Hawaiian Drive Inn — Restaurant in San Jose

tl;dr: dissapointing, don't reccomend

Ordered the number 2 bbq combo and the entire experience can be summed up as ✨️disapointing✨️ Let's start off with the best part of the meal: Short ribs and BBQ steak. The flavor of these were AMAZING! Some of the best seasoned meat ive had. Now here's there downsides: The steak was super gritty and fell apart almost like plant based sausage. I don't know why the texture was like that but it made my mouth feel wrong. Also the both came with barely anything of them. I was given 2 RIBS. Not 2 strips, TWO CIRCLES OF RIBS! And maybe a table spoon of steak. Instead you're give a truck load of chicken aka the next dissapointment. The chicken. Oh the chicken. It was dry, tough, really flat (?), and filled with tiny bones. The marinating sauce was good I guess? I don't know, it tasted like a white Nesbraskan corn fed 12 year old tried to make teriyaki chicken after seeing it online. Like good shot at teriyaki chicken but not ready to be sold. I wish I could say that was the worst part of my meal, but we haven't talked about the Mac Salad. This made me sad. This was the part of the meal that broke me. I come to hawaiian bbq for the macaroni salad, and some how this was the worst part. The noodles were overdone, the onions tasted spoiled, it tasted like they dumped oyster sauce and another random ingredient in and it doesn't taste good. I've tried a lot of different hbbq places around San Jose and this is the lowest ranking Mac. And I ordered an extra scoop :( Also for those who look at hbbq as a place to get 2/3 meals out of 1, this is not the spot. I regularly can get at leat 2 full meals out of a plate, yet I finished this in one go. Another let down.

Overall incredibly disappointing experience. I'd rate this closer to 1 but I don't like rating small business that low. The price and beef taste are the only things stopping me from rating a 1. Yet, this isn't even worth the price. I hate to say it, but I will be going to L&L the next time I'm craving cheaper...

All I can say as a native Hawaiian this place offers authentic local kine Hawaiian food. It is rare to find a Hawaiian restaurant that offers lau lau. I got #19 Lau lau, kalua pork n cabbage w/ mac salad n steamed rice. Everything was so ono! The authentic flavor and the way everything was cooked transported me back home to the island of Oahu, cooking a feast w/ my ohana on a special day. Definitely would like to see huli huli chicken, chicken longrice, and lomilomi salmon on the menu added as options to order. I did get a guava, mango, and lilokoi (passionfruit) offering the taste of the islands fruits. The smoothie was so ono and was my first impression of the restaurant before my food order was ready. The portion of food is well worth the price. It's actually a breath of fresh air to get what you pay for. Mahalo to the Hawaiian Drive Inn staff and management. Next time I come visit please have the haupia and malasadas. Mahalo...

Love the Aloha friendly spirit in this place..Zippys is my favorite spot in oahu Hawaii but so far this place is the closest I can compare to Zippys when it comes to delicious chicken katsu and spam musubi.. my husband loves the mix plate from here..great vibe, Island music playing, and very Onolicious foods..My Poly people loves this place.. Definitely would recommend this place to anyone and everyone.. good size portions of food for a much better price..can't beat that! The owner always smiles and welcomes you by shouting ALOHA..Mahalo's for the good service and...