Nachos were mediocre, the service was good, but the entire restaurant appeared quite dirty.

Drink Recipe's authentic and better than any local tiki bar you've been too. Food is authentic with a lot of flavor & fusion options on the menu. read more

Having lived in SC in a "prior life", Hapa J's remains a staple stop during every visit I have here. They have a fantastic menu, great quality of food and huge portions that are fairly priced. Beers on tap are always tasty and they have a great cocktail menu too! Highly recommend!! read more

Hapa J's - Hapa Nachos w Kalua Pig - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Came with 6 of my family while visiting San Clemente on a Sunday evening without a reservation. We were seated pretty quickly. The ambiance was industrial and open but we had a corner booth with a small table and chair added and were all comfortable. The menu intrigued me as I like Ono Hawaiian. They offered many traditional Hawaiian offerings so it was difficult to pick one. I opted for the Luau Plate that came with a variety of proteins that I could sample to include pig, teriyaki beef, teriyaki salmon, Portuguese sausage, and shoy chicken (crispy skin on chicken thigh) and it came with 3 sides. I chose the pineapple fried rice, Hawaiian Mac Salad and roasted veggies. Let me warn you the plates/portions are huge with food good for sharing. The cost of all that food was under $21! We ordered the Hapa Nachos as an appetizer it too was huge with a generous amount of pork piled on top of a plate full of restaurant style corn chips with lots of gooey cheese, jalapeno and garnished with green onion and came with several sauces. The pork was really good and reminded me of a luau l went to while in Hawaii some years ago. My grandkids got teriyaki burgers which were good and topped with lightly grilled pineapple. It came with a side and they chose fries that were crispy and seasoned which was also tasty. My daughter had the chicken yakisoba with ramen style noodles stir fried which also was very good. My wife wasn't that hungry but had a side of the pineapple fried rice and a side of the macaroni salad. We tried the macadamia nut Mac & cheese which was good but for me a little on the bland side. On my luau plate it also came with pickled mango and coconut haupia (gelatin) which was the hit of the night. My wife and daughter tried mine and loved it so much that they each ordered their own. For 6 full meals with an appetizer and a little dessert the bill was $165 after tip! Service was excellent and attentive and the server answered all our questions. The food came out pretty quickly and hot. I will definitely eat here when we visit San Clemente again. We didn't trv anything from the bar but they had a Sunday drink special of $5 draft beers and $6 IPA's. Enjoy read more

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Da big mixed plate always hits the spot and the happy hour prices are very fair. Good place to hang out especially when Jade is working!

My boyfriend and I always get the same thing because it is so good! Start out with the potstickers and then share the biggest mix plate for dinner!!! Oh, and get the Mai Tai....so good. Very casual and relaxed date night spot. read more

Flavorful dishes!! Came here to grab a quick bite since I was on the way up to Irvine. The spam musubi was good! Tasted homemade and rice was not too soggy. It also came with sausages and the sauce with it was yummy. It kind of reminded me of a sweet oyster sauce lol. The locomo was great! The beef wasn't over seasoned (kind of no flavor) but the sauce over it def balanced it out well. The macaroni was salad was great. It was mixed with good veggies and didn't taste sour like your typical macaroni salad. Service here was a bit slow. I was ready to order and it took a while.. Was ready to pay as well and we had to walk up to ask for our check. Overall good experience to try Hawaiian dishes. Nice and chill ambience. Booths and regular seating available. read more

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Food was good and came out quickly. The service wasn't great though - we weren't ready to order food when he came back with our drinks and we didn't see him again for like 15 min and waited a really long time for the check and box. read more

Man Fries! Big Portions! Good Grub! Been here several times and I will say every single time I go here I over order! Not a complaint on their part, I just need better judgment when I look at the menu and I have to realize I CAN NOT do it all! Definitely should be a staple if your huuuungry and driving by the area. Close to the freeway and always a good vibe to chill, hang out with good eats and drinks. When I say all portions are large, I mean all... even their lunch size. Most recently came here with a group of girls on our way to LA and we decided to share the Man Fries and all ordered a lunch size meal with salads and figured we would be good. Mind you there were 5 of us and we were still way over our heads. Would have been best to order the Man Fries and ordered a 2 lunch items and we would have been good! Flavor... everything I've had here is pretty rich in flavor and good. Man Fries are a must for first timers (head warning when I say "share"!) Teriyaki Beef, Ahi Plate, you really can't go wrong. Til next time Hapa J's! read more

