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Mon-Fri. 3:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Sat-Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m.
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I am a pseudo regular here, to the point where the bartenders know my name at least... Its a great spot for a stiff drink or happy hour. I try to watch the Hawks play on sundays here too.
Service is always exceptional. The food is decent, not fantastic. I endorse the fried rice and the pulled pork sliders. Get the pot stickers, they aren't on the menu but they take orders for them. Yum!
It was for my birthday. My sis was going to tak me. I spent some time on Yelp and thinking about new places to go. I USED YELP - it also took me to their website.. OOHH prawn salad! We decided to go here.
The menu is much shorter than online. The waitress told us it hasn't been updated for a few years! NO salad! THIS IS MY BIRTHDAY DINNER!!! We even found places to park!
The food was good. My sis had pulle dpork sand. My B-i-l had a huge stack of ribs which he loved -get your hand away from that plate!
I had a half chicken in buttermilk batter. The green beans were phenomenal! The potatoes good and I am glad I got the demi-glace on the side! My chicken was moist and tasty, but the skin a bit tough.
I had plenty for leftovers which were very delish! reheated!
The coconut ice cream was really good.
Our server was very pleasant and prompt.
I wanted a prawn salad tho.
Great happy hour! $2 PBR drafts? Are you kidding me? Plus three sliders for $6? If you're lucky (as we were), they'll accidentally bring you two orders of pulled pork ones when you ordered beef, and they'll just tell you to have them all. Sweet sweet slider heaven.
THEN they have homemade potato chips, which are always so much better than store-bought. I still maybe would have preferred fries, but can't complain.
We started yakking with the waiter about how it was the last day of school and we were celebrating summer, and even though it was well after 6, he jumped right in and said we needed another round for happy hour price. Definite score on that one.
Word of advice: when sitting on the patio, watch out for the plastic chairs. They're a little on the bendy side, so be careful if you feel like lounging back. Nobody needs a concussion on the first day of summer vacation.
I go here with my book club twice a month on Thursdays. It has a low key atmosphere so we can talk and and a good food menu, to go along with a full bar. Since it's the summer, I always order their pina coladas. They taste delicious and come in cool coconut-shaped glasses, so it looks like you're drinking out of half a coconut. I love them!!!
I really dig the Luau. Great happy hour, excellent service, good food. The wilted spinach salad is my favorite (mmmm...macadamia nuts...). Just one block down, Leny's claims to have the "best burger in Seattle" but the Luau's burger beats Leny's by a clear mile. They have great ribs but a couple of times, they were really dry and charred which ruined my pupu platter experience. meh! Don't be messing with my pupu!
Really fun and creative ambience, unbeatable outdoor seating in the summer, and it bears repeating: EXCELLENT service EVERY TIME I've been there!
Found this place here in Yelp. Glad I did!
I lived in the neighborhood 20 years ago and used to frequent the spot as a Quicky Mart. The lady there short changed me every time I went in - First it was a nickle and eventually 3 bucks "No you gimmy two not a five." That was it!
So, imagine to my surprise the turning of those memories around to a great evening and pleasant faces. I started at the bar waiting for friends - was going to default to a beer when those sitting next to me said "You gotta try the Mai Tais! - That's all we drink here." Kyle, the bartender obliged me with a great drink and the realization this used to be the market. Service was great. Way to go Kyle!
When my friends arrived we grabbed a booth just in time. The place was quickly packed. We had two orders of their chicken wings. They tasted fresh off of the barbecue - a little char and perfectly done. Emily was quick with the drinks. The Pinacolada was memorable as well.
I'll be back soon!
I think the strength of this place is the happy hour and atmosphere. Fun place to have drinks with friends and some Hawaiian influenced bar food. Our chicken club was OK. I hear the spinich salad is great as are the burgers.
