I like the food. It is a great greasy spoon breakfast place. Large portions. I've had several things from the menu, always good.

Have been here twice. Only went a second time because I drove by it with someone who had never been before and insisted we go again. Same issues and upon reading many reviews, it seems to be a consistent problem. The service here is a joke. I looked around and other tables were having trouble as well. 1 hour and 20 minute wait times from the moment you order to when they bring your food out. We had four drinks during our wait. The food arrives and it is very poorly cooked meat, everything is quite dry, with almost a chalky quality. We politely brought up our service issue and the young high school server tells us an odd lie. The young high school students they hire I'm sure are nice people, the place is just terribly run with poor food. Furthermore, the carpet and bathrooms are filthy, I saw duck tape on two different booth seats, and the restaurant just doesn't appear to have any redeeming quality besides a great location. Dang. read more

I am able to bring my friends of various enthic food backgrounds and they are all happy. Even if they need a burger or a blt. lso, the place is larger, so we can fit bigger parties, (We do that for work). On weekends, we can stay for Karaoke. It is always fun. Not like other places where you are scared to sound bad. read more

I called in an order to KK today. It was my first one ever. My coworkers had been talking about how good it was. So, a few of us called in 2 orders. 1 order had 3 items, another order had just one item. (The one item was my order.) The girl taking the orders on the phone confirmed ALL of the orders and said she would see us in a bit. When we arrived at KK, there were 2 parties ahead of us that said they had been standing in the foyer for about 5 minutes, waiting to be acknowledged and seated. A few minutes later one of the servers realized that there was a gang of people waiting to be serviced, and seated the 2 parties ahead of us. We mentioned that we had 2 call in orders to the server helping us. She retrieved the orders from the back. She placed the order up on the counter and immediately started ringing up the orders. Once we were done paying, we realized that the order was short one entree. The server then proceeded to say we must have ordered incorrectly/not enough. That's funny!! Because when we ordered everything on the phone, the order taker repeated EXACTLY what we wanted. When we asked where the REST of the order was, she said, "that's all of it." When I informed her that this was not, in fact, "all of it," she informed me I could place another order and wait about 20 minutes for it. Are you quite fucking serious?!?! I have a 30 minute lunch break. I called ahead so that we could all avoid waiting for 65-75% of our lunch breaks to eat. KK, you have lost a customer that never even got to try your food. Kinda sad, ain't it? read more

When I was first introduced to the Kona Kitchen, it was for breakfast food. I love breakfast. Until one day the waitress suggested the Kalua pig. Now I can't get enough of the Kalua pig! It's a tasty combination of flavors and textures. On the side are 2 scoops of white rice, 1 scoop of delicious macaroni salad, and in it's own dish is the tender shredded pork bathed in broth, perched on cabbage. I like to put the rice in with the pork to soak up the broth. Yuuummm. (Sometimes I wish there was more broth, and it's great with a little Tabasco sauce too). I eat there twice a month or more. Kalua pig is one of those dishes I actually crave. So even if I don't have work in Maplewood/Northgate I will still make the drive. The food is good, the coffee is good, perhaps the service could be better but I'm used to the way it is. I've introduced many friends to the Kona and many of them go back. I love that it's locally and celebrity owned (without any pretense). It's nice to see the owner, his wife and family there, they are a part of the business not just faceless investors. And as others have said the prices are reasonable. read more

We've been going to Kona Kitchen for years and it's some of my favorite comfort food ever, especially the fried rice loco moco, and we've enjoyed many great dishes there. But we've noticed inconsistencies in service over the years. Our latest outing was about a week and a half ago, and it took an unconscionably long time to get our food. They had two large groups there (one larger and more demanding than the other) and between that, and apparently (?) prioritizing to-go orders, it was really unbearable. Our server acknowledged what was happening, but that didn't make it tremendously much better. I also noticed that one of the former servers appeared to be acting as a manager, but didn't seem to be doing much. And then the owner made an appearance, and also didn't do much of anything, other than putter around and mumble something to the staff. I get that unusually large parties can put a kitchen behind, and that being able to hire enough staff for a busy restaurant can be a challenge, but if you're going to present yourself as a place of business, you need to professionally apply yourself and show some leadership. Unfortunately, I think this place has been coasting on its reputation, friends and family, and word of mouth for too long. read more

