Big City Diner

Stopped in for beer and wings and big city diner and they did not disappoint. BCD has 10 – 12 beers on tap. I had the Sam Adams Summer Ale and the beer tasted fresh and refreshing. Just what I needed. I also ordered the spicy guava bbq wings. For 11.49 you get about 14 ono broke-​da-​mout good sized wings. Its not spicy, but it is definitely sweet. Food came quick.
I sat at the bar, but noticed that seating is not a problem here. There is alot of space. I sat at the bar anyway. There’s about 22 seats. I recommend sitting at the bar. Simi the bartender is top notch.

Another case of having a gift card and using it before losing it!
This is the newest location of Big City Diner. It opened in November of 2015 and took the place of IHOP on the ground floor of Windward Mall in Kaneohe. The other Oahu locations are in Kailua, Pearlridge, Ward Center, Waipio Gentry, and Kaimuki.
I waited for the crowds to die down and went on a weekday for lunch. There are specials for $ 10.99 which rotate on a weekly basis. This happened to be «Week #6». I chose the Grilled Asian Fish over Baby Bok Choi. It had a clear brown sauce with teriyaki-​style flavor. The bok choi was on the overcooked side, but the dish was still tasty overall.
This second visit was during «Week #1». I chose the Golden Fried Pork Chops with Garlic Mashed potatoes.. Enjoyed the pork chops since they were on the thinner side, but still moist and tasty! The mashed potatoes were thick and dense — I’d like them better if they were fluffier and more buttery… haha! Anyway — everything tasted better because my walking partner had a gift certificate and I used my Gift Card!
Service was great in this clean, spacious, and bright atmosphere. I appreciate the free parking and air conditioning! I’ll return because I still have a balance on my gift card! Yay!

Nope. just nope.

We had brunch there today. I wish we didn’t.
A few hours after eating a ‘fresh fish’ sandwich I was condemned to spend the rest of the day on the toilet.
Other people in my party did not suffer my fate, so dine at your own risk.
Other than that, service was slow. Kids were crying, no water refills and the food mediocre.
I wish I could give this space 0 stars.

I’ve been to this location twice and have decided to never go again. I like diners but this one, in particular, seems extra dirty. Both times the person I was with found a hair in his food. The menu includes items you’d expect to be vegetarian that do not have the little vegetarian symbol next to it, like other items have. For example, why are chips and salsa not vegetarian here?
Last time I just got a simple grilled cheese sandwich off the kid’s part of the menu but it was just gross. I could hardly eat it due to the outrageous greasiness. Only upside is that the staff have always seemed very friendly and competent.

Interesting. It says they take reservations and was just told after asking me for how many people, we don’t take reservations but we can accommodate. REALLY? Then why does it say you take reservations? You get A star cause it won’t post otherwise!

Disappointing. My daughters 10^th birthday and We chose to celebrate at BCD Windward Mall with a party of 10. Our meals came out all at different times and the server didn’t know what he was actually serving us, he looked lost. (Felt bad for the lad. Lack of training I’m guessing)
The food quality was mediocre, nothing to write home about. The garlic fries are the only thing with real flavor. We’ve dined here several times before and it was never like this. Waitresses are nice & I feel like the issue is poor management.

This new diner just went live with 7 days a week dinner service. They had been breaking in dinners slowly and held at 5 nights a week for some time, but they are now open every night.
First of all, the name says, Diner, and that’s what this place is, an unpretentious, simple décor, place to eat. This is a throwback to yesteryear, even Zippy’s looks more modern! That’s not a bad thing though, but be prepared for simplicity. It’s close seating, noisy, and lots of kids. If you’re not into that, don’t come.
The food is localized and caters to the kama’aina. I was surprised to see so many Marines in there as I thought they would not like the food, but I guess they can order the chili and crackers.
To me, any local place is going to be judged by their loco moco and I have to say, they have some of the finest in the city. You can get it with white, brown, or kim-​chi fried rice, and I opted for the latter. The fried rice adds another dimension to the dish and I really liked the gravy, but what sets this dish apart is the hamburger. Normally, its just a patty, but these burgers taste home-​made and are grilled to give them that crunchy crust on the outside. It’s a delight in taste and texture.
They have weekly specials and their burgers are generous. We ordered fries as an appetizer and they came out quickly and were piping hot. When they are busy, you do wait for your food. It’s not the wait staff, but the kitchen just gets overloaded. They’re trying, but they have a hard time keeping up.
I personally feel they have too much on their menu, I think it just gets downright confusing, but that is their MO in all their stores. I think when you have that many choices on the menu, some are bound to be misses, you cannot possibly specialize in the entire array of foods.
I’ve been to their other locations and I can say I really like this place better than the others. We’ll see if that still holds after three years.

