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Waimea Brewing Company
Category: Restaurants American (Traditional) American (Traditional) [Edit]
9400 Kaumualii HwyWaimea, HI 96796
(808) 338-9733
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Touristy
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
71 reviews for Waimea Brewing Company
Review Highlights
"...the short ribs and sweet potato fries, and they both were..."
(in 10 reviews)
"...excellent and perfect after a day of hiking or bleaching."
(in 3 reviews)
"...is shared with the Waimea Plantation Cottages with a great..."
(in 6 reviews)
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71 reviews in English
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Review from Desiree L.
Honolulu, HI
12/18/2011
This place was romantic and beautiful! It had an old plantation feel and really took you back in time. The drinks and the food were amazing. Definitely get the Ahi Wasabi Cream plate it was the best thing I ate on Kauai absolutely incredible!
Great salads and selections of seafood here too!
I recommend coming for dinner! -
Review from Aubrey G.
8/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
Expensive flavorless beer. Same goes for the food.
They don't treat the locals very good.
I only go here every once and a while because it's the only bar in Waimea. -
Review from Ingrid C.
7/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Sadness! They shut down just a few weeks before I got there. Supposedly they're reopening and renaming themselves in a new location.
They only had one beer left - the Brown Ale. It was pretty tasty, but not best ever. I'm happy I got to try it, though!
Still had plenty of shirts for sale... -
Review from Kelly J.
6/1/2011 1 Check-in Here
After driving around the Waimea Canyon, we stopped by the WBC for a quick snack and drinks. It is a brewing company after all and we wanted to see what Kauai had to offer in terms of its beer!
The sampler set usually includes only 6 beers of your choice, but that day they only had 7 beers available anyway so they threw in the 7th beer.
Lilikoi - interesting taste, but was hoping for a sweeter ending note
Napali - one of my favorites!
Porter - was dark rich and full bodied
??? - had a hint of lychee aftertaste.
Fire Red - don't like reds, this was no exception
Also had the pork nachos and boy did they serve up big portions! One serving was good enough for both me and the boy. Piled with cheese, olives, peppers, tomato chunks, served with a large side of salsa, sour cream and guac. yum yum!
Service was a bit slow, considering we were sitting at the bar for a full 10 minutes before we flagged someone down to get our tab. Also, there were a lot of flies. I understand its an open door restaurant, but still that many flies had me questioning what was their hygiene standards to have that many flies around us.Listed in: Kauai
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Review from KC O.
Sunset Beach, CA
4/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
Dear WBC,
Thank you for being you. And who the hell are you exactly? You are:
** Only minutes from the Zodiac tour by Captain Andy.
** Brewing the beer...you had no Porter but your weis beer made the girls happy.
** Soothing the rope burned hands from our wild excursion in the Zodiac.
** The setting for our insane sharks encounter...that's right sharks as in over 50 of them while we were in the water.
** A nacho slinger and we like a nacho.
Sincerely,
SHART! (Sharks Have Arrived Runny Turd)Listed in: This Place is Dead Anyway., Aloha Mr. Hand
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Review from Amy F.
6/20/2011 1 photo
I went here after touring the Waimea Canyon. We went around 4pm and it wasnt packed at all. It was quiet inside and there was only one other couple in the bar area. I only had pupus and drinks but it was good in my book for just that!
We tried the beer sampler of all their beers on tap. All of them were very good tasting. I was out with mr. beer guru aka bf, and he approved all of them...so when he says its good, then I know it will be a good beer. We ordered sweet potato fries which were good. There were other pupus on the menu that sounded good but we didnt want to get filled up before going out to dinner.
The interior is very well kept and I love the 2-toned sage green walls. It has a upscale dining feel and then the bar in the middle of the brewery. The style inside is relaxed and knows how to stay fresh and local looking for its customers. The bartender told us the brewery is in the proccess of moving to the east side of the island and renaming itself Kaua'i Island Brewing Co. That means their Waimea Brewing Company merchandise will be cheap. We got a growler to go and the bartender said he would throw in a pint glass for free. He even showed us two different colors to choose from, and then must have forgot to put it in the box for us. He was also semi-interested in keeping conversations with us and the customers at the bar, and more with the workers. He was getting off shift though so maybe thats why?
