Assaggio Ristorante Italiano

We were very disappointed. We eat at the Assaggio in Kailua regularly and love it. We went to this location with friends and my husband did not enjoy his meal. He expressed his concern to the waiter and the waiter did not offer to replace it or comp it. We will not return to this location.

Nicest restaurant in the shopping center, by far. Everything was spot on. (I’ve had better bread)

I’ve been to this Assaggio about three times over many years as my parents like to go sometimes when they feel like trying something different. The restaurant has changed a lot over the years and my last visit was by far the worst. Neither I nor my parents will likely ever return.
The restaurant tries to pretend to be fine dining while serving food a freshman in college could slop together in 20 minutes at 4am while pulling an all nighter for finals. We ordered a few pasta dishes and the portions were ridiculously enormous.: something I have never complained about, ever. Sauces were extremely bland and any seafood was clearly not fresh. Scallops had zero browning on them and looked, felt, and tasted like you could have cooked it in a microwave. Clam bits they used were clearly out of a can that you could find at the supermarket. The only thing out of our dishes that was palatable was the NY steak with mushrooms and a black pepper sauce. If the portion on that steak was like that of the pasta, I would have been delighted. The sauce was actually quite good.
The restaurant has white linen tables that look very nice. It sits under a sheet of paper though that they use to protect the linen from getting dirty.
I had checked out the menu online before coming but apparently was looking at an older menu, as the dishes that interested me most were the gnocchi and risotto, which they do not serve. I asked the waiter if they had either, and he looked at me like he had never heard those words before in his life.
The current menu is setup in a ridiculous way and I can’t imagine the person who made it has ever put together a menu before. I don’t even know how to explain their menu in words, so if you’re ever by and looking for a laugh maybe pick one up to look at.
They top their pasta dishes with pecorino romano instead of the more typical parmagiano. I like pecorino romano quite a bit so this didn’t bother me, but I know a lot of people who think it smells like puke, my parents included. The moment we were seated they mentioned the restaurant smelled of ass.

I’ve only been to Assaggios once before (Bistro across from Kahala Mall). To be honest I didn’t even know this location existed. It’s right on the boat harbor and next to Bubbies (score)!
We made reservations and had an awesome table with a view of the boat harbor. We arrived a few minutes before 5 and were seated right away.
We ordered and food came out right away along with fresh bread immediately after we were seated.
Service was attentive and not overbearing!
I ordered the chicken sorentino. With is served with lightly breaded and fried chicken and eggplant parm with your choice of pasta covered in mushrooms. Yum! I knew the full portion was going to be huge. But I’d rather pay a few extra dollars and have leftovers.
My grandma had some kind of shrimp and vegetable linguine pasta. She said it was the best meal she’s had in a long time.
Overall, I can’t give five stars because I think Assaggios is overpriced… Even for Hawaii standards. A plain Caesar salad here is $ 10, what?! And no refills on plantation iced tea ($ 5). If I’m spending $ 30 on a plate of pasta, give me two teas.
No room for Bubbies, next time I’ll only eat one loaf of table bread!

Came here last night after eating here in January with local friends and loved it then.
Last nite everything we had was way to salty!
Must be trying out a new cook. Hope you guys get it right cause other local folks saying the same. Good luck no adding so much salt.
08/​22/​2015

The quality is inconsistent, one day great, the next so-​so. I want to love it but can’t. My experience is that the Kahala location is better.

my mother, aunts and i came here to celebrate birthdays for my aunts. it was a saturday night around 7. it was fairly busy but not crowded… we brought in our own champagne, you should never have to drink champagne out of a water glass… especially when you are charged a corkage!
no excuse!

The service was great
The food was ok
I would recommend the ravioli
Garlic bread and fettuccine

Not going to return! The lunch wait for our food was crazy long– over 30 minutes for appetizer and food (which came out together). Also, irritating because the people who came in after us were approached to order before us. The restaurant wasn’t even crowded! Maybe five or six tables! We almost left, but my son was already starving and we kept hoping that our food would be ready soon.
Also, the food was really overpriced! $ 50+ for two chicken pasta dishes plus an eggplant appetizer (that was only two or three rolled up slices of eggplant covered with cheese?)!
The only star was for the busser– nice female that kept refilling our water during our loooong wait!

