Square Barrels

I decided to try this place after I had a work meeting around the area. Love the environment and staff were so friendly.
Me and my boyfriend decided to try their cheese platter, Inception Burger and Spaghetti 3-​way.
The pickled garlic and asparagus that came with the cheese plate was so good.
The Inception Burger had mango and lilikoi relish on it which was really delicious. very juicy.
The spaghetti was also delicious. It was perfect and the taste wasn’t too strong which I liked.
Staff kept checking up on us and made sure we were doing good. thumps up for that! :)

I will say that our service was GREAT.
I’ll have to try this place again at a less busy time to see if they fare better food wise, however, as high noon on a Friday turned out to be a little sub-​par on the quality. I had the antelope burger, which was very good albeit extremely well done, paired with pig fat fries that were also extremely well done. Are they supposed to be rock hard? Not sure. I couldn’t eat the fries, unfortunately. I really want to like this place so I’ll try again another day.
Ambiance loud and merry, acoustics aren’t ideal for conversations if you don’t want to yell at your date. If you don’t mind that, no worries. TVs overhead make it casual which is kinda weird since the servers wear white button-​downs. Food menu looks great and I look forward to trying more off of it. Seating is a problem so call ahead for a reservation if it’s during a busy time period or expect to wait.

Great place to grab a drink downtown. Friendly staff and in a nice setting. Parking is a little confusing and is worth checking out after 5 to avoid the two hour parking limit.

Friday lunch and then last day of work after work pau hana pick.
I telecommute for work. I live on the mainland. Currently WA state but did live in VA last year. So when I come back home (home being Hawaii) I make sure me and the co-​workers pick awesome places for lunch and of course my last day at work pau hana joint.
Square Barrels is new for me. I know they’ve been there for a little bit but I haven’t been home for a while so when they told me about this craft beer place that opened near the office I could barely control my joy.
The beer selections were pretty on-​point. I enjoyed the variety though chose to stick with a locally crafted beer (supporting my peeps) from Honolulu beerworks. The saison. Fantastic.
The food was pretty good. The ulu (bread fruit) fries were awesome. With a side of aioli or mayo they were delicious. I’d never had them made like that before and when we went back for pau hana I had to order them again.
I have a couple of cons to this review though they aren’t major enough for me to not ever go back. The poutine wasn’t really poutine. but more like french fries with gravy and shredded cheese. I would recommend going out there and finding some real cheese curds. Someone has to make them. Right?
Salt on the kale salad. Just a tiny bit.
That’s really it, though. I will be back and I will try different food and I will most definitely be getting beer.

The rudest hostess ever, walked in asked for the booth and said it was reserved ad we could only sit at the bar top or a 2 top table. As soon as we sat down not even a full minute three people walk in a she allows them to sit at the booth. Right after that within the same minute another group walks in and she sits them in the back at a table also. There were tables available but we were told we had to sit up front as of we were misfits or something. Won’t be coming back here if she’s working. I love this place as its one of the best places to get a burger. To bad they ruined it with a not so friendly hostess. Out server BTW was awesome!