Great bar to go to if you have a big appreciation and knowledge in good craft beer. -
Review from Ly Y.
Altadena, CA
5/30/2011
Way over priced. Big prices and small portions. The serve was eh. The hostess was nice enough, the wait service was slow especially since the place didn't seem very busy. We stopped in after going and seeing the Waimea Canyon. The Wela Wela Chicken were simply awful. The sauce was eck and the breading was overwhelming and tasted like they battered the fish in it before battering the wings they served us.
The better was the only bright spot was the beer was fairly decent and had a wide selection of beers on tap. I would come back for the beer and sit at the bar and not the food. -
Review from Sarah M.
4/4/2011
Why doesn't this place have better reviews? We met some people who come to Kauai all the time and they recommended that we stop here for lunch. After a morning of sightseeing at Waimea Canyon, we had worked up an appetite and ventured over this way.
We were instantly greeted by little baby chickens running all over the place. There was a slight wait but for 5 people, we figured there might be. We ended up at a beautiful table on the patio overlooking the gardens in the perfect 75 degree sunny weather. Bliss.
Since we were at a brewery, we all decided to try the beer. I had the passion fruit one and while it was good, I couldn't really taste the passion fruit. They have little sampler glasses in which you can try different beers if you're unsure of what kind to try.
Our meal was really good! I had the kalbi short ribs which were surprisingly tasty for a non-Korean restaurant and everyone else at the table liked them just as much. Everyone else seemed happy with their burgers.
The service here was friendly and the food was reasonably priced. After lunch, we walked out back to where they have mini cottages for rent right on the ocean. Just beautiful! Definitely one of my favorite restaurants on the island. -
Review from Becky M.
Alameda, CA
1/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
We decided to stop in here and have a beer and some hor de' vours on our way back from the canyon.
We ordered a beer, a cocktail, an appetizer and one of the beer samplers.
None of us cared for the beer at all. There were a few lighter beers that were ok...nothing that I would ever order on purpose however. We found most of the beers bitter, really heavy, and just mediocre at best.
A shame...because we really wanted to like this brewery! I mean, hell, it isn't every day that you check out a brewery on The Islands.
The Kobe Beef appetizer was tasty and the cocktail was made well, but I doubt I'll be seeking out their brewskies any time soon...
Also notable - FLIES. OMG. All the doors and windows were open as it was a really nice day, but there were flies everywhere. Screens or artfully hidden fly traps would have been helpful. -
Review from Jessica D.
Richardson, TX
1/31/2011
We stopped here on recommendation, after an afternoon in Waimea Canyon. Before we sat down for beers, we walked out to the beach to watch the sunset - soo beautiful!
We ordered the 6 oz sampler of all the local Waimea beers. Earl was our bartender, and he was friendly and nice. They were out of the Porter and the Lager. My favorites were the Wheat and the Pale Ale, but all were pretty tasty.
We wanted an order of sweet potato fries but they were out, so had the summer rolls instead which were very yummy!
Although we weren't staying in this area, the Waimea Cottages attached to the Brewery looked amazing and is on my list of where to stay next time I'm there. -
Review from David A.
Morgan Hill, CA
8/31/2011 1 Check-in Here
I heard they moved to Port Allen and changing name to Kauai Brewing Company. Sad. I didn't get to try their signature red ale back in October- they were out. :(
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Review from Michael F.
Snohomish, WA
10/11/2010
We come back to the Waimea Brewery every year, and I have not left a review for this brewery hoping it would improve. But after our sixth year visiting it's time to give fair warning to Yelp viewers. We kept thinking it would get better after selling to some Washingtonians but it just hasn't.
The food is overpriced and really not that good. The nachos (can't screw those up, right?) had stale chips, the Thai beef salad had more fat on the "beef" than meat - something a chef or even cook should be ashamed to serve. The ahi was very fishy tasting, not cut well, and poorly cooked: it was a poor attempt at typically "seared" ahi. Thinking about it now, it probably wasn't even tuna.
Unfortunately they were out of 2 of their own beers today. One time we were there they had none of their own beers. The two we tried today were not great at all. We are well experienced at brewpubs all over the western US and this one is at the bottom of our list.
The service was extremely slow - 15 minutes to get 2 beers out to us, and it's a roll of the dice whether or not you will get a friendly server.
