Boardriders

This was our second time back at Boardriders. It’s a very relaxed bar/​restaurant feel and our waitress was very friendly and attentive. It wasn’t too busy while we were there so the other bartender came over to chat as well. Beer selection could be better, but the Mai Tais they made were to die for. We only went for drinks, so I cannot comment on the food, but we are returning customers because of the environment and friendly service.

We live in Kailua and have been going to Boardriders for 8 years. This review is for the food only because the menu changed recently and took a turn for the worse in my opinion. The menu has changed several times over the years but there has always been a level of consistent quality. However, we were very disappointed by the quality of the food last week when we ordered from the new menu. We ordered two simple things: Nachos and a Burger with side salad. The nacho chips were stale, the ingredients were all from a can and the cheese was the melted processed stuff you get at the movie theater. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy that kind of food at the baseball stadium, but not at a restaurant. The burger patty was pressed or previously frozen because it had no moisture and was overcooked. The side salad was a pile of chopped ice berg lettuce with a side of ranch… no toppings, just lettuce. We’ll be back for drinks, but not the food.

The food is really good!
Max is a very talented cook, the ambiance is nice and relaxed, truly love this place!

Full bar… I count at least forty five people. One waitress and one bartender. You do the math. Food was good once you waited 20 minutes to order than 40 minutes to get it. Then keep chasing your waitress to get a drink… I will return for the music but remember to eat first and BYOB. I doubt they approve of BYOB but I think they are way to stretched thin to notice.

Went here on a whim because I was in the area, and I really regret it. Service was super slow despite the place being nearly empty, which makes no sense. Food was mediocre, and honestly most of it looks like it came from a can or something. Would definitely not recommend this place to anyone.

Local dive bar that has live reggae music on the weekends. Cover charge is a crazy $ 10 on weekends, unless you know one of the bouncers who will «let you in.» Definitely not worth a cover. The place is dirty and has a rough crowd. Lots of fights and drug use to be found there on the weekends. Cops were always there. It was put on the «do not go to» list with the military. It’s so dirty that I would not recommend eating there. Be careful at night. Your car can be vandalized! Too many druggies hang around there in parking lot! Not a safe place. Boardriders is still the filthy, shabby crude dump that it has been for years. Bathrooms are toxic. Drugs and thugs abound. Brawls are the main entertainment.

I had a meeting after work at this bar. Honestly I had my doubts before checking it out, but was pleasantly surprised.
Atmosphere: Laid back bar and plenty of seating. Surfboards strung up along the wall with TVs, a few arcade and table games set up in the corner. Not many people here on a Wednesday night. A teenage band was starting their practice session which lightened up the mood of the entire bar.
Service: Good, attentive waitress took care of our table. She came around several times checking up on us.
Food: I had a «baker’s dozen» of their wings. They were quite tasty, I ordered the Guinness bbq and garlic local style wings. I heard their brisket was also a must try but was too full after my wings. If they have the brisket available make sure you try some.
Intangibles: Looks like a place I would check out for game but not somewhere I would just go to for food and drinks.

Here on a Sunday. The service is slow and bartender Carly is to busy being a chatty cathy to serve the 15 people in here. I sat and watched my coconut shrimp die in the window, if my boyfriend did not know the cook we would have proably never recieved them. Service is slow, the food is edible. At least the beer is cold.

This place is rotten to the core. The goo, slim covered tables are disgusting to say the least. It’s like a homeless person slept on the table before you got to order your warm beer on tap. The service, what service! But, that’s fine, considering it’s best to wait longer for your incredible luke warm beverage. I’ll never go back, unless they offered free $ 100 bills to taste the dry, hardened BBQ beef. Boardriders is like going to prison with live music. I’ll spend my money elsewhere.

This is a great little local bar. The bloody Marys with the Slim Jim’s in them are delicious. This is a great place to find other football fanatics but for the love of my failing eyesight, they need to get bigger TVs on which to see the games!!! Otherwise, I would have given it 4 out of 5 stars.

Beer was warm.
«Briskit» was tough, dry and crappy cuts of beef.
Baked beans were bitter.
Service was marginal.
Tables were dirty.
Ick.
Go somewhere else, even if you’re just going for a beer.

The other reviews are spot on about the waitresses and the level of service… We even spotted the one with the ‘huge set of personality’ LOL ordered the Moscow Mule since it was well reviewed but wtf $ 9 for a drink at a dive bar in Kailua? That’s Waikiki on the beach price for a drink! Food was not good, but it wasn’t bad either. Though the pizza looked like a cracker… Or a circular piece of cardboard. Stick to the $ 4 – 5 beers if you find yourself here.

On a live music night, when it’s busy, they should consider more staff! On a Friday night with live music and about half full in the restaurant they had only 2 servers on staff and even a water refill was hard to get! We ended up getting a pitcher of water eventually for our table and the food service was pretty slow as well.
Still this bar has been around for years and is conveniently located in Kailua.
Cover charges fro live music nights.
Parking is easy.
Friendly staff.
Noise level is a bit extreme-​even without the live music.