Met up with a friend who works in the American Savings building in town and we decided to grab dinner. We were both trying to think of a place to go, when he pulled up Unilocal and found Square Barrels which was right downstairs. (This made me so proud of him, seeing him use Unilocal *tear*).
Anyway, we headed downstairs and easily found it. Its well lit, next to the street. We were beginning to read their chalkboard with specials, but read the end that said «Quit reading and come in!» So we followed direction and walked in. :)
The place wasnt busy at all, and we were greeted and asked if we wanted to sit at the bar or have a tablet. We chose to the table, which were really cool wooden table and benches with the backs of the seats being high rise. The place just had a cool, easy going vibe to it and had so many wooden features that would make my carpenter friend giddy with excitement. It was rustic with a modern twist!
We ordered a couple of drinks; I got the margarita which was quite strong 0.0 Then I asked the waiter (CJ) what were the popular choices, which were the Chili Verde burger, CB burger, and the Seared Ahi sandwich. I got the Chili Verde and my friend had gotten the CB burger.
The Chili Verde burger was quite a surprise; I was expecting some chili on top of a beef patty and just having a huge hot/​spicy mess on my hands. But it was just this nicely flavored pork patty with cheese and guacamole. It just had a nice balance to it. My friend said that his burger was alright; he liked that it came with crunchy marble bread, but it didnt seem like he was a fan of the patty.
Oh.did I mention that you choose what oil they fry your fries in? CJ recommended the pig fat so I got it; but my friend tried the rice bran oil. Both were really good but you can taste the difference.
We also caved and got the Beignets. I had never tried one before but I was excited that they had it on the menu! There were 3 decently sized beignets that came covered with powdered sugar. They were toasted perfectly and warm and soft on the inside. NOMOMOMMMMM.
Overall:
The Good!:
–Food: Pretty decent! Love the concept of it all. Especially loved the beignets.
–Service: CJ was really attentive, always asking if we needed anything and kept our cups full. His suggestions were pretty good. :)
–Parking: It seems that they also validate for the Bishop parking lot as well
The Bleh:
–Prices: Yeah, theyre a little steep. I was considering their pastas but without adding meat it was already ~$ 16 0.0
Ill need to visit my friend a lot more so we can go here more often! Its kind of a strange place for a bar, but i hope that they attract enough people! :)

Yesterday marked my third time there… It’s official, the food is amazing. This time I had the Chili Verde burger and it totally sealed the deal! (Although there were big pieces of chopped onions in the sauce, it was easy to remove it.) The taste of the burger with the sauce complimented each other nicely and the fries (pig fat), OMG, the fries were so good.
Nice new burger place to visit.

The food here is simple and very well executed. The must try…“The Thomas Burger”. It’s off menu but amazing. 2 patties of in house ground beef, duxelles sauce, fried caper mayo, fried egg, American cheddar, all on a toasted bun with bacon fat fried fries.

Went to Square Barrels for my friend’s birthday. Parking is located in Bishop square parking lot, which is the American Savings Bank building. It is $ 2 with validation. We had a hard time finding the restaurant from the parking lot, but it’s probably because I have no sense of direction. Lol.
Food wise, I tried the turducken burger. It had a guava relish which made the burger rather sweet. The burger itself was a little dry but manageable, I should have had the pork flash beef combo burger. The fries were fried in pig fat, yummy! I also tried the portobello mushroom pasta, which was excellent! The garlic bread was crispy and delicious.
For a Saturday night in downtown, it wasn’t very busy after all the orders were in. Our friend made reservations. There was a stready flow, but not too crowded, which is what I prefer.
Bathrooms, do not sit on the orange bleacher chairs that are in the waiting area outside of the bathroom. They are not anchored to the wall so you may fall if you sit down.
Hope to visit again, and try a different burger.

I love this place! I’ve been here 5 times within the last couple months. Usually for a long lunch with coworkers or with a great book. I have yet to come during a time that I didn’t have to work, therefore I just realized I need to come in for my post work happy hour… anyways
Service: Constantly friendly and if the food isn’t as quick as they’d like, they will check in on you and make sure your thirst is quenched.
Food: Honestly, my favorite burgers. I’ve had the drive thru burger, the venison burger (best berry mustard), and then a special one day that had some type of delicious stinky cheese, along with yummy pig fat fries. Side note, not a fan of the tuna melt… but that’s my fault for ordering it, I should’ve stuck to what I love here and that’s the dark meat.
I LOVE the feeling of this place too, industrial barstools with wood bench seats, and an awesome bar area. I’ve been seated at the booths when my parents joined me for lunch (btw, dad is picky and loved the burgers!) and when coworkers and I had lunch and I’ve sat at the bar with a friend or lonesome with a book.
Conclusion: I will probably be here once every 1 – 2 weeks :)

My friend and I wanted to check this place out for lunch one day. It was absolutely packed with downtown peeps, but we were able to get a table within a few minutes. The menu is simple, burgers, salads, fries, etc.
I had the ahi salad and my friend had the ahi burger with a side salad. The ahi itself was bland, and the salad portion was so skimpy. My friend’s side salad was actually the same size as my salad entrée. And the salad entrée was so much more in price!
Oh well, maybe this place gets great reviews for their happy hour, not sure. Maybe I’ll give it a try again sometime.

