Bene Pesce

I don’t know where to start. Made reservations & got our table in time. A server did not come up to our table for anything for about another ten minutes. She doesn’t greet us, just straight up asks are you ready? The salad was super plain. Just plain ol’ lettuce, croutons and parmesan cheese for $ 11. Pastas were over priced for their portions. Nothing came with bread and we felt like our server was avoiding us so we couldn’t even get an order in for bread so we were like forget it. Our pasta had a choice of fettuccine or linguine but we weren’t asked so I got exactly what I didn’t want… fettuccine noodles ugh. Anyways, I really wanted to like this place but we will NOT be returning.

I’ve been here several times and it’s always hit or miss. I really want this place to be good, which it can be, but most of the time I am let down.
Never have a problem getting a table, it’s slow every time I’ve been. Servers are very friendly. but lack a bit of fine tuning… I’ll get to that in a few.
Drink/​wine menu is very limited. All the beer options are not really worth is either. Sapporo and other light (no body or flavor) dominate the list. This being the case, I decided to just have water on this visit.
The server approaches immediately and let’s us know that they are not serving a few items on the menu (i.e. don’t get your hopes up). We decided to share their Hawaiian Caesar salad and added chicken to. Salad comes out, no fresh ground pepper? Not even salt and pepper on the tables. It’s the small touches and investing in a $ 8 pepper grinder at Ross would offer that little extra. Oh well… the salad was awesome! Some sort of citrus dressing and croutons (boxed), but the chicken lacked any flavor and quite honestly, looked like it was from a can or bag. Good sign they are not grilling their own, it’s cold and wet. Get the salad, skip the chicken.
Ordered a pork flatbread pizza with pineapple, light cheese and a mango drizzle. Again… simple yet amazing. Flavors were well balanced and I love thin crust because you don’t fill up on dough. Again, no parm cheese offered, no chili flakes… do I have to ask for everything?
Wanted to order more, but decided to leave and grab an appetizer elsewhere, so I could have a decent beer.
Asked for the check and it was dropped a few minutes later. Again, service points, the empty plates were not cleared from the table. Five minutes goes by. No check back to run the credit card. I use the restroom, come back… no check back to run the credit card. Five more minutes (i looked at the time on the check and the time on my phone) and still no attempt. Fourteen minutes after the check is dropped, a server approaches to run the card. Again, service points, when people are done, they are ready to go. Don’t make them wait THAT long.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve been before and had good meals and I’ve had bad meals. Food inconsistent, service needs a little tweaking, décor is lacking. May return, just not on a regular basis.

We chose this restaurant because the menu looked good and it was next door to our condo rental. The service was wonderful. Don’t know where they found all the European waiters? The food really tasted delicious, especially the homemade linguini and fettichini. We tried the Italian/​Hawaiian salad and loved it. The other dishes we had were calamari pasta, Bolognese pasta, meatballs with marinara, and an alfredo pasta. For we dessert we had tiramisu — yummy! This restaurant may not look like much when you walk by, but it is worth a visit!

I love this place. Being from Europe the pasta here comes the closest to Italian home made pasta.
— I would suggest coming here for lunch because they have a really cheap and great lunch menu (clam/​bolognese/​pesto pasta & pizza for only 10 $)
The service is great and the location is in the heart of Waikiki. They also serve complementary chilled water in a tall glass bottle.
— if you are a seafood lover, I would go with the clam Linguini. It’s delicious!

This place was bad! My first pasta the shrimp was not clean good and was very oily. I asked for a different dish and it was slightly better. I felt like i was eating a tv dinner. To top it off we had to ask for bread when the table next to us didnt. They also offered the table next to us pepper and parmesan but not me and my roommate! Never eating here again!

We got seated immediately on a Thursday night which was nice as the lineup for Marakame Udon down the street was ridiculous.
The food is delicious — although keep in mind, both my husband & I just got off a long flight and were famished. So we may have found anything delicious at that point. Portion sizes were good, I couldn’t finish my plate and my husband was very satisfied with his.
The service was only ok. The hostess & the server both had limited English but we were able to order what we wanted. We got our waters, bread basket & food promptly but it did take a while to flag down someone for the bill.
This isn’t my first choice for food in Hawaii nor is it my second or third. But for those looking for a decent meal, it’s somewhere to go.