Service at this location is terrible. We waited for ever to take our order. Then waited for a long time for the drinks. The food was not hot, one order was cold.
Lipstick on the coffee cups, second time this has happened.
The other locations were very good! This place need help.

We love breakfast here and lunch didnt really compare. I ordered the freah fish sandwich, market price and it was Ono fish my favorite. But the piece was only ½ the size of the bun. I made a comment to oir server, and she agreed she thought it would be bigger but didnt offer to fix the sitution. Kind of a rip off, but totally not her fault. The saimin was big, and though my dad said it lacked favor. He proceeded to eat most of it. The twp highlights were the service (quick and courteous) and the chocolate shake (totally thick, and yummy!)

This is just an average restaurant, nothing special. I wasn’t sure what I was hoping for but the food was meh. We had burgers and shared a salad. The salad was bad, it was drowned in dressing and the tomato was green. I felt bad for the server, she didn’t prepare these dishes but had to put them in front of us and check back with us, too.
Maybe next time, not sure if it’s worth a second try. Maybe, breakfast fare, that usually can’t be screwed up.

I’d heard that they had trouble with their service in the weeks of their soft opening but they certainly have solved all of those issues. We had an excellent server in Kristen. She was engaging, fun, informative, unobtrusive, but spot on in her taking care of what seemed to be half the tables in the Diner. Even when she had plates piled high in her hands she was scouting the room to make sure everyone was taken care of. I don’t usually tip 40% but she deserved it in spades. These two kupuna had a lovely time!
The food was excellent. I am a loco moco nut and I had the «really loco loco moco» with fried rice. This dish will spoil you for any other loco moco. The fried rice tasted authentically Chinese in the flavorings and way meatier than most: char siu and spam in abundance. The hamburger was charbroiled and the sauteed onions were a nice addition. Eggs perfectly sunny side up.
Though we actually were full we didn’t pass up the «world’s smallest sundae» which was a cupsized scoop of Bubbies (!) vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. When we commented to Kristen that it wasn’t small at all, she said it is by Big City Diner standards. Just a great casual place with great food and service!

This is more of a question for the restaurant themselves, why is it that every time I have tried to eat at your establishment three times now, at a reasonable hour, yet you’ve been closed. Why is this?

I was a little hesitant to try this site because the other locations I had breakfast and lunch turned out to be just ok. Because this BCD just opened at Windward Mall, everything was new and clean.
There was a good selection of food to choose from. They even had rotating daily specials so I can plan on coming back for something I wanted to eat. I started with a calamari appetizer with wasabi aioli… it was tasty and the portion size was generous. My meal that night was crispy fried pork chops with spicy ketchup accompanied with fried rice (price upgrade). It was delicious. I enjoyed my meal and so did the rest of my family with their meals. Definitely a place I would take my family back again.
Service was excellent. There was some waiting however the waitress came regularly to update us on the status of our orders. She was very nice and sincere, energetic and helpful in helping us decide what to eat. You should give this place another chance if you were ever disappointed with their other locations. I definitely will return.

I rarely write reviews. However, my boyfriend and I had a bad experience at big city diner at windward mall. I live down the street and was excited to give BCD a try. I had waited a few months after they opened to give them some time to sort it all out. I have worked in the hospitality industry for 20+ years and know there are many things to sort out when opening. The service was dismal at best and lacked care and concern. We consistently had to flag someone down for assistance. The food took a long time to be delivered and arrived cold. I had the portobello sandwich. My boyfriend had the chili dogs. The flavors were good. The manager apologized on the way out. We won’t be going back.

First time we came to Big City Windward and let me tell you our experience getting an awesome waitress with a big smile that make your day really
Service is AWESOME atmosphere was fantastic and staff are very courteous no complain on the food it’s just so delicious I highly recommend the palace

OMG! I am so full, food was great and the portions were huge! Not to mention the service was great and food service was quick!

It was the worst… other people got seated before us even though we had the same amount of ppl in our party the our chicken salad had raw chicken on it. The manager didnt care and also had waitresses yelling at each other from across the room. Wow never going to this location again…

Went there for lunch and everything was delicious! From salads to a complete meal, very tasty! The service was excellent, pleasant and friendly. With both combinations, food and service, we will not hesitate to return soon.