This brewpub has GREAT potential but is really missing the mark.
The only reason to go in my opinion is so you can say you have been to the world's westernmost brewpub and if you take advantage to stroll out to the beach at the nearby Plantation Cottages. -
Review from L M.
Menlo Park, CA
7/24/2011
Loved it. Sat on the back lanai (no bugs). Poke was outstanding. Nachos very good. Favorite beer was the Porter. We'll be back.
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Review from Jason J.
12/27/2010 1 Check-in Here
As with all places on Kauai you've got to remember that you're on Island time. But...we sort of forgot.
After a long hike in Koke'e state park The Ladyfriend and I decided we'd head into town and visit the Waimea Brewing Company. I'd found it in a travel book before our trip and really, really wanted to try it out. As an avid homebrewer I'm always interested in going to brew pubs, especially the Westernmost one in the world!
We were promptly sat on the patio, and then promptly forgotten about. Even though there were 3-4 other tables with people at them, we were ignored for almost 25 minutes between being seated and when someone finally got our order. Even then, it was a different server who came by to see if we were helped yet. At that point we ordered our beers and some nachos. The original server came by a few minutes later to see if we needed anything, and we told her we'd just been taken care of, at which point she expressed frustration as she professed that she'd asked the other server to come take care of us several minutes previous, but it didn't really matter. She'd seemed to spend more time chatting with other people than making sure we had what we needed.
The food and the beer were actually pretty great. The nachos were perfect for an after hike recharge, and the beers were better than I thought they would be. After finishing them, and grabbing a 2nd beer (the IPA was awesome!) the server said that dessert would be on her. So when the OTHER server she sent over earlier came over to take care of us, we realized that the first server had actually left for the day, but never said anything to us about switching servers or anything. We ended up getting dessert, and it was tasty enough (though it was insanely overpriced) but we just felt soured by the whole experience.
The patio was great, the interior looks nice enough from the limited time we spent in there, it's fun to hang out and the food an drink really aren't bad at all. It was just awful, awful service that kept this place from being better in our eyes. It's a decent little place in a phenomenal location, but they've got some real staff problems. Next time we're back on the island I'll probably belly up for a beer or two, but won't feel the need to be here for much else. I'd say save your pennies by doing the same -- have a beer, but eat somewhere else. -
Review from Melissa M.
Menlo Park, CA
7/3/2011 1 Check-in Here
We liked every beer we tried (IPA & Porter) and the food was tasty. This is a great place to stop after a long day hiking. The only negative was that things were a little slow service wise. Perhaps its just Hawaiian time though. We loved sitting out on the back porch.
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Review from Anthony A.
Redding, CA
3/24/2011
Stopped in for a couple beers and was not impressed. I'll admit though that I'm a bit of a beer snob, so when I pay over $10 for a pint, yes a pint and not a misprint, I expect it to be tasty. It wasn't undrinkable, but I would never order either of them again. I've had better $3 craft beers.
The bartender was a cute polynesian lady and was very nice and the service was fast. No complaints about that, but I will definitely ask how much a pint is before ordering. Now I know why there are no prices on the beer menu.Comment from Dave C. of Waimea Brewing Company 4/11/2011
Aloha, Sorry you didn't like the beer. I'm not sure why you… More » -
Review from Zachary B.
Akron, OH
12/2/2010 1 Check-in Here
We decided to sit at the bar. The bartender was very nice and prompt. We asked for a taster of their beers... now, we should have asked how many on the taster! There were eleven (11) 4 oz beers of theirs available to taste.
We decided to eat and the meal was pretty good, but a little on the pricy side for lunch.
I visit every brewery I come across in my travels. This wouldn't be the best, but it's definitely not the worst. Overall I thought it was a nice place to stop after a walk through the canyon or a boat ride along the Na Pali Coast. -
Review from Ginny C.
Berkeley, CA
7/8/2011
Great beer in a chill spot. The pupu are excellent and perfect after a day of hiking or bleaching!
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Review from Jana M.
