Grand Café & Bakery

Disappointing.
Service:
A friendly gentleman greeted us and promptly asked if we wanted a cold drink Unfortunately, he wasn’t our server. A luke warm lady took over and became snippier as lunch went on. She didn’t like the fact that I asked for extra croutons and wanted to pack my own leftovers. She made it evident that she was not happy with my choices.
Food:
The Broccoli Cheddar (soup of the day $ 3.50)
This was actually very tasty. However, it was very lumpy; perhaps the roux wasn’t done properly?
The Caesar salad with chicken ($ 13.50 + $ 3.50)
UGH. This was not very good and way overpriced. The chicken was previously cooked and chilled. It was very dry and chewy, which took forever to swallow. They give you 5 pieces of croutons and as mentioned earlier, the server frowned when asked for more. She even went on to mention that «they» don’t like giving out extra stuff unless there’s a charge. I kindly told her I would have been happy to pay for it. The only saving grace was the dressing; it was pretty decent
BLT ($ 12.95)
Chibata bread for a BLT wouldn’t have been my first choice. If I had known better, I would have asked for a croissant substitution.
I used to love their breakfast menu when they were at the old location!

Grand Café and Bakery has a NEW home as of January 2013… they are located in Hawaii Arts Museum at Capitol One District in downtown Honolulu! Go and visit them soon!!!

I could hardly wait to eat at their new location. My co-​workers and I have been bothering the construction crew on a weekly basis, asking when the restaurant would open back in December 2012. We really missed the good food and service provided by their predecessor, Downtown.
I made it a point of making lunch reservations for our moderate sized party and double checked this morning to make sure they were actually open for business.
The restaurant is bright and welcoming and a good fit being located downstairs of the Hawaii State Art Museum. The staff was pleasant and professional and we were seated immediately. I’m not sure if the new owners did anything to the accoustics but the noise level seemed to be a bit better than when Downtown occupied the space. Business was light, which was surprising, considering it was an overcast and rainy day and workers in the building could pick up a quick lunch without getting wet.
The food: I ordered fries and a Caesar salad for our table to share. Some ordered cups of the soup of the day (tomato basil) and some ordered cups of their great Missionary chowder. Surprisingly, they didn’t have chicken or shrimp if you wanted it as a topping to your Caesar salad. Fresh catch perhaps? Nope. No smoked turkey either so no Chinese turkey salad. Oh well…
The Caesar salad that we shared was fine. French fries (house made, thin cut) were salty, and I love salt. Chowder was a bit too salty but I could overlook that considering I love salt. Tomato basil was disappointing based on the amount of soup that was left in the bowls of the 3 people who ordered the soup. The comment was that the soup was too thick to be pleasing. The reuben sandwiches was made with marble rye (yay!) and had a decent amount of corned beef and sauerkraut. With the fries and the soup being a bit too salty, the taste of the corned beef was just okay. The server mentioned that a side Caesar salad could be ordered when two of our staff ordered soup with the Caesar salad. Full sized salads were delivered (and charged) ;-(. One of the Caesar salads had way too much dressing which cloying cloaked the lettuce. The other Caesar salad was just fine.
Considering that the management team has been in business before, just at a different location, I gave Grand Café & Bakery 3*. Considering it was their first day and the staff was so pleasant, I’ll try them again in a week or so and report back. Hope they bring back their meatloaf. Yum!

TUESDAY, JUNE 26, WILL BE GRAND CAFE’S LAST DAY OF SERVICE.
According to June 20’s Star-​Advertiser, the owners couldn’t agree on the lease terms. They will be scouting for a location on Smith St.

Cute little café downtown. Nice for a lady lunch with friends. The braised short ribs are usually pretty good and so is the meatloaf. Everything else i’ve tried in the past is just okay, so i usually just stick with the short ribs or meat loaf.
I’ve only had breakfast here once. I ordered the banana fosters french toast, which was pretty good. Slightly burnt but forgiveable.
If you have a larger party, i would recommend making reservations.