So I had eaten here a handful of times a couple years back but I went again this weekend for a friend of a friend's chemotherapy fundraiser which Kona Kitchen hosted. We came early to eat dinner. I ordered the Kailua pork and cabbage and my bf ordered the barbeque chicken and holy crap was it ever good. I remember the place being good, but not awesome. But both those dishes were incredible. The pork was sooo tender and flavorful and absolutely perfect. It came on a bed of cabbage, two scoops of rice, and one scoop of mac salad. Huge portions, enough for me to take home and have for a snack today, and it was just as awesome as it was on Saturday. BF's chicken was unbelievable. I don't tend to order chicken because of the risk that it'll be dry, but man it was good. We picked off each other's plates the whole night. Also get the Kona coffee beer. So, in sum, this place has gone from barely memorable to top of my list. Delicious food, great prices (about $9 for our entrees), huge portions, friendly service. read more

Spam musubi is a must have. The beef stew and the pork plus cabbage was disappointing. Customer service was great after the kitchen was closed. Asked for the desert menu and took her 15 mins to finally hand it to me and doesn't come back to take my order. I would never come back. read more

I so wanted to like this place. I'm not an expert on Hawaiian food but have always liked it in the past. But this was seriously nasty stuff. Granted, we only tried 2 items and they were more standard breakfast fare. What we had: chicken fried steak with eggs and rice - steak was just ok but was drowned in a totally artificial canned gravy that someone just plopped on top. However, it was the only thing on the plate with any salt so tasted good by comparison. The eggs were greasy and had no salt or any seasoning at all. The rice was hard and also zero seasoning - not even salt. We also got the Diamond Head french toast plate which was supposed to be great according to other reviewers. It came with more flavorless scrambled eggs and the sorriest, limp, rubbery bacon I've ever had. Plus some turd-like sausage that was so shriveled up it looked like it came from an archaeological dig. But most disappointing of all was the french toast itself. It's not actually french toast, it's just bread. Plain. Old. Bread. Sliced thick with maybe a whisper of egg wash on one side and barely warm. The bread inside is bone dry. Might have made good French Toast actually, if they'd bothered to make the dish instead of just serve bread. We tried to remedy the situation with butter and syrup but I noticed the 'butter' had a strange color so I asked if it was butter and they said it was MARGARINE! Who the hell serves margarine anymore?! I asked for butter and they said they didn't have any. The syrup, of course, was that nasty corn syrup with food coloring added that doesn't have one drop of maple in it, and has the consistency of mucus. Maybe the other dishes are good but I sure as hell won't be back to find out. I just don't get why they can't even use a salt shaker now & then!! And margarine? What the hell? Is Hawaiian food supposed to be highly processed bland crap? If so, this place is authentic. Service was insanely bad too, and very slow. Our waitress looked really pissed the entire time we were there. She brought out the food with no utensils and when she finally brought them the paper napkins had clearly already wiped someone's mouth as they were all wrinkled and covered in a red sauce. She said, "Oh, those are dirty ones" and removed all the napkins and silverware from the table. So we sat in front of our food for a few more minutes until she finally came back with passably clean silverware and napkins. I did notice other servers being friendly to their tables so maybe we just got one on a bad day. Again, won't be back to find out. read more

Kona Kitchen is one of my favorite restaurants to go to to eat Hawaiian food. Not only is the food delicious, but you also get a generous portion. However, keep in mind the restaurant is full pretty much every day. I still haven't gone here and not have to wait in line for at least a couple of minutes! My fiance's favorite dish here is the Mochiko Chicken. The sauce is indescribable! My favorite dish is the Hamburger Steak. I love how there are vegetables on top of the patties/gravy! Besides the long lines, the other small criticism I have is their Mac Salad - it's usually pretty salty. Nothing like a little water that can solve this! I wish this restaurant were in a more convenient location. The parking lot is small, but at least it has a parking lot! I believe it can only fit 20 cars, so you'll usually have to resort to street parking (but that shouldn't be new to Seattle). I haven't noticed their portion sizes change whether you dine-in vs. take-out, so no worries there if you think you are getting gypped on food. read more

