Manoa B B Q

All I ask is for some courtesy when I come in to spend my hard earned money. The lady is just rude. I understand there may be cultural differences but this is hawaii so assimilate god funnit! I want them to do well but her attitude and conduct is gonna put them out of business.

i wouldnt recommend this place! service sucks!!! no napkin! cashier was rude and the guy (chef) idk if he is? but damn he’s using his bare hands to put the patty on the grill and even with prepping my sandwich. and my soda has more ice than the soda. wth is this place so rip off! i put up one star bcoz the fries was pretty good. hot and crispy! other than that everything else is sucks!

Not the manoa BBQ that I remember. My mom and I had a BBQ cheeseburger. Not good at all. The BBQ sauce was very gelatinous. I couldn’t even finish my burger. The size of their burgers went down while the price went up.

Ugh, I was not impressed with this eatery in the Manoa Marketplace at all. I went here only because the Japanese restaurant next door (Tokoname Sushi Bar & Restaurant) that I was originally going to check out is closed on Mondays and I already came quite a ways from Waikiki. Should have checked Unilocal before coming here, if anything.
The lady behind the counter was pretty rude and unhelpful, plus it was so difficult to understand what she was saying. The place wasn’t all that well-​kept either. Thought the food portions were going to be decent, but certainly nothing like what you see in the images on the menu and on their windows. Paid quite a bit for so little, even with their so-​called value meals. Oh and no thank you’s either from the lady. Ripoff, indeed! Never going here again, ever!
Suck on that, lady!

Mom saw nice pictures in the window. So we went in. She ordered a Portuguese sausage egg sandwich/​coffee combo. I ordered a barbecue chicken sandwich/​fries/​coke combo. Mom’s enjoying her sandwich. My sandwich is ok. The fries were cooked while we waited. It has an unusual taste. Not sure what it is. Mom’s actually very happy. She said it’s nice to have different food once in a while.
And yeah they could be friendlier.
The Portuguese sandwich combo was $ 4.95 and mine $ 7.95 I think. Lost the receipt and it’s not listed on the menu I took.

I rate it a 0 … I have been going there for over 20 years. The original owner was awesome. The food and service was fantastic. Since a change of owners the portions are small and the prices are higher. One time I order a small tray of mochiko chicken and had to take it back, there was hardly anything in there. It didn’t even cover the bottom of the pan. Other occassions I have taken plates and she ask if we are eating at home she does not give utensils. I don’t recommend this place at a ll.

Great spot for local food. I got the garlic shrimp and chicken katsu combo and is was very good. The owner is almost always there and very nice! Great location, fast service and fresh food!

Mom and pop hole-​in-​the-​wall. Food’s alright, woman at the counter can be a little brusque (hehe).
The main thing I learned today is this:
Don’t buy loved ones gift cards from here. NOT WORTH THE HASSLE! Although they offer gift cards, it’s like they don’t know how to use them. We gave one to my grandma and they told her she had to use the whole amount at once or lose the remaining balance so she just paid in cash and left (card unused).
That seemed ridiculous but when I went there today to redeem it for her (on a larger order), they couldn’t check the balance and didn’t seem to understand that I could check the balance by phone if they just gave me back the silly card! Instead, the woman pulled out a hand-​written notebook with all the card #s and amounts on each card to verify the gift card and amount. No wonder they couldn’t let her use a partial credit. If they think they have to keep track of all their gift cards amounts by hand, that would be insane!
Anyhoo, just fyi. I don’t think they actually know how to use them properly and it’s kind of a headache to try.

Everything on the menu is $ 2.00 or more overpriced. Ordered a mini loco moco and thought for a minute she charged né for a regular dice it was $ 7.70 after tax. All the normal l & l spots would charge u $ 5.50 tops. Nothing impreessive from the food to the location. Bleh

HUGE portions. My guess is that what keeps this place going. When we arrived, there was a group of hungry teen baseball players refueling after a victory.
But apart from that practical benefit, there’s not much that makes this place distinct. Add to that the tough pork, slightly out of date beef and tough chicken, I’d say give this place a miss unless you must have plate lunch and you’re in Manoa
I guess we should mention that table had a bit of a film to it.

