Our Trip To Hawai`i (2007)
Restaurant Reviews

Restaurants

There certainly is no shortage of excellent dining choices in Hawai`i. We didn't even scratch the surface, so the table below is very incomplete. There were many great places which we didn't get a chance to dine at.

The table below is sorted in order of our final ranking. Each place we ate at was ranked from 1-10 in the following areas; food quality & portion size, service, price and atmosphere. These four ratings are added together as follows; FQ+FQ+S+S+A+A+P to come up with the final rating. In other words, price is considered to be only half as important as the other three factors. This is just our personal preference. Yours may be different, and if they are, then our final rating won't equal yours even if you agree with us on the individual factors.

The column marked "B/L/D" shows which meal we ate at that particular restaurant, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Below the table you will find notes on each restaurant.

Restaurant Location B/L/D Food Service Price Atmosphere Overall
Duke's Waikiki Waikiki B 9 9 7 10 63
Buca di Beppo Honolulu D 10 9 9 8 63
BJ's Chicago Pizzaria Lahiana D 10 10 8 7 62
Kimo's Lahiana D 10 8 8 9 62
Mama's Fish House Paia L 10 10 2 10 62
Bubba Gump's Kona D 8 9 7 9 59
Hawaiian Style Cafe Waimea L 10 8 10 6 58
Killer Tacos Kona D 9 9 10 5 56
Kona Brewing Co Kona D 7 8 9 7 53
Cheesecake Factory Waikiki D 7 8 6 8 52
TGI Fridays Waikiki D 7 9 8 6 52
Chili's Waikiki D 7 8 9 6 51
Round Table Pizza Waikiki D 8 7 8 6 50
Drysdale's II Keauhou D 7 7 7 5 45
Cheeseburger in Paradise Lahiana D 7 7 5 6 45
L&L Drive-in Waikiki D 7 6 9 5 45
Compadres Lahaina D 5 8 5 6 43
Teddy's Bigger Burgers Waikiki D 8 5 8 3 40
Kona Canoe Club Kona D 4 5 7 5 35

General Notes:

First of all, doing this as a comparison between breakfast, lunch and dinner eateries is a very tough comparison to make. We're well aware that certain places which have great lunches don't fare quite as well when it comes to dinner and vice versa. We also understand that atmosphere is in the eye of the beholder. We like quiet, darker places, those which tended to isolate us rather than put us "in a group". We also prefer being outside with views of the ocean or mountains to being inside. This tended to heavily favor places such as Mama's Fish House (which had the best atmosphere of any restaurant we've eaten anywhere) and Duke's Waikiki, with that wonderful view of the ocean and Diamond Head.

The types of food which we gravitate to also impacts the ratings. I lean heavily towards poultry and pasta, with steak on occasion. Patty tends heavily towards salads. Simply put, I am not a fish eater.

If you throw out the "price" consideration, then Mama's Fish House outdistances the other restaurants easily, with perfect scores in the other three catagories. If you ignore service and atmosphere and only count the food and price, the top three are Hawaiian Style Cafe, Buca di Beppo and Killer Tacos.

Restaurant Notes:

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last updated may 18, 2004