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Categories: Hawaiian, American (Traditional), Seafood, Steakhouses [Edit]
2335 Kalakaua Ave3 Courses, 2 People, $20. Juicy Burgers & Tender Ribs. You Choose!
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Everything is great. Staff, food, drinks. My favorite place in Waikiki. It gets crowded though, so be forewarned, if you don't like crowded places, this isn't for you! Get the tropical itch if you want a free back scratcher. Im not into foo foo drinks, but the wife liked the 2nd captain, a lot.
The location makes the place!
The view is nice, but not as nice as their Kauai location. The restaurant would benefit from acoustic consideration as it is always packed (reservations thus recommended strongly) and always loud.
Dinner overall is okay, but not spectacular. I always order the seven spiced ahi or shrimp scampi (which is creamy not buttery like other folks tend to like to do). Their entrees come with an all-you-can-eat salad bar.
The salad bar is unsurpassed. I haven't seen any salad bar on Oahu or Kauai in a restaurant that can compete with this one, due to their wide selection, freshness, quantity, but mainly because of their Caesar salad. Their Caesar dressing is flavorful and THICK; I've never found anything like it anywhere else. Sometimes I brave the Waikiki madness just for this dressing. I am dying to know their recipe.
I finally tried their breakfast buffet over the weekend and was a little disappointed. I had to ask for shoyu! Although I loved the all-you-can-eat bacon, their tea selection was limited to Lipton (this is enough to knock a breakfast place down a few stars on its own). Their orange juice lacked a taste of freshness and was rather watery and probably previously frozen, and despite juices being all-you-can-drink, I was never offered a second glass. Their bread pudding was so sweet I almost got diabetes. The rest of their offerings were good, but not memorable. There was nothing, except sheer quantity, that separated this buffet from a breakfast you could find at any of the adjacent hotels. In fact, the next day I had a conference breakfast at the Moana hotel, which although lacking the all-you-can-eat bacon was better overall.
Their Hula Pie is good, but I swear the slices have gotten smaller over the years.
I tried their fish tacos at their Kauai location years ago during Happy Hour when they were $2 for 2. Even Uncle's at Pier 38 couldn't beat the flavor...or the price. I'd be willing to try them here, even at regular price, but I've never stuck around for Happy Hour as hoards of drunk tourists isn't my scene.
Our waiter was HIGH the entire time he served us. Thank goodness he was out of it because our little group wasn't exactly well-behaved. Perhaps it gets a little more wild (and accepting of crazy behavior) later in the evening. The fact that there were a lot of families and not many young people was kind of a turn off. But the food was decent (so were the drinks) and the view fantastic.
And can't beat the location...
People thought this was:
Not my kinda place... we like to go chill and have a drink but its sad when you have to hope you get ok service when you are young and brown ... i wasnt impressed by the food or drinks at all for the price and the crowd is just loud drunk fratty boys...or older folks who look at us like we are out of place ....not for me ;-) GO upstairs to HULA GRILL ..they are super nice and food is killer ;-) .drinks too! i had a nice lemonade with basil and vodka yum!
We came here for a mid-week breakfast buffet. At $14.95/person it was definitely the cheapest buffet we ate at all week (and we hit up several! LOL!). Amazing views and okay food - nothing to get really excited about . . . but eating here isn't so much about the food but the experience.
I just could not get enough of their fish taco's. I don't even like fish taco's I had them three times and only stayed four night at the outrigger. This place is a fun time too. Apparently it is one the few places in the area that have not changed in the last 30 years. The prices are a bit high, but it is a fun place to stay and a fun place to hang out and drink too.
I love the snotty, uneducated tourist comment by Dani S.... Too funny, sounds extremely snooty to me. There is nothing snooty about Dukes.
If you are a snotty, uneducated tourist, this is the spot for you! If you are looking to get mediocre food, mediocre drinks and mediocre service, then this is also the place for you!
