Kona Kitchen Reviews

Our favorite place for "local food" from Hawaii when we are in Seattle. Very tasty and generous portions. We have liked everything we've ordered, although our favorites are the hamburger steak with onions, kalua pork with cabbage, and the teriyaki (chicken and beef). Love the mac salad!

Ridiculous! It says it opens at 12:00 you can never get anyone on the phone, no one is over there to open up this restaurant, it's extremely unprofessional

I live on the east coast where the one kind of food I cannot find is the food of my early childhood, Hawaiian. On a trip to Seattle, I decided to try and find it since I can't afford the money or time to get back to the Islands that often. I found it here. Saimin, lau lau, lomi lomi, loco moco, kalua pig, no poi or haupia but a heavenly---it brought tears to my eyes---haupia cake. Ate so much at lunch, I didn't eat again until the next day. Not a trip home but the next best thing. The staff was full of aloha on a grey Seattle day.

I have a Traeger smoker, and use it often, but the pulled pork here had a better taste than the best pulled pork I've done for myself. They also have authentic Kona coffee, which was flavorful and wonderful as well.

We stopped here about a month ago for lunch on our way to a movie. I remember the food and service being good, but what I really remember is the state of the building and interior. I don't think the interior has been updated since WA state voters banned smoking in public places in 2005. The walls and ceiling tiles are stained yellow. There are several water damage stains in several places on the ceiling. The formica on most of the tables was worn off on the edges, and the tables just felt greasy, or slightly sticky. Everything just seemed dingy. It all made me wonder how clean the kitchen is.

Really enjoyed the breakfast on our first visit to Kona, the menu has plenty of options for all types of palates, but really excels with the Hawaiian food. The kitschy style of the restaurant adds to the all around ambiance. I would love to go back and eat there again!

I have eaten at Kona Kitchen many times and never had a bad experience. The plate lunches are very good, I love the chili frank with rice and mac salad. Their mac salad is very tasty. My wife always gets an omelet and loves them. The coffee is 100% Kona and my only complaint is that they don't have Splenda and real cream or half and half, they have Equal and Coffee Mate. The prices are very reasonable, for Seattle or anywhere else. Overall a great place to eat and highly recommended.

If you've been to Hawaii & are missing some authentic Hawaiian cuisine or planning a trip to the islands & would like a sample beforehand, this is the place to go (and yes, they have that Hawaiian favorite, spam, on the menu! My friends loved it!) Very family friendly! Also good for vegetarians & vegans. Although not a separate menu, I was able to find options, which is often a challenge for me when dining with friends.

Kona Kitchen is a great place to eat. Their menu has many great items to choose from for any appetite. We have been trying different soups that have some Asian flavor. Kona Kitchen has a soup called Saimin and it is delicious. They have great Hawaiian plates with plenty of food and wonderful flavors. We went on a Wednesday night and they have a great ukulele group called STRUM. Seattle totally relaxed ukulele musicians at 6pm until 8pm.

Kona Kitchen will never be a Palisade or Canlis - doesn't try to be and doesn't need to be. It's more like a restaurant that you find in Waipahu or Waianae - local grinds and family style. Good loco moco, great mac salad, great mochiko chicken. Kinda expensive for a plate lunch, but lots of food and genuine. I've had several lunches there and it gets crowded later to where there's no room in the parking lot, but decent street parking. Ono, Brah!

Great all day breakfast and lunch spot. Will definitely go back!! Lunch platters are excellent, food was really tasty and service was great

We've eaten at Kona Kitchen a couple of times for lunch/dinner, but this was our first visit for breakfast. We'll be back: our food was great, and came out of the kitchen super-fast. I had the Diamond Head platter, which was bacon, sausage, eggs, and thick French toast made from sweet Hawaiian bread. It was fab. The wife ordered biscuits and gravy which she devoured, and our daughter got the classic benny which was the perfect size. The food was consistently great and was just the right amount: not overwhelming, but plenty to fill us up.

