LoLo Hawaiian BBQ - Orem — Restaurant in Orem

I love Hawaiian food and was excited to try this place. Meat portions are great and the tempura shrimp was super yummy, rice was fresh and really good even though we got there a little before closing. Staff was friendly, fast, and knowledgeable about menu items and recommendations. Restaurant decor was really fun and bright; tables reasonabley clean. Chicken was moist and tender. Crispy fish was like schnitzel but with fish and the lemon was great with it. Menu had a fun variety of more meats than other Hawaiian places and included seafood! My husband's green salad looked great and it was a good portion too in its own box with some edamame on it. 2 meat plate was enough for me for 2 meals.

Things I didn't love was a lot of the food (incl cabbage, Mac salad, fish, teriyaki chicken) had some decently strange underlying taste, horseradish maybe?

Also when we walked in the door, both my husband and I noted an overpowering, nauseating smell, which was kind of like an outdoor fish market in the sun sort of smell. We had been planning to go out but got the food to go because even after 10 minutes we didn't get used to the smell. I noticed they put some air fresheners by the cash registers maybe to mitigate this but we couldn't smell them at all and could only smell the weird smell. It actually affected my appetite enough I didn't eat too much of the food when we got home. Will wait until I am hungrier to finish my leftovers.

I hope they can figure out what is causing the smell and remove it so that this is a more enjoyable place to eat! I wish them the best success and loved the vibes in there and the great menu...

**UPDATE Past month I’ve been here twice. I gave it another chance and it has been great both times!! I’ve updated my reviews to match. Food has been good, music playing, received in a timely matter, great customer service, clean and nice !

I really wanted to like this place. I was craving Kalbi ribs and decided to stop by, excited to discover another Hawaiian spot in Orem. The restaurant was clean, and the cashier was kind, though not particularly helpful. Unfortunately, the experience fell short in a few areas.

The wait was longer than expected—about 25 minutes for just two plates. During that time, another customer came in and waited just as long for their order. Meanwhile, there was a shift change, and the new cashier seemed more focused on asking the cooks to make her a plate because she was hungry, rather than prioritizing getting customer orders out. This caught me off guard.

The food itself was okay—not terrible, but not memorable enough to bring me back. The Kalbi ribs were very chewy, though the Katsu was good. The overall atmosphere felt lacking, as there was no music playing. I think some island or reggae music would have helped create a better vibe, especially during the long wait.

I really wanted to enjoy this place, especially after reading some great reviews, but both my husband and I left feeling underwhelmed. Perhaps it was just an off day, but unfortunately, we can’t see...

The service here was great. Having never been here before, the cashier was really helpful in offering suggestions. That being said, my partner and I got an order of the spam musubi, a "Mini Meal" with the Kalua Pig, the "Two-Meat Mix" with the Island Fire Chicken and Hawaiian BBQ Beef, and the Guava Cake.

The Kalua Pork was actually really good! It had good flavor without being as overwhelming as other hawaiian places. The guava cake was also really nice. It was light and not too sweet!

The Island Fire Chicken and Hawaiian BBQ Beef both had amazing flavor, but they had the texture of undercooked meat which ruined the experience for me. The Spam Musubi was ok but the seaweed wrap was too strong compared to the flavor of the spam which made it taste weird.

The only other complaint I have is that they didn't have music playing. It was very quiet and I could clearly hear the conversations that the people around me were having.

All that being said, I would be willing to come back if these things...