Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill

Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill is located in the Executive Centre in Downtown Honolulu. A person would have to take the escalator down to get to the restaurant. Hukilau is right underneath Long’s Drugstore.
I showed up at the restaurant around 3pm hoping to make use of the iDcard that I received through the mail. I walked into the restaurant and was greeted right away by a male employee.
«Hello, how can I help you? Would you like to sit at the table or the bar?» says the male employee.
«I would like to sit at the bar,» was my response.
There were two other customers already sitting at the bar. The rest of the restaurant was empty of customers.
I sat at the bar and asked the lady employee for a menu. She hands me the drink menu and informs me that the kitchen is closed until happy hour which starts at 3:30pm.
Ok I’ll just order a Ketel Screwdriver to drink and watch the sports channel in the meantime.
3:30pm comes and there has been a change of shift. Different female bartender. 4pm the bartender asks me if I wanted another drink. I ordered a Tequila Sunrise this time around. I had to ask her if the kitchen is open so I can order food. She hands me the menu to study.
Looking over the menu I seen a section SERVED ALL DAY with oxtail soup under it along with other items. In my head that’s confusing. One employee says kitchen closed until happy hour… yet one section of the menu says «served all day».
I’m looking over the menu and a few things caught my eye. Prime rib sliders, salt and pepper chicken wings, or shrimp and kalua pig spring roll. I opted to order the prime rib sliders.
Further studying the menu I took notice certain menu items ordered between 5pm and 5:55pm costs only $ 5.00. Sounded so tempting but I did not want to wait for another hour to order food.
I received my prime rib sliders. There’s three dinner rolls filled with slices of prime rib, mushrooms, and onions. I was hungry so the buggah was ono.
I guess in order to use the iDcard at Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill a person must come during lunch hours to save 15% off the menu item and non-​alcoholic drink. Then again wait until 5pm to order the $ 5.00 menu items.
Overall it was an okay visit. The workers just need to provide the new customers with the happy hour menu once it turns 3:30pm.
⁵²⁄₂₀₀

Cool little area in downtown, it’s a sports bar vibe in the basement.
Got the $ 13 hukilau burger. Pretty good, glad it had everything included instead of making you pay for add-​ons. Comes with fries, avocado, fried onion, lettuce tomato. Thumbs Up!
They have specials, make sure you read it coming in because they are posted at the front of the restaurant.

Good place for happy hour, but not so much for lunch.
My co-​workers and I headed to Hukilau around noon, which yes I am aware of the lunch crowd in downtown but we thought it couldn’t be that bad of a wait… and boy were we wrong!!! The restaurant was at about 60% capacity when we self-​seated ourselves and checked out the menu.
We immediately scanned through the black printed menu on green paper which was difficult to read considering the dim lighting in Hukilau. We also checked out the specials of the day which were written on a board at the entrance of the restaurant, but no prices for the specials were provided. I ordered The Original Hukilau Burger ($ 13) and requested Swiss cheese as well as my burger to be medium-​rare with a side of regular cut fries. 30+ minutes later our food finally arrived. My burger clearly had cheddar cheese instead of swiss. I decided not to bring this to the server’s attention as I didn’t want to wait even longer for them to fix my order, I decided to bite right in. To my dismay the burger was well-​done! Disappointed, and already running a long lunch due to waiting for our orders, I decided to just eat the burger that despite being not what I ordered was pretty good. The burger was not held together by toothpicks and because of it’s size, it was difficult to prevent it from falling apart as I attempted to bite into it. The burger patty itself was very moist despite being well-​done and the avocado & tomatoes were very fresh. My fries were nice and hot with a crunchy exterior but my co-​worker who ordered the sweet potato fries complained that her fries were cold and not fresh. Though my order was not what I ordered, I was still satisfied with it!
Near the end of our meal, most of our waters & drinks had run dry. At one point my desperately thirsty co-​worker asked to have a sip of another’s drink. Finally, the server came around and filled our waters, once throughout our entire meal. Plates were taken away and even waiting for the bill to be checked out took a while. Service is S L O W, so I suggest if you’re coming here for lunch on your work time, come early!

I hate to be writing an updated review like this but here goes. This is my third straight visit in which our food came really late. Most downtown patrons dine here on their lunch hour, however, my BFF and I finally received our orders 45 minutes into our lunch hour break. The food is still really good and service is wonderful, so our assumption is the holdup is probably in the kitchen; probably short-​staffed or a new cook, maybe? This is just speculation on our part, however, we noticed several other tables seated a while before us had not yet been served with their food. On our last visit a few weeks ago our food finally came as our lunch hour was just about over. Naturally, we were rushing to eat to get back to work. This was never the case years ago, or even up until six months ago.
Tip: if you have the time to kill, then by all means I would still recommend this place for lunch. If you have a tight one hour lunch break, you may not get out of here in time to return to work timely.
Lastly, Hukilau is still a great place for happy hour or hanging out with friends after work or catching a game on TV.