This is a good go-​to burger place, particularly for people staying at the Executive Center or nearby.
They have a wide selection of beers and drinks, so even if you’re just thirsty, it’s a good call.
I have had their élan burger, which was good. I also had a «Thomas Special» which is the misfit burger with cheddar, a fried egg, duxelle, and bacon. Their duxelle sounds unorthodox, but if you like mushrooms on a burger, it’s a good call.
Their service is great as well.
I recommend this as a burger joint. Their website’s CSS needs some work.

I’m always looking for a good «sit down» type of lunch spot downtown. This place is really nice — great deep high backed booths for privacy and individual tables as well. There is also seating to be found at the bar, if you so desire.
Pretty much the menu is burgers and fries. Nothing extraordinary, but the food is good enough. Moderate priced too.
It looks like they have a mean selection of tab beers for their happy hour, so I will be back to check that out someday. .. .

WHAT A PUB WOULD LOOK LIKE IF IT COULD WEAR A SUIT
Solid place to go to after work for a cold one. They offer a great selection of beers on tap from all over the world. Beers range from $ 6-​$ 10, more for foreign. They offer large booth seating, but booth enclosure go all the way up to the ceiling so I get very claustrophobic. I prefer to sit at the bar or other table seating a. The have a small area in the back that you can reserve for a small office party and a legend table area in the front that can comfortably seat about 10. Food is on the higher end and not that great– not even the fries. I’d stick to just ordering beer.

Square Barrels is a nice place, simply. The seating is open and spacious; you can hit up the bar, get a comfy booth, or gather around a tabletop with coworkers or friends for pau hana. While the place does well enough with patrons, you don’t really have to worry too much about getting a seat, as they usually have tables even during busy lunchtime.
Service is relatively fast, and friendly enough — no complaints or surprises. The servers are pretty good about the menu, which I appreciate, so they can explain with moderate detail the nuances of each menu item, as there are quite a few special sauces, relishes, novelty cooking oils, etc. that the food is prepared in or with… would you like pig fat fries or rice bran oil fries? You get my point.
The food menu is straightforward and tasty — selection of sandwiches and burgers, pastas, and salads, many with unique twists but not always knocking it out of the park. For instance, I had the the Inception Burger today — sounds great, smokehouse pork between layers of their ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ ground beef patty! Yes! Soooo… where’s the pork? Where’s the smokiness? Maybe I took it too literal; it’s a ground patty… all mixed in, and you can’t appreciate the subtlety of it… oh well. It’s topped with a lilikoi and mango relish. Sorry, not the best. Sounds interesting, but too tangy and off-​putting which doesn’t blend well with the savoriness of the beef, it just breaks up the flavor in odd ways. Just sayin’. One star off for that (inconsistent flavor profiles).
Ok, so the fries… fries are typical but can be made in pig fat oil, or rice bran oil… some people swear by the pig fat for the obvious reasons, HOWEVER, it’s not true… the differences in flavor are negligible… but unfortunately either is ruined by how inconsistently the kitchen cooks it — it’s almost ALWAYS overcooked, leaving the fries high, dry, and lacking flavor. Why this happens I don’t know. Maybe oil is too hot, maybe they are asleep at the frier… dunno.
So, they also have their novelty (signature) Ulu fries… DO NOT GET THESE. They are horrible, tasteless pieces of cardboard! Understand that I love Ulu! My aunty owns an Ulu flour mill, and has made over the years many delicious recipes substituting ulu for potato and a variety of other veggies, etc. So two things — it is NOT because I have overly high standards for ulu… nor is it obviously because I don’t appreciate the taste of Ulu… It’s exactly the opposite. Ulu is delicious because it has a very mild, sweet flavor that teeters on almost a flowery aromatic essense. In any dish, if you can bring out that aroma and flavor, you’ve won the day and the palette of the person eating it. It’s not terribly hard to do, however, Square Barrels slices the ulu too thin, overcooks the fries (as per usual) and it comes out desert dry with no personality and flavor whatsoever… but I digress, the second star off for horribly COOKED fries (not horrible fries overall).
But, come here during pau hana, eat the burgers (or share them, as they’re of a decent size), and have one or a few of their several awesome in-​house ales, and other microbrews from across the State. Good stuff.