Pretty unpretentious place with a good variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner options for traditional Hawaiian food. I had Mochicko chicken that was very tasty. Also appreciated how the steamed carrots and broccoli were cooked just right and not overdone mush. French fries were also good. I'll be back soon and next tim it's Loco moco for me, which I hear is also excellent here.

Great hawaiian plate lunch-style. How do I love it? Let me count the ways... kalua pig, huli huli chicken, mochiko chicken, spam musubi, locomoco. It's all good. Great beer selection and a reallyfriendly staff. It's our family go to restaurant.

We were referred to the restaurant by a local resident. It's an older building with character, (the owner was in the Karate Kid movies and there's some evidence in the restaurant of his past acting roles). The omelettes were great, service was prompt and the price was good. If you are looking for a local experience aside from some of the chains, this is clearly a good selection. Parking can be tight for the area, otherwise, this is clearly a favorite local breakfast spot.

Kona Kitchen is a nice place to get a Hawaiian experience. The menu is not all Hawaiian. There are plenty of standard American style dishes on there as well. With this being my first time here and it being a special occasion dinner, I and a couple others went with the Kalua Pig and Cabbage. I actually found this to be a good choice, but I do have agree with other family members. There was a bit too much water on the bottom of the dish. It did take a way a bit from the flavor, but it still turned out OK for me. Service was good for a slower night. Dining room had some nice Hawaiian decor throughout. The Hawaiian karaoke coming from the bar area added a nice touch to the dining experience. It sounds like some of the other family members have no interest in going back to Kona Kitchen. For me, it was still a good experience and I probably would go back and try something else. Not a bad little getaway to the islands without leaving Seattle.

We stumbled upon this restaurant because it was close to our Air B n B. We don't have any Hawaiian restaurants where we're from, so my husband was delighted to see the "Plate Lunch". We were able to feed our family of five with diverse tastes, including one picky vegetarian, for a reasonable fee. The macaroni salad was amazing - I don't even like mac salad but gobbled this up! Highly recommend this restaurant.

Pulled pork with cabbage was exceptional. Even the rice was good and also tasty. We also had a macaroni salad with grated carrots. The food was ready on time. We look forward to dining here in the future.

Ordered takeout for the full Hawaiian experience at home as we watched the UW at Hawaii football game. We popped in and sipped a Kona Longboard Lager at the tiki bar while waiting for our food. We ordered Kalua Pig w/cabbage Kalbi beef short-ribs and and Chicken Katsu. All come with rice and mac salad. Our favorites were the Kalua Pig and the Kalbi beef...can hardly wait to go back for seconds on those. The mac salad was pretty good, but not worth ordering an extra side of it...little too much mayo for my tastes. All in all a great island stop for that 'local' fix of great food, friendly people and 'aloha' spirit.

The interior of restaurant seemed a little dated and dark, but the service and food here are great. So many choices on the menu made it hard to decide what to order. I had the North Shore plate lunch (chicken katsu). Tasty, sweet sauce on the chicken breast, and a generous portion of food on my plate.

I have been here many times for breakfast. (I haven’t tried it for lunch or dinner.) It is not “elegant“ dining, but it is a great neighborhood spot when you want a welcoming place to eat. The staff is well- trained and friendly. (I think many if not most are related.) The food is well- prepared and the servings are large. I have usually gone on weekdays shortly after they open, when they are relatively empty and the food comes out fairly quickly.

We came on a recommendation and was pleasantly surprised. There was a bit of a wait to get a table but once we were seated, we were taken care of. The atmosphere was great and the food was good. Definitely recommending to all my friends!

