Hawaiian Bros Island Grill — Restaurant in Waco

I went there during a late night to grab some dinner, the reviews of this place made it seem awesome, but it wasn't what I was expecting.

Food ⭐⭐

It's what we all come for when it comes to restaurants, this place only got three stars because of the good service and atmosphere. This food was extremely mediocre at best. I ordered the large Huli Huli meal that came with two sides, I got steamed vegetables and the macaroni for the side. The picture of the main part of the meal showed red, large chunks of grilled chicken on a bed of rice that looked pretty good, and what I got? Grey, sad, small looking pieces of chicken that looked like something you would get from a cheap stir-fry meal. It tasted like it too, along with it barely having any flavor or seasonings on it, same with the veggies, but those tasted decent since they had a fresh taste to it. The macaroni was mediocre as well, it just tasted like regular macaroni salad, it wasn't anything special. Maybe today was just a bad day, because the photos of the food from other reviews looked awesome, but I did notice it looked the same in a couple of other photos. In general, it was very disappointing and did not live up to the hype. On top of that, these meals are worth almost twenty dollars.

Service ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the restaurant there was a server named Julie, she was incredibly nice and went out of our way to cater to us newcomers, and in general, we felt welcomed, and I really appreciated her service. She seemed genuine, but there was one thing I was skeptical about. Julie talked to us about if you give this place five stars mentioning her, you get a free meal. I forgot if it was for the meal that was already ordered or if it can be applied for a new meal, either way, a free meal is a free meal. And hardly anyone is going to pass up on that, which could be the reason why this place is five stars and has such mediocre food. But that might not be the case, again, it could've just been a bad day. The service was great in general though.

Atmosphere ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nothing was really wrong with the atmosphere, but it wasn't anything special, the place was clean and has lots of space to dine in. The only problem I had were the confusing online menus at the entrance. There was a nice overall theme to the restaurant and the decorations were pretty cool as well.

In my opinion, this place doesn't deserve this high rating. I said it twice already, and I'll say it again, maybe this was a bad day. Because everything looked really promising, and I hate how disappointed I was. Don't let this review discourage you from trying this place, you might think differently. But if this is how it is all the time, and their almost five star rating really was because of that free meal deal, then I highly do not...

The most mushy rice I ever had. I don't know if you guys are not washing the rice properly, placing too much water in the rice to cook or not properly fluffing the rice post-cook, but I couldn't eat this plate of mash potato like-rice. The rice has portions that are over cooked and some that are hardened. See photos. 11am as first customers on a Saturday as dine-in. You failed Hawaiian Bros, and I'm not interested in amending my review for a gift card back to your business. This review is staying negative, you guys cannot have a staple item like rice be this butchered.

Update 08/2023: guest relations reach out to offer me credits on their reward program. I declined, would rather not have all these bogus 5 star reviews over hyping this location. If this location was good then I would not be served soggy, mushy rice in-person when you guy open at 11am. I hate how I sat down and had a worker advertise giving 5-stars reviews before I even open my food box. They definetly got a two-star review because the food is poorly executed. Hawaiian Bros, stop being cheap with employees and hire a real cook for real pay. Until you get someone who's not working for struggling wages, your food will continue to not match all these highly rated reviews. If this location is so highly reviewed why am I given this...

Update: so I do not have the app for this restaurant and because I rarely come in I'm not going to and per the emails I don't have to I can just give them my phone number. Well on the kiosk that you can self order it does not allow you to put your phone number in it wants you to scan, which is ridiculous. It felt like the other day that it was an inconvenience for the worker to have to ring up my order inside the restaurant because I wanted My Rewards to go to my account. I didn't realize you got paid just to stand around. That sounds like a really nice job that you don't ever have to really do anything. And the guy just automatically assumed that I was taking my food to go. It was very very unprofessional.

I love this place. I went to the very first opening for the one that opened in Kyle Texas last year I believe it was last year, and then the one that opened in San Marcos so I was super thrilled to have one closer to me since I've moved up past Austin now. The reason this place isn't getting a five star is because the Dude at the counter was picking his nose and that is just gross. I did like the manager dude he seemed to keep everything going and fast pace. I like going inside or through the drive-thru because you get a soda from...