Hapa J's - Hapa J Man Fries - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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My cousin had raved about this place a few weeks ago so we all went this past weekend. Came here on a Saturday around 12:30 pm. There was people, but not very busy at all. We were seated right away and were allowed to pick our own table. We were a party of 4. We ordered: - Hapa Fries "Man Style" $15.00 Huge order of cheese fries topped with Kalua pork, cheese, BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, and green onions. This was the main reason we came here, to try this dish. - Seared Ahi Poke Salad $13.00 Also a huge serving for a salad. Lots of tuna chunks though! - Da Big Mixed Plate $17.00 My cousin ordered this, he seemed to like it. Another huge serving There were a couple of other dishes the others ordered that I do not remember, but from the looks of it everyone enjoyed their food. Portions are big! I do like that have smaller sizes for the plates during lunch time. Next time I want to try the nachos! read more

Hapa J's - Man fries. So big. It's like 6 ppl worth. - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Food was really sweet, even the salad. The table we sat at was sticky. Nothing exceptional about it.

I'm so sad! So we've been coming here FOREVER (like 10 years?) and wanted to stop by for a quick bite to eat 30 min before they closed (yeah yeah we're being "those people" but got off work late). Before coming I tried to call, got the voicemail which said they're open till 9. Perfect! We show up at 8:33 and the sign out front said "come in we're open" yay! Walk in and we're rudely told by the bartender that they aren't serving food anymore since it's past 8:30. I explained that we tried calling, it's only been 3 min, and that their hours on the voicemail are till 9. He was super rude and told us he doesn't answer phones, yeah apparently nobody does ‍. It's always so disappointing when a place you love decides to suck, at least explain on your voicemail recording that food stops being served at 8:30! read more

All I have to say is 1. I'm totally coming back to try their other scrumptious sounding foods on their menu & 2. Their Man fries is beyond amazing! Soo creative with their fries with pulled pork and this yummy sauce! It's an shareable plate that you want other to help you. We all were full and still took it home as leftovers. Worth the going! read more

Hapa J's - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

I cannot believe I just spent $32 on this meal... what a joke. You seriously could go to ono Hawaiian bbq or L and L and you get just as good tasting food for more than half the price. Waste of money read more

We had a great time relaxing, enjoying drinks and watching the game last night. Giuseppe was bartending and he was on point with great conversations and never making us wait for the next round. Jade was serving multiple tables of families and friends and still made time to check in on our group. Jacob was there too with fun stories and VIP service. Local tip: Get the cheesecake dessert on your way out! So good! read more

Hapa J's - Feeling the Aloha at Hapa J's - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Two words resound in my mind when I think of this place.... MAN FRIES. It's a heaping mound of pulled pork and cheese on a large bed of fries, topped with bbq sauce, ranch dressing, and green onions. No other fancy fries can top this creation. It's more than a meal in itself and can singlehandedly feed a family of 4. Sharing with a friend on more than one occasion, we can barely get through one corner of the serving in one sitting. After we surrender, it still looks like we've hardly touched it. And after taking it home it still takes us a few days to finish. By the way, still tastes great after only a few minutes in the toaster oven! What can else can I say about this place... Their Hawaiian bread pudding is also highly recommended. I loved the laid back and casual ambiance true to Hawaii, and not to mention great service. Rare to find a sit-down Hawaiian joint that takes the experience further than your typical hole-in-the wall fast-food joints with their katsus and loco-mocos. read more

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Amazing nachos!! Enough for 3-4ppl. The service was great too. I am was only there for the nachos! I will definitely be back! I also had a few beers read more

Great food and great service. Jade is the reason we keep coming back! Probably the best waitress they have!

Very misleading reviews. We were traveling and wanted to go to a nice place to have amazing food so we picked this place because of the 1000+ reviews. Food was bad and we were overall disappointed. Service was decent though. If you are looking for fine dining with good food then don't go here. If you're looking for stuffed plates of food that's not even average then go for it. read more

