Luau Polynesian Lounge

Two of us went to Luau last night and ordered the bakers dozen of chicken wings ($ 13) and the Fish Tacos ($ 13) to share.
The wings were terrible, lukewarm and very bland, with no flavor at all other than blackened carbon from grilling. They were by far the very worst chicken wings that I’ve ever eaten in my life AND way over priced too.
The three fish tacos were edible, but the red beans and rice that came with it was cold and very bland. Also very overpriced for the portion. I could have went to any taco stand or even Taco Bell and had a better meal for $ 5.
What’s going on with their kitchen/​chef? I went there years ago and they had great bar food.
I love the décor/​atmosphere, drinks and the bar crowd, but I’m never ordering food there again.
Please rework your menu/​recipes and/​or get a new cook!
PS: The server who waited on us was very friendly and attentive. A+ for her.

I am a pseudo regular here, to the point where the bartenders know my name at least… Its a great spot for a stiff drink or happy hour. I try to watch the Hawks play on sundays here too.
Service is always exceptional. The food is decent, not fantastic. I endorse the fried rice and the pulled pork sliders. Get the pot stickers, they aren’t on the menu but they take orders for them. Yum!

It was for my birthday. My sis was going to tak me. I spent some time on Unilocal and thinking about new places to go. I USED Unilocal — it also took me to their website. OOHH prawn salad! We decided to go here.
The menu is much shorter than online. The waitress told us it hasn’t been updated for a few years! NO salad! THIS IS MY BIRTHDAY DINNER!!! We even found places to park!
The food was good. My sis had pulle dpork sand. My B-​i-​l had a huge stack of ribs which he loved –get your hand away from that plate!
I had a half chicken in buttermilk batter. The green beans were phenomenal! The potatoes good and I am glad I got the demi-​glacé on the side! My chicken was moist and tasty, but the skin a bit tough.
I had plenty for leftovers which were very delish! reheated!
The coconut ice cream was really good.
Our server was very pleasant and prompt.
I wanted a prawn salad tho.

I go here with my book club twice a month on Thursdays. It has a low key atmosphere so we can talk and and a good food menu, to go along with a full bar. Since it’s the summer, I always order their pina coladas. They taste delicious and come in cool coconut-​shaped glasses, so it looks like you’re drinking out of half a coconut. I love them!!!

I think the strength of this place is the happy hour and atmosphere. Fun place to have drinks with friends and some Hawaiian influenced bar food. Our chicken club was OK. I hear the spinich salad is great as are the burgers.

Great happy hour! $ 2 PBR drafts? Are you kidding me? Plus three sliders for $ 6? If you’re lucky (as we were), they’ll accidentally bring you two orders of pulled pork ones when you ordered beef, and they’ll just tell you to have them all. Sweet sweet slider heaven.
THEN they have homemade potato chips, which are always so much better than store-​bought. I still maybe would have preferred fries, but can’t complain.
We started yakking with the waiter about how it was the last day of school and we were celebrating summer, and even though it was well after 6, he jumped right in and said we needed another round for happy hour price. Definite score on that one.
Word of advice: when sitting on the patio, watch out for the plastic chairs. They’re a little on the bendy side, so be careful if you feel like lounging back. Nobody needs a concussion on the first day of summer vacation.

Luau has a five star happy hour! The strongest Mai Tai in town for only $ 6. It is surprisingly smooth for having about 5 shots of rum in it, probably because of the guava nectar. The food is well priced and very tasty… We love the pork sliders, chicken club, and portobello sandwich, the salads are excellent also. A super kitsch place with a nice little patio. The neighbor-​hood is quaint and the restaurant is usually filled with locals. There’s no better place for a cheap drink and great bite on 55^th. Shout out to Kyle, (bartender Thursday — Sunday) you rock our world! P. S. the bananas foster with coconut ice cream is super yummy!

Found this place here in Unilocal.Glad I did!
I lived in the neighborhood 20 years ago and used to frequent the spot as a Quicky Mart. The lady there short changed me every time I went in — First it was a nickle and eventually 3 bucks «No you gimmy two not a five.» That was it!
So, imagine to my surprise the turning of those memories around to a great evening and pleasant faces. I started at the bar waiting for friends — was going to default to a beer when those sitting next to me said «You gotta try the Mai Tais! — That’s all we drink here.» Kyle, the bartender obliged me with a great drink and the realization this used to be the market. Service was great. Way to go Kyle!
When my friends arrived we grabbed a booth just in time. The place was quickly packed. We had two orders of their chicken wings. They tasted fresh off of the barbecue — a little char and perfectly done. Emily was quick with the drinks. The Pinacolada was memorable as well.
I’ll be back soon!

I went here for my birthday [because I love Hawaiian-​everything… I swear I was Hawaiian in another life] and was very disappointed. The menu wasn’t quite what I expected and they had a VERY limited selection. Nothing really popped out to me. I at least expected the mac salad to be decent, but it didn’t have much taste to it… until I added some salt.
I haven’t tried their drinks yet. Maybe after a few martinis, their food will taste better.
Oh, and for some reason there were a bunch of flies in the restaurant… mmmm flies.

I still like Luau, but I’m disappointed that they no longer open at noon for Happy Hour during the week. Now it’s 3:00 p.m.
Boooooo!

