CJ’s New York Style Delicatessen & Restaurant

We were pleasantly surprised with CH ‘s New York style deli. After our first visit we have made this restaurant our choice at the Hilton Hawaiian village. The foodies consistently good and the service is great. A nice change from the overpriced restaurants in this resort.

This place has the best pastrami reuben sandwich I’ve ever had. Was very surprised as not much good food comes out of hotels here.
BE WARNED they do not validate so watch out. Minus one star for that.

I had the corned beef hash eggs Benedict. The corned beef hash was home made. Not as good as another place but tasty. These guys know how to make hash browns. Crisp on both sides. The service was slow so don’t go if you are in a hurry.

It’s sad, been eating here for a few years now and stopped coming because the food was going down hill. Decided to give it another try today and not only was the food not good (cold, undercooked) but the service was very lacking. Definitely won’t be coming back.

Best coffee in the Hilton Waikiki Village. Period. I roast my own beans and am crazy picky about the freshness and the sour/​burnt taste from coffee beans that are too old, or coffee that has been sitting on the burner for too long. Lapperts and Tropics both suffered from not-​good-​coffee. And Tropics uses Hawaiian Paradise, the same brand as CJs. Not sure how Tropics screwed it up. CJs somehow serves perfect diner coffee, and that is sometimes a great thing: smooth, no bite and fantastic with cream and sugar. I bought a cup at Lapperts, just to try it. It was made as a single cup with a single filter, by hand. I had to toss it into the trash and run to CJs. When I told the always professional wait staff about my dilemma, they asked me to wait an extra minute while they brewed up a new pot. Awesome.
Best breakfast at the village as well. On the flip-​side, Rainbow Lanai buffet breakfast is $ 29 for hot items and $ 20 for cold «Continental» items. So, you spend $ 29, if you accidentally choose oatmeal, since it is «hot». Not only does everything at the Rainbow Lanai taste leftover and rubbery because it’s cafeteria food, you’ll pay through the nose for it. My wife, my 4.5 year old son and I all loved our a la carte breakfast choices at CJs. The basic sausage is really great. The Hawaiian pancakes, as well. Even basic oatmeal is fine. And… the coffee. Don’t ruin your breakfast with burnt grounds for coffee.
Get lunch at CJs and order the Pastrami Rueben. I got mine with Russian and Sauerkraut on the side. The Pastrami itself is the draw, very moist and flavorful. It’s not Refuge in San Carlos (they are fanatics who make their own pastrami and charge like $ 18 for a sandwich), but… honestly, not too far off.
The Mai Tais also were a repeat purchase for me. You can get Trader-​Vics style ones at the Tapa tower bar and take them to your room – which IS a super plus, but if you can manage to drink and finish your Mai Tai at CJs (they can’t allow you to take it «to go») it’s worth it. Better flavor and spicier Whaler’s rum.
At the beginning of our trip, when we first sat down there to eat, I saw a family with a few boys waltzing in, and one kid was complaining «awww, we ate here every single day of our trip». I know he was complaining, but I can see why his parents made that choice: If your going to pay resort prices, the food – and the coffee – and the mai tais – should not suck.

Id have to second what everyone wrote, not bad not great. The biggest point is if your in Hawaii on vacation why waste a meal on a place like this? I can tell you why we did… Tired & Close to hotel room! Literally had one of those nights where we were exhausted & couldn’t manage to walk the strip of restaurants so we settled upon this, quick American diner type.
The good:
Waitress was beyond lovely, attentive despite the kind of crowd around us of grumpy tourists who would consider this establishment «a treat» (sorry I sound snobbish here but I really can’t imagine why people would pick this place as a first choice for a meal). Anyways to my point, she was friendly and quick.
Pretty extensive menu, something for everyone. I got a giant hotdog and called it a day. Pretty darn good hotdog but again I could have eaten something the equivalent at home on my couch for $ 5.
The bad: tacky american diner in paradise, gives you that sticky feel that you don’t want to touch anything. And again you are in Hawaii! Wouldn’t be on my top 50 restaurant for the island.
Food & Service earn this place a fair 3 stars, you get what you pay for & it was easy in n out.

