Magoo’s Pizza

Just a note for everyone who enjoyed Magoos when it was located in Pucks Alley, the same tasty pizza is available via the «Magoos Bus» down the street. Same owner, same awesome pizza.
Magoo’s Pizza
(McCully Union 76 Station)
2105 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96 818
Phone: (808) 699‑0658 /​971‑7200

Many a night and many a year were whittled away at this joint. Back before they expanded threefold, back when pitchers were $ 4. Back when the pizza was sure to strike terror into one’s barley-​stricken bowels. I can’t believe it’s finally closed.
Mixed feelings about this place come as no surprise. On a hot day (which most are in Hawaii), one must drink quickly to avoid boiling one’s beer, and during the nights, the joy of standing cheek to cheek (cheeks of two types) with every sweaty bro, bra, breh, and «cheeehoo» throwing transplant is a pleasure. Yeesh. Snaking lines for the men’s room. Oh yeah.
It’s not surprising that I’ve seen a fight on regular occasions there — gelled-​up crewcuts playing hot-​to-​trot in the middle of University Avenue. Then again, if you just say, «Five-​dollar pitcher,» to yourself, the way it rolls off your tongue has this uncanny effect of making your braincells bump around inside of your cranium, getting very, very lost in the process. Next word out of your mouth: «Dude.»
But it’s sad to see an establishment of so many years, dollars, and bladders full of liquid spent gone, gone, gone. Perhaps it’s for the better. I’ll miss the poke though, but I suppose I’ll miss that anywhere I go.
Magoo’s, you were an uneasy yet reliable mistress.

it was a great college beer/​pizza/​sub joint, im kinda sad theyre closed now. i heard the owner is going to open up a bunch of food carts somewhere… it had a great selection of beers, great subs, burgers, and pizza’s. it had a shadow from the drug dealers back when it used to be mama’s. the only thing i wont miss is the toilets.

Magoo’s is now closed.

I went here a couple of summers ago during my last visit to Oahu and was there a couple of nights before it closed for a month and a half for renovation. The place was PACKED with folks. It is definitely a hang out for students at UH as well as other young ones around on the island.
They have a decent selection of beer and their pizza is definitely yummy. We had a pepperoni pizza and a pitcher of black butte. Although this is listed as a pizza place, it’s really great as a chill bar hang out where you can grab a pitcher of beer and chat (loudly) with friends. But be forewarned about the women’s bathroom – it was totally lacking any sort of paper when I went to it, except for all of the spitwads on the ceiling.
A huge thank you to the ladies who thought it’d be a bright idea to use scarce toilet paper for ceiling papier-​mâché instead of leaving it behind for the rest of us to wipe our arses.

As far as college bars go, this place rules. The beer is cheap, the music loud, the are bathrooms small and oh yeah, 1 wall is made up entirely of potted palm trees. Don’t see that much on mainland campuses now do yah? Oh and I hear they serve pizza and beer and other foods… but I can’t recall ever ordering them…

Magoo’s will always hold a place near and dear to my heart. This is the spot my college roommates and I would always head to for beer. Anywhere from 6 – 10 bucks gets you a pitcher of good beer, and lately they’ve added beers from Deschutes (Inversion IPA and Obsidian Stout), Sierra Nevada (Porter) and Rogue (St. Rogue Red, Hazelnut Brown). With so many taps sometimes the beer is less than ideal. Who cares? Drink it up and get something else! I really like the pizza, not everyone does. Typical bar fare, fries, burgers, etc. but the poke (raw ahi cubes with onion and seasoning) from the sushi counter is awesome! Yes, the bathrooms can be absolutely filthy and I saw the biggest rat I’ve ever seen run down the beer lines once… but Magoo’s is DA KINE. Thursday nights get really crowded though (don’t know why) and people wait outside like it’s a nightclub.

for sort of a college divey-​sports bar, this place gets 5 STARS FOR SHEER NUMBER OF BEERS ON TAP. magoo’s has stuff that can be hard to find on tap in the US, such as heinekein and murphy’s. there’s also a decent number of local brews on tap. reasonable prices, too. $ 10 for a pitcher of heineken, $ 5 for a pitcher of bud light, $ 1 well drinks on sundays and thursdays, etc.
legit sushi chefs work behind the poke bar (GREAT POKE. AWESOME. SWEET. INCREDIBLE. but closed on sundays and holidays, tear… actually, don’t get the garlic poke. way too strong. the regular one is absolutely perfect). and the other food good, too. big-​ass burgers (patties taste like meatloaf — yum), cheesy garlic fries (lots of fresh garlic, watch out), pizza, chicken wings (decent. i’ve had better, but these are good enough that i’d order them again when the chicken wings ‘n’ beer mood hits), etc. really friendly staff, too. pretty diverse clientele.
i give this place 4 starts instead of 5 just because i’m not really into the grimy aspect of the place. but maybe i’m just getting stodgy in my post-​college old age.

I agree with SQUID, this place should be called Magoos Beers! Beer galore! Just looking at the bar with the selection of beer. It can get overwhelming!!! There are pitcher specials on a daily basis.
Pizza is alright. Sandwiches/​burgers are better. The poke is not bad considering the place you are getting it at! I am actually surprised that there is a sushi bar there!
Restrooms are pretty disgusting so try to hold it in! :) But all those pitchers do take a toll. Sometimes it seems cleaner to just «pop a squat» outside in the empty lot!
Parking can suck when it is before 10P since you have to park in the pucks alley lot. I usually just find street parking.
The crowd is mostly college kids. I have never gone there when it is not busy. So expect a crowd!!!
It does get hot in there since it is an outdoor joint.
BEST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!!!

