Zippy's Ewa — Restaurant in Oʻahu

We regularly eat at the Ewa Zippy's so it was very disappointing that we experienced the kind of service we had tonight. Approx. 5 min after we placed our order for spaghetti w/cheese, a large veg chili w/brown rice and 2 med ice teas w/lemon I noticed that the spaghetti plate was placed on the window from the kitchen. A couple of minutes later the 2 ice teas were made and placed on the front counter. Fifteen minutes into the order being placed, by the time stamp on the receipt, my wife asked why our order was taking so long. By this time approx 3 or so people who ordered in front of us got their order and approx 3 or 4 people after us got their order. The girl at the counter said it would be another 5 minutes as they needed to heat up the chili. 20 minutes into the order we got our food. I asked to see the manager when presented w/our order at the front counter and explained everything that is described above and said that this was unsatisfactory. She agreed and tried to make amends by refunding our purchase and coming to the table where we were eating to again apologize. I am thankful to her for her efforts but I did say that I was very close to just asking for my money back except for the fact my wife was very hungry and needed to eat the spaghetti she ordered. What really concerns me is the length of time the food sat on the counter while the chili had to be warmed up. The spaghetti was not hot, infact the cheese had solidified because it sat so long. Not good. The garlic bread was not toasty as it usually is. The ice in the iced tea even was melted by the time we got served. The chili that was supposed to have been warmed up was not even hot. I really thought about demanding that the entire order be redone as I was very upset by the lame reason given why our order was taking so long. Spaghetti is one of your standard items that's why it sat out so long but if the chili needs time to be heated, and not 20 minutes, do it 1st and then do the spaghetti. For the amount of chili that is served you can heat it up in any fashion in 3 minutes or less. There is no excuse for drinks that are supposed to have ice in them be served w/the ice melted. You may suggest to your managers how all this looks to customers who are sitting right in front of the take out counter seeing all this take place. You should set a time limit as to how long food is supposed to sit out on the counter if you care about the look and food quality you present to your customers. It is sad indeed to have this experience however, I will deem this to be an isolated incident but some sort of reminders or training should take place to bring to the attention of your managers and their staff members of what your customers expect from your establishment. Despite our poor experience this evening we will continue to support your restaurant as we expect to have the quality of service and food that we have been accustomed to...

We joined the waitlist online through Google Assistant to celebrate a graduation dinner at the restaurant. The system only allowed a maximum party size of 6, so I made sure to use the special request box to note that we actually had a party of 16. When we arrived, I checked the waitlist monitor and saw that our party was still listed as a group of 6—clearly showing that the host or whoever was managing reservations did not read or acknowledge the note I left.

I approached the host, an older woman around 5’6”–5’8”, with a tight, low bun. She appeared to be local—possibly Polynesian or Hawaiian—and had a rounder build. From the start, she was rude and dismissive. She didn’t greet me, read my first name incorrectly, and assumed a completely different name, even though it was clearly listed. She wasn’t actively listening and made me repeat myself several times. Her attitude made it seem like I was bothering her just by trying to clarify our reservation.

When our party was ready to be seated, she didn’t call out our name like she did with other groups. Instead, she pointed at us from across the room, grabbed some menus, and walked away silently—expecting us to follow her without saying a word.

After we were seated, we needed to add two more guests, which brought our total to 18. At that point, the host came back and loudly scolded our entire group in front of the restaurant. She went off about how we went from 6, to 16, to “however many other people are being added”—even though we had only added two more people after we sat down. We never bombarded her with 10 extra guests to make it 16; that was the number I had already entered in the special request box when I signed up. If only she had read that note in the first place, our graduation dinner could have gone much more smoothly and with far less stress.

There’s nothing quite like public humiliation at what should have been a joyful celebration. We asked to speak with the manager, who confirmed that it was fine to add guests and acknowledged that the host’s behavior was rude and unprofessional. Even our waitress reassured us that adding two more people was not a problem and that it was perfectly fine to use an additional booth to seat them.

Honestly, being from ʻEwa and living in ʻEwa, I should’ve known better than to choose a place in the area for such a special occasion—especially knowing how unprofessional and, at times, ghetto it can be. Unfortunately, this experience just...

UPDATED:

I've been to Zippy's quite a few times since my last review, but it's always for the breakfast plates. We usually order through the app for pick-up and enjoy our breakfast plates on the beach. The orders are on time and I don't think we've gotten an incorrect order yet. My go-to is the bento with rice, eggs, Portuguese sausage, and either bacon or corned beef hash. My new favorite is their chili. A side of their chili with the breakfast bento is chef's kiss. Next time, I think I'll try the chili moco.

—————- Zippy's Ewa is a fast food chain that specializes in Hawaiian food. You'll find your spam musubis, loco mocos, and saimin. If local isn't your taste, they've also got burgers and chili so I'm sure you can find something here to suit you. The catch is that it's not that good, but you also shouldn't expect it to be. I ordered the fried saimin, which was supposed to come with spam, but it was mainly just noodles. My stomach started feeling weird a few hours later so I'm not sure if it was the Zippy's, something else I ate, or just the result of being over-tired from the weekend. Either way, I think I'm okay with the Zippy's. The only thing I MIGHT order again is the chili. But as for local food or burgers, there are ton's of...