As a regular to the Waikiki area, we have seen a few places come and go in this space.
And we always seem drawn to come to the space to see whats here.
Initially we were seated and greeted very quickly, drinks were offered.
Very noticeable are the prices, which in retrospect should have been a red flag for us, based on the location and atmosphere.
But we decided to stay, and ordered drinks.
…although we were never offered or received any water during the meal, we overlooked it when we received our very generous pour of wine.
That was the last thing we overlooked.
Service to this point was great, but that was it.
After we ordered our main course, we waited for almost 20minutes, and then we didn’t even receive our meals together, almost 10 minutes between the 2 of us receiving our mains…
After we both started eating, that was the last time we saw the waitress.
Waited almost 25minutes to be asked if we needed anything else after we completed our meals.
For the prices they were charging, I would expect far better. Overpriced for poor service and mediocre quality food. With California Pizza Kitchen around the corner, I would have had far better quality and service at a fraction of the price.

Location is great and we enjoyed the food. The angel hair with bolognese wad very hood, the cheese selection was nice, the ciopinno was properly seasoned and prepared and my wife had the risotto which was a little toothsome but traditional. Definitely would come back.
NOTE I gave this place a 4 star review, a few days ago. We came back Friday night at 10:00 planning to eat. A manager was at the register and 3 staff walked past us and never spoke to us. After 6 minutes of no greeting I asked to be seated. I was told they stopped seating at 10:00. I told him website said 11:00. He did not care. I own a bistro in Dallas and would fire anyone who closed my place an hour early on any night. We will never be back.

Well, I decided to finally try this place because I always see it at one of the starbucks that I sometimes study at.
So initially, there was no one in this place around 7pm so that was intially a red flag but it did fill up with mostly tourists and some locals. We tried the seafood pizza and beef special (with the cream sauce). The food was actually pretty decent. The only problem is, I’ve tasted food this good (in oahu) for probably $ 5-​$ 10 cheaper per entrée.
So it comes down to, why pay $ 60 for a dinner for two when you could get the same food and service, and probably better ambience for about $ 40. I’m feeling generous today so will give this place 3 stars.
365 Challenge: #55/​365

This place has been a work in progress, but it’s hit its stride now! I’ve been going since they opened last summer. They have groupons from time to time, $ 30 for a $ 60 certificate so I always snatch those up when they come around.
My most favorite dishes are their beef cutlet with gorgonzola and the pork balsamic stew. The first one is this HUGE cutlet, in this pool of rich and creamy gorgonzola sauce… I don’t even like cheese lol. The pork stew is SO tender, and I love the balsamic broth. It’s got a lot of vegetables in it too. Gotta get a lot of their awesome bread (they make it themselves) to soak up the sauces in both dishes.
As for pastas, I love their arrabiata because I love spicy food and it’s got so much garlicky kick :) Their pesto with chicken and mushroom is awesome. I’ve had other pesto pasta dishes from other restaurants in Honolulu, but the pesto here is still the best I’ve had, by far.
They’ve got a badass happy hour, with $ 3 beers and $ 4 wells. They also have select appetizers for $ 5 – I always get the fries and bruschetta. Sometimes I just go in for a quick drink and apps with friends since the prices are so reasonable!
This is definitely one of my favorite spots to eat in Honolulu. I’ll miss it since my husband and I have moved back to the mainland now!

Yes, bene pesce is an italian restuarant catering to visitors to Hawaii. It’s a weird situation, but I find myself going back again and again. It’s the best italian food i’ve had in hawaii. Way better than bella mia or bucca di beppo.
The prices are a little high, very high actually, but it’s waikiki and the food is great! I definitely recommend the calamari strips, beef cutlet and tomato/​basil pasta with HOMEMADE SAUSAGE. SOOOOOO YUMMY!
The staff is hit or miss, and the restaurant seems a little disorganized, but I get take-​out and enjoy my delicious food in the comfort of my home… it solves all my problems with this place :)
P. S. the parking is basically non-​existant since street parking is impossible in waikiki to begin with. SOOOO glad it is in walking distance from my apt!

