GRYLT Waikiki

I was here in the spring for about a week and I must’ve eaten here about 4 times. I’m going to address some of the negative reviews on here. There’s a lot of people complaining about the price or just not getting enough bang for their buck. BUT, if you need an actual HEALTHY meal while your out and about this is the place to go.
You’ll probably pay a few dollars more than a typical fast food joint, but seriously, I’d rather pay the extra couple dollars and have a plate with cauliflower mash, roasted veggies, and steroid-​free/​hormone free chicken.
So, if you need fast food and want something relatively healthy, this is definitely worth the visit!

I was super happy to find out GRYLT had a shop in Waikiki. Always wanted to try it and today was the day.
At first look, this place looks super cool! Well, I’m sad to report this place is terrible. No sense butter it up or try to rationalize with myself about how to give it a better rating.
I ordered the braised kalbi sandwich and it was disgusting. First if all, the meat was luke warm-​room temperature– COLD! If this baby is braising away in the back someplace give it to me piping hot please!
Oh and I didn’t remember ordering a soup on the side. Wait a minute that wasn’t soup that was kalbi braise juice that flooded my takeout container and made the bottom bun of my sandwich soggy. I wasn’t trying to eat all sophisticated with a fork and knife. I wanted to grab my kalbi sandwich by the balls and eat it like the low class fatty I am.
See soggy pics below:
The meal was a mess and the sandwich was cold. Never again!
Unilocal 31 Day Challenge #13/​31
Cold, soggy ass sandwich.

Okay, I HATE to be the bearer of one-​star reviews, especially being the FIRST to do so, but here’s the low-​down on this location.
1) I’ve never been to a GRYLT before, so it may just not be my cup of tea.
2) Food is OVERPRICED
3) Service is slow, unprofessional and unsanitary
4) Food is really not healthy
My husband and I came to this location, and I would have to say that the food was SALTY, heavily dressed (I got a steak salad, and my husband got a chicken sandwich) and when I say that, I mean, we’re looking at a quarter cup of salt and pepper along with an eighth cup of dressing, and a quarter cup of mayo on my husband’s sandwich.
The kid behind the counter, bless his heart, was trying his best to understand what was going on, but I swear it was like he was high. He was nice, but definitely disgusted me when he cut the roll to the sandwich without gloves, took our payment, then wiped the excess mayo from his hand on his already soiled apron.
For two of us, it was nearly $ 30, which for the quality of the fare, I felt was ridiculously overpriced, even for Waikiki. Maybe the food would have been healthier had the dressings and condiments kept to a minimum standard, but it was just disgusting.
The other guy working this day (the boy who helped us was a blonde kid and the other one was a local looking kid) was very polite and helpful. The steak was decent, but that was the highlight of the meal.
Now, I’m a pretty picky eater, so I can see how I lost my appetite after eating about a quarter of my salad, but my husband usually will NOT waste food on my plate or his, and he only ate about half his sandwich before he gave up (after scraping 90% of the may off his roll).
We walked across the street to the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center and got some Maui Tacos instead.

Back at Grylt again… my third visit to the Waikiki location (been to Manoa twice)… LOVED the food, as always!
I was pleased overall, but the service was a bit slow… There were two guys working (no name tags or I’d give a shout out) and trying their best to keep up; they were friendly and professional, but it seemed like they could’ve used another set of hands, especially in the middle of lunch.
I might be going crazy, but it seems like the prices went up from my last visits… $ 25 for a steak plate and a shrimp entrée salad… would chose the Grylt ‘plate lunch’ over the typical plate lunch ANY day, but I thought it used to be a better deal (and now they upcharge for potatoes or cauliflower instead of rice… it’s totally worth the $ 0.50, but I hate when places do upcharges for things like that).
Honey mustard dressing is simply divine… everything is FRESH and delicious… TIP: don’t get your food to go if you have far to go… best to eat it hot and fresh!
I’ll go back for sure.

Tried the Braised Kalbi sandwich today. It was a bit on the sweet and tangy side but the slaw and kim chee on it really helped to balance it out. I was initially drawn in by the cuts of ahi, chicken, and steak plates. They looked really good for «food court» food but the sandwich sounded even better when I read menu. I would try the plates next time though they started at $ 10 (the sandwich is $ 6.95) and only if I was in the area. Not worth driving for but a decent options for visitors who want a good quality meal with salads and veggies. I almost gave this place 3 stars because I really had to wait for some help because the initial worker was preparing an order. When I arrived there were about 3+ people back there and they all seemed to disappear. I didn’t want anything else in the food court though so just had to wait it out. The service needs to get better!