Kona kitchen is awesome! I had the Mochiko chicken ($10.79) from the dinner menu and it came with fries and a salad. It was cooked perfectly- not too greasy like most fried food. The chicken had a lot of flavor without any sauce needed- which is always a plus. I'm excited to come back the next time I'm in Seattle! read more

Spam fried rice and spam masubi are delicious! Feel like we're eating in Hawaii. We just can't eat there too often bc the food's not all that healthy but it's super tasty! They have karaoke at night on the weekends and drinks are strong. read more

So I've heard of the Kona before, and the notoriety it holds due to it's semi famous owner. Yesterday after seeing Karate Kid 2 on the TV, and looking down on my I love Hawaii tshirt it occurred to me that I live less than a mile away from this place and tha Hawaiian food would hit the spot. So without delay, we went to the Kona and ordered some takeout. The restaurant was spacious and it was adorned with Hawaii kitsch and autoographed pictures from former patrons ranging from the marginally famous to the random. The place has a real family run feel to it and there's a bar in the back too. The menu is filled with all your hawaiian faves from your mac salad, huli chicken, kahlua pork, and also a vast array of breakfast items which are served all day. I ordered the chicken fried steak which is delicious. Served with a heaping pile of mac salad and 2 scoops of rice, it was homemade and not some frozen crap. It had wonderful homemade gravy too... I just wish it had been a larger portion size. I'll be back to the Kona, as they have haupia cake which I need to try soon. read more

Best restaurant with local Hawai'i grinds/plate lunches! Whenever we're in Seattle we have to make a stop, especially for their breakfast served all day! Relatively fast even when busy on weekends and have large portions, definitely recommend to all! read more

the fact that they serve breakfast all day is OUTSTANDING. it's generally my favorite meal of the day. my first visit for a real meal. (the other time it was just for beers). i had the special fried rice (it's got spam in it) and eggs over easy. a very good breakfast! i hope to be going back much more often. the morning i went they had a guy singing and playing christmas songs on a ukulele. nice and festive! read more

We were there for a Sunday brunch and the restaurant was filled. We had to wait a little while before someone came over and took us to a table. I opted for fried rice while my wife took the corned beef hash. Service could be better but everyone is friendly enough, but seem to be disorganized and slow. We enjoyed our meals and had enough to take home for later. We got our bill and went to the register to pay but we had to have our waitress process it so it took a while for her to get to the register. I guess we should have settled the tab at our table instead? read more

Enjoyed the Mother's Day brunch buffet today for $16.99 pp ($7.99 for kids), with great choices of your own customized omelette, loco moco, teriyaki beef and chicken, pork kalua, mochiko chicken, fried rice, mac salad (soooo good!), french toast, pancake with coconut syrup (?), haupia, and some other selection of sweets and fresh fruit. I was a little concerned that the wait would be long, but it was actually pretty quick, maybe 10-15 min wait, which isn't too bad considering the holiday and weekend. The front area is pretty tight so if there's a line, you will be squeezed in tightly or waiting outside. By the time we finished, there was a long line so get there early to avoid the line! Not much to say about the decor, a bit dated, but I went for the food and so I didn't focus on the decor much. Service was friendly, and they made sure our water and coffee stayed full without having to flag anyone down. Definitely get the Kona coffee. Will definitely come back again to try other other menu items, but if they have a buffet again, try it, you won't be disappointed. read more

We've been wanting to try this place, being new in the area and all. I heard they have good food, but I wouldn't know that for sure because we walked out and didn't get to eat any of it. Their service is horrible. Yes it is Sunday lunch hour. BUT they had lots of empty tables and it is already starting to clear out. When we got inside, no hostess was there to take our name or put us on a list. We were all confused and we had to figure out things ourselves and ask for someone to put our name on the list. After we were called and seated, we were given menus and cups of water. And that was it. No one came back to ask for our order. No one. We waited there for 15-20 minutes. We were so hungry, and no one dropped by to ask if "hey, have u ordered? Has anyone served you?" No one. So we just decided to walk out. Maybe you had great food, BUT your service is appalling. How did you guys even stayed in business? Who knows. I probably wouldn't come back. I would have given zero stars if I could! read more

Doesn't serve food after 1 am even though they say they close at 2. Why would you say you are open till 2 am and not serve food. Deserves a 1 star. False advertising. read more

I love this place! I live somewhat far from this place ( I have to drive) but it is so worth it! They have the BEST Moco Loco! Seriously can't get enough of Kona! Staff is always polite and friendly. On the weekends there's usually a line but it moves pretty quickly. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone in search for Hawaiian food! read more

SO AWESOME! Love the fried rice loco moco!