Thank goodness there is a decent Hawaiian grinds place in So. OC! Hapa J's is completely legit! I think the best meal we've had there was the macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi for Valentines Day - wild caught fresh Mahi-Mahi crusted with macadamia nuts & served with Okinawan sweet potatoes, poached baby Shangai cabbage finished with a vanilla infused white wine butter sauce. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of it, as I was too busy making out with it! I did, however, take a photo of the Kalua Pig Nachos that I had on another occasion (see attached). Hapa Nachos $9.75 - house made tortilla chips, cheddar jack cheese, drizzled with an avocado sour cream sauce, chipotle aioli, and mild black bean salsa with the option of adding kalua pig for an additional cost. O.M.G. It's as if I had died and gone to kalua pig heaven! The nachos are MASSIVE and meant to be shared! The photo I attached shows the nachos with a Li Hing Hui margarita! I don't mess around. On a recent trip, I had their Pocho Doggs $11.75 - 2 Portugese Sausage boiled in Primo Hawaiian Lager, served on a Hawaiian sweet hot dog bun & garnished with diced jalapenos, garlic aioli, asian mustard, sauteed onions, & furikake. Served with Maui style kettle chips (see attached). Oh yeah. The wait staff is very friendly, ESPECIALLY the bartenders! They reminded me of the North Shore movie actors - haole but filled with aloha! Definitely eye-candy! The restaurant has 2 big rooms - one for regular customers and the other for, what appears to be, large parties. There is parking across the street in the small lot or you'll need to find street parking. The restaurant itself is filled with aloha, from the decorations to the service to the food! If you're ever in San Clemente or in the vicinity (perhaps on your way to San Diego), add this to your must-have Hawaiian grinds list! read more

Hapa J's - Kalua pig nachos with li hing mui margarita! - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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We grabbed a couple starters, pot stickers and Spam tempura. The potstickers were cold and the spam tempura could have been cooked longer.. As my entree I got the chicken Katsu and it was a great portion, but the chicken was cold & the macaroni salad was mixed with potato and it was different. read more

Excellent food and atmosphere! Ordered Da Big Plate and ate for 3 meals! Wine Wednesday was a great deal. Service was really good!

The food was awful and when I called to get some assistance they blew me off without offering any redo discount or even an apology

My favorite place ever the food is super good affordable and the portions are huge! I like the yaki soba dish and the wings are the best

Fun vibe for hangouts, aprties, however food is mediocre and overpriced. The food is similar to that you can get at a hawaiian bbq fast food joint, but they charge a lot more at this sit-down restaurant. read more

Hapa J's - Ahi poke trio - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Honestly the first time I came here about a year ago, I loved it. But the second time was not as good. It was not crowded at all on a Sunday night which was kinda weird. The restaurant was pretty empty, and we were seated right away. Poke (market price): I could only eat half this poke stack-there was so much food. I asked for the spicy sauce on the side. I still liked it, though. I didn't eat the seaweed or ginger on top because of my sensitivity to food coloring. The mac salad was yummy-I am a sucker for this stuff. The brown rice was dry and grainy. Chicken Katsu: Cooked too long because it was super dark. At least for the two end pieces I tried to eat, I couldn't bite them because there was chicken skin still on it, and there was too much fat. They poured a lot of sauce over this one. Thai Style Beef: Too much sauce again and the beef was way too chewy. There were only a couple of good pieces. Fried Rice: I liked this because of the egg and Portuguese sausage. Side Salad: not good. way to much dressing-it pooled at the bottom of my plate. The service was quick, but they gave us our entree before the gyoza appetizer. What's the point of an appetizer if it comes with the main meal? At least we got the edamame. They didn't communicate with us very well because we didn't know you got three side scoops. I would've asked for some salad instead of another scoop of rice. TL;DR: The best thing about Hapa J's is their huge portions for good prices! The downside is the quality of meat and they are a little too sauce happy. So much unecessary portions of sauce on everything read more

Hapa J's - Poke, brown rice and Mac salad - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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I cannot day enough good about this restaurant. I'm so glad I asked the waitress, "what's good?" Because her recommendations were spot on. We ordered the nachos appetizer between two of us. We took home two to go boxes absolutely stuffed with nachos. The appetizer plate could literally feed four people. It was delicious! We also ordered shrimp and wings. Again, appetizers. We never got to order an entrée because the appetizers were more than we can eat. Fantastic food. Fantastic service read more

Hapa J's - Nachos appetizer - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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It was just OK. Food prices are good and portions large. Service was very sketchy. They seem understaffed, at least when we were there for dinner. Was nearly impossible to pay my bill because only one server was able to run the cc machine. read more

What a wonderful weekend lunch location. Portions are huge (unless you get them in bowl form) and the ingredients are quality. We couldn't finish everything so we took it to go. I'm now enjoying leftovers of Hapa Nachos with Kalua Pork for dinner as I write this review. Yum!! Tip 1: Look at the Yelp pictures. The menu didn't make me hungry but the pictures on Yelp did. That's how I found the place. It made ordering easier. Thanks fellow Yelpers!! Tip 2: If you are traveling with a vegetarian in your party, ask the wait staff what is actually vegetarian. I'm glad that we did. I had made assumptions but was surprised to find that things like the onion soup had meat. I'm really glad that we were warned in advance so that we could avoid any missteps with ordering. There are options though. A tofu bowl, a salad, the nachos and some side dishes. You might be able to order some of the dishes sans meat too. It would be nice if they marked this on the menu to make it easier to find. But this really is a testament to the service as well. Our wait staff was friendly, professional, helpful and knowledgeable. They made our experience pleasant and I can't wait to come back. Two thumbs up! read more

