They gave me a raw steak and it was burnt on the outside and it is to over priced just for a 8oz steak the greens that came with my steak tasted like dirt read more

After spending a great day at the beach, we came to foster's for a late lunch and drink. Both of us are vegetarian's and they really had great choices for us to enjoy. Service was fast and friendly and the food was amazing. I enjoyed the ambiance in the restaurant and we had a nice view from our table. Thanks for making your menu friendly for all and giving vegetarians options. We really enjoyed our time. read more

See all

Food was on point. Service was a little slow but it all worked out. Best deal in town, I had a quarter rack of ribs with two sides that were absolutely delicious for $22 that's unheard of. I had an 8 ounce glass of wine that was $10. That's also in heard of here in this area. I'll be back! read more

On the plus side, the service here was great and the ambiance by the lake is nice. Unfortunately the food really was not good. The grilled calamari starter was room temperature, at best. The chicken club was ok. The fish tacos were meh, but made worse by the inclusion of an unwanted shrimp tail. Overall it seems like the kitchen here could do with substantially improved quality control. We wouldn't go back. read more

So disappointed in service provided. I had heard lots of great things about this restaurant. Stood outside at hostess stand for 5 minutes till someone came out to seat us(not busy at all). Sat us at a table with only a drink menu and said someone would be with us shortly. After 5 minutes of nobody coming by, I got up and got us some food menus from the bar. Lots of employees standing and chatting at bar, including manager. We sat at our table for 10 more minutes and nobody came to our table. After 15 minutes of sitting at table with no service we got up and left. Let manager know our experience on way out. She was very apologetic but we had no interest in staying any longer. We went down the street to Lava Lava and had an amazing dinner watching the sunset. I don't know if they are understaffed or this was just a mis-step but I would not recommend. read more

Wow! What a gift we happened to stumble upon. From the service of welcoming us, asking if we've been there explaining locally sourced Krafted from farm to table. The whipped goat cheese with Maui onions delicious, the chicken wings whose crisp is crispier to at a rice crispy caution stays hot too, ribs and chicken , steak and shrimp too we ate everything and went back the next night too! read more

Our party of 2 arrived at Foster's at 8:05pm on a Wednesday evening. A handwritten note on the door instructed us to wait OUTSIDE to be seated...after almost 10 minutes we were greeted and taken to a table. It was at least another 10 minutes before a waitress approached us and offered menus, etc. it should be noted that there seemed to be plenty of staff milling about and the place was not packed by any means. We ordered the bruschetta which has fantastic flavors but the sliced cherry tomatoes and almost break your tooth bread left something to be desired. The shrimp and grits was mediocre. The grits were reminiscent of cream Of wheat with no sign of cheese but the shrimp were delightful. We also ordered the Paniolo salad which is described as medium rare steak sliced thinly but it arrived to our table 1/2" thick and blue in the middle. When we pointed this out to our waitress, she asked us to "put the steak on a side plate" and she would have it recooked. WHAT? We asked for the entire dish to be remade but after we finished the shrimp and grits then waited 20 minutes with empty drinks we flagged our server down and asked her to cancel the salad and bring the check. read more

My 4 old wanted an omlet, my wife and i wanted lunch. The person working is so backwards she turned us down because we could not bring 10$ omlet from across to have 100$ lunch + drinks here. She told us "we can eat on the porch" No problem, my daughter will have her omlet and we will go have lunch somewhere else. read more

With a large crowd on a Friday night, They were very organized by having an online wait list. once we were seated the waitress helped us quickly and took our order. The food is very good and healthy.I ordered the daily catch fish which was grilled in olive oil with veggies. Everything tasted great! read more

Foster's Kitchen Waikoloa - Side of salad - very good! - American Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

See all

The tomato bisk soup tasted life straight curry. It smelled like and super chunky. All 4 of the soups tested like it. read more

Foster's Kitchen Waikoloa - soup - American Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

We had a great meal at Foster's! Everything we had was good and everyone on the staff was very attentive--exactly the kind of experience one would want to have. Additionally, they were able to accommodate my gluten-free dietary restriction. Several menu items are listed as being GF. And, they don't advertise it, but they do have a dedicated GF fryer! I had the fish and chips. The cornmeal batter was light and delicious, and the fish was very good--a real treat for someone who has been GF since 2008! Be sure to save room for the (GF) flourless chocolate torte! read more