Actual visit 12÷16÷11 — The food courts were my friend in high priced Waikiki. GRYLT was very close to my hotel and my favorite sandwich was the Braised Kalbi. This was a very flavorful sandwich.

WE ate here 3 or 4 times while staying in Waikiki and each time was fantastic. Here’s what we tried:
— Braised Kalbi (beef) Sandwich: 5 out of 5. The beef is incredibly good and the sauce and other toppings are great — ordered this multiple times
— Grilled Ahi Sandwich: 4 out of 5. The ahi is fresh and the wasabi mustard is good
— Herb Crusted Chicken Breast: 5 out of 5. Great all around sandwich — ordered this multiple times
— Acai Bowl: 5 out of 5. I was blown away by this. I wasn’t expecting much but the combo of the strawberries, bananas, frozen acai, blueberries, and honey blew my mind. I wanted to get this again every day we walked by Grylt.
The ingredients they use here seem to be top quality and everything is fresh. We didn’t try any of the plate meals but everything we did try exceeded expectations. I would highly recommend this place, especially if you want good food that isn’t full of fat and low quality ingredients.

Super healthy, great prices, and tasty gourmet food cooked fresh that you can’t get anywhere else in Waikiki without paying over $ 30 a person plus tip! What’s not to like. I still think they have room for improvement (see my other updates) but overall it’s a five star, especially after having the shrimp option and comparing Grylt to my other options in this price range.
You choose a starch:
rice, brown rice, potatoes, or low carb «starch like» paleo friendly option, mashed cauliflower.
Pick a protein:
Grilled, free range, skin on chicken (more tender, juicy), Grilled wild Ahi, grilled shrimp, or grilled steak (my least favorite, see my earlier update) They give you 5 oz of protein and actually it’s a lot, I usually bring some home.
Pick some veggies/​salad:
Grilled zuchhini, green beans, onions, etc. I think they grill in Olive Oil (best option, a healthy, non-​seed oil) Veggies are very tasty and usually pretty fresh off the grill. Or you can get a baby romaine/​mixed greans instead of veggies.
Pick a sauce:
Olive oil sun dried tomato or citrus oil, or two other too much sugar/​too sweet for me to ever choose sauces.
Put it all in a to go container and voila, you have a super tasty, super healthy meal (or two) that has the convenience and darn close pricing of Panda Express, but way, way more healthy and is pretty close to being as healthy or healthier than a Roy’s meal, but this one’s about $ 10 or $ 11. You can get something kinda like this at Coco Cove down the street, but Coco Cove food has been sitting for a long, long time and no where near as healthy, fresh, or gourmet as this.
Now they could do a better job of training the staff to really know this food inside and out and to prompt the customer for sample ideas on how to create their plate and then things would move a WHOLE LOT faster. Like «Hi, welcome to GRYLT, so this is how it works, just pick one of these four tasty/​healthy starches, with Cauliflower being a low carb, super healthy option, then pick salad or fresh grilled local garden veggies, then one of our succulent homemade sauces…» So walk the customer through quickly, explain the features/​benefits of each food choice, give them the question AND the answer… so they are educators and servers, but moving pretty fast so all can eat sooner.
Now they just kind of stand their behind the food watching you try to figure out all this info on the menu, and only answer when asked a question… not all staff does this and it’s not their fault, but it makes for a slow moving line sometimes, and customer confusion… Servers need to memorize a «elevator pitch» to swiftly help customers make quick, yet healthy/​tasty decisions…
The menu is pretty simple, but it needs to be even simpler, look a Chipolte’s Menu… mostly graphical, easy to grasp the choices/​details at a glance, and designed to move down the line of food, where as Grylt’s menu goes the opposite way… details, details…
Now if they could experiment with grass fed beef, wild salmon, and for gosh sakes, get a wholesome, natural desert option, like a organic, homemade ice cream sandwich ??? Wow. They’re leaving money on the table without some desert options following the same healthy theme… and this in turn would provide more revenue to keep the other food at high qualities… one would hope. Aloha.
Last thing, tell the flyer person upstairs to say two magic words to increase flyer handouts and sales: «Free Drink» I’d also dress them up in a professional chef’s uniform and maybe have some props, like a free range chicken or a Ahi Tuna? Head of Broccoli? Something to compete with the Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cone person! People and kids LOVE to take pictures with things like that. Remember, the most profitable statement in food service history: would you like fries with that drink? McDonalds increased their sales like a zillion percent back in the 70’s when they started training their staff on simple upsell statements… but Grylt will have way more healthy items to offer… Good luck.