I didn't go to Hawaii to eat the same kind of food that I can get back home and pay 5 times for the same shit! No Siree!
People thought this was:
This place has nice service and the decor is cooL. The restaraunt view is fabulous, its looks out to waikiki beach. Birds are like visitors to your table at times too... :/ There was live music played but we didn't sit close enough to see them. The food is okay. it isn't the best but its okay. THe salad bar is all you can eat. My friend thought the salad bar was better than the main course.. :/ I thought the same as well. The Hulu Desert Ice was YuM! I would recommend it to try but its easy to pass up this place.
Pros: Ambiance, Service, View
Cons: Food could be better, Price
People thought this was:
We had an informal "hangout" here 2 days before our wedding. We expected 30-60 people show up and Dante helped us arrange an area that could grow if more people showed up. We were right on the beach and could easily walk onto the sand to watch the sunset. Our server was amazing (Malia?) and she took care of all of us; separating tabs and finding us when we moved to another seat. The food was decent and the fish tacos were supposedly the fave in our group. The Mai Tai's are addictive and deceivingly strong so beware!
People thought this was:
Great place for happy hour or fu-fu drinks. :) We often stay at the Moana Surfrider or Royal Hawaiian (which is good turned horrible), so this place was a great choice for late night dinners because it was a easy walk. For some reason many restaurants are closed earlier (island mentality) than we would like, even in a touristy town of Honolulu. So...it's nice to have a place that's open until relatively late...
Chicken wings are a safe bet, their nachos are piled high and quite popular too! The view is awesome and crowd is lively. We've also had good luck with the service.
Not too shabby for a late night snack. :)
We didn't get a chance to eat here but stopped by for a drink - which is a must! The staff is really great, and so fast! Drinks were yummy too! Plus they have a great outdoor patio that goes right into the beach! Loved the ambiance.
My favorite place for a good dinner, because i can order my favorite fish and my hubby can go to the salad bar thats comes with my favorite meal.
Because im not a salad person.
Duke's sits on the heart of Waikiki beach. You can walk out of the pacific and into the bar in about 25 yards. I'm not sure they'll let you, but it is physically possible.
That's probably the #1 reason why people go there.
#2 would be food that's better than it needs to be given reason #1. Most of the fare leans toward the crowd-pleasing island pub grub: ahi, mahi mahi, shrimp, beef. There's also a fine breakfast buffet. It's not as good as the Hula Grill upstairs, but it's also hard to complain about.
The drinks are well mixed and potent (Duke's bartenders seem like they were born with rum bottles clenched in each hand), and the afternoon crowds are lively and fun.
Like everywhere in Waikiki, it seems to have some of the air sucked out after dark, but until then, Duke's is a great place to watch the sun go down.
People thought this was:
This is a definite tourist spot, so please make reservations.
I order the fish of the day, I think it sounded something like opu. It was prepared duke style which is baked in butter and garlic. For drink I ordered a mango martini. The fish was tasty but I've had better.
+1 great atmosphere. Sunset. Hawaiian themed. Live band.
+1 great service. The hostesses, our server, and bartender were very hospitable. Our food came out fast too.
+1 great presentation of the food with flowers and backscratchers and unlimited salad bar with every entree
-1 food was Meh. It looked alot better than it tasted. Drink was 90%mango sweetener, I felt like I was drinking syrup.
-1 overpriced and overrated.
This is a place that u should try once.
We went to Dukes for our 1st mean in Hawaii. The food was excelent, the waitstaff was amazing. Their salad bar is CRAZY!!! so good.
we did however get overcharged $50 (long story w/ a gift card and a credit card) They did fix the issue, but it took over a week for them to admit they messed up. I think good customer service would have refunded the $50 right away. But they tried very hard at 1st to say I owed them that $50.
Go eat here, but pay cash.
Mediocre food, but great views! They also have delicious lava flows (cocktails). Go for the drinks and just to lounge around.