We stopped here and I was surprised. My first impression was a little off. We stood at the door for a good few minutes by the sign that says please wait to be seated. When someone finally came over, they seemed so confused.
Other than that everything else was fairly good. My boyfriend ordered the cj hoagie and I ordered the hot pastrami sandwich. They were both delicious. We also ordered two tropical drinks. You couldn’t really taste any alcohol, but they were still pretty delicious.
The only down side to the meal was the price. 2 sandwiches and 2 drinks… $ 70. Yikes. But it is waikiki.
I suggest sticking to water or soda pop instead of the alcoholic beverages, save your moooola!

Sooooooooo slow this place is not worth it. Not even 7 people here and service is a minus –5. The server was also bad I had 2 go get my own drink due to being slow!!! If i could I would give them a –1 Star. The food coes out Toms Chili chese fries taste like hormells chili the fries are cold Do not waste your time!!!

Breakfast is awesome! Just a few hundred feet from our hotel (Hilton Hawaiian Village) and the food here is fantastic! I got the CJ’S Haupia Coconut Crusted French Toast, it’s a ‘must try’ for anyone coming to Oah’u!

Very average food. Nothing really impressive, but nothing too horrible either. The portions were pretty good and the fries were perfectly crispy.

Not sure if you came all the way to Hawaii to eat at a Deli. But, you can get yourself a local Hawaiian breakfast here. Loco Moco, baby! In the middle of the Village Shops is a number of eating establishments that are reasonably priced. Use Unilocal and get yourself at local establishments that are cheaper and better. Come here just for a Loco Moco.

This deli serves all around «so-​so» tasting food. I tried their number one selling sandwich– the pastrami Reuben.
I had a hard time chewing the pastrami. It was, as they say, «like shoe leather».
Tough and lacking in flavor. Not good.
The matzo ball soup wasn’t too flavorful either.
Our credit card was used to charge another table’s lunches. After the mix up and subsequent reversal of charges, we were told «not to worry» when our credit card bill arrives in the mail.
Fingers crossed.

Top pick: The CJ’s Haupia French Toast. Skip the Macadamia nut and coconut pancakes and get this instead.
Yes, it is $ 16, but there are 8 good slices of french toast with a generous serving of sliced strawberries and blueberries. The best part was the corn flake crust and the bottle of coconut syrup. Yes, you can definitely share this with someone but you probably will not want to share.
This restaurant is fairly small, equal amounts of indoor and outdoor seating. Breakfast can get busy and it might be difficult to get a table for a party of 4 (we ended up being split into two tables for two right next to each other in the bar area).
I would have taken a picture and uploaded it, but I ate the all of it too quickly.

I enjoy the sandwiches here. It’s a bit pricey but I love the sweet potato fries and the Pastrami rueben. They also do a good Kalua pork sliders.
Only reason why I give it 4 stars is because it’s like 20 dollars for a burger and fries. Kinda pricey but it’s yummy.

Food was great a little
Slow but worth the wait very taste bloody Mary and the beef sliders were perfect with the sweet potato fries
Waiter very friendly and attentive with a very extensive menu I will
Be back very soon to try more

Just got here it took about 5 minutes to get seated and most of the employees past us by not even acknowledging us didn’t feel the Aloha spirit! Will review once we get our food maybe I will change my mind of coming again… first impressions mean alot!

