Wow, we had the pleasure to attend a very special event that featured so many of the items on the menu and it was also served with the finest wine. The food quality and assortment were beyond words and the service was also over the top. We've enjoyed many excellent restaurants in Hawaii but Assaggio Kahala Bistro had it all from assortment to the best service by far. read more

Assaggio Bistro seems to be quite an enigma. Folks either love it here or would probably never come back. We gave it a try because we had a gift certificate. My family and I came early on a Sunday and after a friendly greeting were seated quickly. The decor, as others have pointed out, is very nice and trendy. It was actually a bit more classy than I had expected but seems as though Italian restaurants in Honolulu are going in that direction. I kinda like the older style where it was much more homey (and cheaper! HA!). For starters we ordered the garlic pesto bread and deep fried calamari legs. The bread was very mediocre. Not much pesto on them and the sun dried tomatoes just didn't compliment anything. The calamari was actually pretty good. Lightly breaded and just a bit chewy. For entrees we ordered the antipasti salad, sausage pomodori, and sausage putanesca. All were quite good. The salad had generous portions or prosciutto, anchovies, and cheese. Good for me that my wife doesn't like prosciutto and anchovies so I got that all on the side with my entree! The sausage pomodori has a spicy red sauce with garlic and bacon. The sausage was excellent, being on the lean side but very flavorful. The sausage putanesca came with your typical red sauce with garlic and capers. Again, pretty good. Sausage was the same as the pomodori. Service was pretty good with one waitress and a bus boy helping things along. The one interesting thing is that the Coke I ordered was refilled once and then went dry after that. I wasn't too thirsty so didn't care much if they refilled or not. But assuming the soft drinks are refillable then such a small thing should have gone overlooked since our glasses of water never went below half. All in all a good dinner but after coming out to nearly $85 with tip for three of us Assaggio Bistro is a bit on the expensive side for what you end up getting. Have to stick with Grace's! LOL! read more

After eating here, I'd say the most recent yelp reviews are right on point....I ordered the fish alla scampi (large) which was a good size (didn't finish) and went down greasy, I mean easy, with noodles and fish soaked in tons of buttery goodness, just how I like it. Food came out fairly slow but I think it was the prep time, not the water's inattentiveness (They came by several times to fill water and we got 2nd on bread, always a plus!). Parking can be a pain especially on weekends with the small lot shared by other business, so we ended up in the mall lot and walked across. Would probably go back if I was back on the rock for an extended stay, and definitely if I had another free gift certificate, like on my most recent visit. read more

Great food and extensive selection of Italian food. My only suggestion is that the dessert menu has nothing for the lactose intolerant.

I gave this place another try. Total fail. The chicken parmagion was rubbery like it was cooked earlier and then microwaved again. Seafood combo was hot inside but the noodles were dry looking like it was sitting there for awhile before it came out. Service was not that great either. Definitely not going to go back to this plave. read more

I ate here with my husband this past Sunday night. We did not have a reservation but were seated right away. Our waitress's menu knowledge was right on point- she answered our questions completely and even gave additional information that helped us to make our dinner selections. I ordered the we had fried mozerella sticks for an appetizer followed by baked stuffed egglant parmesana for my entree, I don't remember what my husband had. The appetizer, salad and entrees were timed perfectly- we had time to finish each but did not have to wait very long until the next course came around. Also, they get bonus points because I was totally parched that evening after spending several hours at the beach and I was gulping down my water, but my glass was always refilled in a timely manner. The food was excellent, the service was superb- a caliber rarely experienced even in the finest of Honolulu's eateries, and the bouquet of roses up front and single rose on each table was a nice touch. Romantic, delicious and as laid back or dressy as you are. Highly recommended. read more

Assaggio Bistro - Baked stuffed eggpant parmesan with veggies - Italian Near Me - Honolulu, Hawaii

LOVE this place...my #1 pick is the osso buco, shrimp & scallop alla bolla. Sooo yummy! The meat is so tender, it melts in your mouth and the shrimps and scallops are perfectly cooked and topped on a bed of al dente. read more

Assaggio Bistro Kahala. Same great food as the other locations. Everything you order is good ! Service is great. Only thing with the Kahala location is the parking. But plenty of street parking in the area. read more