One of my fave restaurants! They have an extensive menu, with something for everyone. Pasta, chicken, veal, eggplant… everything! My fave is their Sicilian Chicken. They have a full-​service bar & their delicious sourdough bread is fresh & baked on-​site!

great staff, good food pleasant atmosphere. We just finished snorkeling and were quit hungry. We wanted hime cooked feel. We were hesitant to try it since we had our beach wear, but they were very receptive and sat us by the window with a beautiful view.
Jonathan was our waiter he was sweet and recommended my meal that was exactly what i wanted!

It took me some time for me to gather my thoughts and write this review. I have been a loyal patron of Assaggio’s since they opened. I have spent thousands of dollars on lunches and on dinners. Nothing could prepare me for what happened, just about a month ago at the Hawaii Kai location. Keep in mind that it is privately owned by a woman named Sylvia and they only pay to use the name, Assaggio’s.
One night, I decided to call in an order of their famous Chicken Caesar Salad with anchovy filets on top. When I got there, 15 minutes later, salad wasn’t ready but almost done. They put it in a bag and I took it back home to eat. When I got home, portion was good, but the lettuce looked old and no anchovies. Omg! I called Hawaii Kai Assaggio’s right away and spoke to the hostess on the phone. She was very apologetic and I told her that I would like a new salad with anchovies the next time I come in. She said that she would have to ask the manager. I said okay. The manager/​owner Sylvia, was very nasty and said that I’m not welcome back and she was going to refund my entire order on my card. Before I had a chance to say anything, she hung up the phone.
I will never ever return to the Hawaii Kai Assaggio’s. Nasty owner will never get my money! If I had a choice, I wouldn’t even rate her a star! DON’T EVER GO THERE!!!

Was going to the Kona Brewing Company but it was closed for renovation. (Jason didn’t bother to check). So went to Assaggio’s instead. Had the Fettucini Alfredo with Jumbo Shrimp and Broccoli, small portion. It was more than enough to eat and very tasty. Felt it was over priced for pasta. Service was great and atmosphere was good. Sorry to say that I won’t be going back.

The kitchen was definitely not working well tonight.
A planned quick dinner with calamari and Caesar salad turned into fried erasers with a dull tartar sauce.
Dining in at 845p must signal to the kitchen «cook» to start pushing out the old supplies before it needs throwing out.
I guess the only positive part of this fiasco is that I was relegated to a low cal salad since the kitchen was shutting down and it would have taken or meal to closing time to receive and have my spouse just stare at my eating a replacement menu item.
I’ll pass on this location for a while to allow me to forget the experience.
Now off to my home fridge for a scavenger hunt for food. .sigh…

I have never had a bad meal at Assagios Hawaii Kai to date. My new favorite is their opah Picatta style with veggies (kinda rich sauce you can order it light on the sauce).
My other favorite is the chicken Saltimbocca.
Their small portions are HUGE. Very good service. Very good quality. Usually easy to get a table. Good value. Delicious complimentary bread.

This is not Italian food. It’s American food.
The sauces have no depth of flavor and the pasta is not fresh. Should be at this price point.
Interior is outdated.