Honolulu is severely lacking in these types of New York style delicatessens which I so adore. So here I am in the middle of Hilton Hawaiian Village on the west side of Waikiki. No matter what I know its going to be expensive.
I have always wanted to try matzo ball soup… another one of my long time food obsession I’ve yet to try. And this is the only place on Oahu (besides Giovanni’s Pastrami) that I know of that serves it.
CJ’s menu looks pretty vast but it’s mainly variations of different types of deli meat sandwiches in one combination or other so making a decision can be rough. They also serve breakfast all day in addition to a menu consisting of appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta and dessert. There’s even a keiki menu for kids under 12.
They have a bar area as well if you want to catch a game on tv. It’s a very casual open area restaurant with ceiling fans (no A/​C) so it can get pretty warm in here especially if it’s a muggy day with no trade winds.
Chicken Noodle Matzo Ball Soup ($ 7) Small Bowl– The menu says «soups are homemade with fresh vegetables and ingredients.» Sounds very promising.
First off I’m skeptical whether or not the broth is homemade because it tasted like canned chicken broth to me. The noodles were vermicelli. I prefer a short, flat noodle. The noodles were also long like pasta so eating it was somewhat awkward. Vegetables were fresh as stated and nice and chunky. Chicken was visible but mainly micro sized pieces in my bowl.
The matzo was yummy. Nice pillowy soft. I’m not sure if schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) was used but it had a light, savory mellow flavor to it. I have nothing to compare it to since I’ve never had one before. Overall I liked it. So although I’m not a fan of the broth this dish definitely had a comfort food appeal to me & would be something I would order again if I feel under the weather or am having a bad day.
Hot Roast Brisket of Beef on Rye Bread ($ 14) With choice of fries, potato salad, macaroni salad or coleslaw. I made a wise decision choosing the creamy coleslaw because that brisket was dry. Nice flavor but too dry. The order of consumption went like this: Bite of sandwich, bite of coleslaw, bite of sandwich, bite of coleslaw, drink of water, repeat, etc. It could’ve use some au jus on the side. The brisket also fell out of my sandwich as I ate so it was a poorly constructed sandwich. Oh well, I guess I picked the wrong sandwich.
I kind of want a do over & wished I had seen «The Sheboygan» which is a featured menu item at San Francisco Giants AT&T Stadium: A «naturally smoked bratwurst of veal & pork smothered in sauerkraut.» ($ 12) includes fries & cole slaw. It wouldn’t be the first time I would pay over $ 12 for a hot dog (Pink’s in Las Vegas).
My Overall Rating is 3 Stars. A-​Okay.

The price is a lil pricey but the food and service was great. Not complaining, if I didn’t like the price I wouldn’t have stayed.
Yummy food and awesome service. Recommended.

Once again, my lunch time break for my NCLEX review class in Waikiki was spent on overpriced food. Yes, the food here is very overpriced for what it is.
I didn’t want to have to wait for my food, so once I left the hotel where my class was, I phoned in my order to CJ’s. I decided to have breakfast for lunch, since they serve breakfast all day.
I ordered the sausage & eggs combo, which for $ 15 comes with sausage, 3 eggs, choice of starch (country fries, sliced tomatoes, hash brown, rice) & a choice of toast or English muffin. I thought, okay, $ 15 is a lot for breakfast, but at least it comes with a lot.
The food was ready to go by the time I got there, and there are tons of tables both indoor and outdoor to eat on. HOWEVER, I soon found out that this is NOT the kind of place where you can grab your takeout and pick any of the tables to eat at. Even though it looks like a grab your food and sit anywhere type joint, the waiter apparently seats you and it is DINE IN ONLY. The male waiter who rudely kicked me and my friend out from one of the outside tables made this very clear that this is their policy. He said I could dine in if they re-​plated my takeout. Ummm, okay? I think this policy is dumb honestly, but it was the way in which he went about telling me this policy that lacked customer service.
As for my plate? It was good. Nothing amazing to be honest, especially for the price. I wouldn’t return, especially if I have to deal with the rude waiter again. No thank you. I wish I had taken my money back to Blue Water Shrimp next door. Better food for the price, better service, and you can sit at any of their tables when you order food (even if you ordered it to go!).

Trying to find another breakfast place ironically and stumbled across this one by accident– but their ‘Triple Play’ from the Breakfast favourites part of their menu — was a winner. Came on a platter with three mini versions of their best-​selling breakfast items which included a Mini Wagyu Beef Loco Moco + Mini Macadamia Nut & Coconut pancakes with strawberries as well as one Gourmet bacon, tomato, avocado eggs benedict.
Really enjoyed this tasting platter and think it encapsulated the cuisine of Hawaii. Especially well with it’s traditional loco moco dish with it’s inclusion of Japanese-​bred wagyu beef, where there is a great deal of Japanese influence and presence in the city of Honolulu. It was delicious. Always down for some pancakes and this one was just enough to satisfy without overwhelming the sweet tastebuds. Really liked the nut, coconut and berry combination. Lastly, eggs bene is always my go to at a café and having a mini one was perfect.
Set up well in the style of a NYC restaurant, they have both indoor deli seating as well as outside if the sun is out. Though slightly hidden away in a corner, this one is worth a search for. Highly recommend that ‘Triple Play’!