This review is based on take out only. Called ahead to order dinner due to it being late and we didn't want to wait. Ordered the tomato bisque bowl, country fried chicken, chicken pesto pasta, and Caesar salad. The order was supposed to be ready in 20 min but it was more like 30, probably due to the amount of people there for iron man. Got home and most of the food was Luke warm due to the 7 min drive from the restaurant. The tomato soup had a fishy taste which made me think there was anchovies. It added a nice umami flavor however it was very salty. Which was surprising considering the Chicken pesto pasta was lacking in salt that I had to put some on. The country fried chicken was good, but the side of greens and mashed potatoes were way too vinegary and so dry, respectively. The Caesar salad was pretty amazing though. What made it was the homemade dressing. Nice and tart but creamy and thick! I wish I could have eaten it there because they would have dressed it and that would have been so much better. For the prices and not having to wait for our food, the place met our needs. The hostess was nice and let us know our food wasn't ready. Not sure on the inside but there was a lot of people waiting outside for their table. read more

See all

Had a great meal , the daily special was a furikake Ono with rice and veggies! Delicious. The gumbo was tasty and we enjoyed the Bruschetta to start. Excellent service from KUA and the rest of the staff were hustling at the direction of the wonderful mgr. Keala! Keep up the good work. read more

We've visited Oahu, Maui, and now the Big Island. Our meal at Foster's Kitchen was our favorite! We found it on a lark as we're staying nearby, and saw it was conveniently located in a nice shopping area. The outdoor seating looked great, but we opted to sit inside where we had a great view of the pond. We were also lucky enough to have Alex take care of us as we celebrated my husband's birthday. She is amazing! Knowledgeable about the food and preparation, and had great recommendations. (We had the Cajun shrimp pasta, and stuffed chicken.) Alex was very professional, friendly, and kind. The food is made from scratch, and delicious! I'd highly recommend this establishment! read more

We've eaten here before and thought it just ok but some folks at the pool raved about it so we decided to give it another try. Our server was very nice and as efficient as he could be given he had plenty of tables to take care of. I decided to start with a lychee martini just because I wanted to do something different. It was super good and I highly recommend it. Just a little sweet but not to be over powering. I had the catch of the day and I can only say it was some of the worst fish I've ever had. The server said it was spearfish and was a firm white fish. Had grizzle or fat in the middle couldn't even eat part of it. The server was very sweet about it, offered something else and when I said no thanks, comped my dessert. My husband had a steak burger which he said was pretty good. Came with fries which were also pretty good. We had dessert, I had the flourless chocolate cake and hubs had the cheese cake with passion fruit sauce. Think the desserts were the highlight of the meal. We ate outside under umbrellas and even though it was raining it wasn't a problem. read more

Foster's Kitchen Waikoloa - Lychee martini - American Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

Nina was our server and she was fantastic! Very charismatic and a great server, keep up the great work! Also, great gluten free options with a dedicated frier, 10/10!! read more

While there are many upscale restaurants in the area, Foster's time and again exhibits wonderful island atmosphere and a real "down home" level of service. It is so nice to be recognized and treated like a real friend. The menu is exciting , the prices are great and there aren't many restaurants in Hawaii that you can buy a $35 bottle of wine. We go back time and again for a great selection of food at reasonable prices. The family ownership is always present, and that really makes a difference. read more

I had low expectations based on the reviews but we tried it because we didn't need a reservation and the menu seemed very reasonable. We sat outside which was nice but some of the seats did have bird poop on them. We changed out some chairs with an empty table and got seated. Service was super friendly. Our waiter was great. He kept the refills coming and he was really just a nice guy. We kept it basic. Burger - my daughter loved it. She also got salad as a side which she devoured. Chicken Sandwich - my wife and daughter both got the sandwiches. The sourdough bread was really good and the chicken was cooked perfectly. I got ribs. They were above average. I couldn't finish them and I took them back for lunch the next day. This was the most reasonable meal we ate in our two weeks in Hawaii. We are at cheaper places but for a sit down restaurant with good service Foster's was a home run. read more

The view, the vibe, and the food was outstanding!! if you have the chance to have Leaith as your server you really won at life she was the cherry on top of this outstanding dinner! read more

I wasn't expecting to find a Southern restaurant in Hawaii, but I'm glad we did. They don't take reservations, and the check in system using Yelp wasn't working when we tried to use it, but the wait wasn't too bad and the bartender made us a round of drinks while we were waiting. There's a nice patio here, and the place next door had live music, so we were able to enjoy both! We started with drinks - the lychee martini was not too sweet, but not too sharp tasting and I really liked it. Everything on the menu looked really good and we had a hard time deciding! For appetizers, we had the fried green tomatoes, and even my Georgia friend rated them highly! They came out very crunchy with a sprinkle of salt, tomato, and had a good remoulade for dipping. But I like anything with a remoulade. Everyone was in the mood for seafood, so I had the Seafood Trio as my entree. The fish and shrimp were delicious, grilled with some blackening seasoning! The crab cake was a little soft for my taste, but still nice. The vegetable medly was a mixture of roasted and sauteed, and went well with the mashed potatoes. I shared my shrimp around, but they were almost too good to give away! There was a lot of food on my plate. I also enjoyed the Silver Linings cocktail, but the standout was my friends Kohala(?), their take on the Lava Flow. It was so good! read more