The mochiko chicken is delicious! So is the kulua pig. The French toast deserves a shout out too. The servers are friendly. Two thumbs up in my book. read more

I had the Katsu Chicken Loco Moco with plain rice. I expected a gut bomb, and it was, in the best possible way! I was super hungry at 9 PM when I finally got a chance to eat, and this hit the spot. It's got a bit of a worn look, but has a nice neighborhood hang-out feeling, with a ukulele jam session going on in the bar while I was there. The waitress was very nice. A solid spot for hearty comfort food. I need to try it for breakfast. read more

Love the island vibe. We moved and we miss the kona family.

When you walk in there is a sign saying wait to be seated. The girl that seats you stands behind a counter about 6 feet away and ask if you ready to be seated i dont understand why she dont come to you and let out the aloha in her but i guess she dont know what the aloha means. They should work on their aloha spirit. J/s.. The waitress took our order pretty quick was great but our order came 30mins later i dont understand why because we ordered 2 locomoco fried rice & frenchtoast. Frenchtoast was awesome. My husband said his locomoco was salty which is weird because he likes salty but he said was to salty for him. I thought my friedrice was alot on the mushy side but it was better then other friedrice i tried here in WA at other hawn restaurants. The burger was like carboard seems like they cook it freeze it then warm up but thats just me. I guess i expected alot being i drove from everett special just to eat here & suprise my hubby w/ something different. We did not get a water refill until we was ready to leave. My opinion i think management should rise the morale up over there so the employees can actually show the ALOHA spirit. If im in the area i probably stop by for the frenchtoast but i wont be going out of my way. Please fix your burger. Honestly feels like there is no love in the food they cook. But thats how it is with all the hawaiian restaurants up here in WA what a shame...everyone lost their way. read more

More like Aloha (Hello) Kitchen! This place is a fav of mine for hawaiian food in the greater Seattle area. they've got it down with a family/home feel. read more

Friendly service, great coffee. Our group ordered Da Kanak Attack, Hawaiian fried rice, moko loco, and I had the Kalua pork & cabbage. Everyone loved their food. Well worth the short wait (they do get busy). I've also had their spam musubu and spam fried rice. Yum! read more

My boyfriend and I went here on a friend's recommendation while in the Seattle area for breakfast and we were extremely dissatisfied. It took 46 minutes to get two meals. There were two other tables that ordered after us and they were served before us. They were out of Coke, on a Saturday mind you, so settled for Sprite. My biscuits and gravy had about 3 tablespoons of cold gravy scooped on top of the biscuits. The hashbrowns were yummy, though. The waiter walked past our table twice and never once asked how our meal was or if we needed a drink refill. I would've asked for a side of gravy, but the staff seemed too busy to notice our table. My boyfriend got the Loco Moco and the egg wasn't even cooked. The hamburger was burnt and they barely put gravy on the rice. Neither of us could finish our meal. Only one of the toilets worked in the women's bathroom and it was not clean. This is clearly a family run business with not much sense of customer satisfaction. There were kids running around, touching people's tables as they ate, and it was sooo loud. No air circulation and the windows were fogging because it was so hot in there. If anyone goes, I hope your experience and food is much better than ours was. read more

The owners need to go back to Hawaii to get their taste buds re-charged. Saimin broth was tasteless. Lau Lau had no flavor contained no butter fish. Price was a bit steep for what you get. read more