This is a great drop in family style restaurant with a split personality at night in Yuji's lounge. Hawaiian themed decor and an Asian Hawaiian take on comfort food. Kalua Pig, spam musubi, A tomato based Beef Stew, Huli(Hawaiian teriyaki) Chicken, Chicken Katsu, meatloaf, and the Salmon- teriyaki or Hawaiian salted, are stand outs. A bit more variety and more seafood, plus regular specials would really be welcome here. The lunch and dinner menu are both the same offerings. Good solid well prepared food at a reasonable price. One thing they do right is Fries. I'm a french fry snob and these are pretty darn good. Nicely crisp, tender inside, just a touch heavy on salt, which is how I like them. One knock, not to have a Curry and more seafood options on the menu in a Hawaiian restaurant. For shame! The breakfasts here are great, probably the best thing they do. The usual suspects are all available, add in more spam and Portagee sausage for the Hawaiian connection. Biscuits and Gravy, Eggs Benedict, Loco Moco, Hawaiian Fried Rice with Eggs are top notch. Breakfast is available all day and night. During the day and early evening, there are the owners kids running around. Yuji and Angie Okumoto with Mother in Law Liz, are friendly and happy to try and make your dining experience a reason to come back. It's family oriented, and it shows in the atmosphere. It's the kind of place you go to eat, and take your time over another cup of coffee or beverage, read the paper over breakfast, and relax. Service is pretty good, sometimes a bit slow, but no real reason to complain, go with the Hawaiian theme of slow down and relax, it's worth it. Take friends from out of town here, it's a great place to talk without it being overly noisy and crowded. Yuji Okumoto is an actor as well. Karate Kid II is one of his better known roles, and take a few minutes to check out the pictures of actors and friends scattered about the restaurant. Later at night, the split personality shows. The Lounge-bar comes to life and the Karaoke starts. Some good singers hang out here, and some bad ones too. The drinks more than make up for the bad singers. It's a fun evening with a Blue Hawaiian or one of Angie's large martinis to help you along. Every first Thursday of the month is a comedy competition. Not a family oriented entertainment, but quite a bit of fun as some good stand up comics have been coming by to take part. Two things overlooked in most reviews is the restrooms and parking. The restrooms here are well maintained and like Tony Bourdain says in his books -If the restroom which is easy to clean, isn't clean, what does that say about the kitchen? Plenty of street parking in addition to a good parking lot. Overall, this is a good place to make a regular stop on a rotation for good food, drinks, and friendly service. [---]

Everything I've had is excellent! Reminds us of our vacation in Hawaii last year! I like the spam fried rice the best (it's a large portion).

Had a craving for Hawaiian food. Had their locomoco and spam masubi. Reminded me of Hawaii. Also never had kimchee fried rice before, it was good. Definitely will go back to try their other menu items.

We were here for lunch not long ago, meeting up with my brother-in-law who lives nearby. I was hoping for a tasty plate lunch, like what we get in Hawaii. We were not disappointed. This is an unpretentious, local place that would be hard to spot if you weren't looking for it. There is street parking only, and we were lucky fo find a spot nearby. Our waiter was very nice. Now on to the food. I had what was probably the best teriyaki chicken I've EVER had. I had a plate lunch, so it included rice and a spring roll and a small scoop of mac salad. It was SO good! The prices were very reasonable too. I don't remember what the others in our group had, but everyone really enjoyed their meals. Next time I'm in Seattle, I will absolutely be back here!

I almost hate giving this spot too good of a rating, as it is on weekends it can be a bit of a wait. Food is awesome - best Hawaiian Fried Rice this side of Honolulu.

If you've been to Hawaii and enjoyed some of the food and don't want to fly back for a great Loco Moco go to Kona Kitchen, in Seattle. Their Macaroni salad is the best. They also have delicious cakes from the Paradise Bakery.

I live nearby and had been wanting to try Kona Kitchen for some time, and finally ended up going before seeing Moana with my partner. (We love a good themed-date.) I had the Hawaiian BBQ Chicken and he had the Kahlua Pig and Cabbage. Both were wonderful. I loved the kitsch-y ambiance and that everything came out extremely fast for a sit down restaurant. The macaroni salad was easily the best I've ever had.