I went there this weekend with my boyfriend & some of his out-of-town friends. First, the menu was SMALL... nothing like the on-line menu. No appetizers, just a couple of salads, sandwiches & a few entrees... maybe twelve items total. The drinks were good but the food... meh. I was quite disappointed. My BF had said how great the place was (but he'd not been there in a while). I ordered the fish tacos & the corn tortillas were on the stale/stiff-side & the fish was WELL over-cooked. Our friends ordered the veggie fried rice; it was pretty good. The service was good. The decor was certainly campy.
All in all, I wouldn't go back & wouldn't recommend it.
I still like Luau, but I'm disappointed that they no longer open at noon for Happy Hour during the week. Now it's 3:00 p.m.
Boooooo!
I love me some tomatillo sauce and their fish tacos have the best I've tasted in town. Yummy!
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not the place to go if you're looking for authentic hawaiian cuisine
however, their food sampler is awesome. It definitely worths the try
I went here for my birthday [because I love Hawaiian-everything... I swear I was Hawaiian in another life] and was very disappointed. The menu wasn't quite what I expected and they had a VERY limited selection. Nothing really popped out to me. I at least expected the mac salad to be decent, but it didn't have much taste to it... until I added some salt.
I haven't tried their drinks yet. Maybe after a few martinis, their food will taste better.
Oh, and for some reason there were a bunch of flies in the restaurant... mmmm flies.
Luau has a five star happy hour! The strongest Mai Tai in town for only $6. It is surprisingly smooth for having about 5 shots of rum in it, probably because of the guava nectar. The food is well priced and very tasty... We love the pork sliders, chicken club, and portobello sandwich, the salads are excellent also. A super kitsch place with a nice little patio. The neighbor-hood is quaint and the restaurant is usually filled with locals. There's no better place for a cheap drink and great bite on 55th. Shout out to Kyle, (bartender Thursday - Sunday) you rock our world! P.S. the bananas foster with coconut ice cream is super yummy!
I really liked this place. They do little things of neatness.
The happy hour is the time to try this place out, I think. They have a good variety of their interesting hawaiian styled take on classics available.
If you're into being kosher or halal, you might be better off just not coming inside. Just about everything has pork in it. Mmmm. Pig tastes good.
The burger? There's some kind of smoked ham in the grind. The wilted spinach salad? Wilted with hot pig fat!
We ordered a couple of things and shared. The (pulled) pork sandwich is served on a baguette and is savory and subtle. The burger is served on a bun with a variety of fixings kind of like a hawaii burger kit.
Each of the entrees is presented in a bamboo steamer with an actual banana leaf in the bottom. I have never been served with a steamer as a plate before. I thought that it was cute.
Each also comes with some uniquely macaroni shaped shrimp salad.
I had a nice $2 happy hour Luau Lager to wash it all down with some citrus water that was constantly refilled. I really like it when people fill my water.
The dessert menu looked good. Bananas Foster is usually a performance piece as it is on fire. The house recipe was apparently featured on one of the local PBS affiliate cooking show. Perhaps I'll take someone here in the future to set the night on banana fire.
I pictured cheesy/crappy/horrible, but figured I just had to give this place a try, and was glad I did. The interior is nice, espcially for Wallingford, and the staff is friendly. Decent beer selection, and lots of crazy drinks.
Foodwise, go for the Portabella sandwhich. Mmmmmmm! Too bad the macaroni salad with uncooked shrimp had to accompany it. They also have an all day Happy Hour on Sunday.
So, we went for dinner tonight... just the girls this time, to catch up with a verrrry pregnant friend.
Even with the vividly descriptive pregnancy anecdotes (lucky ducks! I'll spare you), I managed to greatly enjoy my hoisin glazed baby back ribs. They were super meaty, and went quite nicely with my Heineken (you don't have that?) Corona (don't have that either?)....ok, I'll have a Pacifico. I'm easy that way! :-) The ribs came out pretty much all on their own which was fine with me (perhaps those stories were affecting my appetite more than I realized?). Two of the other girls were kind of sad that they didn't come with cornbread, but that was easily remedied by ordering a side of it (jalapeno/fresh corn cornbread drizzled with maple syrup).