We have been asking for a Big City Diner here in Kaneohe for years. We now have one in Windward Mall. They have been open since November 2015 and they are yet to be open for dinner during the week saying that they would not be able to serve us due to lack of employees… What the hell is the problem, maybe a change in Management already. You know, I might not ever go there and continue to go to Kailua or Kaimuki. At least I know they have their act together.
It’s just too bad.

01/​05/​2016 10:00am. The food wasn’t up to standards (referring to Pearlridge and Waipio). Though the food was a bit disappointing, the staff was very courteous and attentive. I edited my original review because I was upset after we were done, but realized later that I should have been more positive with my critique. I look forward to dining there again in the future, to see if my review helped in any way.

This review isn’t here to say this is a terrible place, truthfully, it’s just that I’ve had a terrible first time experience. I understand what not to expect at a new location that just opened up. I usually don’t care for writing reviews, however this was an experience I felt was worth noting publicly in hopes that in the event should I ever revisit, maybe a better experience would be provided. Honestly, this review should technically be rated zero stars because I only had been seated and looked at the menu. I didn’t get a waitress, I didn’t get a glass of water, I was not really acknowledged even when we had left.
The jist of it was that myself and two friends were seated and told that our server would be with us momentarily, however nobody really acknowledged us sitting there for 30 minutes with not so much as a glass of water. There were two decent sized groups but I wouldn’t have called it so much as «busy» as I would say it was lively. And the first thing that irked me was that another group of three were seated after us and they were served water in the very least before us.
We made eye contact with waitresses, we put our menus at the edge of the table, nothing. It was loud so we didnt want to come off as if we were screaming. A woman did ask if we were done with our menus, but after we said yes, she zipped off with them before we could say anything more. It made me wonder why she didnt really stop to think why we still had all of our menus unless we didnt order yet. It just seemed like they began to avoid us after a while.
I personally dont feel we should have to fight to be serviced… and I’m surprised the floor manager didn’t oversee the lack of service at our booth. One of my friends was becoming terribly upset, being that she herself works in a food establishment and would never let a customer wait. She wanted to walk already, so we did. As we were headed to the door, a couple waitresses saw us leaving but didn’t thank us or say bye or acknowledge us leaving. That leads me to believe they were aware of our situation and/​or that we were unsatisfied.
I don’t think I would care to give BCD windward mall another try. Albeit, I do hope their store manager sees this and successfully capitalizes on their server zoning and teamwork because that appeared to have been lacking quite a bit tonight. Good luck, BCD.

Wasn’t pleased withe the food. server came to check on us once. The other servers check on us more and asked if everything was ok. Food order the famous Kim chee fried rice i asked for no meat and when I got it meat galore stated I couldn’t eat the meat because I get sick, boom took a scoop and all meat, picked around it and started to eat whoa lots of heat no taste and within minutes of taking that bite I ralphed. Ordered garlic fries tasted like minced garlic plop on top of the fries, then order a small salad boy was it small for 10.00. Would like to give another shot the same 3xs a charm… stated made to order. Would probably request another server. What top off our meal is we were sitting directly kiddy corner to the back of the house and our waitress makes a comment, customer didn’t like it, she said it tasted junk, looks like she eats anything anyway. Hmm! Not ok. Common sense tells you if food is pushed to the side hardly touch wouldn’t u ask if something is wrong instead staring and constantly walking by. One more try and if that fails sorry I’ll go back to ward and kailua one

Yay! A great addition to Windward Mall where good eating places are lacking. Move over Ruby Tuesdays next doo (who changed owners and skimps on food and food quality now) and move over Zippys Kaneohe across the street (whose service is terribly lacking these days) and here comes Windward Mall Big City Diners! This place is crowded, and probably because it just opened about 8 weeks ago at Windward Mall. I decided to go around 1 p.m. for lunch when the lines started to die down.
Employees are friendly and I had to wait about 10 minutes for a seat. They have a cute treasure chest where kids can pick one trinket type of toy out of the treasure chest for free! I thought that was cute.
I ordered the «Sistah’s Melt.» which is a hamburger with thousand island dressing, sauteed mushrooms, onions on a texas toast with garlic fries. The sandwich was winners!!! It was so ono, I’ll be back for more. The portions were generous and my waitress who I forgot her name was very friendly.
I’ll back back again to try breakfast!