Shaky service, higher prices… but their Eggs Benedicts are sooo good.
Okay, I know this place does lunch and dinner; but I always think of this place as a breakfast spot. This place is definitely targeting the handbag crowd: of which their success is evident by the customers that always fill this place.
I know so many people, especially those who live in the downtown area, who have these love-​hate relationships with this place. The food is great, but the service is shaky at times; and the prices are a bit high. There have been times when the service had been great, but then there are just as many where things were not good. There have been some (more than a few) memorable times where I was waiting for maybe an hour for food; but luckily the conversations made the time go by easier. There were times water glasses were empty for quite some time with no follow-​ups from the servers. The prices will be more than your usual local places, it is actually more akin to places like Longhi’s (
).
This review may be more of an homage to their Benedicts than anything else. I love the variety of Benedicts that they have here: they have specials that change daily. They also provide you the option of ordering any combination of two for $ 18.25. I had many versions over my times here: Traditional, Rueben, Veggie, Garlic Aioli, and Turkey. All have been amazingly delicious, and the hollandaise sauce here is probably one of the best on the island. This is probably the closest Benedict you can get in Oahu to places like my fave in San Francisco, Mama’s (
). The quirky aspect of the place is that they all come with sides of salad with a delicious dressing. If you want Potatoes (O’ Brien), which are also delicious, you have to order them on the side.
I have had other items here, such as the delicious Quiche and the Grand Omelete: two of my other faves here. The French Toast and Corned Beef Hash are also pretty good. However, my favorite breakfast meal is a great Eggs Benedict, and this is my favorite in Oahu.
One of the better places to have breakfast in town, I really should check out lunch and dinner here.

4.5 stars.
Returned recently the day before St. Patrick’s Day. Place was not crowded at all. Just our party of four and another the same size. We had 7 pm reservations and hilariously, I must of had a brain fart as my Open Table reservations were actually for 7 am. One of the gracious owners told me they were expecting me that morning. Damn, what was I thinking?! ‘Better late than never,’ I think my response was. LOL!
We heard they were doing real Corned Beef and Cabbage (5 stars!), so half of our table ordered that. I had their glorious Cola Braised Short Ribs (5 stars!) and another had a Roasted Chicken and pasta dish (4 stars). All portions here at GC&B are on the larger size. The corn beef and cabbage dish was just stellar. Succulent pieces of lean corned beef, just outstanding. The roasted chicken was flavorful and juicy. Their short ribs is just a fabulous dish that makes me sigh with each bite. Like coming home to mom’s home cooking, pure comfort.
Dessert was a Chocolate Brownie ala Mode (3.5 stars) and their famous Lemon Cake (5 stars!) Supposedly there’s a lot of real lemon juice in it, so think antioxidants and you’re good to go. Overall, a very relaxing night that left us completely satisfied. Come support one of the original eateries that put Chinatown on the map of culinary renaissance!
Tally:
Corned Beef & Cabbage: 5 stars!
Cola Braised Short Ribs: 5 stars!
Roasted Chicken & Pasta: 4 stars
Chocolate Brownie: 3.5 stars
Lemon Cake: 5 stars!
5+5+4+3.5+5= 22.5/5= 4.5 stars.

Awesome benedicts, I recommend the Veggie & the Original Benedict combination ($ 18.25). Comes with a large side salad of beautiful greens with grape tomatoes and shredded carrots. It’s a moderately hefty meal so technically you could split it with someone.
The Veggie (a special): delicious and not heavy, a nice slice of tomato with tons of spinach. The hollandaise sauce is so divine, it is flavorful but not thick or overpowering, and is just enough to not make you feel too full after. I would definitely order this again.
The Original: executed beautifully, I would order this again.
The Garlic Aioli (a special): I couldn’t taste the garlic so it tasted a little plain, I wouldn’t bother with this again.
The Turkey BBQ (a special): a flavor to get used to with hollandaise sauce. The server said it was one of their popular ones so I thought I’d give it a try. I wouldn’t order this again.
Potatoes O’Brien (side order): deliciously baked potato goodness, large chunks of potato with red/​green pepper and red onions, not oily and baked just right!
The specials seem to change daily and I look forward to trying the Rueben benedict one day. The meal pairing with a good sized salad helps lighten the meal. I saw other tables ordering what looked like mimosas and bloody marys so I thought that was great game. I’m a fan of french toast so maybe I’ll try that next time, I just didn’t feel like gelato in the morning. :-)

Awwww! What an adorable little place with great food to boot. The little ladies that work here are cutie pattoties and the guy that took our order was the sweetest gent around. On service this place gets 5+ stars. The people here are just INCREDIBLE.
The food is also delicious! The cola braised short ribs are incredibly tasty and melt in your mouth tender. My husband said the crab dip was also divine. Everyone at our table (all 11 of us) just raved about each and every dish. There was not one complaint among us. Why not 5 stars then? The menu selection is really limited. If something on the limited menu does not tickle your fancy you are SOL. There was not a whole lot for vegetarians either. We did not come here for brunch but I hear it is awesome.
Overall, I would come back to this place in a heartbeat however, if I was dining with someone who had food allergies or who was just über picky, I would call in advance to find out what their menu is for the evening. Try it! I promise you’ll like it.

