Best ahi katsu I've ever had!! Be sure to check their IG (@waialuaslunchwagon_) stories/posts for…read morehours because they aren't always super consistent. After a few missed attempts, we were finally in the area on a Saturday they were open. The business takes cash or venmo only. The katsu was a thick slab, crispy and smothered in kabayaki and mayo. The mini + poke was enough to keep me full until a late dinner. Great prices too! Can't beat this spot if you're craving fresh fish.

Completely worth the drive to Waialua!…read more This is one of the best ahi katsu plates you will find on island! Well worth the price for the amazing fresh fish! Perfectly fried and not dried out with the perfect amount of spicy and unagi sauce every single time! This is one place it's worth driving in the mud for. Lol If you haven't been, it's a must try! Follow their IG to find out when they're open or you'll miss it!

Literally the best shrimp I ever had. Absolutely delicious!!…read more I don't say that lightly either. It was otherworldly!! The staff was great too!!!! I'll be back!

Giovanni's is one of those places where memory does a remarkable amount of the seasoning. I've been…read moreeating here across decades. Enough visits that this is no longer about catching them on a bad afternoon, ordering the wrong thing or failing to understand what the place is supposed to be. I've tried the different shrimp, stood in the lines, eaten at the tables, navigated the parking, brought people here and returned because, for a very long time, Giovanni's was simply one of those places you went when you were on this side of the island. At some point, repetition becomes evidence. The truck itself has become an artifact. Covered in signatures, battered by time, photographed millions of times. There was probably a period when all of that felt charming. Now it mostly feels tired. There is a difference between patina and neglect and the surrounding experience has increasingly crossed that line for me. Flies, crowded tables, overflowing activity, rough parking, heat, trash nearby. You can romanticize rustic only so far before rustic starts asking for a pressure washer. Then there is the service, which has consistently been the hardest part for me to understand. I don't need anyone performing hospitality like they're auditioning for a resort commercial, but basic warmth costs nothing. Too often the interaction here feels impatient and transactional, as though the customer is somehow inconveniencing the operation by showing up to buy the food. After enough visits, you stop calling that an off day. And then there is the plate. The shrimp itself is actually the least offensive part. It is generally cooked reasonably well. Tender enough, rarely destroyed and when you get a good batch you can understand why this formula became so popular. Everything around it drags it down. The rice has repeatedly been soft, clumped and bordering on mushy. I am annoyingly particular about rice, but rice is not some decorative substance placed beneath the main event. It matters. When half the plate is rice, screwing it up is not a minor detail. The garlic is abundant, certainly, but abundance and care are different things. It often arrives more like a wet mass of processed garlic than the fragrance and texture you get from properly chopped fresh cloves. Add the butter and oil and you certainly get intensity, but after several bites the whole thing becomes heavy rather than interesting. The little salad on the side generally feels like an afterthought that has been waiting for someone to remember it. And that is ultimately my problem with Giovanni's. The entire experience feels as though its reputation arrived at the destination years before the restaurant did and everyone decided there was no longer much reason to keep improving. People will continue coming. Of course they will. The name is famous, the truck is recognizable, the photographs are practically mandatory and nostalgia is one hell of a business model. I understand it because it worked on me for years. But strip away the mythology and ask a brutally simple question: If this exact plate came from an unknown truck with no history, no signatures and no reputation, would you still wait in line for it? I wouldn't. Two stars. The shrimp can still be decent and I have too many memories here to pretend the place means nothing to me. But nostalgia should bring you back to a restaurant. It shouldn't be responsible for making the food taste better. I kept returning because tradition can turn habit into taste. I'm done confusing the two.