I’m from Mainland U.S. & I have to compliment that Hawaiian Italian restaurants are to my opinion, one of the BEST ITALIANS I’ve ever ate. Way better than Mainland U.S.
The Assaggio in the Koko Marina Center of Hawaii Kai is to me the best one of all Assaggios. Here’s why:
1. Beautiful view of the boat harbor. Reminds me of being in a fishing village near Sicily.
2. Restaurant environment. Warm, clean, cozy & welcoming. Exactly how a fancy restaurant should be.
3. Not too pricey (even though this restaurant is classified as a fancy restaurant). I like it because of the doable price AND keep the fancy environment.
Now what I like about the food:
1. Your seafood dishes. Because your restaurant is located in the boat harbor, seafood dishes are the «symbol». & after tasting your seafood dishes like the calamari linguini, the Opah linguini, all RICH IN FLAVOR & QUALITY TASTING YET!!! A fine job & I have to compliment that ALL your seafood dishes should be your «Signature Dish» for the Assaggios of Koko Marina Center.
2. Your starter breads. I love the texture, it’s very hot (like freshly baked hot), it crust very crispy with fine flavor to it.
3. Your soups are also fine tasting as well. Even the soups which you recommend that it served as ice cold, I never tried ice cold soup before, but I have to say that ice cold chowder has a fine tasting flavor & is beautifully decorated too.
4. For ALL foods in general, I love how you decorate it. Beautifully done.
Now the following below are further suggestions to enhance your restaurant. Though, these suggestions are minor because I like your restaurant a lot:
1. According to your menu, it says you served Lobster Ravioli, BUT only in Ala Moana locations. My suggestion is the Assaggios of Koko Marina should ALSO have Lobster Ravioli as well. The reason is because the Assaggios of Koko Marina is located in a boat harbor which is suitable environment for ALL seafood dishes including Lobster Ravioli. I guarantee that if Assaggios of Koko Marina included the Lobster Ravioli, this Lobster Ravioli would DEFINITELY be the top Signature Dish of the Assaggios of Koko Marina.
2. Outside your restaurant I saw those fluorescent lights at night. I would suggest replacing those fluorescent lights outside your restaurant with those «cast iron street lamps» or those flame torches. Replacing those bright fluorescent lights with a slightly dimmer «cast iron street lamps» or flame torches would simply make the restaurant environment much more romantic.
3. If you can, perhaps include some outdoor seating.
As I said before, those 3 suggestions are MINOR because overall I like your restaurant & I will definitely come back someday as well as recommend this Assaggios to others I know.
Bravisimo Assaggios of Koko Marina!!! You definitely earned a PERFECT 5 stars out of 5 from me. Best wishes to your business & I hope to come visit your restaurant again in the future someday.

Assagios is pretty well known in hawaii for good Italian food. With several locations on the island, they’re pretty consistent with the quality and presentation.
The service at this location isn’t as good as other locations I’ve been to. When we walked in, the hostess had a bit of an attitude, didn’t greet us, and didn’t seem very friendly. It wasn’t a great start to our evening. The servers all seemed young and inexperienced. They were a little awkward, and although they served us decently (refilled waters, offered more bread and cheese, etc.), it didn’t seem exceptional. When I asked for suggestions between calamari and mussels and the waiter said he would suggest the mussels because they are big. Big mussels aren’t necessarily better, in fact, they’re usually worse. When you go to a restaurant where you’re expected to pay $ 30-​$ 40+ per person, service should be better than average.
I ended up getting the mussels marinara and a Caesar salad. The salad is always good, just the way I like it: tons of anchovy flavor and cheese. The pasta was enough for two even though I got the small. At $ 18 for pasta, it wasn’t amazing. It was good, but not great, especially for the price.
There were several parties waiting for tables when we left, so it’s a very popular place to eat (it’s also graduation season). It’s a nice place with candles and flowers at the table and a nice view of the marina, so it’s a good place to take a date.

So I’ve been here before a long time ago for dinner and from what I remember the food tasted okay. So anyway my boyfriend and I always come to koko marina to go to the bank on Saturdays because I live on that side of the island. Anyway so we decided to try here for lunch but we were scared because we weren’t dressed so great. But we got seated right away, and it wasn’t too busy.
FIRST off we ordered the plantation iced tea and my boyfriend was then going to order an appetizer but as soon as he was going to say something the server immediately walked away to get started with another table. We were kind of like wtf but it’s okay. The plantation iced teas were pretty good, but no refills :(and the bread that you start off with is actually really good!
So food wise: we started off with the crab cakes, that was okay. I think the crab cakes at the restaurant I work at is better but it was good to try.
And then I got the carbonara because I was going to get the lasagna but my bf told me to try something different. The carbonara was pretty good, good bacon, good ham, and the fettuccine was cooked perfectly. But it was too heavy for me.
My boyfriend got one of the veal dishes, he liked the veal but the pasta was just okay because it was just linguine with tomato sauce, probably could’ve made that at home.
But it’s good if you want some quick cheap Italian food, for lunch that is. I would come back and get the lasagna haha!

Went for a family dinner tonight and the food was great as usual. We had calamari and steamed clams for appetizers and for dinner I had the seafood combo with garlic sauce. My family ordered the veal and shrimp with rice, veal marsala with rice and the seafood combo with red sauce. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered but the two «dings» was that the food was a little slower coming out than past visits and the waiter didn’t rattle off the specials/​fresh catch.
Bottom line if you are in the mood for good Italian and you are in Hawaii Kai, Assagio’s is the place to go.