This has been our regular weekend breakfasat/​brunch place.
Our favorite order: Eggs Benedict and Cinnamon Bun.
This place reminds me of East coast and European old cafes.
Haven’t tried their lunch for a long time, but what I had tried — most of the menu items, were all good.
Unilocal 365 — ⁶⁷⁄₃₆₅

Nice café & bakery located in downtown. While breakfast isn’t usually my thing they do a pretty good job here.
Parking Wise: A lot of different paid parking lots available in the area. There is even a small lot right next door.
Food Wise: Being a simple person the homemade corned beef hash was a little bit different for me. It seemed a little bit over seasoned for my taste. I would give it 3 stars. What I was a fan of was the mini pastries that they had available. Was able to try the apple pastry, the guava pastry and the almond bearclaw. At about $ 1 each these small treats are quite good. I could see myself just relaxing and enjoying the pastries for a meal.
#Yelp 365 ⁰⁷⁷⁄₃₆₅

I’m kinda torn on the 4^th star here because we came here for the first time, for breakfast on Father’s Day and the menu was SUPER LIMITED and EXPENSIVE. I called for a reservation the day before and got one quickly but when I asked about the menu of the day, the man on the other end said, regular menu but some specialty items will be added. Fair enough since I’ve read on Unilocal their breakfast is the meal here.
But yeah, that didn’t happen. They only had a «special» menu available (think 1 sheet of paper, with only 4 entrees listed and spaced the hell out on the page) and each were jacked up about $ 5-​$ 10 of their normal day prices. That dissapointed me and for this alone I wanted to give this place 3 stars but I just can’t hate on tasty food.
the 4^th star is given coz their food was good and portions were ample. My husband had a perfectly medium rare NY steak; this thing was huge and thick. Could have easily fed both of us. And they charge you extra for splitting plates. I had the pastrami omellette, which looked like a 3 egger. The normal price of this omellette is $ 13, but on father’s days it was $ 18!!! And this was the «cheapest» item on the menu that day. Boooo.
But shout out to those little, delicate danishes in the display case! YUM. You could literally smell the butter off of them from a foot away. Well I could at least! Those were some of the best danishes I’ve had, super light, flakey and did I mention, buttery?
Anyways, I will come back on a REGULAR sunday morning for the REGULAR prices. Because I want to try the bananas foster, eggs benedict etc… again which all were just void on Fathers Day.
Pros:
–DANISHES.
–Good portions, tasty fresh food
–nice service, they were very friendly
–Takes reservations
Cons:
–It was pricey…$ 6 for a papaya and some berries in it? Really?
–Limited menu on special occaisions, call and make sure of the menu first.
–Charge you extra for splitting a plate
–Small inside but has outdoor seating.