Katie Jr (the pregnant one) had a cheeseburger that she seemed pleased with, though she didn't quite understand what a bunch of shrimp were doing on top of her macaroni salad. Weird, but she ate it all quite happily.
Nobody had any room for dessert, and I came away with leftovers for my lunch tomorrow! That's never a bad thing! :-)
Luau is a tried and true neighborhood joint with a great feel. The food is decently Hawaiian, and the staff are freakin' amazing. I go there regularly (twice a month for the past year or more) with a bunch of friends, and they've always greeted us happily and provided us with food and beverages to keep the evening young into the wee hours.
Tony, the owner, is a fantastic soul.
mmm..boy!
My ol' man and I just got back from an amazing Hawaiian vacation and were seriously craving tropical drinks. So, we spent a lovely Valentine's evening last night with mai-tais and the flaming pu-pu platter at Luau. Dee-licious! This place is a great bet, especially if you have a case of the long winter blahs. Nothing like a good ol' umbrella drink to perk you right up!
Other people's reviews for Luau are all over the place....love it, hate it, love it, hate it.
I used to live right by Luau so we had coctails here a few times. As many have testified, the Mai Tai's are really really great!
Last night I had my first dinner here and I was so impressed. I must have gotten the chef on one of his good nights!
#1 MUST is this cheezy cornbread they have. Unbelievable. I've been to Jones BBQ and theirs is pure crap compared to this. Cornbread is all about texture and I prefer the grittiness of cornbread to a cornbread that tastes like cake. They topped off the 2 huge (and I mean HUGE) pieces with a honey-type glaze that added the perfect sweetness and in some places was absorbed into the cornbread. I'm still drooling thinking about it...
The fried chicken! The fried part was so dark, really dark compared to the golden color of most fried chicken. But when you took a bite, you knew that it was due to all the spices and flavors. This fried chicken had a KICK! SPICY! And the chicken was just delicious on the inside. Hot and perfectly cooked.
Also tried the scallops and they were cooked perfectly as well. I get a lot of scallops at restaurants and they are often cooked too long and get rubbery. These were just marvelous!
The waitress was so sweet too. The owners were sitting at the bar so it was very down-to-earth. I like it and will recommend it to others for a different twist on dinner!
Attended a surprise birthday part here Saturday night and had a nice enough time. Decor was great and it gave me an excuse to wear the Hawaiian shirt my wife hates.
We had a group of 8 and the service was good. I was not impressed by the Kalua Pig sandwich and the side of macaroni salad was very bland. My wife liked her mahi mahi tacos. The pina colada was very good.
In all, I was impressed with the value (everything is under $15) and we had a nice time, but I won't be rushing back... unless I just have to wear that shirt!!!
You must be sh*tting me! You guys like this place?!? ABSOLUTELY, HANDS DOWN, THE WORST PSEUDO-HAWAIIAN PLACE EVER!!!!!!!! Everything here was nasty. The huli-huli chicken (which bore NO resemblance to real huli-huli...) was grossly undercooked, to the point that even the dim lounge-style lighting couln't disguise the RAW pink-ness of the meat. The "poke" didn't have anything to do with actual Hawaiian poke. I don't know where these people got their recipes, but I lived in Hawaii for a while & I never encountered BULLSH*T like this, EVER. It's like someone went to Hawaii and then came back and TOLD these guys about the food, and then they just guessed at how to make it. What a waste of time and money!
I like Luau. It's a low-key place to hang out for drinks or a meal with good friends. Unless you time it just right, getting seats is not a problem. The pupus are good; I like the Spicy Ahi Poke best. I've tried several of the main dishes, but am stuck in the fried rice with Portugese sausage rut. Oh, drinks are built quite strong.
4 Stars - I like to eat there.
Luau used to be my favorite restaurant in Wallingford. Over the years the quality of the food and service has gotten really erratic. Sometimes the ribs are tender, juicy and delicious; sometimes they are tough and dry. Entrees don't all come with sides any longer; you need to order them separately. I'm also still mourning the loss of the onion relish and warm flat bread when you were seated and the macadamia brittle that used to come with the coconut sundae.
