Lava’s on Poipu Beach — Restaurant in Kauai

Pretty unimpressed with our experience here the other night. The only reason we decided on here over going for something local was because of how long our travel day was and just being too tired to go anywhere else. Just shy of 20 minutes from the time we sat down until we got our waters, and nearly an hour before we got our entrees after we placed the order. I didnt expect much from the cocktail but did expect at least a serving of alcohol considering it was $14. I think we saw our waitress 3 times before our food arrived, and twice was to take our drink and then food order. Coconut shrimp was quite good but didn't come out very hot. Prime rib was thin and over cooked, au jus and horseradish made it decent though, and the brussel sprouts were good as well. The macadamia crusted Mahi Mahi was overcooked and the sauce couldn't save it. Overall there were good elements, but we expected more from the established restaurants at this property. We will definitely be sticking with local restaurants for the remainder of our time on the island.

Update: We came back for breakfast after my wife reminded me we had the breakfast package with our stay (and we wanted to spend all day by the pool & beach). We actually really liked it! The prices for their breakfast were much more reasonable for the restaurant. The wait staff was much better, our wait much shorter (despite it being just as busy as dinner), and the food was quite good. I had the Loco moco (wagyu patty and red wine gravy 👌) and my wife had the sunrise French toast. Had this been our first experience with Lava's it would have been a...

I have never been so appalled by handling from a "hospitality company". The desk was fine, the bell hop great, cabana boys were wonderful, even the house keepers were good... EVERYTHING else... Just issue after issue.

We went for apps and drinks at Lava’s on Poipu Beach. Everything was fine, until shift change. Our new waitress informed us she was pulling a double and finishing with the cabanas. Ok no worries.

Well after half an hour she never came back. The sun was glaring in on my 6 month old. We ask the host desk to move to more shade. This was an epic failure apparently.

From then on we were completely ignored. No one checked on us for 25 minutes. We asked the waitress in our area if we can at least have some menus. She said I don't know who sat you but you're not my responsibility. She excelerated her attitude, didn't want to serve us. After some back and forth, she finally agreed to bring Menus. At this point I just didn't want my food compromised. I opted to leave.

On the way out I stopped at the hostess desk to speak with the manager to provide the feedback... Well epic failure #2...

the hostess called the manager and he did not even have the decency or courtesy of meeting me face to face. I relayed the experience that we had just suffered through and in his immediate response was to try and explain away all of their actions... No accountability. No empathy, JUST EXCUSES. I asked him again if you would please walk over from RumFire... Mere feet away... to handle the situation professionally. He declined he "didn't have time"....

We just returned from our trip to Kauai where we stayed at the Sheraton Poipu. We loved Lavas. The on-site restaurant at the beach and by the pool. It is an open air, cozy restaurant with fabulous servers. Every single server we had for our 10 days there was so kind accommodating, and friendly. We usually ate breakfast here because they had wonderful breakfast selections. You could get loco moco , a Classic breakfast, vegetarian omelettes, breakfast sandwiches , and oatmeal just to name a few selections. And everything was delicious! No one had a single bad thing the whole time we were there. We ate lunch here where we had burgers and the coconut shrimp. We had dinners here because you have to have reservations everywhere you go and there were three nights that we didn’t have them so we walked in put our name on the list and waited maybe 10 minutes at most. The dinner entrees were varied with something for everyone vegetarian, gluten free etc. And their cocktails were good as well. Our favorite was the Lava Flow. We made many good acquaintances here and miss them now that we are at home. The menus online do not reflect the varied menu they now have. I wish I had thought to take a picture. If you are staying at the Sheraton make sure you give them a try. Some of the older reviews here do not reflect the new menu and the added Covid precautions this restaurant practices. We give...