Huli Huli Tiki Lounge — Restaurant in Liberty Township

This is the very first review I have posted about any business. Unfortunately, this comes from feeling a deep sense of being wronged on a very fundamental level. I and 8 other women dined at Huli Huli Sunday in celebration of a friend’s birthday. We were there almost 4 hours and spent upwards of $500. We also tipped our server 20-50% over the 20% gratuity included on our tickets. So that will tell you, that while there were some mishaps with our food and drinks and while we essentially had to get our own water from a dispenser and help bus our table, we were fairly pleased with the atmosphere and the appetizers. Apart from the levity that accompanies a stellar group of accomplished caring women, our server Sierra was a delight- we thought. She stated clearly to us that she had never waited at this restaurant and was instead the bar tender. With that in mind, she was nice, informative, and held up to a large & somewhat demanding table at times. None of her colleagues helped her in any way. I share this because our perception of Sierra & of our experience was grossly at odds w/the narrative Sierra was sharing with her colleagues. Apparently while serving us, Sierra was communicating that she felt disrespected & attacked- to the point where she dissolved into sobs while eating a lollipop. We only discovered this when another staff member approached our table as we were collecting our to go items and AFTER we had cashed out. This staff member implied she was in leadership and very loudly told our table the restaurant was done serving us. That we needed to collect our stuff immediately and GET OUT. And that while she did not witness anything, she did not provide much detail other than that we called the server by the wrong name. She remained loud, aggressive and made no effort to pull anyone aside or maintain decorum. When we indicated we were still waiting on food, she snapped back that no one was getting anything, She ultimately caved when we told her we had paid for the food. Her response: if you’re not waiting on food you need to leave. All the while, our former server Sierra was serving another table right beside us. Several members of the party departed immediately- rightfully blindsided. None of us were drunk or unruly. And to be honest, if we were the type of party to disrespect a server we thought did well, we would have completely come for the chick who asked us to leave. We didn’t however. We sat quietly- essentially wondering if we were in the twilight zone & asking each other if there was a negative interaction with Sierra. While we sat, the owner approached us and indicated he was at home and the staff called him. He said he had only spoken with Sierra about 10 seconds and that she “was a mess.” Incapable of providing details. About 5 of us stayed and had a calm rational discussion with him. We told him clearly we enjoyed Sierra and were planning to promote the restaurant. We informed him there was no mal-intent in anyone’s behavior and that we believed Sierra mis-judged the situation. BUT THAT in any event, we found it regrettable that her experience was poor. We did encourage him to watch the security tape that was directly above our table. This was largely due to the fact he said his policy is to have patrons kicked out if they physically or verbally attack the staff- which he admitted did not appear to be the case. He also made clear that the fake manager was just a friend of Sierra’s who apparently - in standing up for her friend- felt it appropriate to demean a table full of the only minorities in the restaurant. Which brings me to the end….one can only wonder if Sierra was quietly intimidated by a table of African Americans. If her delicate sensibilities were so overrun by 9 females laughing, having a ball and including her in the party. I am very familiar with Powell. Extremely familiar with its WHITENESS and its timidity whenever even 1 of us are present. The version of events are so far apart it’s interesting. We will never return and are exploring additional steps due to the gross...

I went for my birthday lunch. Upon entering they offered us a table. I kindly requested a booth, at which time I was informed, “We are not serving booths at this time.” Then, we were seated at a table that was directly across the walkway from the booth that I’d requested to sit at. So it was what, 4-6 feet away? They could have just as easily delivered the food and drinks there. I then got to spend my entire meal looking at the booth I wished we would have been seated in. I was going for ambiance. I wanted that whole islander feel the booths offered. I wanted to share with my guest the stories of going to a similar restaurant when I was a child and how much Huli Huli reminded me of it.

I’d inquired about getting a strawberry daiquiri, to which I was informed they did not offer. I was disappointed, but I understand their need to have unique drinks.

I then requested a sweet tea, and I was informed they had something similar to Chai tea, and I was asked if that was okay. I agreed, but once they brought it to me, I couldn’t stomach it. My guest, who eats ANYTHING… and I mean ANYTHING couldn’t tolerate it either. For as long as I have known him he has never turned food or drinks away. He’ll scarf it down and go on with his day, but this? He said he just couldn’t drink it. So I had to revert to a trusty Coca Cola.

I’d asked the waitress to explain the different dishes to me, and she gave an honest description. I ordered my meal and requested the sauce on the side, due to known allergies. They delivered it as requested. I dipped my fork into the sauce and tasted it. It had stated it was, “mild.” It seemed okay to me, so I added it to my entree. That was a mistake! A HUGE MISTAKE!!!! (On my part). Before I knew it my nose was running, tongue and lips burning and tingling. I began coughing, unable to drink my coke because it hadn’t been delivered yet. Thankfully they provide glasses of water.

The drinks took longer to be delivered than expected. The first one they tried to deliver was the wrong drink all together. The second, as I said before was just awful, and the time delay between that and a Coke, it was unreasonable. I hadn’t asked for a mixed drink. How long does it take to get a Coke to a table for someone who was clearly dissatisfied with their first drink? If I was the waitress it would have been done right away, and I would not have waited for the bartender to deliver it.

I think it’s fair to say I was disappointed, especially after someone leaving an amazing review the other day.

I doubt I’ll return, as it was in an area that I do not frequent, and I’d rather eat elsewhere.

Someone has put a lot of effort into decorating. It would be nice if their service was on par with their atmosphere. The food, other than the “mild” sauce, was fair, but it’s kind of hard to mess up white rice. The chicken was...

Unfortunately, this is not a positive review. To start, the food. Bao Buns. I was asked if I wanted them steamed or fried. I requested steamed. When they arrived, the filling tasted delicious. Unfortunately, steamed basically to them means take the bao bun out of the package put it on a plate and fill it with the filling and serve it to the guest. The bao bun felt like vinyl when biting into it and chewing on it. Not steamed at all. Cold. Hard/chewy. My son got the Hawaiian plate, which is a beef patty and gravy with a fried egg on top of rice. He was given a fork to eat it with. When we asked for a knife, a plastic knife arrived seven minutes later. The second issue was basically customer service. I had called to make reservations the night before, as this was a birthday celebration for my adult autistic son. Just the two of us. When I called to make a reservation to make sure we could get a good seat I was informed that on Saturdays they only take reservations of five or more, even after I explained the situation. So I decided to take a gamble and showed up 20 minutes after they opened. All the booths were taken except for one. The waitress was walking us to a small table tucked away in a dark corner, I asked if we could have the open booth, she replied that is reserved. Of course we were seated in the dark corner table. Five minutes later, I watched a couple come in and be seated at the booth that I inquired about. Two people. I was just told that the table is reserved for them, I was also told the night before that I could not reserve a table for two on a Saturday.

If it were just one bad plate, or maybe one rude server, I probably wouldn’t have made this review. And probably would try them again. But overall I would have to say I was very disappointed.

Basically come for the atmosphere, not for the food or customer service.

NOT GOING TO LIE - VERY DISAPPOINTED THAT THEY ONLY RESPOND TO POSITIVE REVIEWS - AND DO NOT MAKE AN EFFORT TO ADDRESS THE SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THEIR...