I work nearby and I learned of this place through co-​workers. It was all good until last week when I closed the bar with a few friends and found out later the I was overcharged by $ 40. The more disappointing part of the situation is that when I talked to the manager today about it, she came off defensive and not once did she acknowledge my concerns. No simple ‘sorry’ or ‘thank you’ during the entire conversation. I could tell she was too prideful to offer a simple sense of care that a costumer has been affected. Not recommending this place anymore.

Normally have lunch here once in awhile, as well as happy hour. They have good burgers and salads, as well as a not bad ramen and oxtail. They do have daily lunch specials and bento set. They have a good selection of drinks. The servers are friendly and attentive.

Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill, located on the bottom floor of Executive Center, is a great pau hana spot to kick back and relax with co-​workers. Within walking distance of most downtown offices, you don’t need to worry about driving or parking and with Happy Hour from 3:30 — 6:30 Monday through Friday, most downtown workers (who end at reasonable times) can still enjoy great deals!
We reserved a table for six for 5:00 p.m. on a Wednesday night, but arrived to find most of the tables empty. Depending on the size of your party and the day of the week, you may not need to make a reservation. Keep in mind, however, that Hukilau occasionally has live music performances that may draw larger crowds. Although there seemed to be only one server and one bartender on a Wednesday night, our table received fast and friendly service!
Since it was still the middle of the week and we all had work the next morning, our group mostly ordered a variety of pupus instead of cocktails. Of the extensive Happy Hour menu, we tried the Sizzling Pulehu Steak, Homestyle Fried Pork Chops, Huki Wing Platter, Ahi Avo Poke, Truffle Fries with Asiago Cheese, and Kalua Pig Nachos. Each item was generously portioned and packed with flavor. I was most impressed with the tender and tasty Homestyle Fried Pork Chops as well as the Ahi Avo Poke (We had to order two pokes!). Although I did not imbibe in any drinks, Hukilau offers a variety of Happy Hour Draft Beers, House Wines, and Martinis for just $ 4!
The next time you and your co-​workers want to enjoy some casual pau hana drinks, I definitely recommend Hukilau Sports Bar & Grill!

This place is only good if you like cockaroaches in your food.
The service took longer than usual for take-​out. The hosts were a bit cold and I never got a comfortable, enjoyable resturaunt vibe while there. While they do have an interesting selection, these reasons are why I eat at the better service and quality resturaunts downtown.

Pleasantly surprised by the food served in this underground downtown sports bar. Shared a bunch of small plates with friends. Don’t miss out on the Avocado ahi poke and the peppercorn rib-​eye steak. The fried pork chops were good too. Very pleasant service, I’ll be back.

I’ve come here about three times for some lunch with coworkers.
Pros:
–walking location for your downtown workers that are looking for a sit down place indoors.
–chicken cranberry wrap is delicious
–price is decent
–sweet potatoe fries
–lots of tv’s
–Arnold Palmer tea/​lemonade
Cons:
— can get really busy depending on the time for lunch
— it’s almost like it echoes in there with how loud it gets
–honestly, the service is more miss than hit

Great service and one of the best burgers on the island. Not sure why it isn’t consistently in the top 5 list for their burgers, seriously under-​rated.

It’s been about 3 years since my last visit. Too bad they discontinued the $ 1 martinis special on Thursdays which was an ideal reason to stop in. Not much has changed. The setup is the same, and food didn’t change much either.
I really like the atmosphere… and wish they offered live music more often than the regular Fridays. They do offer mojitos that seem to be new to the menu. I’ll definitely will return despite the service wasn’t as good as I remembered it to be.
Another issue included that I ordered kim chee fried rice, but it didn’t taste or look like it. I asked waitress if order was correct and she insisted it was kim chee and not regular fried rice???

If you have ample time to lunch then this place is OK. Service is super super slow here. Came in at 12:30 on a Wednesday and still had to wait 30 minutes for a sandwich. If I knew the wait would be so long I’d probably wouldn’t have chosen to eat here. Part of it is the waitress that pretty much ignored us (we had to remind her to bring us water) and part of it is just a slow kitchen. The service is faster if you come in a big party but if its just you or a small party, I’d go somewhere else.
Food is OK but for the time I had to wait and the price, there are better options in the area.

Located at the bottom of the Executive Center, this place is a bit tacky in terms of décor, but it’s a decent choice for large groups and office related meals. Being close to work, I’ve been here a few times to celebrate select events, welcome new members to the team and bid coworkers farewell.
If going with a large group make sure to call in ahead of time with your group’s order. It will shave off some wait time for those that need to get back to work asap.
They also have happy hour specials for drinks which rotate depending on the day. Not the best cocktails, but they will do for the price.

I would have done better going to 7 – 11 and getting a hot-​dog. The grape italian flavored soda was good, the garlic fries were good but that short rib was horrible took 2 bites and was done. Staying at the Aston and didn’t want to leave the property after great day at beach, big mistake. The waitress was polite, the atmosphere was good and that’s again where the compliments end.