First off, I usually love local BBQ places. This one however was a true exception! I ordered the mini garlic shrimp plate. You get 5 tiny shrimp! I wasn’t impressed. While I was eating the shrimp I found them to be old and with the vein in. So I returned my food asking politely for a refund. The cashier was very rude and spoke under her breath. So let this be a warning. Don’t venture here

UPDATE
Manoa BBQ is DISGUSTING. My boyfriend and I decided to eat at Manoa Marketplace two weeks ago, and he ended up ordering a regular mochiko chicken plate from here. He ordered his plate with all white rice, since we both cannot eat mayonnaise. However, when he got his plate, he was pleasantly surprised to see that he had gotten two scoops of rice with a heaping scoop of macaroni salad, with mayo on his rice and chicken. He showed the lady at the register his plate and calmly explained that he cannot eat mayo, so she took the plate back. I thought they were going to make another plate for him, but instead, the cook threw the chicken back into the fryer, and they just removed the macaroni salad and replaced it with a scoop of rice… Okay. I understand that they don’t want to waste food, but what happened next was probably the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen at a restaurant… My boyfriend was picking around at his chicken, when he noticed something long and black stuck onto it. He tried to remove it but found that this piece of hair was FRIED onto the chicken. (Meaning, it hadn’t fallen onto his meat during the cooking process, but instead fallen onto the piece while it was being prepared and marinated in the fridge…) This was disgusting, and to top it all off, when we went back to show the cook and the lady at the register, they were completely unsympathetic. At first they pretended not to see the piece of hair until I actually removed it and showed it up close to them. Then, they tried to shrug the incident off until the cook finally decided to give us $ 4 back, since my boyfriend had «eaten half of his plate».
Also, as much as I hope that they adhere to the health code, I highly doubt it. I noticed that neither the cook nor the lady at the register wear gloves or hair nets. Also when the cook came up to the register to gave us our $ 4 in change, he proceeded to work in the kitchen without once washing his hands… All in all, I am completely disgusted with Manoa BBQ and will NEVER eat here again.

I honestly was shocked by the 1 and 2-​star reviews. I’ve been going to this place for years and have always enjoyed friendly, FAST service and yummy food. I especially love the BBQ chicken and Loco Moco — I make up my own mix plate.
I call ahead and it’s always ready when I get there, she even waits til I get there to scoop the mac salad so it’s nice and cold when I eat it.
I’ve also ordered catering from them, back when I was a restaurant manager. Generous portions and great discount.
They also serve breakfast all day, and although their breakfast menu isn’t too varied, it’s still good and hearty.
It’s plate lunch people! NOT GOURMET, and NOT mcdonald’s.

This place is disgusting and I don’t understand how they stay in business. I ordered a mini-​garlic shrimp plate and a mini-​garlic chicken plate. Their idea of «Garlic shrimp» and «garlic chicken» consists of taking canned garlic bits from Costco and pouring it over boiled chicken and peeled, frozen shrimp. Also, the mini plates cost over $ 7, and I got this small side of rice no bigger than a kid’s ice cream scoop. Side salad was three pieces of ice berg lettuce and a piece of carrot. I didn’t even finish the plate, the meat was so pathetic.
Go somewhere else.

We’ve passed by this place numerous times on our trips to Manoa Marketplace. Finally decided to give it a try. .. BIG MISTAKE.
1. Service was slow. There was only one other person ordering before us and we still had to wait 15 — 20 minutes for my food.
2. Mac salad tasted. .. stale. I don’t know any other way of describing it. I didn’t know mac salad could taste that way, but it did.
3. Rest of the plate lunch was bland.
Positives? Lots of parking. That’s it.
Needless to say, we won’t be coming back here.