A spinoff by some of the people at Pint + Jigger, it is another in a line of new gastropubs that I welcome to Honolulu. The place is in the old Che Pasta location (which was hanging on for way longer than it should have), and they are making good use of it. It is clean, trendy, and with a good pau hana and beer menu.
Because it’s a gastropub, the food menu is not hugely extensive (1 – 2 pages for lunch or dinner), but everything they make is high quality and delicious. Their drive thru burgers are made restaurant style with high quality ground beef, and their fries are fried in pig fat (you can just choose standard option too). My kids love their pasta items, and it’s just a fun, happening place to be all-​around, especially to watch a game (there are nice big screens near the bar and in the dining area). Breakfast is available just Saturday mornings, since from Monday through Friday, they open at 11 a.m. (Sat. mornings they open at 8 a.m.) Breakfast is also nicely made, with the standard egg, starch and meats options, and good coffee.
Don’t forget the beignets! Not many places have that, and they are nice and warm like malasadas. Yum.
Downtown needs more places like this. If I were working in downtown (I used to), this may be my pau hana spot 2 – 3 days out of the week. Murph’s is good, but this has more of a modern feel so depending on the mood, both are good spots to grab a brew after a long, tiring day at work.
Finally, the service there is so good. There is a server there named Jasmine who always lends attentive and cheerful service for our group when we are there. This is a high quality place with high quality service, and parking in Bishop Square is even validated at $ 2 on Saturdays (and probably after business hours on weekdays, but check). I have nothing but good things to say about Square Barrels!

Problem: make the square peg fit in the round hole.
Solution: walk away, check Unilocal for what’s trending and open a restaurant.
«Specializing in Burgers and Beer». OK. Let’s go!
Before continuing, let me preface this review by saying the food doesn’t necessarily taste bad. The restaurant claims to specialize in burgers. I’m comparing them against the best of the best burger burger joints I’ve tried across the US. Against other Hawaii burger joints, its 3 stars.
The meat —
Beef — grass fed ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ protein to fat. They got that part right (butchers and chefs hold the ⁸⁰⁄₂₀ ratio to be the absolute best for properly cooked burgers). Based on the one dimensional, mild beef flavor, it taste like just chuck. Boring.
Venison — a blend of venison and pork. Mild with a hint of mineral, game flavor.
Beef, pork and bacon burger — smoky with a mild pork flavor and no hint of beef.
Corned beef patty — off balance with strong peppery edge.
All patties have been over worked by warm hands. All are rubbery and chewy. None cooked to temp. Except for the bacon burger, all ordered mid rare, all served well done.
Toppings and sauces fail compliment or enhance the flavor of the burgers. Caper mayo (oily and salty bringing out the fatty mouth feel), blood orange ketchup (sweet, and makes the pork taste like a hot dog), wine braised sauerkraut (sour and salty), lilikoi and mango relish (clashes with the smoked pork making it bitter), pickled onions (sour and fermented).
To top it all off, ⁴⁄₅ of the burgers were served on the wrong bun. Last time I checked, ciabatta wasn’t spiral rye and a Kaiser bun wasn’t made of potato.
Finally the fries. OK, I never rant at my fellow yeeps but come on. Rice bran oil fries, salty and rubbery. Pig fat fries, cooked to death, hard and desiccated. Break them open and there is a hole in every one.
Very small list of well chosen craft beers served at the right temp and in the right glass. Prices are very high. Very well chosen and interesting wine list.
Service is a work in progress; hurried and disorganized. This should improve with time.
Props for creativity but overall, a far cry from what it could be.

