Posts Tagged ‘Restaurant News’

I’ve been to Side Street Inn a total of three times already. The first two times were pretty good, but the most recent time, I don’t think I’ll probably go back again.

Let’s start of with the wait. Yes, we should have put in reservations like we did in the past, but when we got there, it wasn’t super packed and when we asked the seater, he told us about 20 minutes. How long did we wait? Around 50 minutes. Yes, about an hour, as we see other people who arrived later WITHOUT reservations get seated first. They didn’t really have an answer when I asked when we will be seated. That was only the beginning.

Finally we sit down and we IMMEDIATELY order because we were really hungry by then. We ordered house salad, kal-bi (korean braised short-ribs), fried rice, and pork chops. It literally took about 30-40 minutes before our SIMPLE SALAD arrived. After scarfing that down, I asked the waitress (who never came to refill our water) how much longer it will take to get the rest of our food, because we waited almost 50 minutes after ordering and haven’t received anything. Her answer? “Oh, the kichen is really backed up” then she left. Thanks. She didn’t apologize, didn’t try to update us on our food, or offer us anything. She pretty much expected us to just accept it.

Finally our food comes a few minutes after I asked her. By then, the food was anti-climatic as we were already pretty upset that we got our food so late, didn’t get good service from the waitress (who wasn’t even running around like she was busy), and she never refilled our water until we basically finished our food. She wasn’t even around for us to call her to refill the water.

The first two experiences were good. This third experience was so horrible, it might cancel out how great the first two experieces were. Would I return? I would probably consider another place first, then if I’m peer-pressured to return, I might just cave in. But if this situation repeats itself, count me out for good.

I’m a big meat eater, and when after grocery shopping at the new and large Safeway in Kapahulu, we stopped by the brand new Burgers on the Edge restaurant. There were more than a few people there, so we figured why not give it a try. But man oh man, was I disappointed…on so many levels.

Burgers on the Edge is actually a gourmet burger restaurant from the creators of Formaggios (a GREAT restaurant and wine bar at Marketcity Shopping Center under the H1 Freeway), so I expected good things. The restaurant itself was very small, but they did have a decently cool layout with flat panel TV screens on the walls to show you the menu, rotating pictures of what they serve, and a make-your-own burger menu.

I ended up ordering a burger with gruyere cheese, bacon, grilled onions, roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, and garlic aioli in a ciabatta bun. Sounds good right? With that many toppings, you would think there would be a lot of taste. Guess again. It tasted really plain. I do have to agree that the burger was decently large and it was juicy, but I couldn’t really taste much. It kind of threw me off. The ciabatta wasn’t warm either, which wasn’t too pleasant since it was cold. Was it worth the $9? No, not at all.

My girlfriend on the other hand got the stuffed portabella mushroom sandwich. Whatever it was stuffed with, she told me it wasn’t good and that it looked like there was no stuffing to begin with. The worst part of it? She said it was COLD…no, not even luke warm, not room temperature…COLD. Pretty nasty.

We also ordered the regular fries, and wow, how can you mess up fries? They were hot but they weren’t crispy at all. In fact, they were kind of soggy and didn’t have much taste. If you like potatoes without salt, this may be for you, but we both didn’t like it. To give them some credit, it tasted like fresh cut potatoes instead of frozen potatoes. But that’s the only plus I can give the fries.

So the total ended up costing us $25 for the two sandwiches, one order of regular fries, and one drink. Was it worth it? Not even a little. The wait also took about 15 minutes to receive our food. REALLY?! That long for a burger? I could see people outside getting irritated that their food was taking quite a while as well. I can’t blame them.

So save your money and go elsewhere for a burger. You can find better for cheaper…MUCH cheaper.

One of my favorite Brazilian restaurants, Tudo de Bom, has closed. They served delicious varieties of meat for four years at the McCully shopping center. Due to the slow economy, they have decided to close their doors. This is too bad, since I really enjoyed their meat buffet, and the variety can’t be beat. Where else can you get unlimited amounts of Brazilian meat for such a reasonable price? My thoughts exactly.

Hopefully the owners will open up elsewhere, maybe a location where the rent is cheaper or perhaps a smaller restaurant. There has been a slew of restaurants that I’ve enjoyed that closed forever. Chef’s Table in Hawaii Kai closed its doors after 10 years and On Jin at Ward never came back. Despite these closures, many are still thriving, and others have opened. Take Tanaka of Tokyo’s new opening at the Ala Moana Center, whose location took over Jackie’s Kitchen, whose rent is probably extremely high. Chef Mavro (one of my favorite restaurants), whose set menus can go up to $150 with wine per person, is still making money and is constantly booked. I guess it all depends.

Still, it’s sad to see good restaurants go.

As Hawaii based companies are getting more well known, if you ever drank a beer brewed from the Kona Brewing Co., keep it going, since The Brewers Association has named the Big Island brewer #37 for overall beer sales and 24th for craft brewing companies (Source: Star Bulletin). Congratulations!

This is pretty good since giant Anheuser-Busch Inc. was first in overall sales. To put Hawaii on the map again, shows that we do produce decent products that are purchased worldwide. Hawaii is slowly, but surely, creeping up in the market, and hopefully local companies, such as Kona Brewing Co. will continue to do well worldwide.

You can find Kona Brewing Co. products at pretty much all the grocery stores on island, and you can also eat at their restaurant at the Koko Marina Shopping Center next to 24 Hour Fitness.

Again, congratulations!

Longtime seafood restaurant John Dominis is being sold to a Japan-based investor Ocean Investments LLC according to the Honolulu Advertiser.  Once the restaurant is sold, owner D.G. Anderson says that he will include in the sale that he will have the provision to continue the restaurant with its adjacent wedding and meeting rooms for the next 18 months.

So why is this, from what I heard, great seafood restaurant getting sold?  According to Anderson, the location is in need of redevelopment.  And with Kakaako getting newer stores and condominiums, the old 254 seat restaurant is showing its age.  Along with the expensive ground rent and high property taxes, the restaurant is not making enough money to pay its bills.  Back when the rent and property taxes were cheaper (the restaurant was founded in 1979), the largerestaurant could hold its own, but with the rising costs, a restaurant that size won’t be able to hold its own anymore.

There has been no plans for what Ocean Investments is going do to with the redevelopment.  According to Anderson though, Ocean Investments will bring a new energy to the area, and add to Kakaako’s ever expanding future.