Dined for dinner at Bene Pesce which is an Italian restaurant on Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki. The restaurant itself is actually located on Nahua Street right across the street from Starbucks.
This restaurant is fairly spacious with lots of tables in an open concept with ceiling fans, framed photos on the walls and with wooden glass sliding doors that open up to let in the nice cool breeze.
We were greeted by the friendly staff and without any reservations we were immediately seated to our table.
Menu offerings include appetizers, salads, pasta, risotto and pizza. For an Italian restaurant their pasta offerings are limited as it would have been nice to have a larger selection to choose from.
Ordered the pasta primavera for $ 17 which is fresh seasonal vegetables sauteed in a marinara sauce. My husband ordered the prosciutto pepperoncino pasta for $ 18 which is a spicy pasta with prosciutto (thinly sliced Italian ham) and pepperoncino (yellowish pickled peppers). Both pasta dishes were good size portions and tasted really nice.
We ended our meal with dessert by ordering the tiramisu for $ 7. It was nicely presented in a ceramic bowl and topped with sprinkled cocoa powder. It was not too sweet, not too rich but more on the lighter side. A nice way to end our meal.

We ate at Bene Pesce on May 9, 2012. The servers were very attentive. In fact the entire staff was delightful. The food; We ordered Bruschetta and Calamari Fries as our appetizers, both tasty. My Husband enjoyed the Seared Ahi Salad and found it to be delicious. I had Empanadas with Mango Salsa (not ordinarily on the menu) and they were amazing!
The ambiance could be improved upon to match the service and the food which were stellar!

Never thought I’d be disappointed when someone poured me a glass of wine to the rim. Well till now…
I’m not sure what’s going on with this place but this was a huge disappointment. I’m standing at the front to get seated for a few minutes and no one came by. Finally when the host came back, she ended up seating another couple before us that have just walked up. At this point I’m starting to get a little perturbed but tried not to let it bother me as I was starving. I did look in the mirror to make sure I still existed and took a quick by subtle smell of my underarms to make sure it wasn’t me that was causing the issues. For the record, the pit check was a success.
So an hour went by (sarcasm) till we finally got seated. Restaurant was not even a ¼ full. First thing we noticed were these clocks with each islands name on them which made no sense to me. I mean every island in the Hawaiian chain is in the same timezone. We had lots of time to notice the décor cause I’m taking it that the whole wait staff went on break.
After another hour went by, I drafted this review, played a few childish games with my partner, we finally got our food. I ordered the bolognese which was just OK. Reminded me of a school type of lunch. The sauce was terribly watery and not bold and thick like most bolognese. The noodles were cooked well but didn’t matter much with the sauce pool of water in my plate.
This is a place I’ll do my best never to visit again. CPK is a block away. Go there!

It’s because of things like
that we find places like this. The service here was great. My wife and I started with some calamari sticks, very delicious. The garlic bread was soft and slightly cheesy with some nice flavor. We saved two slices for our meal. We shared a tomato basil pasta. It was very tasty and had that homemade taste. What was even better was the tiramisu. It wasn’t too sweet, wasn’t too caffeinated, and it melted in our mouths. It had a great balance of flavors.
This is not an olive garden but a great Italian restaurant with great home made flavors. It’s great in balancing flavors, not too salty or overly sweet. We will definitely go back when we have that Italian craving in Hawaii.

I need to write this review in two parts for two audiences.
Part I… for my friend William E. who gave me the $ 40 Groupon that got us here:
Wow! What an interesting place. I can’t say enough about the food, the service and mostly the parking! How lucky am I to have a friend who thinks of me when he has a Groupon that will expire before he will have a chance to use it? Thanks Bill!
Part II… (Bill, if you value our friendship, please, stop reading) This is for the rest of the Unilocaling community:
It takes a total lack of common sense for any local to head to a poorly rated restaurant in Waikiki for dinner… even if it’s free… What were we thinking?

