Mekiko Cantina — Restaurant in Oʻahu

Most tourist trap place I've been on O'ahu. I don't mind spending a lot of money. I know I'm staying in a Disney resort in Hawaii. Price versus quality is the real issue. The food quality is below average and left everyone in my party unimpressed or saying "it was fine". Which would be reasonable for $15-$25 per person but our bill for 6 adults was over $300.

There's also several cost cutting measures or anti customer amenities. Each of these added up to a poor experience. The paper towel dispenser only gives about 3" which is annoying to stand and wait over and over again. They have small children's size cups with a water carafe at the table. The waitress only brought two during our entire dinner. Two of us finished our small cup before the 1 carafe was brought also. The first carafe was emptied and everyone 's ice was melted before we got our second. They have a 3% kitchen fee which I didn't mind at Monkey Pod because of the high quality, but here seems egregious. They do not have free chips and salsa wish is already a red flag we ignored. So purchased a "double flight" which we hoped would serve 4-6, but they bring tiny ramekins of two types of salsa and guacamole. Woefully small portions for $15. We ordered elote, which I normally think of as a dip. I'm sure it's in the description of the appetizer but they have four small pieces of corn on the cob that are pretty burnt. Most of my table was underwhelmed and I had to finish them myself. Finally, I had Fajitas as my entree. The meat was low quality but not the problem. They gave me 3 small street taco sized tortillas. I asked for more and they bought me an additional 3 to the tune of $3.99! Yes, $1.33 per small tortilla....

Overall, my party was underwhelmed and disappointed. We were prepared to spend a lot of money but not prepared to spend our dinner complaining about the small portions and low quality. Would...

Greetings, fellow food enthusiasts!

We recently had the pleasure of dining during the bustling dinner rush on a Thursday evening. Despite the harried kitchen staff, the cuisine more than compensated for any delay. After all, it is situated in a popular tourist hotspot.

Our meal commenced with a vibrant salsa and guacamole flight, an enticing prelude to the main event. While the guacamole was creamy and ripe with avocado goodness, we found it to be slightly lacking in seasoning, craving a touch more salt and spice to elevate its flavor profile to our personal preferences. Minor quibble.

Our mains consisted of the Fajitas Trio, featuring a delectable sizzling medley of tender steak, succulent shrimp, and flavorful chicken, all expertly seasoned and devoid of the excessive onion overload that often plagues this dish. The corn tortillas, while boasting a pleasing moisture content, fell somewhat short in terms of their structural integrity.

We also opted for the Fresco Salad with shrimp, which my discerning companion declared to be a delightful symphony of flavors.

Lastly, the chicken nachos from the keiki menu proved to be a resounding success, as our young Keiki devoured them with gusto.

One slight blemish on an otherwise delightful culinary experience was the somewhat hovering presence of our waitress as we fiddled with the payment device. While other waitstaff adeptly left the device with their patrons, our server hovered, creating an awkward air. This departure from the seamless service we had hitherto enjoyed was a mild disappointment, but one that did not significantly mar our overall positive impression of the joint.

In summary, despite the frenetic dinner service, our culinary experience was a triumph of taste and quality, leaving us with a lasting impression of...

We ate there last week while on vacation and it was a not so good experience. We arrived at the restaurant and got sat right away which was appreciated. We ordered chips and guacamole to start - it was getting to be 15/20 minutes and we were getting antsy and hungry and no chips. A food runner refilled our drinks and I asked if he could check on the chip order for us since it had been so long. 10 minutes later he brought it out and stated they had to make more salsa..We started eating and found a hair in our salsa we didn’t complain because we felt like we just did for the time we waited to get the chips out. We placed our food order and then that took 30/40 minutes to get out - I was livid. We finally got our food after sometime and it was noted to watch our plates because they were hot (which usually means they were sitting underneath the broiler) which was true because my food looked crusted over meaning it was sitting. The kicker was the table next to us found a hair in their food. That just makes me think the kitchen was dirty. Our waitress was very sweet and did apologize about the chips taking awhile but everyone (all the wait staff) seemed to be distracted about the table sitting next to us. It must have been an employee that came by for dinner. They got A+ service but ours definitely lacked. Once the bill came they didn’t offer to take the chips off the bill which I was surprised over but I’m sure they think we are tourist and won’t be returning. It’s a shame because we frequently go Aulani which is right across the way. In our future visits to Aulani we will not be returning to this restaurant. I just wanted to make other families aware of the time waited on the food as well as the uncleanliness of...