Bravo Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Oʻahu

We arrived at about 11:15 am. The dining room was almost half full which was surprising to me for a weekday. The hostess wasnt in sight but came to see us right away. We were seated quickly and the server also came right away. She delivered our drinks right away and she asked if we were ready to order, which we werent. Btw our servers name was Kimie. In a small amount of time another server just passing by asked if we were ready to order. It's so great when you see other staff helping each other out with tables. This wasnt her table and she wont get the tip, but she helped out. That's awesome. Wish I had caught her name to give her props. I had the lunch special half lasagna and casar salad. The caesar dressing was a little watery to me. It would be better if it was creamier. It also seemed to be served on iceberg lettuce which is not traditional for caesar salad but it was crisp and fresh. The lasagna was good. I tend to be picky especially if its overly greasy. It was good. It had an appropriate ratio of pasta, ricotta, meat, & spinach. It was served with a good amount of marinara sauce with big chunks of diced tomatoes. I had 4 garlic bread knots total so I'm leaving this lunch feeling pretty full. The lunch special is available til 2pm (weekdays only?) It only cost $10.49.

My bf got the veal parmigiana assuming it came with noodles for $17.49. He chose pasta salad for his side. We later checked the menu and it is not advertised to come with salad. The pasta salad was fresh. It had raw broccoli and zucchini, olives, & bell pepper. He said he likes mine better, but he ate it all. He turned down a bite of my lasagna and the last bread so he also went home full.

We got our check at 11:53. It took us only 20 min in and out! All in all this was a great experience with attentive staff and good food. We saw people coming in to be seated non-stop and by the time we left, the waiting area was also full. It appears they have a busy lunch so...

I remain perplexed as to why this place is so very busy all the time. It's fun for groups, and the food is fine but basic. There are a lack of Italian restaurants on the island, but I don't know if you could really call what they serve here Italian. It's mostly American fare, heavy on the pasta. It's got a little something for everyone, which is probably part of what makes it so popular. I'm just not sure. If Olive Garden were ever to come to Hawaii, I'm pretty sure they would clear this place out. But until then, this is it.

They serve free garlic balls, which are really small Garlic Knot rolls. Oily. Garlicky. But yeah, mostly just really oily.

Unusually angled bathrooms.

Accepts credit cards.

High chairs available.

Parking is free, but very very tight. Lot is shared with Anna Miller's Restaurant, Starbucks, Jamba Juice, and a bunch of other shops. Be careful when parking, as people will shoot in from any side of the lane. Handicapped parking is oddly located, down at the very front, driving around the restaurant.

Unless you have reservations, and sometimes even if you do have reservations, be prepared to wait. There is banquette seating inside for waiting, or you can wait outside on some of...

Food was not good, staff was fantastic but overworked and spread thin, and prices were way over inflated for what it was. Whoever is saying that the food was fantastic, I would question their ability to review restaurants and food. Anyone who can follow an online recipe can cook better food than this.

The "cream sauce" on the scallop linguini was the consistency of thin, watery soup broth instead of an actual cream sauce that should be thick, sticking to the pasta, and actually creamy.

The chicken on the chicken piccata was not fresh, and the entire dish tasted like a frozen meal.

Olive Garden has better quality everything - and everyone knows that Olive Garden kind of sucks.

Giving a 1 star because microwave pasta and a jar of pasta sauce would be better quality than this, and I've worked in food service before and I know there's no excuse for this low quality food. Also the other review from 3 weeks ago that mentioned the roach leg in their food made me want to vomit - which unfortunately is consistent with the quality of food I was met with. I'm throwing away my left overs as I write this...