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    Kailua Tavern

    4.1 (32 reviews)
    Closed 8:00 am - 2:00 AM (Next day)

    Kailua Tavern Photos

    Business Info

    KAILUA TAVERN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Divey
    Casual
    Juke Box
    Happy hour specials

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    Pool Table
    Rich S.

    First time at Kailua Tavern. Went lunch time. Unfortunately or fortunately there is not a food menu, as this is a straight up bar. They have all kinds of alcoholic drinks, and you can buy chips from.behund.the bar. They do encourage you to hit the Taco Bell or Jack In The Box that are conveniently located across the street. We stopped by at 1 PM hoping for some lunch and to play some pool. There were already locals and regulars hanging out at the bar and the bartender pointed out that this was BYOF (bring your own food). He and the other folks were all helpful and quickly exchanged dollars for quarters. Atmosphere and ambiance is total dive bar with a hint of sketchy, but we will certainly be back for more rounds of pool and for the opportunity to try some of the local grinds around Kailua Tavern.

    Friendly locals

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    4 months ago

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    7 months ago

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    8 days ago

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    7 months ago

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    2 months ago

    Had amazing beer battered fish tacos! I would recommend. Service was excellent but we went 5-7 pm and it was a nice crowd, nothing crazy.

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    6 months ago

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    8 months ago

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    Photo of Jack B.
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    10 months ago

    Great local haunt. Filled with regulars. Stiff drinks for good prices. Bartender was very nice.

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    2 years ago

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    6 months ago

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    2 years ago

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    10 months ago

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    Photo of Dave E.
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    2 years ago

    Best bar in kailua! Friendly staff, BYOF and best prices in Kailua! Air conditioners and good sports! Can't beat it!

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    Photo of Nancy H.
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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Cindy K.

    Cindy K.

    Helpful 4
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    6 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Helpful 4
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    5 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Business owner information

    Photo of Cindy K.

    Cindy K.

    Mahalo for the great review!

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    4 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Business owner information

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    Cindy K.

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    5 years ago

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    Photo of Val Z.
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    4 years ago

    Fun place to watch a game- great service - staff was attentive and took great care of everyone.

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    7 years ago

    If u guyz can't handle NO DRINK good people good service good prices stop giving this place a bad name

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    7 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Great local bar with excellent service! Mark and Charlie-girl always give us great service. Great drinks and fun karaoke!

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    Ask the Community - Kailua Tavern

    Do you have to be over 21 years old to join for karaoke?

    Yes. This is a 21 and over establishment

    View All 3 Questions

    Review Highlights - Kailua Tavern

    Nice local bar if you want to have a great time.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

    Read more highlights

    Buzz's - Ribs with garlic mashed potatoes-tender and delicious!

    Buzz's

    3.4(1.6k reviews)
    1.2 mi
    $$

    We walked into Buzz's on a Sunday around noon during Mother's Day weekend. The place was absolutely…read morepacked -- buzzy in every sense of the word. Families hovered around the hostess stand hoping for a table, conversations floated through the air like music, and somewhere beneath it all you could feel the pulse of a place that had been feeding people and creating memories for generations. "There was a guy, his name was Buzz, a greater guy there never was..." Two haole boys and a haole girl from Oxnard, California stood in the middle of it all -- directly across the Pacific from our own modest beach town known as the Strawberry Capital of the World. Farming communities understand something important: the sacred relationship between people, food, and land. Buzz's felt like it understood that too. The sun-kissed, freckled-faced hostess greeted us warmly. The wait? About an hour. Not surprising. Places with soul usually require patience. Knowing my way around restaurants, I told her the best seat in the house is almost always the bar. That's where the stories live. That's where you meet the people making the magic happen. To my surprise, she smiled and welcomed us in. And there it was -- the perfect bar. Open, timeless, alive with character. Across from us sat an elegant woman in traditional Hawaiian attire, facing the ocean, staring through the front windows like she had done it a hundred Sundays before. She had it right - positioned on the best side of the bar. You don't turn your back to the view of the ocean, so we sat next to her. The room hummed with warmth and familiarity. It didn't feel transactional. It felt communal. "Seat da people, spock da chicks, Buzzy always got his pick." Then came the bartender -- commanding the room with charisma, warmth, and effortless aloha. Her energy moved through the restaurant like a tide. Every server who approached her bar carried away drinks and a little piece of her spirit. You could feel it. The laughter became contagious. The hospitality felt genuine. I wasn't drinking that day, but she kept the non-alcoholic daiquiris flowing with the same care and enthusiasm as every cocktail she served. Somewhere between the ocean breeze, the company, and the aloha spirit, I started questioning whether my drink secretly had alcohol in it. Maybe that's just what happens when people make you feel welcome. And then there was the food. The Teriyaki Steak was exceptional -- tender enough to cut like butter, rich with flavor, perfectly balanced alongside rice and vegetables. My cousin ordered the Fish Burrito and couldn't stop talking about it. By the end of the meal he declared it the best thing he'd eaten on the island. "Steak & lobster, salad bar, with a place like this he could go far." As we walked out and continued our adventure through Oahu, Buzz's kept circling back into the conversation. The people. The food. The laughter. The feeling. A little part of me wants to protect this place like a local secret. But that wouldn't be in the spirit of aloha. So much love and respect to everyone at Buzz's. Mahalo.

    Very expensive and limited menu. Food was just okay, but given the price, was underwhelming. Got…read morethe shrimp scampi (~6-8 shrimp) for $41 and friends got the steaks with asparagus, mashed potatoes, and baked potato for ~$60 a piece. Steaks were cooked properly and sides were fine. Caesar salads to start, they were great and tasted fresh. Good size for a starter salad. We got margaritas and an aperol spritz for drinks, and the lava cake for dessert. The host was absolutely lovely and sat us on the porch with a tree and ambient, cozy, lighting with Hawaiian music in the background. However, our server, again given the price, was disappointing. We started off with drinks and were told any modifications to drink could not be sent back or comped if we didn't like them because the manager "isn't the type to do that". Our drink order then came out wrong and we drank them anyway. When asking between menu items, she recommended the scampi over the mahi because "anyone can grill mahi". For a $40 fish, I hoped for more given other experiences on the island at a similar price point. We were then passed off to two other servers throughout the night with no formal introduction. With a tab of $300, we were hoping for a better food, drink, and service experience. As a local, it was sad to bring friends into town and this be their first dinner experience on this side of the island.

    Photos
    Buzz's
    Buzz's
    Buzz's - Lychee martini

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    Lychee martini

    Kailua Tavern - sportsbars - Updated June 2026

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