Parking in this part of town can be tricky.
They had Red Stripe, I was happy. The food didn't taste that bad to me but then again I was pretty toasty. But hell, I didn't feel sick after!
Small menu. Well, the last time I was there (about two years ago) the menu was small. So small I would order the same thing every time I went in there. Portions are small, too. Waitor would almost always hit on my friends and I but I think that's the real reason we kept going back.
Wonder where he is now......
The kontiki chicken is like crack.
Was only here for 20 min (pub run, baby), but seemed cool enough. Bartender was VERY nice considering there was 50 sweaty runners. Wasn't many people (12p on a saturday), but they seemed cool enough.
By far my favorite bar to hang out at in Seattle. Cool staff, great food (try the loco moco!), stiff drinks. Don't listen to the Hawaiian food snob that only gave it one star - they aren't trying to be "authentic". It's just a chill, fun place to hang out, see your friends, and have some refreshments. They have the "Bora Bora Room" that you can rent out for big parties too which is also host to the occasional karaoke night. I LOVE YOU LUAU!!! Hi Tony. :)
Okay, it's not exactly authentic Hawaiian food (no musubi, etc.), but I think it's good as a modern Hawaiian fusion sort of place. Nice atmosphere. Good service. Nice neighborhood.
We went last night...the place is ok on the inside, a little campy, but who really cares. We had the veggie wraps which were ok (the dip needs to be more interesting or at least thicker) and then my husband had the portabella sandwich. He said it was ok, but it's hard to mess that up really. My burger was terrible! I asked for it well-done but it came to me charred and burned. Gross. I ended up having to cut off the burned pieces to eat it. And they charge an extra dollar for a slice of pineapple (not worth it) or cheese. We should have gone to red mil.....
the first time i went to the luau, i just didn't get it. some weird tiki bar in the middle of wallingford? but it grows on you, the luau does.
the food id decent, if a little spendy. but they bartenders here are some of the best in the city. they pour excellent drinks (especially the mai tai) and during the weekend, its very low key.
hangout, throw back a few, and enjoy.
tip: talk to the bartender. this is one of the places where that is always to your advantage
I liked it. Went here for my birthday since we weren't in the mood for super fancy and enjoyed it a lot. Server was super nice and friendly, food was good. The Yam Mashers are YUMMY, but made with yams and yukon gold potatoes, not just yams and have gravy on top. Frankly, I thought they tasted like cheddar mashed potatoes but I was not complaining. My Pele's Revenge fruify drink was very nummy and I was feeling it. They "make" their own ginger ale, which I found strange, and we had two different versions from two different bar tenders. Not like you're going there for the ginger ale anyway.
if you wind your way up from the east shore of greenlake, you'll stumble upon a hidden little strip of businesses and think "and just what the fuk is this all about?"
this, my friend, is tangletown. and at the heart of tangletown is the luau.
the last time i was here, it was for the seahawks first playoff game last year ('05). you remember the one. the sloppy 20-10 win over washington. it was right in the midst of 937 straight days of rain in seatown - and coupled with a first round hawks loss i'm sure the aurora bridge would've been clogged with jumpers. but the hawks managed to hang on - only to be screwed by the refs four weeks later.
anyhow...there at the luau they offered an ambitious playoff package centered around a traditional hawaiian roast pig. it was pretty good - although maybe a little dry. the overall presentation of the meal was great though - and it's actually a decent spot to watch a football game if it's not too crowded (they have just one screen - but it's a nice HD flatscreen above the bar). the drinks at the luau are good as well - you just gotta be prepared to drink out of a ceramic coconut with umbrellas threatening your eye with every sip (oh...maybe i should've taken that out...)
This place feels like a secret - even though it could be mistaken for a sister to the CHA it is almost always deserted. It never occurs to me to hit it up unless I'm in the neighborhood, though. Maybe that's the secret. At any rate it should be hit up at least once. Do they still have fried banana?