Really enjoyed our meal. The cold beef carpaccio was delicious! Really enjoyed the calamari too. My shrimp scampi was such a generous portion for a small serving. Had to doggy bag it since we were enjoying the house bread too much. Great variety, will have to return to try other entrees. read more

The food was amazing! We had the clams and shrimp zuppa di style, ceased salad, and Nestor's steak and shrimp scampi. The garlicky wine sauce is amazing! We also had the lychee sorbet for dessert. The service was ON POINT! Great ambiance and a very friendly staff. Thanks Assagios Kahala! read more

We came as a family of 12, and everyone seemed very satisfied with everything they ordered. The service was efficient, and the waiters quite friendly. We will be back. read more

Love the ambiance of this restaurant. My visit this week was a bit disappointing on service (super friendly bartender but he didn't know his liquors -- even their location!) and the server wasn't very engaging, but that is not the norm. Food is always 4-Star. Will definitely go back, but try to get another server. read more

My husband and I love it here! Customer service is always great and the food is delish!!! I ordered sicilian chicken and my husband ordered shrimp scampi we also ordered ceasar salad for 2! Best ceasar salad ever!!! The bread are butter are a delight too! We always over indulge on it before our food comes! Can't wait to come back!! read more

Great service! Great food! We had a party of eleven and we all got our food relatively at the same time. And you know how important that is especially when we were going to another event afterwards. I would definitely come back to this location. read more

We had our family Mother's Day dinner here tonight. My mom had come here a few weeks ago and raved about it. We had a party of 13, so they gave us the private room in the back, which was perfect for us. We chose the ala carte menu since we're all kind of picky eaters, and the preset menu wasn't very exciting. The portions were really large, even the appetizer portion of portabello mushrooms and eggplant, which I had for my main meal. My husband had the Sicilian Chicken, cause he likes his potatos instead of pasta. The bread wasn't very impressive, and I was surprised that they didn't serve it with olive oil and balsamic like other Italian restaurants. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, and several of us took home leftovers. All in all, we had a very nice time, and the service was good. read more

Great food, good service! Had the chicken and fish olio and caesar salad.

We didn't like this place at all it was equivalent to Olive Garden with really slow service and lukewarm food

Nothing exciting. Beautiful restaurant but unfriendly staff from hostess to waiters. Hostess/host didn't acknowledge us for about 40 seconds. Saw us but still ignored us. Was beginning to wonder if we should seat ourselves because we were just standing there like idiots. She finally uttered a hi, but I don't think I'd be writing this if she had just acknowledged us within a reasonable amount of time. I'm big on customer service and this place seriously lacked it. The waiters couldn't say hello or welcome. The guy who delivered our bread basket simply plopped it on our table and walked away. I've been to more casual restaurants where the service is so nice and the staff welcoming. A restaurant having great customer service is a deal breaker for me whether I return or not. And it looks like I'm in no hurry to go back. Maybe I'll just order take out just so that I don't have to deal with luke warm service because the food is good. Of course upon leaving the restaurant the 2 hostesses couldn't utter a goodbye or come back soon! They need to learn that those little things count especially when the economy is bad and the market is saturated with restaurants on every corner. read more

Everything was great right untill they asked my 85 year old mother for an ID to prove it was her bithday (for the free slice of dessert).

A friend and I came in for dinner Friday night and had a very mixed experience... First, when we arrived, the hostess told us there was about a 10 min wait. We decided to sit at the bar and have a cocktail before dinner. We ordered their versions of a mango martini and a coconut mojito. Both drinks were delicious! (However, I do believe they were a little over priced for the size at $9.) Also, as the bartender was preparing the martini, the lid of the shaker flew off flinging mango martini all over the bar and me. Instead of apologizing and cleaning up the mess, he was more concerned with making me another drink only saying, "That wasn't supposed to happen." Meanwhile, the martini and ice that spilled on the bar continued to drip on me. I asked for a napkin and was handed a dirty bar rag. I ended up wiping down the bar and drying myself off with a napkin that another costumer, sitting next to me at the bar, was kind enough to share with me. To top it all off, I was charged full price for my drink. I think if you pour a drink over someone, you should at least comp one drink. After sitting at the bar for about 30 min, we figured the hostess had forgotten about us and decided to order dinner sitting at the bar. We ordered a seafood pasta dish and a veal dish. Both were amazing! The seafood and meat were cooked perfectly and side dishes complimented the meats very well. Food is wonderful, service is less than up-to-par. (Except for the valet driver who was prompt and polite.) I honestly do not know if I will be back. read more