I’m really not sure what to make of the positive reviews of this place. The food isn’t bad, but it’s seriously mediocre. The mochiko chicken and the Korean chicken were both soggy and under-seasoned, and even the mac salad was completely bland. The laulau aren’t even worth commenting on—they taste like they’ve been frozen. All in all, it’s not anything like local food in Hawai’i—except maybe for the names. And $50 for 2 people to have a quick lunch? Won’t be back.

Nothing fancy, just good food. My favorite place to get spam musubi and mac salad. Their Mochiko Chicken is really good too.

We recently ate here, with family in town. The kids loved the pancakes and french toast, and the POG. I tried the Hawaiian Sweet Bread French toast and it was good. It wasn't too sweet. Service was good, even though it was a busy weekend morning.

Our party of three had a variety of foods--outstanding omelet, excellent Hawaiian pork and cabbage dish and a soup. We were all delighted with our food

Their 'Chili Burger' is almost too much food for one person, nothing all that spectacular on the menu.

There are a surprising number of Hawaiians in Seattle. Fortunately some of them created Kona Kitchen. This place truly reminds me of a neighborhood place on the islands. The breakfasts and lunches are very generous with a healthy portion of rice, which I like. In the past when I craved Hawaiian food I would go to L&L. Now I will go to Kona Kitchen. Five stars to differentiate Kona Kitchen.

First impressions don’t tell the story. The restaurant is dated and not at all fancy. When you walk in the layout makes it a little confusing how to get a table. and nobody is in any rush to help. If you get stressed about inconsistent service you need to check that at the door. Or stay away. When you do interact with the staff, its friendly, but everyone seems lackadaisical. Weird things like forgetting you for a long time. Even the the place isn’t all that busy. Food comes out for other tables that were seated after you. Silly stuff like that. Aight moving on.... The food. is excellent. And authentic. And comfort. (Read that: ain’t nothing here healthy.). I had the ‘fried rice loco moco’. Just like the beach hut in Kauai. Pass-out- on-the- couch coma inducing. Just do it.

If it wasn't 45 degrees and drizzly outside you would think you were in a typical Hawaiian "greasy spoon" diner. The menu is tilted towards chicken dishes, with various Asian and Hawaiian preparations and saucing. I would like to see more fish choices (like you typically do in similar restaurants in the Islands), but the few available are not bad. Do not expect gourmet fare or elegant presentations -- this is strictly comfort food, and priced accordingly.

Plate lunch has always been a lunch favorite when I am in Hawaii. I have eaten at a few "Hawaiian" cafes on the west coast, but was never impressed. I ate at Kona Kitchen today, for the first time. I was impressed! My friend had Kalua Pig & Cabbage and I had the Northshore (pork katsu). Both were delicious. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the menu is extensive. The service was efficient and very friendly. I highly recommend giving it a try.

We ate at Kona Kitchen for lunch. Unfortunately the daily special, which we wanted, was not available--but we enjoyed an alternative pork dish. Loved the macaroni salad, which I have not had in years. Service was friendly and good.

I like the pig at Kauai Family better, but this gets high marks for being open on Sunday AND being a few blocks away. It'll be a staple of our brekkie options.

Loco Moco, Spam Misubi & Hawaiian Fried Rice.... No place better... awesome breakfast also.

What a delightful surprise right around the corner from our daughters house. Not fancy so wearing jeans and Blue Friday Seahawk shirts was totally acceptable for brunch. Daughter had the Biscuits and Gravy, husband had the Portuguese Sausage Benedict and I had the Diamond Head. All GREAT! OF COURSE there is SPAM on the menu. Hawaii has the highest consumption of SPAM per capita in the world 😁

I have a particular fondness for what I think of Hawaiian food. By that I mean that wonderful mix and cross-breed of east, west, and original flavors and styles, with those odd little things like mac salad and spam musabi. Oh, and deep fried. Lots of deep fried. I wouldn't say that the menu at Kona Kitchen is especially healthy - but that's not why I eat this kind of food. If I want gluten-free vegan I'll go someplace else. If I want tasty deep-fried pork or chicken goodness, well, Kona Kitchen is the best place this side of Hilo. Try the Loco Moco with fried rice.