Went here for the first time since it open at the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. Good selection, they help me with choosing the style of order. Had the Ahi Tuna. portion on the small side, but acceptable. cost at 13.50 market price now for tuna. rice and vegatable again on the small to fair side. Taste was fair, nothing great. Would come again and try other dishes.

25cent for an empty plate?! Come on.
Food is decent for food court. nice bites of steak, salad, rice etc. Premium prices for a food court.

Since I have a sweet tooth whenever I am craving for ice cream I will venture to the Baskin-​Robbins located in the downstairs food court of the Waikiki Shopping Plaza. Right across Baskin-​Robbins I noticed an eatery, GRYLT, that seemed new to me as I never noticed it before.
Upon glancing at the menu from afar my first thought was oh it is another steak franchise similar to Blazin Steaks. I remember the Blazin Steaks that opened in the Queen’s Plaza in downtown which sadly was short lived.
Since the name has a ring to it I decided why not check this place out and see how it is.
They have a simple 4-​step ordering process where you order your protein, starch, veggie and sauce.
After some thought I ordered the salmon with brown rice and toss salad with Asian fusion sauce. For my husband I ordered the steak medium rare with mashed cauliflower and two sauces, Asian fusion and roasted garlic chili.
The guy who was cooking all the food in the back (not sure if he is the owner and/​or manager) took my order and rang up it up on the cash register. I paid the bill, took the receipt and left for home to enjoy my GRYLT dinner.
Must say that my salmon plate had decent portions and the salmon was moist and tasted good with the Asian fusion sauce which is similar to teriyaki sauce.
The medium rare steak, however, was a horrible piece of meat that was fatty, chewy and where most of it could not be swallowed for fear of choking. He said it was the worst steak he has ever eaten. What animal did this meat come from? The only good item on his plate was the mashed cauliflower, which is similar to mashed potatoes, had a nice consistency and tasty very good.
It was after eating our meal that I noticed on the receipt it stated Blazin Steaks on the top of the register tape and then my husband noticed that we were overcharged. We were charge for another steak plate ($ 10.95) and mashed cauliflower (50 cents). How in the world can we possibly be charged for three plates when I ordered only two? I immediately raced back to GRYLT and asked the cashier that I was overcharged on my bill. The cashier informed the cook who then went to the cash register and made an adjustment. The cashier then refunded me in full including tax. What was so disturbing is that the cook NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED NOR APOLOGIZED for the OVERCHARGE. Was it really an error?
Despite my mixed reviews for GRYLT the food overall is okay, with the exception of the steak, but unfortunately this is also my last visit at this establishment as I am moving forward to finding new eating discoveries.

I was in Waikiki on a weekday bc of a seminar I was attending for work. Lunch was 1.25 hours long, so I had some time to kill.
GRYLT is located in the Waikiki Shopping Plaza food court across of Ailana and The Sandwich Shop. You can’t miss the bright green trim of the place.
The sandwiches from The Sandwich Shop are what initially brought me to the Waikiki Shopping Plaza for lunch; the hunger pains I still endured after having enjoyed only one sandwich lead me to GRYLT.
I let the worker John know that it was my first time at GRYLT and that I hadn’t the slightest clue on what to order or how to go about doing so. John, this helpful soul, walked me through the basics:
1. Make Your Bed
Choose a starch to accompany your freshly «GRYLT» protein:
White Rice, Brown Rice, Whipped Potatoes (with sea salt & olive oil), or Mashed Cauliflower (with sea salt & olive oil).
–The Mashed Cauliflower was delicious. It is lighter than the usual starchy suspects and just as fulfilling (if not more). The taste was uniquely delicious. I’d order this again and again.
2. From the Farm
Choose veggies or greens:


Grilled Veggies,
Spring Mix (Mandarin Orange, Tomato, Thai Vinaigrette),
Baby Romaine (Tomato, Onion, Parmesan Cheese, with Honey Mustard), or
Baby Spinach (Sun-​Dried Tomato, Sliced Apple, with Balsamic Vinaigrette)
–I went with John’s recommendation, the baby romaine. It’s a nice twist on the usual plate lunch side salad.
3. From the Grill
Choose a protein:
Steak (Grilled medium rare with GRYLT seasoning),
Chicken (Whole breast with skin & lemon thyme seasoning),
Ahi Tuna (Strips of fresh tuna, grilled rare with spices & olive oil),
Shrimp (Delicious, tender shrimp with seasoning & olive oil), or
Tofu (Firm seared tofu)
–I went with the steak. The steak was good, but there were more than several chewy suji-​esque pieces.
4. Top It Off
Choose a sauce to finish it off:
Asian Fusion, Roasted Garlic Chili, Citrus Herb Oil, or Sun-​Dried Tomato Oil
–John was so nice to let me have two sauces — Roasted Garlic Chili and the Citrus Herb Oil. Both were great. My fave of the two was the Citrusy one.
The finished product:
All in all, GRYLT was excellent (especially for being as «healthy» as it claims to be). I definitely recommend this place for anyone who is trying to stick to their 2012 resolution of living a healthier lifestyle. I for sure am «trying» to live healthier, but I sure as hell am not eating like it. Oh well, life is short. At least GRYLT gives me that guilt-​less feeling of eating right and the satisfaction of enjoying a delicious meal. Delicious and healthy = hard to beat.
Unilocal 365 — #203/​365

They may have fancy menus to look at, which means that they’re paying attention to their marketing. But otherwise, skip it. The portions are small, and for over $ 10 bucks on up, you can find better food somewhere else.
The guy that waited on me doesn’t seem to like his job. He grunted when I said hello, and all throughout the ordering process barely even acknowledged the customer. I do wonder what a company is thinking when they hire people that aren’t exactly customer oriented.
Won’t go back.

From their website, Grylt seems like an upscale Blazin’ Steaks that offers grilled veggies or spring mix salad instead of bagged iceberg lettuce, mashed cauliflower or whipped potatoes instead of rice and fresh, flavorful steak, chicken and ahi instead of steak, chicken and ahi with sauce poured on top. However, Grylt’s $ 10.95 steak plate cannot compete with Blazin’ Steak’s $ 6 price.
The Good
The choices of starch are good, from white or brown rice, whipped potatoes and mashed cauliflower. The mashed cauliflower was creamy and tasty and replaced rice or potatoes fine. The selection of veggies was also good, and the grilled vegetables were very flavorful and crunchy. The steak seemed to be charbroiled, so it had that burnt taste that some people like. They offer just one size of drink but allow for free refills. The seating area was large, spacious and clean.
The Bad
The portions are on the small side. Just one scoop of starch, an okay helping of veggies and like a couple ounces of steak. Also, the proteins are not made to order, so they are cooked and just sit on a plate under a light. My steak was cold and tough. To «Top It Off,» I chose Asian Fusion, which the employee was like a teriyaki sauce. The Asian Fusion was okay, it tasted like it came from a bottle.
The Parking
Grylt is located in Waikiki Shopping Plaza and they do not validate. I felt kind of gypped because I had spent $ 25 on two plates and a drink. After eating, we walked around for a bit (Victoria’s Secret is located in the building!) and ended up staying for about an hour and a half. The price: $ 7.50. Sheesh.
Overall
It was fun to try a new place, and Grylt had good potential, but the price, parking and portions prevent me from going back a second time.