Luau is a tried and true neighborhood joint with a great feel. The food is decently Hawaiian, and the staff are freakin’ amazing. I go there regularly (twice a month for the past year or more) with a bunch of friends, and they’ve always greeted us happily and provided us with food and beverages to keep the evening young into the wee hours.
Tony, the owner, is a fantastic soul.

not the place to go if you’re looking for authentic hawaiian cuisine
however, their food sampler is awesome. It definitely worths the try

They had Red Stripe, I was happy. The food didn’t taste that bad to me but then again I was pretty toasty. But hell, I didn’t feel sick after!

The kontiki chicken is like crack.

Other people’s reviews for Luau are all over the place… love it, hate it, love it, hate it.
I used to live right by Luau so we had coctails here a few times. As many have testified, the Mai Tai’s are really really great!
Last night I had my first dinner here and I was so impressed. I must have gotten the chef on one of his good nights!
#1 MUST is this cheezy cornbread they have. Unbelievable. I’ve been to Jones BBQ and theirs is pure crap compared to this. Cornbread is all about texture and I prefer the grittiness of cornbread to a cornbread that tastes like cake. They topped off the 2 huge (and I mean HUGE) pieces with a honey-​type glaze that added the perfect sweetness and in some places was absorbed into the cornbread. I’m still drooling thinking about it…
The fried chicken! The fried part was so dark, really dark compared to the golden color of most fried chicken. But when you took a bite, you knew that it was due to all the spices and flavors. This fried chicken had a KICK! SPICY! And the chicken was just delicious on the inside. Hot and perfectly cooked.
Also tried the scallops and they were cooked perfectly as well. I get a lot of scallops at restaurants and they are often cooked too long and get rubbery. These were just marvelous!
The waitress was so sweet too. The owners were sitting at the bar so it was very down-​to-​earth. I like it and will recommend it to others for a different twist on dinner!

I like Luau. It’s a low-​key place to hang out for drinks or a meal with good friends. Unless you time it just right, getting seats is not a problem. The pupus are good; I like the Spicy Ahi Poke best. I’ve tried several of the main dishes, but am stuck in the fried rice with Portugese sausage rut. Oh, drinks are built quite strong.
4 Stars — I like to eat there.

Luau used to be my favorite restaurant in Wallingford. Over the years the quality of the food and service has gotten really erratic. Sometimes the ribs are tender, juicy and delicious; sometimes they are tough and dry. Entrees don’t all come with sides any longer; you need to order them separately. I’m also still mourning the loss of the onion relish and warm flat bread when you were seated and the macadamia brittle that used to come with the coconut sundae.
Parking in this part of town can be tricky.

I really liked this place. They do little things of neatness.
The happy hour is the time to try this place out, I think. They have a good variety of their interesting hawaiian styled take on classics available.
If you’re into being kosher or halal, you might be better off just not coming inside. Just about everything has pork in it. Mmmm. Pig tastes good.
The burger? There’s some kind of smoked ham in the grind. The wilted spinach salad? Wilted with hot pig fat!
We ordered a couple of things and shared. The (pulled) pork sandwich is served on a baguette and is savory and subtle. The burger is served on a bun with a variety of fixings kind of like a hawaii burger kit.
Each of the entrees is presented in a bamboo steamer with an actual banana leaf in the bottom. I have never been served with a steamer as a plate before. I thought that it was cute.
Each also comes with some uniquely macaroni shaped shrimp salad.
I had a nice $ 2 happy hour Luau Lager to wash it all down with some citrus water that was constantly refilled. I really like it when people fill my water.
The dessert menu looked good. Bananas Foster is usually a performance piece as it is on fire. The house recipe was apparently featured on one of the local PBS affiliate cooking show. Perhaps I’ll take someone here in the future to set the night on banana fire.

I pictured cheesy/​crappy/​horrible, but figured I just had to give this place a try, and was glad I did. The interior is nice, espcially for Wallingford, and the staff is friendly. Decent beer selection, and lots of crazy drinks.
Foodwise, go for the Portabella sandwhich. Mmmmmmm! Too bad the macaroni salad with uncooked shrimp had to accompany it. They also have an all day Happy Hour on Sunday.

So, we went for dinner tonight… just the girls this time, to catch up with a verrrry pregnant friend.
Even with the vividly descriptive pregnancy anecdotes (lucky ducks! I’ll spare you), I managed to greatly enjoy my hoisin glazed baby back ribs. They were super meaty, and went quite nicely with my Heineken (you don’t have that?) Corona (don’t have that either?)…ok, I’ll have a Pacifico. I’m easy that way! :-) The ribs came out pretty much all on their own which was fine with me (perhaps those stories were affecting my appetite more than I realized?). Two of the other girls were kind of sad that they didn’t come with cornbread, but that was easily remedied by ordering a side of it (jalapeño/​fresh corn cornbread drizzled with maple syrup).
Katie Jr (the pregnant one) had a cheeseburger that she seemed pleased with, though she didn’t quite understand what a bunch of shrimp were doing on top of her macaroni salad. Weird, but she ate it all quite happily.
Nobody had any room for dessert, and I came away with leftovers for my lunch tomorrow! That’s never a bad thing! :-)