Big portions, friendly service, and tasty food! Makes me wish I was back in Hawaii...

Limited menu, Spam is on most of the dishes they prepare, it is a tight fit and not very comfortable, Chairs were horrible. Did not get the order correct but were willing to fix it quickly. Service was very nice adn you could see there were lots of regular's. I will not return and can not recommend it. A little disappointed since i had seen reviews on here before. I did learn you can not always trust all the reviews.

Beef Patty with and egg and gravy over fried rice. Awesome combo for a "stick with you all day" breakfast

I brought a group of 50 college students to Kona Kitchen. Liz set everything up and we had a fantastic buffet-style meal that my students and I loved. My students from Hawaii approved highly! I appreciated that there were a couple of vegetarian options for those who requested it. I saw a poster on here notes that the space was tight--there was plenty of room for both our very large group and the other patrons.

Decent Hawaiian food. A bit mass-produced, but fine.

Our visit to Kona Kitchen last night was very good... AND very bad. On the good side... the food is amazing. We began with an appetizer of Kalua Pig Quesadilla to share around the table. To die for delicious!!! However... the plate was put down in the middle of the table, with no extra plates for us to use, so we used our paper napkins to catch the messy drippings of pig. Next, our dinner was served, well I should say TWO of our dinners were served. We waited, and waited, and waited... and waited some more for MY dinner to be served. While my companion's dinner cooled, we talked and continued to wait for my plate. Eventually we caught our server as she flew by our table and pointed out the issue. She immediately ran to the kitchen and brought it out... it was lukewarm. The Chicken BBQ was delicious, the steamed veggies (broccoli and carrots) were fresh and tasty, but the mashed potatoes were 'instant'... ick. My advice? Order the Macaroni Salad. We waited and waited and waited some more for our server to return and ask about dessert. Our group had decided on sharing a piece of Guava Cake. Instead... our server plopped down the little tray with the bill. We explained we wanted dessert... and proceeded to order. They were all out of Guava Cake. OK... our back up plan was the Rainbow Cake. Nope... no more of that either. There were only 2 more cakes on the menu... so we chose the one with coconut. She whisked the bill off the table and returned promptly with a clear take-out clamshell with our cake and unceremoniously dropped it in the middle of the table. Our dirty plates and utensils were still at our places, no refills of any beverage were offered either. As our server zoomed passed us again we caught her attention and asked for utensils and a plate to put the cake on. She dropped off 3 plastic forks, and a bowl... and sped away again. The cake was heavenly! So... the take away of all of this is... this is NOT fine dining. It is down home good cooking. The portions were generous, and in most cases there will be enough leftovers to take home and enjoy as a snack. The bill for 3 of us was about $50. We shared an appetizer and a dessert, and each ordered a dinner entree and a simple beverage.

Outstanding food, the Katsu Loco Moco fried rice was amazing at first I though it was a little pricey but there was enough for lunch and dinner.

Was good. I remember going to karaoke on two different Saturday nights.

My sisters and I go here for breakfast, but we cannot get past the fried rice and eggs (a childhood tradition on Sunday mornings after Church). We have tried the Hawaiian bread French Toast (which was good) and we tried many of their menu choices at a breakfast buffet on Father's Day (pretty much all good) but the fried rice keeps us coming back. Friends tell me the the Moko Loco is better than they have had in the Islands, but I'm not a hamburger fan,

Food was decent, but didnt really make an impression. Felt like good home cooked food...good but you leave wondering why you paid for it when you could have made it yourself.