People thought this was:
Right in the heart of Waikiki, the restaurant sits on Waikiki Beach facing Diamond Head and is walking distance from the International Market Place. The view is phenomenal during the day for people-watching or in the evening when the sun is setting. The environment is toursity and always packed.
Customer service is friendly, however, very scarce considering how many tables and guests each waiter has to serve!
We had the fish tacos, tuna melt. And a Mai Tai. The fish tacos were good with guacamole, Salsa and sour cream. The food was above average but the patio was really nice with Palm trees, beach, rolling waves. The hula pie was huge.
Had the mango BBQ pork sliders off the "bar" menu. Very yummy. Great service once seated but they were obviously understaffed as we waited for 40 minutes on a Wednesday night for a table and there were definitely empty tables.
People thought this was:
Eating your food and having a beautiful view of the beach, what more can you really ask for!
This restaurant was located inside our hotel, so we actually came here for two occasion. Dinner on the first night and breakfast buffet on the second day.
The dinner was awesome, I had a Kona Steak, it was cook nicely and the steak was rubbed with Kona Coffee grinds on the steak. The steak was super yummy and juicy. I got the garlic mashed potatoes and it melts in your mouth. They had a salad bar that you were able to get up and get your salad and bread, to drink I had a lava flow.
At the end of the night we were brought a vanilla macadamia nut ice cream cake with Oreo crust on the bottom (complimentary birthday cake desert). Super delicious!
***For the breakfast buffet, they had a WIDE selection of Delicious breakfast treats. Egg, bacon, sausage, ham, omelet chef, toast (all different kinds of bread), bagel, egg Benedict, cereal, french toast, waffles, pancakes and much much more. The food was just awesome, it was a nice breakfast buffet not those cheap hometown buffet food. The food was cook to nicely and just oh so good. I didn't want to leave!
Bill came out to $50.00 for all three of us. Pretty pricey but it was really worth it, and you were able to see the ocean while you enjoy your breakfast.
People thought this was:
For lunch I went to Duke's. I think I'm realizing that Duke's has been a fond Hawaiian memory for me, but the food is actually not that great. My drink was tasty, as were the crab and macnut wontons, but this was not a great fish taco.
Those sad tacos are nothing that a little shopping and tropical drinks couldn't fix.
Sifting through my reviews and looking to delete some I realized that I had not reviewed Duke's Waikiki- a staple and tourist trap.
Named after Hawaii's most famoust citizen, Duke's is where my husband and I had our first dinner when we arrived. We wanted to watch the sunset and go casual to dinner. We wanted to have the typical fruity drinks, dine in a warm friendly and fun atmosphere. You know, cheese it up.
Duke's definitely delivered and after we had our super strong alcoholic beverages, dined on some fresh market priced fish, sang along to some hawaiian tunes, soaked in the most beautiful sunset we've ever witness and felt the cool breeze did we really, finally, believe we had made it to paradise.
People thought this was:
They're about a 4-Star Restaurant.
Love the Live Music & the outdoor seating right next to Waikiki Beach.
Spicy Chicken Wings, BBQ Ribs, Hawaiian Pizza & Fried Calamari
http://static1.px.yelp...
(Wednesday, June 3, 2009)
Great! The difference between this one and the one in Malibu or Huntington Beach is that they have a salad bar that comes w/ any entree! Came here for dinner on a Friday night. It was busy and we waited about 45 min to get a table, but the food was great. Our server was a little slow, but he was still great. He was charming and apologized for the slowness. He took the time to get to know us a little bit and even gave us some recommendations of other restaurants and places to check out.
I had the lime and chile roasted monchong fish. It was delish! And my bf had the sauteed mac nut and herb crusted opah fish. His was also very good. We had a great view of the beach and enjoyed our meal.