The first problem was absolutely not the fault of Bene Pesce: but traffic SUCKED on the H-​1 going into town! The second problem is only a little more their responsibility: parking absolutely SUCKED more than the aforementioned traffic. We called ahead and asked where they recommended we should park. We were hoping to hear about a validation type situation. No dice. We were told street parking was our best option, or we could «pay an arm and a leg» in a «nearby» lot. We opted for the street parking option. After considerable effort and frustration, we concluded none was to be found. My bride strongly suggested we give up on parking, she would get take out, and I would pick her up when the food was ready. Instead of driving off, I waited with my hazard lights on in the loading zone directly in front of the restaurant.
At first, I was nervous that I would attract negative attention sitting there, but they said our veggie pizza and chicken pesto pasta would be ready to go in 15 minutes. 25 minutes later, I was used to sitting there. Still no food, but I came to the conclusion that my illegal parking spot was going to be okay. My wife must have come to the same conclusion, because she suggested that I leave the car there, and we could eat at the table that was sitting on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant (right beside our car).
That’s what we did. Of course, the food wasn’t ready for another 10 minutes. When it finally was, they handed it to us at the door and we took the 4 steps to the table and sat down to eat. My wife told them what we were doing and asked them for some water. They told her that they didn’t have «to-​go» cups. I know we got it to-​go, and we’re badly bucking the system; but seriously, a couple of glasses of water would have really been nice.
The kicker was the food. It was, to put it kindly, uninspired. CPK makes bigger, cheaper, and much better pizzas. It did have quite a few veggies, but it lacked sauce, taste, and size. The pasta had even less taste than the pizza. It was a couple of small slices of chicken and a few slices of mushroom tossed with a lot of penne pasta, a ton of oil, and some flavorless pesto that looked a lot like algae… uninspired.
I can’t imagine I’ll ever be back to Bene Pesce. Heck after this fiasco, I doubt I’ll ever get the wife to go back to Waikiki for dinner again!
Bill, if you’re still reading… Sorry dude… at least you know you didn’t miss much.

I purchased 4 of the playhawaii gift certificates-​spend $ 20 and receive $ 40.
When a new restaurant opens, you really want to like it. That was definitely the case when we went in, with the chef greeting us with a heavy japanese accent, «Aro-​ha!».
I always like restaurants with an open concept theme. The décor was minimal. They went for a rustic’ feel… Meaning: It was a bit hot in there, even with the ceiling fans going off. Sort of dark. But, I’m here for the food, so with that said:
We ordered the salad. I thought ‘wow they give so much’. But, my bf said, «Hey this leaf is bad». And then, we found another, and another. So we had to say something. The waiter was really nice and was apologetc to us and said its usually not the quality that they serve and brought us a new one right away. But, the second batch was so wet… and not with dressing… Yes, thank you for washing our vegetables thoroughly, but I like my salads dry and only wet of dressing… it tasted so wilted. And they didn’t mix their dressing with the salad. They only put it on the meat. I like my salad tossed in dressing w/​meat on top, drizzled with its own sauce when I’m being served at a restaurant.
They brought out a basket of hot, toasty focaccia slices… they accompanied it with a small plate of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A nice touch. So, we tried to keep an open mind.
Next came the spaghetti with white wine clam sauce. It looked ok. Nothing special for $ 19. But, it was salty and they put too much hot pepper flakes. I couldn’t tell if it was salty or spicy. I was really disappointed.
Well, good thing we ordered a pizza bc u can’t go wrong with pizza! To be safe, we ordered the margherita pizza. It was really plain for a $ 19 pizza. They should add some fresh garlic and the tomatoes shouldn’t be so big, raw, and plain. If you didn’t have a fork and knife, it’d be hard to eat bc it was soft and soggy. But, it was good bc they used good cheese… and if it cost half the price, it wouldnt be too bad. But, for $ 19, I expect more.