I have never been disappointed by their yummy pasta here. And their bread is served hot and freshly baked. Only thing is their parking lot is small, and there was no valet during lunch so it was a little inconvenient to have to find street parking. read more

The service was friendly and not overbearing. My scallops were a bit over cooked (scallop scampi), but cooked exactly as requested. I am never content with the dessert selection here and did not enjoy the Spumoni, but the bread is still amazing... read more

follow up re: car being towed while dining at restaurant. had two more conversations with alizabeth, restaurant manager. each time she gave contradictory information. final comment from her was that nothing could be done because she couldn't "verify" we were been customers - even though we had points for completed open table reservation and had information from credit card company showing transaction. spoke with property manager (ms. le at colliers) who was very helpful. with same information that alizabeth said was insufficient, ms. le solved tow situation, even writing a very cordial letter of apology. she said she hoped we would continue to patronize location. i will visit other businesses in plaza but most certainly will not be a customer at assaggio bistro. have warned friends of management's total lack of customer service. read more

The heart of Italy beats with warm welcoming hospitality. Assaggios is not Italian at its very heart. On mother's day we took my 86 year old mother for lunch. Suffering from Alzheimer's disease my mother could not maintain her appearance. To get her to lunch was a feat, just to get her out the door. She lived with us to the end. I am sad to report this last mother's day spent at Assaggios was her last, she passed away shortly after our mother's day lunch. The waiter there did not greet my mother, did not even look at her or wish her "happy mother's day", he kept staring at my wife instead (who is knockout beautiful). My mother was once as beautiful and attractive. Even when I told the waiter, "this is my mother", he did not look at her, but had a look of disgust on his face. Not even civil, not even professional, cruel, aloof, cold. read more

Overall a great Italian restaurant. We made very late reservations for Fathers's Day, and we were still accommodated. Our Server took our drink orders and bread request. He had forgotten that we had made those requests. A second waiter came to our table, and we made the same request, which he fulfilled efficiently. Everything else went on perfectly, and the food was good and oh so tasty. I've been here a number of times, but never disappointed. The prices are fair for the quantity and quality you get. I going back there for my fix of lasagna-yum! read more

Food was all right but service was horrible! They're not well trained in treating their customers with value and respect. I've worked in the restaurant business all my life and I have never seen such a display of immaturity and disregard towards customers. I wish them well but as for me and the rest of my friends and family we won't be returning any time soon. read more

Super good service. They were very good at making sure we never ran out of free bread & butter or water. The food was also phenomenal and made for a good second meal the day after. read more

Very rude hostess! I've never been so disrespected in my life. Horrible customer service. Food was great as always.

The food was yummy, the decor was elegant and restful, and I simply cannot say enough about the superb service ! We had such a lovely time and left with smiles on our faces, feeling exquisitely showered with thoughtfulness, kindness and Aloha !!! This is a very special place. read more

Went here for a getaway lunch with some co-workers. I have been here many times and have NEVER been disappointed until today. We were greeted immediately upon entry by a host that looked more like he was running a sportsbar rather than an upscale restaurant...I guess that was a prelude to what came next..he seated us and said he will be clearing the non used settings...he never returned...the busser filled our water glasses and gave us bread. 10 minutes went by and NO-ONE approached our table...then I stopped the server, Tom, who didn't even make eye contact with us to find out who was our server whereupon he said he was..WTH? He then asked if we wanted.anything to drink we said no and he left...we were ready to order but HE LEFT! I had to flag him down again..20 minutes had elapsed since our arrival...to ask if we can order..he said sure...he took our order and in 10 more minutes our order arrived. After he served us he never touched our table...he was busy hanging in the bar area. I then had to flag him down to get him to box our food. He returned 5 minutes later with the boxed food and the check and poof...disappeared again. After waiting another 10 minutes I finally stood up..my lunch mates know my customer service back ground and knew I was pissed and made my way to the host station..oh Tom showed up...btw no one was at the host stand...and said.."uh I got to take this (my bill) in the back" then poof he was gone. The "host" finally appeared and never once asked us how everything was..Tom showed up and presented the bill to me..no thank you, go to hell, NOTHING! I reluctantly signed my bill and made for the door! 1. It wasnt busy 2. I guess we were bothering them. If you visit Assagio bistro..I pray you dont get TOM! Ask not to be seated in TOM'S section. You will be disappointed! If I ever go back I will leave if that idiot TOM is working. read more