The food was good (I had the kanak attack and it was great, while my friend had the kalua pork and it was so-so), but the service was terrible. 5 of us came in at about 1:30 on a Tuesday. We were told that we would have to wait for at least 15 minutes (while there were plenty of empty tables). Another server came 5 minutes later to seat us, while warning us that we would have to wait. That's fine, since we at least got to sit. We were handed menus and water and waited, and waited... 2 other tables next to us were filled, orders taken and food served, while no one came to get our order. As the server finished delivering food to the table next to us, we got her attention and asked to order since we've been waiting. She said, "oh, you were here about 5 minutes..." and we said, "no, at least 20". The ladies sitting next to us told her that we were there before them. That's when she believed us. Well, we ordered and received our food, which was mostly a thumbs up. As we were eating, she dropped off our checks without asking if we wanted anything else, in fact, without any words at all, not even a thank you. I'd like to visit again because my food was delicious and reminded me of back home (Hawaii), but if the service is consistently bad, then I will not ever return, and will warn my friends of the poor service. I just don't appreciate the attitude that we received. I was a waitress for years, so I usually tip more than 20% and have empathy for circumstances in the kitchen. However, I will not excuse bad attitude. read more

Came here for a late lunch. Staff was very warm and friendly. Tried the loco moco w/fried rice and spam musubi. Both were mouth watering. I was very impressed with the very flavorful brown gravy and fried rice. Portions were large too! I would come back and tell two friends so they tell their two friends!! read more

The ultimate in comfort food. Huge portions, Amazing food, Staff was super funny, Mocco Locco chicken with that good Hawaiian Macoroni Salad Delicous. I wish they delivered. read more

We were seated right away, when we got to the table it was really sticky and felt dirty. We ordered kalua pork, mochiko chicken, loco moco, and saimin. The food wasnt very good. The saimin didn't have very much flavor, it tasted like water with soy sauce. The kalua pork was very greasy and salty. The loco moco had a burnt patty and the gravy tasted like it was made from a packet. And the mochiko chicken just tasted like oil, my aunt makes better tasting chicken. read more

I really love this place for some good ole Hawaian foodies. Usually we go here for breakfast but you can also order lunch then. We have had their omelettes, french toast, chicken and pork katsu, the list goes on. I think what I love most is the crispiness of their hasbrons...that is hard to find. Service is always friendly and nice, food service is quick I always love my 2 scoops of rice and 1 scoop of macoroni salad. Oh and the food is reasonably priced so we usually have breafast/lunch for about $22+tip for 2 of us. read more

Love this place, I almost feel like I am back at home. When the place is use, it gets busy. Friendly staff and reasonable prices. I love their pork and cabbage. I visit them often when I feel home sick. Nothing beats a good meal. Spam musubi is awesome. I feel like I have a good baby when I am done eating .. Lol .. That's when you know the food is great. read more

It's alright. Nice people. Miss Hawaii a lot. Food in Oahu is amazing and cannot be found on the mainland. Tried standards here like beef teri, mac salad, and rice. Kinda expensive. We're glad to have Aloha food in Seattle, though. read more

Stopped in for lunch, had the mac salad & some chicken that started with a K.. ? It was the bomb! Husband got the aloha burger.... o.m.g.... amazing! (I snuck a bite ) would go back in a heartbeat servers were extremely polite yum! read more

I meant to write this long ago. On August 17, with two friends in town, one from Bellingham, the other NYC... a Monday morning after a long weekend, we needed a big old fashioned breakfast and headed to Kona Kitchen. We were seated immediately and ordered coffee, three sixtyish ladies, getting ready to say farewells. We ordered and chatted away. Two families came in and were seated on either side of us, both with children. Our waitress never returned to refill water or coffee and we watched the neighboring tables order and get served while we were still waiting. We inquired of our waitress what was happening with our meal and she said she would go and check. Twice. They were all simple bacon/egg type breakfasts. While we continued to wait and continued to ask, the people at the tables adjacent to us said we should get our meal comp'ed. They both said this to the wait staff, as well. We watched them pay their bills and leave and we still hadn't been served. We finally got our meals, had been there over an hour and our waitress was nowhere in sight. We paid up front and made clear how disappointed we were. There was no apology and no comp. We were told the kitchen was "busy." Needless to say, won't be going back. Glad Portage Bay is opening a new location on 65th. read more

The spam musubi is good, portions are big but taste-wise, it's just average. Everything is extra greasy though. If you're watching your cholesterol, just eat a quarter of whatever you order. read more

Banzai pipeline is my favorite. Food is amazing ! I order to go multiple times a week !