See all

Delicious spot! Highly recommend the steak burger and the Coconut Mia Tai (by far the best on the island). Tanner was our server and did a fantastic job! Best meal we had on the island. So good, we came back twice! Thanks Tanner for the great service! Mahalo! read more

The server came to take our order about 10 minutes after we were given menus. As we started ordering, the server proceeded to tell us that the items we were ordering were not available. Apparently, over half of the things on the menu were not available for dinner. It would've been nice if we were told that as soon as we were given the menus so that we didn't waste time choosing things that weren't available. The things that we were able order were not very good in both taste and texture. In addition, their prices are quite expensive for the portion sizes that are given. read more

We ended up at Foster's Kitchen after everything was closed. I gave them 3 stars for effort and a great Pina Colda. Hubby ordered the Cheddar Burger with Fries. I ordered the Chicken tenders with fries. There were only 2 other couples waiting to order and be served. Food came up pretty quickly. Every thing was super hot. Hubby chowed down his Cheddar Burger like crazy. I, on the other hand did not. My chicken tenders had no taste or flavor at all. I asked for salt and pepper. Some Mayo and ketchup to make my own sauce but it didn't help. I only ate 1 tender, some Fries and sipped my drink. I was so hungry that I felt like I was making myself eat. Disappointed read more

Foster's Kitchen has been the best food, price and service we've had on the island during our trip! They have a great selection of menu items. Jessica was our waitress - she had a lot of tables and apologized for the wait. But she was so sweet and an awesome waitress, and made our dinner great! No reservations at this time. When you arrive you can give them your phone number and they'll text you when your name is ready. You can walk around the nearby shops while you wait. read more

Foster's Kitchen Waikoloa - Cheddar Burger - American Near Me - Waikoloa, Hawaii

Horrible experience. It was windy so they gave away our 8 person table to someone else even though we reserved the inside table and showed up early. Then when ordering they failed to tell me that they ran out of rice which is half of the meal I ordered (gumbo). They then rushed us at the end of our meal even though they made us wait for an extra 45 minutes before we could get our table. Our server was amazing even with this happening as it seemed he was not told that they had no more rice nor that it was his fault they gave away our table. This place was horrible mismanaged. Will never go back and I wish I could give 0 stars. read more

worst service this year, make it this decade. Half hour to get a glass of water. Forty five minuets to get one parties drink, didnt have clean glasses for the other parties drink. Asked for the check for the drinks ,canceled out meal order and left. read more

This place was the perfect dinner spot for more of a laid back meal. I can't remember the waiter's name, but we connected over his family being from IL and CO. He recommended some of his top choices and had a very upbeat welcoming attitude. We also got a discount because we were staying at the Hilton Resort down the street. The bacon chicken sandwich and fries were so good too. Would definitely hit this place up again if we are ever in the area. read more

The food was pretty good. I particularly enjoyed the crab cakes. However, we ordered takeout and waited to arrive until our food should have been ready. When I got there, I gave the name and then waited. I saw them packing an order and then continued waiting 45 minutes while that order sat there. The host checked on me again and said he would try to see if he could hurry it along. Turns out my order was the one ready the whole time and even though I said my name and they checked on me twice, it took 45 minutes for me to get it. Of course by then all the food was cold and our experience was soured. read more

My two daughters and I were on the Big Island celebrating one of their recent graduations from college. We wanted something delicious, affordable, memorable and special. Foster's Kitchen in the King's Shops hit all the marks. From the warm welcome when we entered the restaurant to the fantastic service from Sarah to the personable table visit by Chef Sheldon to the yummy food and drinks, we almost had to be rolled out! The menu includes lots of items for vegetarians like myself as well as diverse options with meat and seafood. I got the tomato bisque soup that comes with a gourmet grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough and a side of vegetables. I tried to save some of my meal for leftovers, but it was just too delicious. Both girls ordered the country fried chicken with greens. They loved it! And if we weren't stuffed enough, Chef Sheldon surprised us with the banana pudding to heighten our celebration even more. It was truly to die for! It is definitely a unique Southern twist to an old time favorite. Bar drinks are reasonably priced and flavorful, especially the Island Mai Tai. If you want a delicious and all around positive dining experience, this is the place to go. If you visit during the day or before sunset, ask for a table overlooking the lake. Our only regret is that we live too far away to visit more regularly. Without a doubt, this meal was the best one we had during our entire week stay on the island. read more