Great food. Quick table turnovers for Christmas breakfast. Customer service was awesome with everyone hustling including management. We came to use gift cards but will be back again on our own dime

The Staff here is AWESOME! The Manager ROB was very accommodating, professional, and very courteous. From the time we walked through the door, until we paid our check, we were treated very well… No attitude or drama at all! Our Waitress, KAPUA was Fantastic! She checked on us Constantly, and was very helpful with getting extra items that we asked for-​like more butter, more syrup, more water… She really was the BEST! I will definitely come here again. Thanks again to our Waitress KAPUA, & the Manager, ROB, for really going all out for your Customers :)

My husband ordered the fried rice yesterday and we took the leftovers home. I reheated it for dinner and couldn’t believe the onions were so undercooked, they crunched! I would have sent it back to the kitchen but I guess my husband didn’t want to upset the chef.
This location is very convenient, there’s lots of parking, and the waitstaff and managers are very pleasant.

Excellent service, the wait time was very quick, the wait staff is very friendly and helpful, and the food is excellent. This Big City Diner at Windward Mall in Kaneohe is super good. For now it’s only breakfast, brunch, and lunch only due to not enough staffing yet. But when they do hire more staffing, then dinner service will be added to the operations. I highly recommend this restaurant.

I’ve been to Big City Diner in Ward, and Kailua. Always order the paniolo chicken salad! So I ordered it here! It’s actually better than Kailua’s. The dressing for some reason had more bite to it, and they put more in the salad than the other restaurants did. Which is good for me:) The staff was very friendly and nice! Some of the same staff from the previous diner, IHOP. The manager on duty was a very nice man, made sure to go around and ask how things were doing. Something I really only see at CPK, and Kealoha Ai Pono. He thanked us for coming to eat there, and was glad to see our family enjoying our meal. The food was good, my family enjoyed ourselves, and our children loved their meal, and jumbo crayons they got to use to color their menu:)

Staff– excellent service. Down to earth and very attentive .
Food– it was ok. Not bad. I think a lot of people enjoyed the food. I know the locals seemed to like it. For me I thought it was ok. The food was prepared well and plated neatly.
Overall experience was great. I think most people would enjoy this place. Honestly one of the better restaurants in the Kaneohe area. It’s hard to find good places to eat in Kaneohe so this is a place where you can get some decent food.

Thank you for finally opening! We’ll be coming here a lot! Kalbi and eggs with Kimchi fried rice was delish! Kalbi was nice and tender! Eggs over easy perfect! Our waitress was awesome! I hope they keep their atmosphere friendly like today!
ONE downside was the seating. We had 5 children and 3 adults, they almost made us wait 30 – 45 min to be seated so that we could have two tables or if we wanted to be seated right away, we’d have to cram into a booth and not have a high chair because it can’t be in the walkway, which is understandable. So basically, if you have a little one that needs a high chair, you can only sit at the tables and not the booths.
Overall, food was great 5 stars! Atmosphere 5 stars. Everyone was friendly. Hope it stays that way!

There are several Big City Diner’s on Oahu. This one is the newest.
Location: Windward Mall, right next to Ruby Tuesday and close to the food court. There is an entrance from outside and inside the mall. They have only been open for about 2 days.
Venue: Very similar to the others with casual diner ambience and colors. There are lots of TV’s, booths, tables and a bar area. Plus, there is a fairly large size private banquet room. I’m sure this will become a popular feature for groups and parties of all sorts. The bar is fairly small but it doesn’t need to be big in Kaneohe. Brand new and extra clean.
Menu: Exact same menu as all the other Big City’s. Burgers, sandwiches, ribs, fried rice, fried ramen, weekly specials, appetizers and desserts and more. Plus a full breakfast menu. The table next to us ordered the bread pudding dessert. They ordered two abut the plates were huge. Large piece of bread pudding, extra huge scoop of ice cream and whipped cream. One dessert would serve two or three easily. My wife had a ham melt sandwich. Sliced ham with melted cheddar cheese. It was humongous too and she loved it. My veggie burger was larger than average as usual. I’ve had this at three different locations so far. I’m not going to have to eat the rest of the day that’s for sure. So large servings and reasonable prices.
Service: Seemed like mostly an A Team of corporate pro’s for the opening. That is a good sign as they seem to want the opening to go smoothly until they get some local staff trained. The owner and manager were present and overseeing everything in a positive role model capacity. Food came out very quickly. Lots of great customer service oriented staff.
I like Big City Diner because they offer good value and consistent food quality. It is solid 4 star quality. I recommend it.
Vegan/​Vegetarian: There is a veggie burger, portobello mushroom sandwich, a veggie stir fry and a vegetarian veggie club sandwich. Not bad at all, because some local places don’t have any meatless options at all.