Lawai, HI
6/23/2011 1 Check-in Here
Sometimes we come here and the service is slow, but we don't mind, it's Waimea... If you're there then you should be cruising. Get the beer sampler so you can taste 4 of their micro-brewed beers. The beer is always a little bit lukewarm though. Pupus (appetizers) are good, try the nui nachos (comes with kalua pork) and the calamari. They have a happy hour too from 4-6.
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Review from Sean O.
Dedham, MA
1/11/2011 2 Check-ins Here
We stopped here in our travels not knowing what to expect. It's sort of a strange place. Part brewery, part restaurant, part hotel. Beautiful grounds, out door seating, nice inside area to eat if you like.
We sat at the bar, and had appetizers. Beers were good, not outstanding. My favorite would probably be the Lilikoi Ale. The food was good though, poke was delicious, pulled pork nachos were nice, and the calamari was good with a great sauce. -
Review from Amy I.
Atascadero, CA
6/27/2011
We went here for lunch on the way back from the Waimea Canyon. The service was excellent when we first got there and then got slower and slower. We were done with our meal for at least 20-30 minutes before we got our bill. The sweet potato fries were very good. I ordered a drink called coconut cloud which was also pretty tasty.
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Review from Murray B.
3/7/2010
After going for lunch, here's the quick summary of this place:
pros
-nice ambiance, especially with the option to sit outdoors or inside
-cocktails are available; although I have zero clue re: the name of it, my friend enjoyed her umbrella drink immensely
-tasty wings; I liked the asian sauce provided but they have ranch dressing too
-great location, especially since we were hungry after visiting Waimea Canyon
things to improve
-I had mixed feelings about the beers; I thought their brown ale was good but the wheat did not impress me
-we sat at the bar which normally means timely service, right?; wrong; while the staff was friendly, I almost felt like we needed to set off a flare or some firecrackers to say "pay attention; us thirsty people have had empty glasses for awhile now"; and the bar wasn't busy; strange
If you have time, take a stroll around the waimea plantation property; cool vibe with lots of plantation era cottages scattered everywhere -
Review from Lee R.
Oakland, CA
8/27/2008
Beers good. Service bad.
They can be clueless too. They seated me with my 4-year old in the bar area when there is a full patio. This is a family resort, yet they do not have a children's menu available. When my daughter asked for chicken fingers, they offered her spicy chicken strips (at $10) as her choice.
I guess they did not want us to stay since more than ten minutes went by and they never came for our food order. I think they have a captive audience and they do not try to do better. Slackers.
Oh well. Bye Bye. -
Review from Lane M.
Plainfield, IN
3/2/2010
Waimea Brewing Company has a small menu of overpriced fare. The few main dishes come without sides, while the mediocre list of side options leaves much to be desired. We settled for sweet potato fries and musubi. If you are looking for vegetables other than salad, you have come to the wrong place. You would be wise to examine the menu before sitting down to dine.
The microbrewery aspect of this restaurant was what attracted me, but the pint of Cane Fire Red I ordered sat half-finished because I found it overly bitter. The Catch of the Day swordfish at $13.95 was cooked properly, but very bland and a poor value. The macadamia-crusted shrimp was above average, but with only three shrimp, was too small a portion to feed my wife. The sweet potato fries, on the other hand, came in a large portion, but were nothing special. -
Review from Skye W.
6/4/2010
The food here was worse than Kona and pricier. I shared three appetizers with my gfs: wings, summer rolls, and the skirt steak. They were all mediocre. The beers were nothing special. I got the IPA and it was lukewarm. I agree with the other reviews that the service is pretty slow. The ambiance is nice, I really liked the outside patio seating and thus, an extra star for Waimea Brewing.
Suggestions: Please make your menu better, and make sure you have all your beers on tap.
Also, the happy hour special SUCKS! -
Review from Megan H.
Arlington, VA
9/8/2010
We've tried brewing companies before and were always met with good food and good beer. This one, well, I'm not sure what to make of it.
We got seated right away outside on the lanai, and it was really pretty out there. It took a while for a waitress to come over and take our orders and bring out our beer and food, but we were in no hury. So we noticed it, but it wasn't that big of a deal for us.
We all tried different beers they had on tap, and we were all pretty happy with our selections. We also ordered sweet potato fries as an appetizer, and I'm still not sure if I liked it or not. They were more like potato wedges, and they were purple, not orange, like the ones I'm used to seeing in resturants. They weren't bad tasting ... just different.