Had a most excellent dinner at Grand Café and Bakery last evening.
After reading the reviews, I was a bit trepidatious, but all worries were unfounded.
My husband and I made reservations at Open Table.
We scored a parking space right across the street – no meter charges after 6:00 PM.
As soon as we entered the restaurant, we received a friendly greeting from a lady who explained she is the grand daughter of one of the original owners.
The restaurant is nicely decorated with old fashioned prints and photos from the 1920 – including pictures of what the restaurant looked like back in the day.
We had a choice of tables and selected a table for two, with one seat at the wall length booth and the other seat in a comfortable chair. Yellow and white mums brightened the table setting.
After perusing the menu, we decided to have the Prix Fixe menu. This consisted of soup or salad, choice of three entrees, and choice of dessert.
We each had a cocktail. Yes, they are served in coffee mugs, and the hostess explained the connection to the Speak Easies of the Prohibition Era. My husband had the Bee’s Knees and I had the Sidecar. Both were good, but we liked the Sidecar best (brandy, triple sec, and Lemon juice).
I had the soup of the day – Cream of Artichoke. It was excellent. Lovely presentation and delicious. It actually reminded me of my grandmother’s soup, and she’s been gone nearly 20 years, now.
My husband had the Caesar Salad – also excellent with fresh, crisp lettuce.
For entrees, we each tried something different. I had the catch of the day, and my husband had the short ribs. Again, both were fantastic. My fish was moist and flaky. My husband’s short ribs were flavorful and tender. We thought there would be bones, but the serving was pure tasty meat. Our vegetable sides (a type of Chinese green) were steamed bright green and tender. The mashed potatoes were delicious.
For dessert, I tried to famous lemon cake and my husband had the brownie sundae. I’d been good about taking photos of each course, but I was halfway through the lemon cake when I realized I’d forgotten to take a picture. It was yummy – a nice lemon flavor and moist cake. My husband’s brownie sundae was also excellent.
The hostess was kind enough to check with us when it was nearly 7:00, just in case we were headed to the theater for Jump. That was very nice of her. We weren’t headed for the show, but if we’d lost track of time, we could have been close to missing the start of the production.
Our only quibble was the waiter never brought us the ice water we had requested. We wound up ordering coffee to go with our dessert.
The price was quite reasonable. The Prix Fixe menu ($ 35 each) is the way to go if you want a starter, entrée, and desert. Cocktails were $ 8 each and coffee was extra.
We plan to try Grand Café and Bakery for brunch, next. Highly recommended!

Thanks to Shiloh, im now a fan of this place. I recently ventured here on a Saturday for breakfast to just see how good this place is.
Located in Downtown near HASR Wine its a small place with plenty of parking near by. Chinatown Municipal is right across the street and for $ 2 you can park, have breakfast, take a stroll into Chinatown without having to pay huge parking fees.
Grand Café reminds me of those small shops you would find in San Francisco. Very homely and comfy setting. With the «older» ladies … who are also the owner, its just an inviting kind of place!
The egg’s benedict, which is only served on weekend from what im told, was what I was there to eat. You get 5 options to pick from or you can just go with the traditional benedict. The taste is great and the hollandaise sauce wasn’t to eggy.
After about 2 hours having a nice talk with a friend and about 5 cups of coffee, I decided to try the owners home made Lemon Cake. It was moist and just the right amount of lemon flavor.
Note: If you are in a rush, service isn’t as fast as you would like it. This is perfect if you are in sales and need to do your sales pitch. Expect atleast an hour to be there.

This past weekend, we went out to dinner on a triple date at Grand Café. Upon entering, my first impression was that the restaurant appeared welcoming and homey.
The staff was very helpful, attentive and friendly.
We ordered a couple of appetizers including a Caesar Salad and a Char Siu Bun Dish. We also ordered a bottle of Hey Mambo red wine, which was a mix of Zinfandel and Barbera.
For my entrée dish, I ordered the Cola Braised Short Ribs. IT WAS AMAZING! The plate was very generous in portion size, the short ribs were tender and juicy, and had a slight taste of cola. So yummy! It also came with mashed potatoes and vegetables. The veggies (mushrooms and cucumbers) were sauteed and went perfectly with the short ribs!
Ordering dessert here is also a must! Between the 6 of us, we ordered each plate on the dessert menu. The consensus of the group said the lemon cake was the best.
Tucked in between Chinatown and Downtown, it may be a little hard to find, but definitely worth checking out! The food portions are generous, service is great and the atmosphere is cozy.
My next visit will be for breakfast!

2.5 stars… I’ve been dying to try this place ever since I heard about the Island Bananas Foster French Toast because I adore french toast + who doesn’t want vanilla bean gelato for breakfast??! Finally made the trek downtown & got a rock star metered parking space. Plugged the meter with 6 quarters (should have parked at a muni lot… cheaper) & entered Grand Café.
Note: Breakfast is served until 10:50 a.m. not 10:30 a.m. as listed on the website. Credit card minimum is $ 10 — which is easy since most breakfasts cost more than $ 10.
Ambiance: Bright & clean. Simple but nice décor.
Service: Original waiter wasn’t really friendly & we needed to ask for everything. Spoon for the gelato — duh. Water refills. When the 2 other ladies took over, the water glasses were filled & plates cleared efficiently. WTH?
Very disappointed/​underwhelmed with the food. We ordered the veggie omelet & Island Bananas Foster French Toast to share.
Veggie omelet — Egg portion was fully cooked separately from the veggie, then veggies were placed in folded egg. Not my way of cooking an omelet — I prefer the stuffing to be somewhat cooked into the egg so it doesn’t fall out when you’re eating the omelet. Skimpy on the veggies. The side of potatoes could use rosemary & a touch of garlic for flavor.
Island Bananas Foster French Toast — Thank goodness I ordered it with the toppings on the side (less messy to divide on separate plates). The bananas foster sauce was thick, gloppy, light on bananas & had a strange, unpleasant aftertaste. To sum up in 1 word — ick. I’ve had Bananas Foster at Commander’s Palace in New Orleans so quite familiar with the dish. Was sooo sad that I didn’t adore this signature dish.
With the limited breakfast menu & prices, I expected higher quality.
House made char siu — delicious & $ 8.95/lb (a splurge). Sold in 1lb vacuum packs.

