Boots & Kimo's Homestyle Kitchen — Restaurant in Oʻahu

UPDATE from the first review:

Dear Boots and Kimo's,

I must admit, my recent Saturday visit to your establishment left me feeling like I had been stuck in a gloomy rain shower. However, I am pleased to say that lightning can indeed strike twice, and on my second visit, I witnessed a redemption of both service and food.

I was greeted with smiles and warm hospitality that made me feel like an esteemed guest rather than just another face in the queue.

The coffee, oh the coffee! It flowed like a river of liquid gold, and the coffee angels took my order with grace and charm. They even made sure to check on me throughout the meal, ensuring my cup was never empty, and their coffee prowess deserved an encore-worthy tip.

As I perused the menu, I braced myself for a potential déjà vu of disappointment. But to my astonishment, the "onolicious" rice was ono-delightful, the macadamia pancake oozed with deliciousness, and the kalbi breakfast meat, cooked to perfection, had me savoring every succulent bite.

Even more delightful was the revised bill that made my wallet dance with joy. The prices had mellowed, in sync with the improved quality, making the overall experience a harmonious balance of satisfaction and value.

Boots and Kimo's, you have turned the tide with this redemption. My faith in your establishment has been renewed, and I now wholeheartedly recommend your eatery to fellow food adventurers seeking a palate-pleasing paradise. Kudos to the team for listening to their patrons and bringing back that culinary love that made you shine in the past.

Until my next visit, may your food continue to dazzle, and your service always remains as delightful as a sun-kissed island breeze.

With five stars of genuine appreciation!

First Post:

Dear Boots and Kimo's,

I am extremely disappointed with my most recent Sunday visit to your establishment. I had high hopes for my first visit to your new location after moving back to the island, but unfortunately, it was a major letdown.

First, the requirement to order in line, pay, and tip made the dining experience feel cold and impersonal. Why?

There was no customer service at the table aside from taking the coffee order after I forgot to order outside in line and being offered a refill, which was also disappointing seeing that two coffees cost eight dollars and some change. Also, a 20% tip was not in order after the lack of customer service, so for future customers, don't tip at the beginning when you're paying first and wait until the end to assess the quality of customer service.

Furthermore, I found your menu to be extremely overpriced, especially considering the quality of the food. The "onolicious" rice was "ono-dry & ono-overcooked", the macadamia pancake was dry, and it used to have great macadamia sauce. Please bring back the cooks who used to put "love" into making items for breakfast & lunch for your customers. The $30.99 Kalbi breakfast meat was undercooked. It's not surprising that I was dissatisfied with my meal when my favorite three items were not up to the standards of the Boots and Kimo's I remember from the past.

To make matters worse, my bill came out to over $90 for two people, with added coffee costs on top of that. This is an exorbitant price to pay for such a disappointing breakfast experience that used to be great.

Overall, I would not recommend Boots and Kimo's to anyone based on my recent experience. The lack of personal interaction with customers and the overpriced menu with subpar food preparation made for a truly disappointing visit.

Boots and Kimo's I hope that you take these criticisms seriously and work to improve the dining experience for your customers...

We were there exactly 10 years ago, 3-4 times since, and again last week and the previous visits were FAR better than the experience last Thursday.

To start, the ordering system, where you decide outside the restaurant, pay, then are seated is clearly an avenue to get as many people in and out as quickly. It also masks fees and service charges and you don't notice until you're seated. I also understand adding a gratutity for large parties, most establishments do and it's an acceptable practice. But most restaurants do this for groups of 8 or more. B&K adds 18% for parties of 6 or more.

Next was the service - The staff looked like we were interrupting something they had to do which was more important. Drinks came AFTER the food. Plates were not set on the table but handed to the diner. When asked for additional plates to share items, Chinet (paper plates) were provided. Summoning someone for assistance was like flagging down a race car.

Finally, the food - A really long distance from the experience from years past The biggest take-away from the food was the pancakes did not have the texture and lightness as if they were made to order. It was obvious that these had previously been prepared in batches and slathered in sauce (which was also lacking) after the order was placed. Hamburger steak was over-seasoned and also tasted like assembly-line fare. The only members of our party who enjoyed the food were those who had never been there before.

Needless to say, we will not be spending any more of our hard-earned at Boots & Kimo's. Our previous 3-4 visits over the years were great. Now they only seem to want to get as many people in and out as quickly as possible. We're off to...

This is the worst dining experience I've ever had. To begin, the staff queues the customers outside and makes them order their food before allowing them in the door. While viewing the posted menu, there are THREE different signs informing customers there's no outside food or drink allowed inside. Also, there's apparently a 60 min limit for dining. I mean, are these public notices really necessary?

Once inside, you have to pay before being seated. There's a 2% "service fee" added to all orders. The default choices for adding a tip are 20%, 22%, and 24%. This is all before you are even shown to a place to sit!

After paying, the hostess made it clear that there was no open seating, and gestured to a table in the corner, saying we were to sit at "N12" which had two banquet-style chairs with ripped upholstery and missing foam.

After a short wait, the server brought juice and coffee, but then made separate trips to bring various food items, instead of serving us both at the same time. They didn't bring water to the table until I asked.

As for the food, the mac nut sauce was heavenly, as usual, but the waffle was no different from a cheap hotel breakfast buffet waffle, except that it cost $18... Plus the 2% service fee.

All in all, this place is way too uptight and regimented in their policies. The staff was not friendly or smiling, and their prices are just too high for the quality of the food. Avoid coming here if you can, it's...