I find it ironic that pizza is not Magoo’s forte. The pizza is overpriced and just «blah».
Go for the $ 1 draft beers. There are probably about 20 different ones on tap.
The bathroom situation when it gets crowded really sucks. Long lines and when you finally get in you want to puke, and not because you’ve had too much to drink. Wear diapers. The fact that they have a sushi bar scares me. It’s loud and humid in there, and just seems wrong for sushi.
I don’t really like burgers (I’ll only eat Kua Aina), but maybe I should try one!

best burgers on the island by far. serious.
nate said it.
the bar situation is pretty hot too though– all the college darlings gathering. it’s quite easy to mingle since the tables are big and close together.
a delicious low key night out.
oh– the pizza? it’s ok. the garlic cloves are yummy.

i believe a true, quality pizza only needs three components: good tomatoes, good cheese, and a good crust. but of course, like all things in life there is an exception: magoo’s kalua pork pizza. it’s to. die. for. the meat melts in your mouth. yea, melts! chocolate melts. ice-​cream melts. meat don’t melt! …this one does.
make sure you don’t get the «special.» just order a normal pie with kalua as an «extra topping.» the person taking my order messed up on a couple occasions so be very specific. i’ve found the extra junk on a «special» compromises the integrity of the pork.
a true quality (magoos) pizza only needs four ingredients: good tomatoes, good cheese, a good crust, and kalua pork.
i’m deducting a star because the place is a cesspool. they’d definitely fail a health inspection. take your pie to-​go!

Bubbe (my grandmother) says never eat at a restaurant who’s bathrooms aren’t clean. But, lo and behold, Bubbe is wrong for Magoo’s, where I had to wash my hands with dish soap out of a bottle bigger than my face :) She was with me when we went, was thoroughly grossed out with the bathroom but could not stop raving about their vegetarian pizza.
The pizza was awesome, the poke was the best I’ve had (even the Octopus poke) and they serve pyramid. It seems like a great bar for college students which shows why my cousin took me there (she just graduated from UH).

Walking by Magoo’s late at night, you will find yourself in awe of the sheer amount of people packed into the outdoor bar area. The place looks kind of dark and dingy from the outside but once you get inside, the temperature raises about 10 degrees and the drunken-​madness begins. First of all, Magoo’s has a HUGE beer selection. They have everything on tap from Keoki Sunset, Pyramid Curveball to Pumpkin Ale. Several pitchers sell for only $ 5.00 each and it’s not just the shitty American beer, but the good stuff. Once you have your pitcher, you are ready to consume the diverse selection of food on the menu, pizza or poke? Fries or sushi? Whatever you get, just make sure you order enough to pad your stomach for the massive amounts of beer you are about to pound. If you can still stand at the end of the night, hooray for you!
I give Magoo’s five stars for their beer selection, and three stars for their food. Two stars for atmosphere (it would be one star but somehow each time I visited there, I was lucky enough to sit by a hot Asian boy)!

On an island where EVERYTHING is expensive, its nice to know cheap beer exists at at least one place. Pitchers, I think, go from $ 5 to maybe $ 10 and totally decent ones can be had for $ 6 or $ 7. Probably over 50 different taps, so lots of selection. It’s a nice open air bar and lots of the U-​H crowd. While not really as much of a sports bar as, say, East Side two doors down, they do have TVs and will show things like Monday Night Football (just don’t expect pay per view U-​H games or anything like that).

This place should be called Magoo’s Beer… It surprises me that there are not more reviews for Magoo’s Pizza — perhaps it’s because any one who goes to Magoo’s gets too drunk to remember to write a review for the place the next morning; after all, the beer there is incredibly cheap — some nights have Sam Adams for $ 4. There’s always a $ 5 pitcher– and not those small, 4 – 5 cup pitchers, we’re talking enough beer to get at least one person drunk. Don’t expect much from the scenery — this place is equipped with the filthiest bathroom in Honolulu and seats that look like they came from the side of the road. The food there is good too, I don’t know if this is a fair estimation since I’ve only eaten there when I get the beer munchies. The burgers are good to go. This is a college hang out so expect to see a lot of left-​wing, hippy/​smelly, think-​they-​know-​it-​all college kids here, (and occasionally a homeless guy).

Okay, so techincally this is a pizza pub, but since pizza is something Hawaii has never really fully grasped (not even Hawaiian Pizza), we should move to what Magoo’s really does best — BURGERS! Magoo’s is your typical University Bar — it’s open aired, sells a decent selection of cheap beers and it is usually bursting at the seams with college coeds. However, amongst the craziness, Magoo’s sells the best burgers in Hawaii. How does one know? First — you cannot buy one until 5 pm and they sell until they run out which is usually 7 pm. I guess they are still hoping people will buy into the whole pizza idea. Second, Magoo’s sells a basic burger and you build it from there. The upshot is you get what you want. The potential downer is that you may be paying as much as $ 9 for your burger — but when you’re happy nothing else matters. Third, the burgers are big — really big and juicy and served with this relish mayo that is aweeessooome.
I highly recommend this place
Insiders note: instead of fries — try the Pok’e stand next door — its pretty good too.

Not outstanding pizza, but not bad for the poor selection you are faced with here. The pizza is square instead of round, good portion of toppings but the crust is quite doughy. However, they also sell poki at the pizza place, so I gave an extra star for the convenience. What more could you want?
Well what I would want is a decent pizza crust, not one which tastes like cardboard posing as crust.