My husband I came here a few weekends ago after the first 2 place we had planned on trying out had very long wait time. After we struck out at our favorite Hawaiian restaurant, Kauai Family Restaurant, (it was jammed packed at 11am with a live band and there was at least 2 other parties waiting outside for a table) I remembered that I had Googled other local Hawaiian restaurants in the Seattle area and Kona Kitchen popped into my head. We headed there after Kauai and it took us about 20 minutes or so to get there and the place is located in a cute neighborhood. We didn't have to wait long, (there was 3 other parties ahead of us) maybe 15 minutes or so and the waiting area is actually quite spacious. You can watch the other patrons eat and chat and the place was full. The workers were quick to clear off the tables and the manager, a cute little older lady, was hands on deck in helping out. After we got seated, our server greeted us and got us coffee before we ordered our food. There was quite the selection to choose from so I went with the first thing that popped out at me: their chicken katsu fried rice loco moco. Oh. My. Gosh. It was so ONO! My husband had their fried rice loco moco and he enjoyed it but the one I had tho. The brown gravy was rich, salty, dark and just full of flavor. The fried rice had spam and bbq pork in it and was delicious. The chicken katsu was hot, crispy, and so satisfying. The fried sunny side up egg on top was perfection. The portion was huge and I ate about a 1/4 of it before I got full. We also ordered 2 spam musubi that we didn't even eat because we were enjoying our loco moco so much. The service was good, nothing wowing or out of the ordinary. Another cool thing too is that the restaurant is owned by Yuji Okumoto, the guy who played "Chozen" in Karate Kid II. How cool is that?! To sum it up, the place is fantastic and we can't wait to go back. It might even become our new favorite Hawaiian restaurant over Kauai Family Restaurant in a short period of time. Go try the place out. You won't be disappointed, at least I hope not :)

First time at the new location in Lynnwood. We both had the Loco Moco. Really good, not quite as terrific as the place where we go to on Maui. But that could be the difference in the weather, we had snow on the ground when we went here. Our waitress was terrific and friendly. We will definitely go back. They had a big menu to pick from!

I am a big fan of breakfast, but It was tough just having breakfast here, as they have so many other great sounding choices. The list of sides and extras has 30 items! I enjoyed the eggs and portuguese sausage, and I plan to get to some of the other offerings in the future

Kona is a special place to visit. We go for both lunch and dinner and find the terricki food great. We usually get the Bonzi meal amd always have some left to take home for lunch next day. As a special feature they have a ukulele group that meets there on a weekly basis and plays lots of great music.

They had the best moco loco. And it was a ton of food. We also had the fried rice, teriyaki chicken and extra pasta salad. The service was great. They played Hawaiian music and the atmosphere was really laid back. It was a great meal and experience. I would love to eat here again.

Good mixed drinks and karaoke night, the food is mediocre

We happened upon this place while staying nearby. I’m not an expert on Hawaiian cuisine but the food here was really good. Had the pork with cabbage which was tasty and big enough for the both of us (we’re not huge eaters). But what was outstanding was the Haupia cake - not too sweet and moist and rich. Service was also outstanding. Would recommend and will try to eat here again.

The food is fantastic. The portions are huge. The staff is friendly and efficient. The menu has plenty of choices and the Mac salad has to be the best I’ve ever tasted.

we live right across the street and frequent this wonderful establishment. the food is authentic hawaiian, delicious and served expeditiously by, for the most part, a delightful staff. the menu options are many and varied, so it will take years before we get bored. we really appreciate this restaurant and are thankful for its convenience to our home.

My daughters go here for breakfast, and we decided to try out their lunch menu. We ordered the bacon cheeseburger, a hamburger, and a veggie burger. Delightful waitress, Angie, who joked with us and asked us about our day. The food was delicious, but the service was a little slow. Pleasant Hawaiian music, food hit the spot, we recommend this place.

If you miss Hawaii and you're in the Seattle area, this is the place to go. The food was great and good sized portions. I tried the Kalua pig w/ cabbage, mochiko chicken and teri beef. All were very yummy. The servers are very attentive and friendly. The atmosphere is fun like a Hawaiian diner, restaurant is clean. I can't wait to return here and try some other items on the menu!

Sitting down to a plate of loco moco just feels right anytime of day. The place just has a Hawaiian vibe. The staff is friendly and helpful. There's autographed Hawaiian celebrity photos and posters on the walls and it's just homey. Take a date. Take your Mother. Take your family.