Maui Brewing Co. Kailua — Restaurant in Oʻahu

To be fair, let me preface my review with a little grace...maybe my experience was because it was later in the evening. But maybe not.

It was a first date (and a last one - but the restaurant had nothing to do with that haha) and it was his suggestion. It was around 9:30 on a Friday night, we'd gotten a late start and didn't have much to choose from.

We arrived and seated ourselves. Then we sat. And sat. Which was generally fine, we talked, but after 20 minutes, my date and I were like...ooookay...do we just make up what we want to eat and tell the kitchen ourselves?

10 more minutes passed before someone came and gave us menus and took our drink order.

I should mention that the place wasn't busy. There were maybe 5 other parties, total of maybe 20-25 people.

So we get our water and I order a li hing margarita. 10 minutes later it arrived and my date ordered sushi, BBQ wings, nachos and ube cheesecake for us to share pupu style. I asked if I could have the cheesecake first and my wish was granted.

Folks, this cheesecake is responsible for 1 of those 2 stars. It was delicious - creamy but not too sweet and not too ube. I thought it was a good sign, you know?

Then the food came.

The sushi was supposed to be an ahi roll. I don't know what they mixed in with the ahi but it was all mush and that didn't seem to do anything for the dish, except make me not want to eat any more of it.

The BBQ wings were...cold. The sauce that came with them was okay, my date said he liked it.

The nachos were delicious, but a little sparse on toppings.

Oh, my margarita? Tasted like a pre-made syrup with a little bit of alcohol and no li hing. I didn't even drink it all.

The staff were nice, I don't want you to think they aren't. I don't know why it took so long and I hate to give this review after just one visit, but I don't plan on returning.

Conclusion: Maui Brewing's beer is...

Awful experience. MBC uses automated app ordering system, which could work well in conjunction with wait staff, but MBC's execution of this technology resulted in a dinner experience that felt as cold as a visit to a fast food restaurant, only more expensive. Reasons listed below: Ordering menu was clunky, slow to load, poorly organized. Limited ingredients listed on their menu, so good luck if you have any dietary restrictions. Wait staff approached out table and quickly deposited silverware in a pile in a manner that almost fell like they were throwing it at us. They quickly left before anyone had anyone had an opportunity to ask a question. You just order water on the app. Not a big deal if this is communicated to people and if they actually bring you the water once you have ordered it. Some folks at our table waited 20 minutes to get water while wait staff checked that the order had actually been placed through the app. Want anything extra like extra plates to share your pupu with the other side of the table, or a side of mustard? Sorry, MBC wait staff don't have time to talk to diners, and it wasn't something we found on the app. Perhaps it is buried in the app somewhere, but we were too busy visiting with each other to study and really master the app.

Overall, this was no better than a visit to Burger King or Taco Bell, or some other fast food joint. The staff actively avoided questions and were rude when we did manage to get a question in before they left. Why a tip option was even an option on our bill is completely ridiculous since the people who work at a clothing store bringing you another size of pants and hanging up the clothes people try on are more helpful than the wait...

I probably wouldn't go back for food. An okay place for drinks with a larger group of people who want separate tabs. Not a "family" eatery as they kind of advertise.

Food was okay, better than the service. On n the expensive side for the quality. There was no indication of spiciness given the use of chillies and peppers in all the food dishes, for someone who has a pepper sensitivity it was difficult to discern between suitable menu items. And the servers weren't very available to answer questions. The one question I asked took what seemed to be an eternity to get an answer.

We would have liked the option of a traditional order with a server and quicker assistance with questions regarding menu items and customization. We seated ourselves, there was a QR code for the menu. We were instructed to order online by a server who said she be available for questions, then we never saw her again. The was no other server who stopped by, I had to flag the server from another table to ask a question eventually. The online ordering platform was fine. A little instruction or explanation on splitting bills or how ordering would work would have been nice. A completely different server brought the meals at varying intervals and then a different presión asked if oou food was ok. We had to flag down another person to ask for to go containers. You have to "close your tab" online which was also a bit strange. I would have preferred the way Chilli's or TGIFridays did the little tablet for ordering or checkout.

The ceiling fans create a strobe effect, the inside seating seemed echo-y loud and outside was a bit better. A lot of concrete so not much...