Two nights later we went to the bar area for dessert and drinks. We shared the original hula pie, which is a huge chunk of vanilla ice cream w/ an oreo crust and lots of hot fudge. Mmmm... I'll drooling thinking about this! Anyway, service at the bar is slow (obviously) but it was a nice way to wind down. We really enjoyed our time here!
My friend and i frequented this place quite a bit during our vacation, mostly because of the great location. We ate generic food, drank, and met a couple of cougars who kindly offered us some buffalo wings.....this pissed me off, because, for one, i HATE buffalo wings, and secondly, i was insulted by how they quickly expected us - two black men - to jump at the chance to throw down some chicken....really!!!??....but i digress, actually, i took a drumstick before she could even finish offering it to me....i retreated back to my chair like a wild animal hoarding his kill, and cleaned the bone, tendons, fat, veins and all....it was ...ok.
I would give this place four, or even five starts if they tried adding more unique items to their menu, but this is a touristy place after all. The location is what they have to offer, and the fact that they're both centrally located, and right next to the water, makes this a very popular and convenient place to grab a bite and a drink....
People thought this was:
about a 30 min wait for a late lunch around 230 pm..
the view and ambaince are nice. the service was good and relatively fast. while waiting for food i took a quick walk on the beach to take some pics of the beach and diamond head!!
the nachos were delicious! the ribs, sliders, waffle fries were really good. but the hula pie, was omg amazing!! wow we devoured it within 2 minutes.
Another regular place for me when I have my annual BD trip, i love to have happy hour and watch the sunset and usually there is great live music and a lively fun crowd!
Well, there was on May 30th, Carrie was my fantastic server. It is soooo hard to find a bar seat to watch the ocean, hear the music and not have a full dinner. the girls at the podium offered me the last table near the entrance, and made a single hottie feel welcome.
Callie was incredible, always checking with me, a little chit chat, bringing me a water back, immediately after I asked and she was quite busy. I ordered my usually crab macadamia wontons on a bed of shredded cabbage, wonderful tender tuna sashimi... how perfect and i had another drink and the podium girls chatted with me , and Callie took away dishes when soon after I was done. She was the best. MAHALO CALLIE!
Great fun place and comfortable for a single gal alone!
People thought this was:
Fan freakin' tastic burger. Wonderful location.
And normally I hate buffets. But Duke's lunch buffet is great too. Salad seems hard to come by on the island, so the salad bar there is a welcome relief to my digestive system. Also, the buffet has some of the best Kalua Pig I have ever had.
Ambiance= 3 stars
Food = 2 stars
We came here for the lunch buffet, which basically sucked. However, if you're looking for something cheap, this'll kind of suit your needs. $13 I think for lunch buffet.
We also came here for breakfast buffet, which basically sucked too. Completely not worth the $17 each we paid.
Basically, I'll summarize the food as being very college-dining-hall-esque. So, if you're a big fan of Hometown Buffet, but on a much smaller scale, this is your place.
Ugh, Oahu. Even a few hours killing time between flights is too much for me on this island. Our cabbie described it as like Miami. Umm, not sure about that one. But, I know I don't like it.
Oh yeah Dukes. Right on crowded and hectic Waikiki Beach with a bar and patio overlooking the very small beach and tons of humanity flocking to it. Certainly made for some interesting people watching. Good beers on tap here. We dropped in for lunch during our layover. The Mrs. had some tasty fish tacos with some of the hottest salsa we've ever tasted, while I had the grilled Mahi Mahi sandwich. Both were great. We also got a basket of fries, which were a bit overdone.
Our server was also very quick and helpful even though she had a lot of tables.
Good food at a welcome discount from the steep resort prices we had seen all trip.