I had previously only been to Hukilau for drinks (their happy hour is fab, btw), but today we went for an office lunch and it was fantastic! Given the size of our group, when we made our reservation, they asked us to preorder, so within minutes of being seated, our appetizers came out. Glenn was the main guy taking care of us and he was awesome! Attentive, friendly, and knowledgable! The potstickers and onion rings were great to start with. I had the Hukilau Burger with Nalo greens and creamy oriental dressing — the combo was sooooo yummy! It was a little loud during the lunch rush, but overall a definite 2 thumbs up! Try it!

Having been here no less than 3 times in the past several weeks, I’d say that I’ve becoming a regular! The only thing is I keep forgetting to check-​in on Unilocal.
First occasion was pau hana with the office gang. Great pupus, fast service, good French fries, separate checks, delicious sweet potato fries, cold drinks, omg-​garlic fries, yay for dim lighting so no one notices I am stealing their fries.
On the way out, my boss sees someone she recognizes so I’m left standing.
Alone. Embarrassed. A table of guys invite me to sit with them. How’s that for a friendly place?! I respectfully decline and pretend to look at my nails. In my bag. At my phone. Tick tick tick. I look up and we all laugh. One guy salutes me with his beer.
Next occasion is lunch with my former intern. Thanks to Unilocal recommendations, I swoon over the salmon with mushroom corn risotto. She orders the pasta primavera. We both cannot finish because there’s so much food on our plate!
Just this week, I had lunch with my former colleague and another friend. With no reservations, we are still seated in a very lighted section. I order the chinese chicken salad (light, healthy, nice sized portion) and truffle fries to share since stealing from someone’s plate will not go unnoticed. They order burgers. Everyone is happy, there’s enough noise to cover any awkward silences as we dig hungrily into our food, and best of all, our server is right there when it’s time to order dessert:
Warm chocolate brownie sundae with three spoons. Gulp! Need I say more, check them out!

This place is located in the Executive Center down the escalator below Longs Drugs.
We came here for lunch and being this is my first time here I was impressed with the woven mat walls and the Hawaiian painting and stuff but thats as far as it went.
When the waitress brought the water to our table and started to tell us about the lunch special, my attention was drawn to a speck on the glass of water. When she left us to consider what to order, I thought the speck was outside the glass but it wasn’t. I stuck my finger in the glass and scraped it and it floated free in the water. I was like «oh f@#% me!» I brought it to the waitresses attention and she was sorry and brought another glass. Now I had speck on the glass phobia.
I ordered the prime rib sandwich with melted cheese and red peppers. The wife had the roasted salmon with risotto. The meat for the sandwich was tasteless and the bottom of the bun was soaked with whatever is was sitting in making it mush. I pretty much just ate the meat out of the bun and ate the parts that wasnt soaked. The wife just ate the salmon. She said the risotto was too cheesy where it streched when you pulled a scoop from the plate. She said it was a little past the perfect point rendering it on the mushy side.
All this time I’m wondering where did our waitress go. I really like my water topped off when it starts to get empty. It really wasn’t that busy either. She was MIA all the way until we wanted the check. Then another guy filled the water glass while we were waiting for our check. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I went to write down the payment for the tab and my card wasn’t there. The waitress had to go back to look for it because it dropped on the ground somewhere smh.
Maybe it was an off day for the staff, or the planets were misaligned, I don’t know but all I can say is the first impression is a lasting impression. I haven’t experienced something like this in a long time. I’m just glad its not all the time.

Searching for a decent burger downtown… Opted to come here with my buddy and try a couple of their burgers.
We ordered two of their kobe burgers. I forgot their names but one burger had an onion rings layer with bbq sauce, and the other had mushrooms and bacon. My friend and I were in agreement that the bbq burger with the onion rings was the better of the two… Their mushroom and burger rendition was mundane and not worth discussing.
While the bbq burger was acceptable, something is odd about their patties. The texture was wrong… Didn’t have a fresh, solid consistency – more a gummy texture. Couldn’t quite put my finger on it while eating, but it didn’t feel normal. Is it their fillers? Freezing it causes this? *shrug*
In addition, while we ordered both burgers medium. They were cooked through – no pink. We mentioned to the server that both burgers were overcooked, and she explained their policy is to cook the burgers so there is no pink. wth!!! Go ahead and ruin the kobe burger!
Can someone please tell me where I can find a good burger downtown?
So far, Du Vin’s burger is the best for me when it comes to downtown…

Working in the financial district of downtown, it’s very convenient to have lunch as there are so many choices. However, with only one-​hour lunch break, it’s essential to go to an establishment that can deliver the food out on a timely basis.
I have been to Hukilau several times now and I do enjoy the ambiance — the sports bar theme plays very well. They seem to attract a great crowd and this place can get packed quite quickly so I make the effort to come here earlier.
I recently had the daily special — pulled BBQ pork sandwich and had sweet potato fries substituted instead of regular fries. The sweet potato fries were a big hit as my colleagues were eating off my plate! However, the sandwich was somewhat disappointing as the it lacked the BBQ flavor. The pork was very moist but sadly, it needed much more sauce!
The food did not come all at the same time so it was somewhat awkward to eat before others but due to a fixed lunch break, I was pressured to eat first.
Food is okay and service is average but not worthy of 4-​stars from me.