OK if you need a Korean fix while in Manoa. But, I could make better kalbi and meat jun at home (not Korean, so not biased!)
Plusses: They give lots of sides, have some variety aside from Korean food (local style plate lunch stuff, and are quick)

I actually returned a plate lunch here today. Good thing it was my backup lunch (I also went next door and got a beef broccoli cake noodle) because if that was my only lunch, I seriously would have turned into the Incredible Hulk right there at Manoa Marketplace (minus the ripping off of the shirt).
I only got this backup lunch because I noticed a sign they put up advertising a new lunch plate – jai – for $ 6.99 and I got excited because I love jai. When I opened the box, though, my excitement quickly turned to sadness and then rage. :P My first reaction was surprise that anyone would serve a portion that small. The scoop of steamed rice on the side had more mass. The jai was weird-​looking: no sauce, no color, it looked like it was steamed, and everything was really little. The won bok cabbage bits were miniscule, the cheap rice noodles they used were the wrong kind and all broken up in tiny pieces, there were only a few itty bitty bits of bean curd stick – you get the picture. I took a bite and it was completely tasteless – no salt or sauce. The salad next to it was also tasteless, as it came with no dressing.
I marched right back into the store and nicely asked for my money back, explaining to the lady why I was dissatisfied. The first thing she said was, «But this is vegetarian.» What!!! Does vegetarian = sucky? Does vegetarian = cheap ingredients and no flavor? Does vegetarian = ripoff? Before any of that came out of my mouth, I composed myself, smiled at her and said, «My mother makes jai and it doesn’t taste like this.» (said with a dramatic flourish of my arm sweeping across the offending jai.)
She stopped arguing, looked into my eyes, concluded that I was not going away, and called the guy from the kitchen over. I remembered this guy from the other week, when I ordered a breakfast special with scrambled eggs but got eggs over easy instead, at which point I flew into a rage and destroyed the eggs by microwaving them into rubbery disks. :P Anyway, either this guy knew how sh***y his jai was or he felt bad about the eggs because he smiled at me and told her to return my money. The lady, on the other hand, was still telling me crap like, «Next time you no order this then!» and «But you ate one bite already!» I don’t care; I’m not going back.

This is a good place for what it is. A hole in the wall plate lunch spot. The food isn’t great and it isn’t bad, it’s just okay and that is fine with me. This is like my go to spot when I want something quick to grab that has rice on it and I don’t want to drive far (also they are usually open when other places are closed already or are closed on holidays). The hamburger curry mixed plate consisting of curry has huge pieces of beef, potatoes & carrots in a nice curry sauce, also with hamburger and teri beef is my go to item. A lot of food on the plate.
#Yelp 365 ⁰³⁶⁄₃₆₅
Date Visited: Monday, September 5, 2011

Ugh I know people! It isn’t the best. But it’s okaaay…
I have been coming here since I lived in Manoa ten years ago! I like the mini bbq chicken or mini chicken katsu curry. The service is not great but I like the food so I keep coming here. I also never have a hard time finding parking so that makes me happy too.

You know how it is when your hung over as f*ck and are just looking to shovel or *AHRMM* «meat pack» your face with that food remedy. Some seek phở, others a fat Denny’s breakfast. Me? If I can actually conjure myself out of bed, I always try to seek out a good Korean place. Even if it means a drive out to the always beautiful Manoa Valley.
Katsu! Had to have me some katsu! So here I was scanning the various paper print outs on the wall (alongside menu) as quick as I could because the lady at the counter, despite her long Saturday lunch line, was taking orders FAST. Went with their bento plate for $ 7.25 and it was an extra $ 1 for a side mac salad. Gotta have that, right?
Their bento comes with chicken katsu, mahi, teri beef and a slice of that local favorite mystery meat: SPAM. (BTW Thank you SPAM Jam for making it impossible for me to drive through Waiks yesterday). All of this on top of white rice, sprinkled with furikake flakes. On the side comes tartar for your mahi and that crappy sweet and sour style katsu dipping sauce you get at L & Death.
Everything here tasted good in that Korean dine-​in sort of way, especially their teri beef. If you don’t like your’s overly drenched in sauce, juicy, while still having that stronger ginger flavor (like I do), you’ll like theirs. They also use a slightly thicker cut of cow. The mac salad here I wasn’t too crazy about. It was more a tartar sauce base than mayo, even if neither are actually that appealing if you really think about it.
After a while, everything tasted the same going into my mouth. That deep fried plate lunch grease crescendo, if you catch my drift. It’s the main reason why gawd created curry, gravy and other methods of drowning your food in the first place. But in the end, not a bad price for how much they give and how fast your food comes out.
3 stars
Manoa Bar-​B-​Que (thought could’ve sworn it was «Bar-​B-​Q») in the Manoa Market Place