Never coming back here I wasted my money I came here a few days ago after seeing restaurant on a food show , I liked the background how the name came to be so I finally visited on my way to San Diego with my girl friend. Sorry to say that it was a huge disappointment. I ordered the seared ahi salad which came with a lot of greens and barley any fish not to mention the fish cuts were tiny cubes. I also ordered the nachos - those were decent we ordered takeout and walked to the car to eat it right away since we got there early. The cheese was already hard to it wasn't that great and we ordered THE MOST DISAPPOINTING SPAM MUSUBI DISH EVER. If you want to waste 6 dollars for a spam musubi that is pretty much comes with 3 inches of rice and I'm not exaggerating when I say sliver of spam that is completely ruin by throwing way to much sauce on their and given a measly 5 little cuts of poor quality Portuguese sausage that taste like keilbasa , then order it and be pissed . L&L , Ono , B mans serves better food that this place and their spam musubi's are 2 dollars and will be satisfying Bottom line is that this place look and taste like trend read more

Came here specifically for the Moco Loco after it was recommended by a friend...unfortunately it was probably the worst Moco Loco I've ever had. Maybe we came on an off night, but the burger patty was absolutely terrible. It was dry and flavorless...as if it was unseasoned 90/10 or possibly a sirloin patty. But again, no salt or anything, just a dry, bland patty. One egg came out runny, the other one hard. The absolute kicker was the fact that there was absolutely zero gravy on the plate. (See picture) Then they charge you .25 cents for extra gravy. Lets be real here, moco loco should be almost drowning in gravy...you could complain that there wasn't enough, but I legitimately had none. The mac nut and cheese was average. The amount of macadamia nuts was sparse. I know truffle oil is a sham, but if it's advertised, you should use it. Again, none or so minute it wasn't even present. The luau plate was definitely worth it. On that note, we apparently happened to show up at happy hour. The waitress did a great job of mentioning drink specials, but made no mention of appetizer specials. The only reason why I knew there were specials is because the receipt showed me a smaller charge than the menu. Also be advised, the costs listed on their website are anywhere from $1 to $2 lower than in restaurant on every item. Had I known that there were food specials, I would have probably ordered more, but I digress. All in all, it was edible and some of their other offerings i saw being brought out looked pretty good. I'd be willing to stop by again, but wouldn't go out of my way for it. read more

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If you're in the San Clemente Area come visit this place! You will not regret it! Amazing Appetizers, Ahi Tuna, sandwiches, Burgers, Desserts and service! Try their Bulgogi Cheesesteak with fries!!!! Jade and Jeremy provided a great service they all had amazing vibes 10/10 I recommend it!! read more

Prices are good for what you get! The nachos are easily shareable. So much food! The pot stickers are amazing as well. What I was most impressed with was the kid options. They have a three course meal with dessert. My son loved it! read more

Note: Review is pre-quarantine The name Hapa J's reflects the food that they serve: traditional Hawaiian with other cultural influences. You have the traditional dishes like kalua pig, haupia, and poke as well as fusion offerings like kalua pig quesadillas or short-rib tortas. Extensive menu for everyone to pick what they like. PARKING: The parking lot isn't located right in front of the building. They have a lot that's a short walk across the street from the restaurant. We didn't have any trouble snagging a spot during the weekend dinner time. INTERIOR: The atmosphere at Hapa J's is very casual and gives off more of a surfer-dude-hang-out-spot than aloha vibes eatery for a place that sells Hawaiian food. Lighting is not the best in certain parts of the restaurant and the inside is kind of cave-like in the evening. At first, we were seated in a corner area. But the ceiling kept constantly dripping water onto our table (leaky roof?). Our waitress was able to move us to the booth area with no trouble (better lighting too!). They also have bar-seating as well. FOOD: A bowl of edamame was given as a little appetizer. Something I usually see at sushi restaurants and not at Hawaiian spots. No-fuss boiled edamame. Very HUGE PORTIONS. Neither of us could finish all of our food and we had to get a to-go container for each of our entrees. We ordered plate-sized food, but maybe I'll consider getting a bowl instead next time. Plates came with the protein, small salad, white or brown rice, and their mac salad. - CHICKEN KATSU PLATE: Nicely fried and browned. Chicken isn't too dry and the batter was crispy. HEAVILY SAUCED. Too much katsu sauce made it overly sweet for me and their sauce is thin, so it is easily soaked up by the fried batter. The sauce is thrown haphazardly and it ran off the plate. Better than some of the other katsu I've had at Hawaiian restaurants. But, not the best katsu I've had by far. - TERIYAKI BEEF PLATE: Some people think teriyaki is an easy, no-brainer basic choice. But it's hard to make teriyaki beef well. Again, the teriyaki beef falls into the same trap as the chicken katsu. TOO SWEET and overly sauced. The flank steak itself is was okay. Not too tough. They provide a knife in case it's too chewy for you. - MAC SALAD: A Hawaiian side-dish staple for many. Mac salad is such a personal preference thing. I like that their mac salad isn't too wet. It's dry enough to be molded onto your plate. The noodles aren't mushy. But beyond noodle and mayo, I don't get much flavor. It's there as a palate cleanser to the sauce-heavy proteins but doesn't really add much. PRICING: For both of these plates with tax and tip, it cost us about $35. I think for San Clemente, that's pretty affordable. But compared to other restaurants in central to north OC, I think that's a little high for a casual dinner for two. Especially because I think their food could use a little work. Overall: This place is more of a 3.5 star in my eyes. On one hand, the food is okay, on the other it fills a niche in south OC's food scene. Not many places do Hawaiian food like Hapa J's down here and it really is a cool spot to have a nice dinner or to hang out with friends for happy hour. I would go here if someone wanted to, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here. read more