The restaurant is crying for a overdue upgrade and make over. Aside from the air conditioner which is a big hunk of machine hanging over the ceiling, it seem like they try to set a people watching atmosphere.
The food is way too pricey for it’s quality and taste. Like most reviews, I only came here because I purchased a half off deal.
They offer free bread and butter as an appetizer. I ordered the pesto with chicken. The description of the sauce is suppose to be infused with anchovies, but I didn’t taste any of it. This watery consistency sauce had to do with not draining the pasta. I was fairly disappointed and wanted to like my dish. The dark meat was sliced up in tiny strips, some skin on and that was not cool. If the quantity is not there, at least offer quality white meat to compensate. Leave it to me to find a hair in my pasta. Can I get a dollar for every strand I find?
My husband ordered the seafood dish. The shrimp was large, decent and nicely cooked. The scallop did not come in abundance, but was nicely done. The mussels were a bit fishy and made the whole dish smell not so fresh. So we have mixed reviews of the food.
The service was not bad at all, but they were not organized. The waitress didn’t even know if they made their own pasta. At least ask and get back with me.
I really wanted to like this place because it’s within walking distance. If the quality was there, then I wouldn’t mind the price so much.

This is rounding up to two stars. If not for the Living Social deal, I would be thoroughly boycotting this place.
First off, 19 $ appetizer sampler consisted off cheese assortment, olives, proscuitto, fish, shrimp and assorted veggies. I am not exaggerating, but cheese consisted of three tiny pieces, a little bigger than cheese nips, 8 olives, 3 shrimps, and 2 slices of proscuitto. The tomato and avocado salad was decent, the italian sausage pasta had 4 or 5 razor thin slices of sausage with enough pasta that would have satisfied a 5 year old. Our server was polite, but unknowledgeable about his drinks. Listening to one of the servers explain to his table that they ran out of two out of three of their happy hour deals after being open for 15 min with two other tables? Unacceptable. Definitely not worth the hassle of no parking and price.

I often traverse back and forth Waikiki as my drinking hot spots are no longer confined to Seaside Ave. Without Wang Chungs and InBetweens, I would have never found this place.
In my drunken stupor, I stumbled up to this place. I tell my friend «I hear the most awful mexican restaurant is here.» and then I read the sign Bene Pesce «…guess it’s not here anymore.» A lovely hostess/​waitress stands outside saying aloha to everyone. I’ve had way too many libations and this place was about to close, but she gave me a paper takeout menu for me to look over.
A week passes and two of my friends demanded we eat Italian. After spending like 15 minutes trying to decide, I find the takeout menu in my car and say «HEY! I know a new place!» and our fates were sealed.
Two of us get there first and order a prosciutto salad. Let me tell you, it’s kind of awesome. It’s hard to judge a salad — although most salads can be fresh and tasty, the ones that I would never think to assemble are the ones that stand out for me. Generous amounts of prosciutto, tomato, brussel sprouts, asparagus, lettuce, and spinach. I seriously would have never conceive of such a salad on my own. It was really nice.
Literally an hour later, my other friend shows up. In the meantime, our waitress (the same one that handed me the take out menu a week earlier) is truly waiting upon us. We have 3 servings of bread (Their bread is really dense/​spongy. We were debating if it was undercooked or purposeful. We enjoyed it, so we decided it was purposeful.) and we have a sample of their chianti.
We realized, with the large open arches throughout the restaurant– it creates a perfect indoor-​outdoor feeling that makes this the PERFECT people watching restaurant. So if you want to sit and watch/​listen to silly tourists say the darndest things, this place is kind of amazing for that.
Our third party arrives and we order our main courses. I order a Spaghetti Carbonara, my friends order Puttanesca and «Mochiko chicken.» I just knew their Mochiko chicken was a BAD IDEA coming from a primarily Italian restaurant with a Japanese language menu in Waikiki.
Our verdicts? Pastas were perfect al-​dente. Carbonara was a little too generous with the pepper — that should have been offered table-​side rather than prepared with the pepper. The sauces on both pastas were good — properly done with nothing from left field. The Mochiko Chicken was laughable — it really just looked like Chicken Karaage. He was served mashed potatoes with his Mochiko-​Chicken-​now-​Karaage. The potatoes were dry, kind of looked like box mix mashed potatoes.
Come here for the salads and pastas. You’ll be better off at L&L for «Hawaiian» food.