«Maybe it was fate, Maybe it was karma» but boy was I glad I found this place!
Waikiki Shopping Plaza has a small basement food court that looks fairly new. Found myself in Waikiki with some time to kill. So thought I would wander around and try to find some of the places that I have bookmarked on Unilocal.
Spotted this food court place and walked down the stairs and immediately noticed a «Health Food» restaurant and a SubWay Sandwich place. Just past that was GRYLT!
Have always wanted to try GRYLT in Manoa. I sort of knew the concept and the menu from their website.
Several meats and ahi on display. There was some very juicy steak that I saw being cut for the customer ahead of me.
So I waited my turn and ordered. Cauliflower mashed, grilled veggies (instead of a salad) and grilled tofu and a drink. (
)
Had the herb and citrus sauce on the tofu. At first I wasn’t sure as I saw the tofu being grilled. I wondered if it would be too bland because the portion was so large. But, turns out I didn’t have to worry. Between the flavorful grilled veggies, the excellent seasoned mashed cauliflower and the herb citrus sauce this plate was excellent. This was a great meal with lots of great flavors.
The drink was $ 1.35! Not the usual $ 3 soda. Plus, they have a tea machine that makes green or black iced tea for the same price. This place is not trying to rip you off. I really respect this approach.
Friendly staff, efficient service, good food, Great vegan food option I’m sold. I’m coming back.

Looking for food one day before work, I remember asking a co-​worker about where he got his lunch, and I ended up here!
Food is really delicious. I love the mixture of many different tastes that go extremely well together. I ordered the standard steak plate with mashed potato and grilled baby romaine lettuce. Stuck with the Asian fusion sauce (I’m Asian lol!), and it was really good; it tasted like teriyaki sauce.
Overall 4-​stars, the thing that somewhat turned me off was that their meats are precooked and kept warm under a lamp. Being a fast food restaurant, that is understandable. Also, the price is relatively high for a steak plate, but they are in Waikiki afterall, it can’t be helped.
Otherwise, I definitely recommend this place: D!

Even though this is a food court, it serves sit down restaurant quality food. I wasn’t too impressed when I first saw the precooked meat sitting under a heat lamp. They looked juicy, but I was taken aback by their presentation. When I thought about it some more, I guess it was enticing at the same time.
I had the ahi sandwich, served in a football shaped baguette like bread. The caramelized onions, wasabi honey sauce served with my bread grilled was so delicious. The ahi was seared on the outside and gorgeous red in the middle. it’s a sandwich served with mixed spring salad, topped with mandarin, tomatoes and Thai basil vinaigrette dressing. Sounds fancy right? Well it was delicious and just under $ 7!
The plate lunch is $ 10, comes with your choice of 6 oz of steak, chicken, tofu or fish and two sides. The sides are mashed potatoes, mashed cauliflower, salad or grilled vegetables. My husband had 2 scoops of brown rice with his chicken breast (topped with olive oil and tomatoes), 2 sides, but he wanted more protein. Though 6 oz is on the smaller side he thoroughly enjoyed his quality meal.
After having tasted the food, this place is definitely worthy of repeat customers.
Unilocal Challenge 365 #08/​365

I had to give an update of my review, because I first wrote the review when the place just opened. I’ve been there countless times by now, and I had to dock 1 star for freshness. Sorry, I don’t know how long the proteins have been sitting out there, but it doesn’t look too appetizing sometimes.
However, I love the lunch plates. For $ 10 you can get a healthy lunch, choose the sides and protein. I’ve tried everything but I usually end up getting tofu with sun-​dried tomato dressing, the romaine salad, with mashed potato. If I’m super hungry, I go for the Grylt salad. Its pretty much the same thing as the plate, except on a bed of romaine. Its freaking HUGE, and for the same price of $ 10. Its hard for me to finish though, so I don’t get it all the time.
The boys get the steak because its the largest portion of protein. Its pretty good too, the chicken and ahi are usually moist (not dry), and the shrimp is good too.

Been there, done that, not going back…
Maybe it’s because it’s new and haven’t worked all it’s kinks but it was not what I was expecting. Working in Waikiki you’re always looking for somewhere new to eat, so I was excited when Grylt opened.
They have plates, which include a starch, side and protein (Chicken, Steak, tofu) for $ 10. My co-​worker and I split the steak plate with brown rice and grilled baby romaine just to see what all the hype was about. The rice was ok, the romaine had too much dressing on it, and the steak was cold.
When we told our other co-​worker about it she said she had the tofu and for $ 10 she only got 3 pieces.
I would rather eat at the sandwich lady across the way.

Ordered the Braised Kalbi Short Ribs sandwich and was perfect for two tiny eaters. The workers are very pleasant and helpful in explaining their food. The vegetables are very fresh and the kalbi was to die for, so soft and tender!!!