My Ratings:
Quality - 5 Stars
Quantity - 5 Stars
Price - 3 Stars
Location - 5 Stars
Service - 5 Stars
Speed - 5 Stars
My Opinion/Story:
It helps when you get free Beach Bucks that allow you to use in this restaurant. We wanted to try something good and with a view. Picking between Island Grill and Duke's, we settled for Duke's. It was a nice place, crowded, loud, but service was still pretty good. Buffet style for salad and breads and my husband went crazy for their banana nut bread. I think he got full just eating loads of it. We ordered our pasta and ribs dinner. It was pretty tasty but the portions were enormous. If you're hungry, Duke's will definitely satisfy your hunger. Service is awesome and friendly. Drinks were made very well. This is one of the places we'll go back to.
People thought this was:
The only thing bad is the wait, I'm surprised the wait was an hour and 10 minutes on a Tuesday night when I walked in and saw how huge the restaurant was. But it's people on vacations who probably sit back and relax, so I got over it haha.
The atmosphere is awesome. Very hawaiian-like. Perfect place for me and my boyfriend's last night in Waikiki! Kabusaki, spell? The teriyaki skewer dish was awesome, and can't go wrong with the shrimp scampi. Probably the best pasta of my life!
Could this location be any better? I don't think so.
I visited this restaurant with some friends on a Wednesday evening. It was PACKED. Thankfully we only had to wait a little under 10 minutes for a nice table outside.
The service was very good and the drinks were super tasty. I had the chicken quesadilla and I will say, it wasn't all that great. Regardless, this place is totally worth going to. It isn't crazy expensive and there are beautiful views right on the beach.
People thought this was:
We LOVE Dukes!!! Not JUST a tourist trap, although you get your fair share of them... hate to break it to you all, but locals still frequent this bar!
The last time we were visiting, we actually stayed in Waikiki to give my husband's brother the ultimate tourist experience of Oahu... and we went to Dukes for dinner to meet up with my college friends then the next morning for breakfast.
First, the breakfast buffet is pretty darn good! Can you say, Made to order omelette station? Yum!
We really enjoyed the "salad bar" that they have at dinner time. You could seriously do without dinner and just do the Salad bar because it is REALLY extensive! All in all a good place to eat, drink and be Merry! :)
Well , of course as a tourist in Hawaii. I had to go here to have a relax lunch by the beach.
The views are great. The restaurant are very busy. So we waited for a while to get the server to get our order. And she is not friendly at all. When we asked for recommendations, she looked impatient and said "You need to tell me what you like, or i can choose for you! ". I was like..Hello! I didnt ask you to choose for me but recommendations!
We picked Mahi Mahi sandwich, the best seller on the menu according to her, and the Cheddar Burger.
The Mahi Mahi sandwish are Okay. But the CHEDDAR Berge's OMG... SOOOOO good. The only reason why i gave 4 stars. The beef Patti are Thick and Perfectly cooked and JUICY and Sweet! The bread are very special, kind of like sourdough but not exactly the same. The bread made the burger even more tasty! We came from LA. My favorite BURGER is always In& Out. And i have to say this Burger blew me away. I think it's better than in & out.
And the server ended up nice to us...So... overall, It's worthy 4 stars in my heart.
People thought this was:
For me to give out 5 stars is AMAZING! Pull out your snuggie cause this is a long review. My first time in Hawaii and I went here 3 times!
The view alone gets the stars. It was so beautiful here. We bypassed all lines and walked to the back of the bar and waited like stalkers for a table to open up. Our first time there, we sat with a couple at the same table....reminded me of the current prison system of sharing tables to eat. They were already done so we grabbed the table, a smaller one opened up and we table hopped to it and got a closer view of the beach.
Onto the food. The first visit my cousin kept insisting i get the Hula Pie. I seen it. She must've been fresh out the loonie bin to think i could handle it all by myself. Well maybe i might've if it werent for the 45 min walk back to Honolulu. She would have to roll me back to the condo.
I had a I want to say Lava Flow mixed drink. FANTASTIC. Right amound of liquor and sweetness.