I ordered "The catch of the day", as recommended to us by the waitress when I asked her what was good. It was far from good. In fact, so far from good that it was terrible! I grew up in hawaii, and had fresh fish before. This fish was far from fresh. Even though it was covered with some type of sauce and a fruit salsa, the fish literally tasted like garbage. The only time I've smelt or tasted a fish that bad was when it was spoiled. I ate a total of 4 small bites and decided to just pour some shoyu on the rice and eat that.
My friend ordered a shrimp scampi, and it was decent. I tried it, and although it was a better choice than my fish, it was average, at the best. The size of the shrimp were huge, so that was a definate plus.
My other friend ordered a burger, which was probabbly the safest bet there.
I'm not sure if I will be coming back to this place. Maybe for some beer and to enjoy the grounds. But definately not for the food! -
Review from Sarah D.
Berkeley, CA
6/12/2009 6 photos
Honestly I was a little disappointed. I LOVE trying new beers and going to breweries and pairing it with the food but here, defiantly not like your CA brew pubs. I hate to compare but a place like this needs a down home food/beer makeover. I was trying to get a sense of the beer culture here, who the brewmaster is, what flavors they are going for but we didn't get that at all but they had a lot of t'shirts for sale :)
We ordered a sampler and like a true beer critic I took notes ;) and typical of me I ordered the fish and chips. Defiantly not pub fish and chips, more like fish and chips from the frozen food isle. They were just really over cooked. We also had the pulled pork sammy which was decent.
Now the beer: they have some work to do but overall not bad. My favorites were the Fonz IPAaaaaa, Leilani light and Wai'ale'ale Ale. We also tried Hawaii Nui Brewing Company Hapa Ale which was on tap.
oh and yes, the service is on hawaii time as they say.
Glad we tried it. Aloha!Listed in: I am here for the Beer -…
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Review from Andy B.
Seattle, WA
6/11/2010
There is normal time, there is Hawaii time, there is Kauai time... And then there is Waimea Brewing Company time. We stopped here on our way down from a road trip to the canyons. I am a sucker for breweries and this joint's distinction as the "World's Westernmost Brewery" most definitely tickled my pickle.
We decided to sit out on the patio where the troupe of feral cats and chickens put on a show for anyone willing (or unwilling) to pay attention. About 7-10 minutes after we sat down our waitress showed up to take our orders. After we quizzed her for her recommendations for a solid brew, she notified us that she was (and I quote) "Not of alcoholic age"... Ok....
We proceeded to order a sampler and a couple of pints and some food. 5 minutes go by, I am getting bored looking at the cats. 10 minutes go by, the cats get bored staking out our table for food. 15 minutes go by, I realize I am getting a). seared by the sun b). really thirsty.... Finally about 25 minutes after ordering we get our beers and our food.
The grub was decent. I had the wings in a garlic sauce, which were perfect for some cold beers.. Unfortunately, the beer was somewhere between cool and lukewarm (lukecool?). The IPA was good, the wheat was subpar (and I usually love wheat)..
All in all, a good place to visit just to say you've been there, but not necessarily a place I would come back to. Check out the close by Shrimp Truck instead -
Review from Larry M.
9/5/2008
I had this restaurant recommended to me by a couple people and saw some guide books that recommended it. My wife and I had scheduled massages at the Waimea Plantation (located on the grounds) and there are not a lot of dining options in Waimea so we ended up here.
LOCATION/ATMOSPHERE: The restaurant is located in the Waimea Plantation. It can be seen from the road when driving through Waimea Town. Like a lot of other places in Kauai, you get the real feeling that this is just a hole in the wall type of place. There are no large obnoxious signs and definitely not a touristy feeling to the place. There is outdoor seating, but we decided to eat at the open air indoor seating which was nice. There is a bar inside as well as dining tables.
FOOD: We were here for lunch. I had a fish combo, which included a seared Ahi, which was cut into cubes. It had been lightly marinated. It was probably one of the best fish items I ate on the whole trip. It also came with a local fresh fish that was fried. The fish were small (but there was a lot of them) and tasted good but I thought they were a little overdone. It also came with fries that were great and appeared to be homemade. There was also coleslaw (again it appeared homemade). Their tartar sauce for the fried fish was awesome and had bits of mango in it.