I live in Downtown and I walked by Grand Café a million times over the past decade and have never knew of its existence. The street it’s on is really sketch at night and I’m hardly there during the day so I try my best to avoid Pauahi St.
My friend wanted to have brunch one Sunday so we came here. Their brunch menu is limited but they verbally recited a complete menu’s worth of off-​menu specials. Okay, if you’re gonna have that many, put it in print! I ended up forgetting a bunch of them and our servers were busy so I didn’t want to have them waste their breath again. Two of them ordered the Banana Foster’s French Toast (~$ 12) and I got the crab omelet (~$ 16).
The French toast was heaven at first bite but the richness of the caramel sauce just became too heavy and overpowering. Neither of them were able to finish it since they were over the taste after a few slices of bread. I was so happy to get the omelet. It was good with tons of fresh crab meat. The side salad was plentiful. I finished my plate :)
Grand Café is a cute place to dine but it’s a bit pricey for what it’s worth but portions are generous. To me, it’s a once-​in-​awhile splurge.

Grand Café and Bakery is a strange place on the mauka edge of downtown. You walk into what feels like an old school restaurant and are seated by one of two women who are picture-​perfect grandmothers. Somehow, it doesn’t feel right. Somehow, a place like this doesn’t belong in the vicinity of the homeless lining the streets, Amy’s Place, and all the other dirty bars along the way. And yet, it’s perfect.
This post is going to be simple, because when you come here on the weekends, you only order two things. Sure, there are other items on the menu, but stay with me…
The croissant seems pretty ordinary, and not very big (think Costco big) until you pick it up. There’s an audible crack of crispness as you dig your fingers into it and the glutenous innerweavings all come undone as you pull it apart. I have not had a better, fresher croissant.
Also, I was so intent on eating said croissant that I forgot I was supposed to be taking a photo of it, too. Fail.
Holy crap. The eggs benedict. The variations change all the time, but you’re always given the opportunity for a classic ham benedict. Today, I picked the salmon benedict and portuguese sausage benedict. I want to say this is the best eggs benedict I’ve had in Hawaii, but I’m sure someone disagrees. The eggs are poached perfectly well so that the warm yolk comes spilling out with the hollandaise sauce in all its buttery glory. And there’s a salad. Meh.
You WILL spend $ 20+ for breakfast here, and you will NOT regret it. The service is geared towards patrons with more discerning expectations, and the conversation is always fun.
After taking the check, one of the grandmas asked me, «Did he smile for you?» Taking a cue from my confused look (is this lady senile?), she asked again if the eggs benedict had smiled when I took his picture.
Why I come back: the owners are incredibly nice (like your aunty, or grandma), the chef is amazingly skilled, and the benedict is NUMBER ONE

We tried Grand Café yesterday for lunch. What a pleasant surprise. We ordered the Cola Marinaded Short Ribs, Pasta Primavera & Fish and Chips. Everything was HUGE and yummy. The prices look high at first but when you get your meal it’s twice as big as you expect. Overall a great find. Short Rib is 5 stars.

I’ve been here more than a handful of times, usually on the weekend. Each time I’ve been here, I’ve loved the food. I try to make it down on the weekend because their eggs benedict = killer! I love their breakfast.
It’s a really cute place. The only thing I could complain about is location. I wish it weren’t in Chinatown. The good thing is, is that it isn’t on one of the sketchy streets in Chinatown. But still, it’s Chinatown. The parking situation is okay: street or garage – Mark’s garage or that underground parking garage/​lot.
Overall, I really like this place and will be back for their eggs benedict!