I'm being generous with 2 stars here. Let me explain. My grandparents live in aina haina so this Kahala location is super convenient. This assagio was our go-to restaurant for birthdays and other get-togethers. The prices are decent, food is good and portions are generous. Not to mention they have a pretty big menu. However, the last time we dined here, the food was OK but the service was horrible. My mom and I wanted to order Italian sodas so we asked the waiter what flavors were available and our waiter told us, "uhh I don't know. We used to have a sign but i don't know where it is." I was shocked! I work in customer service and there have been times when I didn't know the answer but you go and find out! Our waiter was clearly very lazy. So continuing with our dinner, the food comes. I ordered the veal alla sorrentino. I start cutting my veal and notice a strand of HAIR in my pasta. I pick around it a bit (wondering if it's my own hair) but no there were a few more strands of hair under the veal. Yuck. I flag down our lazy waiter and tell him there's hair in my food. He says "where?" in a tone that clearly said he didn't believe me so I pointed the hairs and told him they were under the meat so it wasn't mine! Only then did he take my plate and bring me a new one. The only reason I give these guys 2 stars is that I actually like the food (when there isn't hair in it) but there are 3 other locations I can go to so that's not enough to make me go back to the Kahala location ever again. read more

I really was hoping that I could give five stars, however my experience here fell short. My meal was actually pretty good, I had the fish of the day, Opah, prepared assagio style with the mixed vegetables. The Caprese salad was also pretty good, but would have been much better with sea salt. The fresh clam scampi appetizer sauce was tasty, but the clams were gritty, thus ruining the dish. My husband's meal of the Osso Bucco Alla Romana, was certainly a sad excuse of a meal. The Veal was mostly fat and he left more than 3/4 of the meal uneaten. The waiter never even noticed that he didn't enjoy his meal and didn't bother to question why he refused a take out box for a full plate of food. The staff was actually very inattentive, and being that I work in the food service industry, I honestly expected much better service with the high priced menu items. I am doubtful that I will return. read more

I'm not sure why anyone has a problem with the service here... from reservation to seating to our amazing server, Dustin, it was a great experience! We live in Kahala and have been here numerous times! Also have been to Koko Marina and Ala Moana which are good, but to me the service is great at Kahala although the menu is slightly bigger at the other locations. We have our go tos... the carbonara is "one of the best" to my fiancée who orders that every time. I am partial to the seafood combo garlic/oil spicy sauce and/or clams casino! My parents go for the eggplant parmigiana, Sicilian chicken and osso buco! Definitely a great place to go!!! Request Dustin or Sean as your server and you'll have as an amazing experience as we have!!! read more

i always love coming here. i love steak and i love pasta...and i can get that all in one dish. one complaint that i do have, besides parking, is that this past time i went........i sat against the wall. it is a very nice modern wall all except for the fact that it was COVERED IN DUST! eating next to that is just...appauling. please clean your walls.......PLEASE. it looks like it has never been cleaned since you opened. i hope your kitchen isn't like that. read more

Imma keep this short and direct.... Service was crap, food was mediocre, friend sent back his entree because it was overdone waited 20 minutes for it and nobody said sorry or even addressed the situation... Not the server or the manager.... Oh not to mention it was his birthday and nobody gave two shits.... Place is garbage... Its a No Go read more