Mango BarBQue Bacon Burger. I swear this was the best burger i ever had. It beat my fav Marzen burger at Gordon Biersch. It was so tender, juicy and good that I ate it slowly. As an Iron Chef (old school) judge would say: It felt like fireworks and a fireplace on a cold winters night in my mouth. Make sense? Doesn't until you try it. Fries were seperate so I just had the burger and a pickle.
Second try I had the burger again. I'm so random huh? Calmari. This was the best calamari i have had. Sauce was homemade im guessing.
Our Third try at Dukes, my cousin Rach, My friend Rosa and Keiki had dinner here. I had another Lava Flow, a glass of Champagne and for dinner we shared: Calamari, Waffle Fries, Hot Wings, I again had the burger (WTH? Normally I try different things but I was in love with that burger) and split it with some Mango BBQ Ribs. The ribs were off the hook. If it weren't for Keiki guarding them, I would have took them to straight off the plate and parked my but under the palm tree and stared into the ocean with ribs in hand.
We never tried the Hula Pie. I guess were saving this for when we go back.
Great for groups. Relaxing because it's by the beach and you can let the waves lull you into a calm state or be mesmerized by the tiki torches. The cover singer is pretty good -- he went from incubus to britney spears to a host of other songs.
We came on a Friday late evening for a bachelorette party (mind you, a calm one) and it was a nice chill evening.
One of my friends saw the singer in the parking lot and apparently he's quite chubbs -- so it ruined his image. Haha.
Nice place to stop by and it's conveniently located. Recommended for small groups and definitely sit outside by the beach.
5 for the scene, crowd, music and overall fun factor
2 for the food
We went on a Sunday afternoon/evening and the place was packed! Henry Kaono, who I learned is a huge star in Hawaii, plays every Sunday and people come out in droves.
Duke's is inside the Outrigger hotel and sits right on the beach. It has an indoor dining room, barefoot bar and outdoor patio. Early on, we got drinks and headed out to the patio to dance. Once the set was done around 7pm, they brought out tables and converted it to a outdoor dining area. Perfect for us, as we snagged a table and avoided the hour and a half wait for the indoor dining room.
The food did not impress. I had the fish of the day, Opakapaka, which came with a lump of cheap macaroni salad that really brought down the appeal of the plate. My cousin got the maui onion soup and a salad, which she did not like at all. Drinks-only establishment moving forward.
Ok, you know the drill. I had zero desire to eat here but we had guests from out of town who were hellbent on Duke's...
And I liked it!
My favorite restaurant? No. But it exceeded my every expectation. The view was great, the service was excellent, and the food was very good.
This is a great place to go if in the Waikiki area and/or you have a group with varying tastes or picky eaters. The menu is varied enough, and competent enough, that everyone will be pleased if not ecstatic.
Add to that a bustling vibe with a ton of positive energy and it's just hard not to like it.
We will be back, but will push folks towards the stairs and up to the Hula Grill...
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Business trip to Honolulu. Wanted to find someplace in Waikiki that was not a chain... I mean why would you come all that way to eat at the Cheesecake Factory? No thank you. Wait at Duke's was 45 min - no problem! We headed on over to the International Marketplace across the street to kill the time.
Definite highlight of this place is their salad bar, which comes with all their entrees. It was fantastic. I could have made a meal of it (which is an option, in case you're wondering.) But I moved on to have the mahi mahi with "mac nut" preparation. Pretty standard preparation but very good. Later on in to the night around the bar area it started to smell like a college frat house - that stale sweet alcohol smell. Probably could have been avoided if we'd been sat closer to a window.
Overall, a nice casual option when in Waikiki. But I'm not craving it now that I'm back in Chicago.
People thought this was:
Eat & Play Combo Only $15.99
Honolulu, HI
Chili's 3 for $20
Honolulu, HI
Honolulu, HI
Category: Restaurants
Honolulu, HI
Category: Bars
Honolulu, HI
Category: Hawaiian
Honolulu, HI
Category: Nightlife
Honolulu, HI
Category: Seafood
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