They also make their own beer on site. I had a sampler and tried all of them, except one that they were out of. One of the lighter beers was excellent and I had a pint of it.
PRICE: I felt this was a great value, considering everything is expensive in Hawaii. I think we paid about $60 for lunch for 2 which included alcohol, not bad. Typical of the Kauai laid-back lifestyle, they seemed to take great care in the food but did not care about capitalizing on their name/location/food/beer. They had logo shorts on the wall but the waitress said they did not sell them anymore because they "ran out."
I also asked if they bottled or sold their beer anywhere and again they did not because they used to and they "ran out." If this place was in Los Angeles, they would have a merchandise store that was larger than their restaurant selling beer and all sorts of overpriced junk. Here, they just seem content to make great food in a great atmosphere.
RECOMMENDATION: I really wanted to come back here and try some of their other items, but had limited time on the island and could not. I strongly recommend stopping here, at least for lunch. It is nice to have something a bit more reasonable priced but still great quality. If you do stop here, be sure to spend time wandering the grounds of the Waimea Plantation. -
Review from Ed S.
Honolulu, HI
10/29/2007 1 photo
... Whew! What a drive huh? And how about that view? I bet you're hungry for lunch now huh? Well, I've got just the place for you! Let's hit the "World's Westernmost Brewpub", the Waimea Brewing Company Restaurant.
The Waimea Brewing Company is the self-proclaimed, westernmost pub in the world. To get here, you would drive down that exhausting, winding Waimea Canyon Road, and, instead of turning left to head back towards town, you'd actually take a right (at the West Kauai Technology & Visitor Center). Waimea Brewing Co. will be on your left.
Now I'm not condoning mid-day alcohol consumption by any means, but if you're a beer connoisseur, you'd enjoy the home-brewed beers at this place, especially after being out in the sun for the past few hours.
The menu is quite extensive, ranging from pupus like Mango-stout BBQ Ribs and flash fried calamari rings, to entrees like "Jawaiian" Chicken and Coconut Prawns, to burgers to desserts. And this does not include their large drink menu too. On this occasion, I figured the best thing to go with my booze was their "Hawaiian Burger", a 1/2 pound Angus burger with a thick slice of fresh pineapple & teriyaki sauce served on an onion bun.
Read my complete Kau Kau Kauai article (with photos) here:
http://www.world-wide-... -
Review from Jeremy M.
Redondo Beach, CA
10/16/2009
With an evolving menu offering both authentic Hawaiian food and standard fare, the Waimea Brewing company has more to offer than just beer. Although, the beer IS excellent.
Beer: Try the beer sampler: you get to try 8-9 samples (generous portions!) of what they have in stock. Most the beer is good, a few excellent and a one or two mediocre.
Food: we had garlic chicken wings, and mahimahi. The wings were excellent - crunchy in a surprisingly good way, slightly sweet and a little zesty. They in no way felt like the grease-laden mess that is your typical basket of wings. The mahimahi was amazing too, with an amazing Hawaiian sauce. The fried rice also deserves to be mentioned because, like the wings, it was tasty without being oily.
Service: the staff was friendly and helpful. Prices were very reasonable. The ambiance was fairly nice, we were looking for a relaxing meal after our flight and were rewarded by a nice view of a tiki-torched lawn leading to the ocean beyond. However, if you're looking for a more lively atmosphere, the bar area had live Hawaiian music and a fair number of people. -
Review from Chuck D.
Marana, AZ
9/21/2010
Great location, slow service, great food. We ate at the brewing company part of the restaurant. There appears to be a more formal place called the Grove cafe further back in the building.
The food was well prepared and very tasty. We had mostly appetizers. All were great. -
Review from Molly D.
Olympia, WA
1/8/2011
I'm surprised at the range of reviews for this restaurant, as we had a great experience here! My fiance and I had a delicious meal and got great, friendly service, although it was a little on the slow side. We were there on a week night and the place was packed (we were on the lanai), and it seemed like they had far too few servers for the number of tables. I can only assume the kitchen was probably staffed similarly. Our server was working his heart out though, so we just sipped our beers and rolled with the island time and didn't get too excited about it.