Kind of sad. I really wanted to like this place. The Mai Tai I got was great. The service was slow, so slow that we canceled my daughters ice cream sundae (which they wanted $6 for?!). I suppose if your time is worthless, or the food is great, the wait would be worth it. But my time isn't worthless and the food isn't great. It seems to me they would be better served by sticking with the Tiki decor when deciding the menu. Instead of traditional Hawaiian/Polynesian food, we get haute interpretations of them. A Loco Moco with a beef glazing and pickled ginger on top instead of brown gravy. No plate lunch on the menu to be seen. Cheese cornbread w/o much cheese and with jalepenos?!
Too many good Hawaiian/Polynesian restaurants in Seattle to settle for this.
No.. just.. no. I have hawaiian friends, and well this is almost kind of tacky and rude. The place was all plastic, and it just felt wrong and out of place. I usually like wrong and out of place, but this was just a lumbering hulk of "no". The food was way overpriced, as were the drinks. Avoid if you're not catering to disillusioned out of towners.
i stopped in one night for a quick bite with my sister. i was pretty disappointed with the sandwich i got but I think i just was in the mood for something healthy and ended up with a greasy pulled pork sandwich and macaroni salad. it seemed like a cool bar, i'll have to go back and check it out again.
I love me some Polynesian, South Seas style tiki action and Luau delivers. 4 star atmosphere combines with 3 star food for some A-OK good times.
On the food front: Hit or Miss.
I went here recently with the old lady and we went hog wild. Ordered the short ribs, cob salad, and ahi ahi fish tacos. The short ribs were SOOOOO soft, falling off the bone, lick your fingers style delicious and filling. I would have liked to put a little salt on them (no salt at the table, what's up with that?) but they were quite enjoyable. More like brisket than short ribs though. The tiny shrimps in the cob salad were bland but the salad ample, the dressing good, and the bacon some of the tastiest I have ever eaten. Luau: what do you do to yourBACON? I dream about bacon this good. The low point of the eats was the fish tacos. Cool presentation in a bamboo steamer but the taste was very, very bland. Not a deal breaker but definitely not for me. Next time we get the pu-pu for two even if I have to gag my lady during ordering to assure we get it!
For desert we had the flaming rum bananas fosters, lit up at the table (Fire!) and oh so scrumptious. Six dollar bananas at their finest!
On the drink front: Tasty!
I had Pele's Revenge and it was awesome. Came in a little martini glass. It was perfectly delicious. The lady had a mai-tai, served in a tiki style glass. Pretty good and pretty strong. That's alright by me!
Overall, Luau is quite an enjoyable experience. I would imagine exploring the food and drink menu during Happy Hour would be a dream, the kinda dream I can imagine having real, real soon.
Great happy hour from 12-6 every day! It's not the cheapest HH out there, but the food is really good. I ordered the BLTA one time and have to say it was the best I'd ever had because it was served on a sweet bread roll. The combination of the salty bacon, creamy avocado, and crisp lettuce was magic on my tastebuds. When I ordered it on another occasion, it was served on a french roll, which made it only average. I think it depends on who is working, cause the HH rum drink was spectacular on the magical BLTA occasion, but rather ho-hum on the french roll occasion. The decor is really cool (where does one find leopard print carpet and how Polynesian is that?), so check out the back room, they have an awesome fish tank in there.
This little piece of tropics in Tangletown is a nice place for a casual meal, with typically fast service and a tolerance for our messy 15-month-old, who loves to sit by their tropical fish tank while mom & dad finish dinner (they'll seat you near the tank if you ask). Their flaming pupu platter is fun to split as dinner, and was an exciting dinner experience for our pre-teen niece & nephew, and I love their delicious Luau veggie fried rice (you can add shrimp or sausage, too)! I think their pork sandwich can be too soggy, though it's still tasty, and I think it's a little overpriced--I especially don't like having to order and pay for your sides separately. They have a great happy hour that includes drinks and many dishes, and we have consistently quick and friendly service, so we'll keep going back! I recommend it!
Watch out for the burning candles at the tables. My purse soon turned into a clutch after the handles were subjected to the open flame.
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