Great food as always! I look forward to coming here every year! The cocktails are delicious and the steakhouse pasta is excellent. Great spot for lunch or dinner read more

I came here because folks recommended it as being gluten-free friendly. That it was -- the menu is clearly labeled with "gluten sensitive" options that are made without gluten-containing ingredients. The food itself was underseasoned / bland, and the service wasn't great. Charitably, I'm going to assume they were a bit understaffed at peak lunchtime (noon), rather than that my server was straight up unpleasant. She tended to the table next to me about 2-3x as often as she checked in on me. When she did stop by, she was generally curt and unwelcoming. read more

Food was delicious and service by Nina was outstanding! General Manager Olivia also greeted us with a warm Aloha spirit. We enjoyed a fabulous dinner and wonderful hospitality! read more

Great food. Better service. We got right in and Ben was a great host. Highly recommended!

We had a great experience at Foster's. Our server, Tanner, knew the menu well and was helpful with recommending dishes he thought we'd like. The food was great-- my kids had a delicious Mac and Cheese off the kids menu that was creamy and flavorful. My husband and I had the gumbo soup and the fish and chips. The gumbo was moderately spicy but very fresh tasting. The fish of the day was blue marlin, flaky, meaty -- not greasy. We would definitely come back here. read more

Good food Nice outdoor seating Ambiance is cozy Fish and ribs were excellent Good service Decent prices read more

I had the fish and chips. The other folks all had pasta dishes. We all agreed, the food was EXCELLENT! Our server was very attentive and the view of the water was soothing. Make sure you save room for dessert. read more

+ Amy our server was wonderful- beyond attentive kind and genuine She recommended the catch of the day which was a local Cajun Marlin blackened served w white rice and sautéed vegetables- which were also delicious + I greatly enjoyed my thai chicken salad w fresh oranges- but chose the soy vinaigrette dressing instead of the thai chili and was very happy w my choice! + fried green tomato appetizer and bruscetta goat cheese appetizer were DIVINE! + our lillikoi cheesecake and chocolate torte desserts were delicious + the servers were really wonderful and attentive + reasonable prices for the area Cons: Oh where to begin: - we called in the early afternoon and asked about reservations, we were told they were not taking reservations but with confidence were told that if we came at 5:30 or 7:30 when the tables tuned over, we would have no wait for our party of 5. (Everywhere on the Big Island has a large wait right now and we wanted a meal before dropping my sister off at the airport) so we implored my parents to do take out- but they felt so assured by the employee's confidence and reassurance we'd be seated at 7:30 - and they really wanted to try the fish tacos! We arrive at 6:45 to put our names on the list only to be told that the restaurant was only serving 17 tables that night and there was no wait list - the restaurant was booked full for the night. I mean come on- you couldn't have told us that when we called that afternoon? We certainly would have chosen somewhere else to eat. After trying every other restaurant in queen's and king's landing - and being informed the earliest we could be sat was 9:30 pm- 2 + hrs later, I went back to Foster's and implored the manager to seat us, because we couldn't send my sister on a 12 hour flight without anything to eat. I am glad they sat us and the service was hospitable and warm, the food pretty good, but that experience left a bad taste in our mouths for sure. - our server's pos system told her you were out of fish tacos. When we left just before 10 pm - we saw two freshly made orders sitting under the heat lamp. Sooo disappointing as our family was really looking forward to trying them After having been told the restaurant was full and closing at 9, we saw tables being seated after 9 pm! What gives?!? - PLANTATION TEA do you really think that's an appropriate name for a menu item? - grits were waterryyyyyy - we asked the server if they were always like that- she said nope, it was a bad batch- but still left the dish on the bill and while I'd normally ask for the manager, we had made such a stink just to be seated, it didn't feel worth it. - they sent my dad's salad out at first with just lettuce and onions LOL no steak, bacon, toppings nothing- neither the the kitchen nor expediter noticed? The steak was delicious and well seasoned once it arrived but was silly how it arrived at first read more

See all

We were looking for vegetarian options close to our hotel and came across this restaurant as it had a few good veggie options. We enjoyed it so much that we came twice. We came without reservations during dinner each time but the first time got seated quickly at the bar, and the second time waited about 40 mins to get a table outside. Was worth the wait though. Food & service was amazing. Highly recommend! read more

See all

Everything about this place was amazing. Our server Nina was super helpful and provided great feed back for questions. The food came out super fast and tasted absolutely delicious. The lighting and the atmosphere made it very nice for a dinner. Olivia has created a great place for a dining experience. read more

Service was slow, and ribs were so overcooked and tasted like they were a few days old. We will not be back!