after 5 minutes, apparently there’s an invisible line between the pool bar (in the middle of the restaurant) where you don’t have to have a shirt and the restaurant where you need a shirt over your swimsuit. That’s not a problem and makes some sense, but the server coped an attitude that I didn’t know this immediately and refused to seat my pregnant wife while I went to grab a shirt from my room. Like actually angry and rolling his eyes??? Then I insisted he seat her. As he did I stepped two steps into the restaurants invisible line to tell my wife what to order while I was gone to get my shirt, server then proceeded to raise his voice and yell about me not have my shirt. So I tossed the menu gently onto the table and walked away to not hurt this man’s fragile feelings. Because this coward child of a man was upset I didn’t gently lay the menu down… HE CALLED SECURITY and removed the plates from the table??? Then made my pregnant wife leave. Keep in mind there are probably 10 men at the bar without shirts on, and 30 laying out in chair just a few feet outside the restaurant. Just insane that all these things happened consecutive times. Food is good, but overpriced. Go here as...

My server was lovely. But, the host was very rude and I’m not someone who says that lightly. She asked what my room number was and I told her “0265” because that’s how the front desk wrote it on our check-in card and that’s what it said on our WiFi card. I didn’t ever realize the room was actually 265 without a zero in front. She told me in her 15 years of working there she had never heard that room number. I assured her I was staying there and I had a room on the ground floor. She said “there’s no way it’s on the ground floor. I’ve never heard that room number.” … you would think if she’s been here for 15 years she would have the capacity to realize I was putting a zero in front of my room number because that’s how it was written by the front desk. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has done that. She acted as though I was lying about staying at the resort and had a very weird and rude attitude about it. After I was seated, she made a point to come find me and tell me she was right and that my room number was 625. Overall just not the aloha vibes I thought I would receive on this island and too argumentative and passive aggressive for the price I’m paying to stay here and eat at their overpriced mediocre restaurant. Pictured is the room number as it was written by the front desk and as it appears on...