I've been here a couple of times and thought it was just okay. But our experience last night prompted me to write this. First the good parts: waiter Kevin was very pleasant and accommodating. The calamari appetizer and my fish-of-the-day (opah) piccata were both delicious. However, it took a long time before anyone came to take our order, and both the calamari and minestrone soup orders were tiny. But here's the part I need to share: we ordered 2 orders of caesar's salad specifically because it was table-side service, which is usually a nice, classy touch to any meal. Wrong! This very unpleasant, bummy-looking dude brought the service, no greeting, and proceeded to grind the dressing so hastily, it was obvious that he was in a rush and his attitude was like he was doing us a favor. So what should have been a luxurious touch to the meal was actually stressful to watch and most unpleasant. I've ordered enough caesars to know that he put in much too much worcestershire sauce, although I did not comment. After he plated them, I asked if he could put extra anchovies on one order, since I know that it is my mom's favorite, and he rudely answered "the anchovy already stay inside the dressing". Duh. Everyone knows that, you moron, and would it be that difficult to get your lazy bum to the kitchen and get a couple of anchovies for my 80-year old mom?! I still said nothing. But when we actually tasted the salad, there was so much dressing, it was completely inedible. We flagged down Kevin who apologized profusely and did our table-side himself, the way it was supposed to be. But the real kicker is that we found out that this rude, unprofessional dude is the MANAGER, named PATRICK. We specifically asked if he knew that we were not happy with the initial order and were told that he did. Don't you think any manager worth his salt would've been back at our table, apologizing profusely, and asking if there was anything he could do to rectify the situation? No! No sign of Patrick ever again. Definitely no class here. Besides learning how to be a manager, Patrick could benefit greatly from charm school. I hope the owners of this restaurant actually read this, because this place does have its good points. But management at this location is not one of them. read more

I was looking forward to trying Assagio - I've heard a lot about it and it seemed to bode well that there are several locations. They must be doing something right, right? Unfortunately, my experience there left me very disappointed. I went with a medium-sized group of six. We all arrived around 10 minutes of each other and once we had all been seated we proceeded to wait for what felt like 20 minutes for our waitress to finally come and take our order. The menu is huge and extremely overwhelming. I had no idea what I wanted so I asked our waitress for a recommendation (I'm not a picky eater). Her response? "Well it depends". Ok, well what's your most popular dish? "That depends too". What? How does that depend?! What items get ordered the most? I ended up ordering the Olio Chicken which I found to be rather bland. I love anchovies but I thought the garlic was way overwhelming and I hardly got a hint of anchovy. Our glasses of water sat unfilled for half of dinner. I wasn't impressed and won't be coming back. read more

We had a 5pm reservation for my Birthday dinner. We entered at 5pm as they turned the closed sign to open and approached the podium. The hostess continued to work on something without greeting us...walked away...came back with another coworker...conversed with her. I looked at my husband and almost said to him let's go. She finally greeted us and led us to a table right behind a group of 4 who were already being served. Really...with all the tables this is where they sat us?! The waitress came with a smile and asked if we wanted drinks. Then she came to take our order never mentioning the special that I saw on the board as we entered. I was really kind of irked by the lack of attention and service, so I mentioned it was my Birthday as I ordered a second glass of wine to see if a small gesture of dessert would come at the end...nope! Not even a thank you and enjoy the rest of your Birthday. We felt the food if ranked 1-10 was maybe a 6...definitely not going there again...big disappointment! read more

Called the restaurant this evening to see if they'd be accepting take out orders tomorrow (Valentine's Day) for dinner. Rude man named Robert who answered the phone replied, "Well I don't know, we may cut it off at 5, because we need to give priority to the customers who make reservations and eat at the restaurant. Really, so take-out customers are a lower life form, our business means nothing? You just lost this regular customer for good. read more

WILL NOT BE COMING BACK. We were there to celebrate a birthday on Friday May 27th. Upon our arrival there were four employees at the front of the restaurant. They took some time deciding which one would greet us. Finally one of them figured out we were there for dinner. After checking the reservation list, we were told there was no reservation for our party of four. The start of our dinner from hell. We had made reservations. Things really went south after we placed our orders. The dinner service was really bad. I felt for the server since it wasn't her fault, although once our orders got pushed back, we hardly saw her. The manager?, about an hour into our dinner service, finally came out to inform us that the kitchen messed up and our orders got put behind a large party's order. We saw people that came in 20 minutes after us getting their food and were pretty much done eating before our food arrived. I doubt very much any of us will be returning to this restaurant. The food didn't come across as anything really special. I think it was the bad taste left in my mouth regarding the terrible service. read more