We were both pretty pleased with our meals. I got the macadamia-panko crusted shrimp with the sweet potato fries, and he got the poke wrap. Unlike other reviewers I loved the sweet potatoes. And news flash for others, sweet potatoes come in multiple colors, and not all foods are the same colors in mainland America as they are in other countries or locations. This does not make them better or worse, just different. But I digress. The fries were a GORGEOUS purple color, and delicious to boot. Somewhat reminiscent of kumara in New Zealand.
As for the beer, we only tried the Waialeale and the Captain Cook IPA, and the IPA blew the other out of the water. The aroma on the IPA was the perfect bouquet of the islands- a woody earthiness mixed with passion fruit and tropical flowers, and a wonderful hoppy beer to back it up. We enjoyed several of these with our dinner and were only disappointed we hadn't found this brewery earlier in our trip!
We will definitely be coming back to this place next time we're on the island, and our only improvement would be with the other folks, a little more waitstaff would take this place to the next level. -
Review from John G.
5/14/2009
2.5 stars. Mediocre at best. We stopped here back from touring the Waimea Canyon based on a guide book. Service was slow, like we waited for 8 min after seating for someone to show up. Interesting as it was not crowded either.
Beers were just ok, and the food was just basic. We had burgers, boiled shrimp, chicken sandwich and pork sandwich. High prices in my opinion. It was very casual. They have a bar area, and outdoor patio which we sat on. Unfortunately, they did not have fans on, and our food was visited by the flies. Ugh!
Good food places in this area of the island are hard to find. Perhaps next time we should pack a lunch. -
Review from Jim S.
Highlands Ranch, CO
8/7/2010
We stayed at the cottages and thought we would give it a try. The appetizer (nachos) came out wrong then our food came out seconds after sending them back despite the waiter promising good timing. $35 for 2 pork sandwiches on cheap hamburger buns with a dash of BBQ sauce and a massive plate of nachos.
They did however give us prime seating for the local hawaiian music and our food was out fast. Still, if its food you are coming for, don't bother -
Review from Tracy D.
San Francisco, CA
2/13/2007
The Waimea BrewCo, the world's westernmost brewpub, as they like to bill it, is a great place for frosty beers after heading out to Polihale or up Waimea Canyon.
We didn't have food here, but the beers are tasty, service is relaxed and friendly, and their back patio is shared with the Waimea Plantation Cottages with a great view.
Would definitely recommend this as a stop. -
Review from Megan M.
Ashland, MA
10/4/2007
We stopped here for lunch after driving up the Waimea Canyon. The service was good, we weren't yet on "island-time", so a little slow for us. The bartenders were pretty amusing, singing along to the songs playing, and joking around w/ each other. It was a slow time of day (about 2pm), and there weren't many people in there.
The beer was good (I had the Leilani Light, and my husband tried the Cane Fire Red, which was REALLY hoppy).
We had the plantation nachos, which were terrific--covered in jalapenos, just how I like them. For lunch, the husband had the Volcano Burger, and I had the Santa Fe chicken sandwich. Both were really good.
All in all, a good lunch, and nice place to stop once you spend your morning driving up the windy canyon roads. -
Review from Mei B.
San Francisco, CA
1/27/2008
The guide book we had said their beer taste funny. We thought it was good (not great). What was great was their 'peel and eat' shrimp, steamed with ale. it was delish. Cool little place but my guess is most of the patrons are guests from the Waimea Plantation cottages.
So where the locals at? -
Review from Jamie W.
Crested Butte, CO
4/18/2010
Wow. We were so disappointed by the new Grove Cafe (formerly Waimea Brewing Company). The old brewery cafe was so awesome with great food, perfect drinks and nice service. We had to dine there every time we visited Waimea, especially for the Kalua Pork which was the best on the island.
Now, the new Grove Cafe has a distinct asian flavor and removed the old signature dish, Kalua Pork. The service was painfully slow even though the place wasn't crowded. All the courses were served all at once, even though we specifically asked for the soups and salads to be served early.
The only positive things I can say is that there is expanded seating now facing the palm tree courtyard and the prices are still reasonable.
Sadly, we will not ever go back there again without the Kalua Pork. -
Review from Ben C.
Chicago, IL
3/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
Pass! Poor food and service and OK beer.