To be honest, I don't quite understand how this place has 4 stars. The service was friendly, however the food was sub par. My boyfriend ordered the garlic steak. It was bland and he had to remedy it by dumping soy sauce all over it to make it somewhat flavored. I ordered the mixed plate, which came with shoyu chicken, chicken katsu, and boneless short ribs. The katsu was crispy and flavorful, however the short ribs were salty af; and while the shoyu chicken wasnt disgusting, it wasn't very flavorful either. We really wanted to like this place, but were vastly disappointed. All in all, save your money and go to L&L instead. read more

Hapa J's - Garlic beef - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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this is my GO-TO spot. I loooove it. I bring friends from out of state, recommend to randos, and go there at least once a month, if not once a week. I get so lucky to have jade as my server almost everytime. Shes super quick, attentive, and patient. I been coming here for years and she's one of the people here I'm always happy to see and she always seems to reciprocate it and makes it an experience worth coming back for. read more

2018 Yelp Review Challenge: 13/100 WOWOWOOWOWOWWOWOWOWW Hapa definition: a person who is half Asian/pacific islander and half another ethnicity. This name fit PERFECTLY. The food, vibe and overall feel of the place was exactly that. Food: Everything was AMAZING. We had the mixed plate (chicken katsu, shoyu chicken, Kalbi, salad, mac & rice) as well as the kalbi torta. 1. Mixed plate: WOOOWWWW, the katsu blew me away. Just the perfect amount of crunchiness without over doing the breading. It tasted homemade and although there was sauce on top of it, it still maintained its crunch. Not the best shoyu chicken I've had but it was pretty damn good. The kalbi was almost too good, where there were no hints of fat/bone that you typically get from kalbi. It was purely just the good meat. They either trimmed the meat to perfection, or its fake meat. 2. Kalbi torta: has the same perfectly trimmed, all meat kalbi. Came with a Hawaiian bun, bell peppers, cheese, onions and some kind of sweet sauce. This was AMAZING. Blew my mind once again. It had the perfect amount of sweetness to it, which is not expected in a meat dish. Ambiance: Felt very local and laid back. Seat yourself. Comfy booths. TVs throughout. Large dining area. T-shirts for sale. Service: Great. Food came out at an appropriate time and everyone was friendly. Parking: Free parking lot across the side street designated specifically for Hapa j's. read more

I've lived just up the street for 5 years and have always wanted to give this place a try. Great meal! Fries and katsu chicken were crispy and delicious. Gotta get the pineapple rice! Super happy with my Mai Tai ($10.99 - good price!). And I think everything was well priced considering the large portions. Comfortable, laid back environment. Highly recommend giving this place a try to see if YOU like it. read more

Visiting CA from AZ and stopped here for lunch at a this cute place. Had chicken katsu bowl and cheeseburger with fries. Both were delicious. Service was excellent! A must try! read more

LOVE this gem in San Clemente. I Have gone many times in person to sit at the bar and have their passion fruit cider, and recently I ordered to-go. My food was PERFECT. So perfect, I had to take a picture. Portions are always good and food never disappoints. Their Mac salad is hands down the best (and I don't even like macaroni salad) read more

Hapa J's - Chicken katsu plate. Yum! - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California