The World Cup is in full swing.
My wife and I usually don’t like watching sports.
For some reason, we only tend to watch olympic curling, The Final Four, and the World Cup.
So when it’s alternative sports season, we are looking for a place that is not full of soccer hooligans.
Since nobody comes to this bar, it is the perfect place.
Big screen TV’s aplenty!
A funny thing happened since our last visit.
They upped their food game like 200%
Their smoked meat products are no ka oi!
I had a cuban sandwich, wife had a half rack of ribs.
Beautiful and smokey.
We also had straight up nachos.
Usually you can tell how a place feels about itself when you order nachos.
This place must have a lotta self love because the nachos were wonderful.
Wife ordered a Moscow Mule served in a copper cup. Nice and refreshing. They also serve a «Molokai Mule» with pineapple juice.
Waitress was shocked when the bar was overloaded with soccer fans during the Potrugal/​US game. She worked double time and kept everyone happy.
I have to admit that I became one of the soccer hooligans I was trying to avoid.
Our table wound up group hugging the other table when US pulled ahead. But then, AAAAAHHH last minute tie score :(
Can’t wait to catch more games!

Probably one of the best dive bars in Oahu’s Windward Side — located in Kailua. Weekend nights (Friday and Saturday — Some Sundays) will always have a live band lined up. Since it is a bar, noise is a bit extreme, but always a good time.
No happy hours.

Dear Boardriders and Hog Island BBQ,
After a long, grueling day and having sat a really long time in traffic on the Pali on the way home, I was looking forward to some of your mouthwatering barbecue. I was able to order and pay fairly quickly. Unfortunately, you were extremely short-​staffed. Looked like one bartender taking care of everything in the front of the house, and one cook handling all the food in the back.
Right after I placed my order, a bunch of people came in. They were probably just getting home, too, after the ridiculous traffic in the rain and construction on the Pali. Unfortunately, this seemed to overwhelm your skeleton crew. After waiting over half an hour for my order, I started to wonder if the food would ever be done. I literally couldn’t ask the bartender about it, because there were so many patrons swarming the bar by that time. Instead, I asked the cook, who let me know by his nasty attitude that he did NOT appreciate my business.
Guys, come on. If you’re planning to operate two businesses here and do at least a decent job of it, you gotta work with us a little. After waiting 40 minutes, I gave up and left, having paid for food I never got. My rough day just got worse.
Lesson learned. Do it to me once, shame on you. Do it to me twice, shame on me!

Ordered the ribs. Tough as rock. Couldn’t even cut it. The Mac and cheese came out congealed and cold. The BBQ sauce is tangy and not too sweet. argh. Yuk. The ribs were just bad. Really bad.
Wings were super good. The service was good.
I don’t have much more to say …

TOTAL DIVE. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
My niece likes to watch Diners Drive-​ins and Dives so I took her to Boardriders which is apparently the new location of Hog Island BBQ
.
hahahahaha. No sooner had I told the waitress that I wanted a beer then my niece jumped in with «and I’ll have a Shirley Temple.» She cracks me up since she’s actually 23 and still orders Shirley Temples.
The place smells like stale spilled beer and sweat. I think it’s intentionally dark so you don’t see stuff you wouldn’t want to see. Basically you’re eating in a mosh-​pit set up with some tables and chairs.
Waitress was pleasant but had to hunt her down to ask for basics like a knife and salt and pepper. She could have been a little more present. She seemed to be working the bar also.
Music was OK for a while (at least my niece liked it) until they switched to some horrible metal that was way too loud.
Onion rings ($ 7) were good but just served with ketchup. A house dipping sauce would have made them a lot better.
My brisket plate with add-​on of smoked chicken (about $ 15 with two sides) was good. Side of coleslaw was lightly dressed, (not creamy) and I liked it. Baked beans were surprisingly not sweet and very smoky. I like them. My niece’s side of mac and cheese was not great, way to much mac and not enough cheese. Her carrots and broccoli was good.
She had a half rack of ribs. We were served a pale dry smoked pork rib served with some tangy barbecue sauce on the side. They seemed a little undersmoked to me, and a little fatty. I would have liked them a little more cooked and the fat correspondingly a little more rendered.
The bill came with a $ 2 overcharge for my added smoked chicken. When I pointed this out to the waitress she said something like «oh they forgot to change the menu» but she did credit me back the money. I really hate when the price on the check does not match the price on the menu. This sealed the deal on 3 stars instead of 4. Plus the tab including tax and tip for onion rings, one draft beer, one draft cider, one shirley temple, and two combo plates was over $ 60. So i kind of walked out thinking there were other places I would have rather spent that kind of money.
If you’re a connoisseur of barbecue maybe you should check it out and offer a more sophisticated critique of the barbecue than I can.

I’ve been to Boardriders a few times, and more recently, I came here during a round of bar golf. There was a band playing music and most of the patrons were local. I tried to get a drink but the bar was super crowded and short me, couldn’t flag down a waitress, so I bogeyed. :(
Later that night (maybe 30 minutes or so), we returned to Boardriders in search for a missing wallet. The bouncer at the front said that there was a $ 5 cover fee, which we didn’t have to pay earlier. Not sure when they charge cover fees so keep that in mind when you’re planning to go there.

TACO TUESDAY!!! $ 2 tacos! You can choose Kalua pork, chicken, or beef tacos. I’ve tried them all and they are all delicious!
My experience there has fluctuated from crappy service to excellent service depending on the server. So don’t expect much.
In Kailua town on Hamakua Drive. Free parking is right around the corner after the building (Zia’s).
It’s a dive bar, so casual. I’ve only gone in there after a work out, still sweating… It’s dark in there and kind of dingy… Crowd is mixed, you got your local Kailuan to the military. Overall, pretty chill and laid back.