It’s got that hip vibe with a cool antler as a centerpiece of the bar.
I’ve heard rumblings of this place. I hear a lot of things, but I finally got to try a place with a name that doesn’t evoke burgers, but maybe whiskey. Thank goodness they have whiskey…
In short, the burgers are worth it. In long, the burgers are not just good, it’s also the thought that counts here. These burgers aren’t huge like the other burger joints though. They put care into each type of burger. Venison burger, bacon burger, drive thru burger, etc… It’s not all tomatoes and lettuce with mustard and mayonnaise. The toppings and buns vary with each burger and part of that probably helps the servers know which burger it is. The bacon burger tastes great. I’d recommend that.
I sipped on some whiskey and tried the shrimp cake thingy appetizer. It had a nice little spicy to it, it was like a shrimp on a thin biscuit. Some appetizers out price the entrees, but whatever… they can be shared.
I think it’s a good place to eat if you’re in the chinatown and downtown area.

Square Barrels is the place to go after work for apps and beer on tap or to treat yourself to a hand-​crafted burger and some tasty fries. Sit in the bar area if you’re with a small group, they have booths and tables for big groups, but that side feels like a sit-​down restaurant, the bar is much more fun.
I enjoyed my Chili Verde Burger and upgraded Truffle Fries. The ciabatta bun was awesome, better than other ciabatta I’ve had. Lighter in texture, with a perfect toasted crispness. The pork-​beef burger was juicy and porky, mixed with green chilies and topped with cheddar cheese giving it southwest flavor. The Truffle Fries had a touch of truffle butter and were hot and crispy. There wasn’t a fry left insight when I was done.
I also loved the Daily Special Niihau Eland Burger, a juicy lamb burger with bacon and gorgonzola on a soft bun that is toasted with butter. Every bite had great flavor and you can pay $ 1.50 more to substitute salad for fries.
The Turkey Tom is a good turkey burger. For me, it can’t compete with with a four-​leg burger, but for two-​legs, it holds it own. With a turkey patty, turkey bacon, lettuce and tomato, if it’s too health, remember you can always get pig-​fat fries.
Love the beer selection. Love the house made charcuterie. And they have boozy shakes for dessert. I will be back for more!

My lunch buddy and I crossed this restaurant off our hit list of restaurants to try today. This restaurant is located in Downtown Honolulu next to Argosy University. It’s very bright and white with a contemporary yet rustic feel to it. I really liked the ambiance of this place and how the natural light came in. Not too many restaurants in Downtown offer spacious seating in their establishments so this was a plus. Since it’s located in Downtown, we figured to come early to beat the lunch rush and we ended up being their first customers of the day. Glad we got there early because shortly after we got our food, all the tables filled up. This place got busy! Another plus here is that you can order alcohol to accompany your meal or just alcohol if you’re thirsty at work *wink wink* ;)
With all the check in’s and reviews that we read about this place, we had high hopes of great food. It was our first time so we needed a few minutes to decide and our server was very patient with us. I ordered the Venison Burger with fries fried in Pig Fat and she order the Inception Burger with fries also fried in Pig Fat. The burgers came out quick but our fries were warm and didn’t come out crispy. It didn’t have much flavor to them so that was a little disappointing. My burger was dry and didn’t have much flavor as well. Good thing I was with great company and we made the lunch awesome regardless of the food. My lunch buddy shared a piece of her burger. It had a great smoked taste to it and it was quite good until you take a bite of it with the relish. Maybe it’s my taste buds but it didn’t compliment it well.
Overall, this is still a decent spot in Downtown to have lunch or drinks at. If I didn’t work in Downtown, I wouldn’t come here again due to parking and relatively small portions of ok food. Maybe it’s because I’m a fatty but I expected a little more food for a $ 14 burger. They do have a decent selection of beers and a happy hour for all those beer connoisseurs out there. Even if you’re not a beer connoisseur, it’ll be happy hour and it’s a new spot to check out in Downtown.