Tried out Aji Limo Truck for dinner while in the area. It's neighbours to Seven Brothers…read more - Fried calamari ($12.00 USD) - standard fare - Yuca fries ($10.00 USD) - small portion - Thai poke ($19.00 USD plate) - out of mango. Poke was substandard. Plates aren't worth the extra cost - Ceviche poke ($17.00 USD bowl) - only came with a few chips, red onions and lettuce. Meh - Spicy poke ($17.00 USD bowl) - way too much raw white onion - Hawaiian poke ($19.00 USD plate) - Palo santo poke ($19.00 USD plate/17.00 USD bowl) - best of the pokes we tried - Yakisoba ($17.00 USD) - chicken was dry, noodles were bland Foodland in the adjacent lot has better poke at half the price.

Super good surf and turf, more turf than surf but the flavor was really good all around! ‍read more

We first ate at Panda's Thai truck in 2018- our first visit to Hawaii. While I don't remember the…read morespecifics of that trip, the food was memorable as we kept trying to figure out the name and location during our recent trip in 2023 Thankfully the sunshine/surfing gods were on our side and we found Panda's Thai again. This has to be the North Shore's best kept secret. I have been to Thailand and Pandas food was authentic. We had to wait about 40 minutes for the food (we were told ahead of time about the wait) and it was worth it. Service was friendly and we got to eat dinner with a couple pigs and chickens hanging out. Pandas Thai is located just across the beach so perfect opportunity for a lunch or an early dinner with ocean views. Will absolutely be back here when we visit Oahu again.

The service was great The food on the saltier side but…read moremaybe it's just me. I still love the Tom yum soup

First time visiting Hawaii and we made the drive to the North Shore based on recommendations to try…read moreHaleiwa Seafood -- and it was absolutely worth it. We ordered the Ahi Poke Bowl and the Loco Moco, and both were incredibly satisfying and flavorful. Fresh ingredients, generous portions, and exactly the kind of local food experience we were hoping for. If you're heading to the North Shore, definitely make time to stop here. You won't regret it.

Back again! First I want to say, the food is delicious! We had the loco moco again. We also had a…read morefried ahi katsu fish burger with taro bun and chili aioli. That was was spectacular. It was crunchy. The fries were pipping hot and very tasty. We also tried a plate with some nice poke and coconut shrimp. The food is good quality and hits the spot. The problem was the amount of time it took to make and deliver the food to the customers. There were two people in the truck. It was as if they were cooking one thing at a time. It look at least an hour and there were not even that many people in line waiting. One woman was taking orders and the man was cooking. The woman said it was her first or second day but in the time my husband ordered, my other child and I walked around for twenty minutes looking for other options (I wanted garlic shrimp, and they did not offer that on their menu), I went across the way after our walk, ordered a meal, got my meal, and sat there waiting to eat and it still look half an hour for the rest of the family to receive their orders. It was absolutely ridiculous. As another patron stated on Yelp, perhaps they should have stopped taking orders if they could not keep up. Love the food here, but not sure I would recommend my family coming back next time.

We had been driving past North Shore tacos for a few days. Their sign stating that they had the…read morebest tacos was intriguing. We finally decided to try them out. I ordered shrimp taco and a fish taco meals. My wife and I traded out tacos so that we could have one of each. I was very happy with the meals. It was easy to order in the food came out promptly. There are picnic tables to sit at or you can take it home like I did. they did do a very good job with the tacos, rice and beans. I would recommend the food there.

This is what $18 gets you?? This place is a rip off, the shrimp were flavorless and a grey color…read moreand small. The beans and rice were a really small size the only thing that was good on this plate was the sauce and the salsa they give you on the side. But for $18 this was crap.

We love trying all different and local food. I rarely leave reviews, but the fact that this place…read moredoesn't have at least 4 stars is mind boggling. It's incredible to say the least, the flavors and spices perfectly paired and portion sizes are huge. Needless to say you get what you pay for and this is quality food! Great service too!

Love elephant! Always our go to on the north shore. Great every time :) I recommend the steak dish…read more- has the best seasonings

The prices on the surfing lessons were so much better than anywhere else and I got a free desert!read more

It was really good and so was the surves also the owner and workers were very nice much Malagaread more