Mama’s Hawaiian Bar-B-Cue

We’ve been to this location more than a few times in the past year, unfortunately the service has been lacking the last couple of times. We were there last about 2 weeks ago and there was a woman that was waiting for her order for what seemed like a very very long time. In the time that it took for anyone to acknowledge us, actually order and finally get our order (even before she got hers), this poor woman was still waiting on her order. The food wasn’t as good as it had been in the past, and the service is mediocre at best. If you want consistently great food and great service, make the drive to the Speedway location near the UofA.

I typically love Hawaiian food! But this place is my least favorite by far… I lived in Hawaii and this place is a generic version of Hawaiian food. First, the teriyaki chicken was very dry and over cooked and the portion size was a so small and disappointing. Second, the macaroni salad was flavorless and not like authentic Hawaiian Mac salad (it was too sweet)! And third, the chile sauce they offer is like the one you would get at Thai restaurant or something, not for a Hawaiian grill. The only thing I slightly liked there was the Kalua pork. Every Hawaiian restaurant that I have been to, even in Texas have all had a generous amount of meat portions with really juicy flavorful chicken. Mamas Hawaiian Grill really need to work on their recipes and portion size. It may see good to people who have never had the real thing but I know the difference!
There is a little food truck that is on Davis Monthon Air Force Base and they have the best Hawaiian grilled food here in Tucson. The portion size is generous and the cook is Samoan, so you know right there it already amazing and the real thing! I know that not everyone can get on base to taste it but if you ever get a chance to try it and compare, you will see the difference.

I was looking for dinner and decided to check this place out despite some of the reviews I read. I wanted something flavorful and based on the recommendation of the guy behind the counter, I ordered the kalbi ribs and chicken katsu. When I got the order, I started munching, and OMG, the kalbi was very good and in fact, better than some of the Korean places I’ve been to in Phoenix. It had that BBQ crisp char and flavor, yum. I didn’t realize it at first, until I was halfway through my meal, but I ordered chicken katsu and it seems he gave me the kalua pork instead. I wasn’t angry, because the kalua pork was so good! So, it was very serendipity. I’m sure if I caught it beforehand, he would’ve fixed it. But 5 stars for a satisfying meal.

Food was good, but rather over priced we thought. Portions were good sized, could use some more selection. I’ve heard that the same restaurant on Speedway is much better than this one!

I get the response from the owner, I message him with my contact info and over a week later… no response? This does not sound to me like someone who would «appreciate the opportunity to personally address your concerns.»

I got back from Phoenix and needed to get cash at the Wells Fargo. I also had to pee really bad plus I was hungry so I decided to stop by this place that I had passed by many times. I ordered chicken katsu with rice and macaroni salad. The price was OK and the portions were good. My only complaints are that the rice seems a bit dry and could use a little more water when cooking to make it perfect and the chicken katsu was also dry and could’ve use some marinade or something for more flavor. That is just me being picky but overall this is a decent place to get food I may be revisiting, plus their restroom was pretty clean.

Just happened to be walking by. The french fries were fresh and hot the pork was tender and juicy. The best part was the macaroni salad is actually good. I’ve never had macaroni salad at a restaurant before that was any good. I suggest you try it it taste like homemade. They were nice and let me try the sauce when I asked what it was.

We have a new Catering option!
My company had an end of year party and we decided to cater with Mama’s. Boy everyone raved about the Kahlua pork and how tender and tasty it was.
Thank you Mamas, it was a success!!!

I have had take out from this place twice now. Both times we had the Kalbi short ribs, and the coconut shrimp.
First off the macaroni salad is tasty and creamy, and goes well with the salty sweetness of the meat. The side salad that I got was fresh and had little chunks of pineapple in it which was a nice change.
The ribs were thinly sliced and very tasty. They had a smoky flavor and a sweetness that you don’t find on other ribs. There was also some teriyaki sauce on the side that I would use to dip once in awhile.
The coconut shrimp was pretty standard although very good and not greasy. Everything was cooked perfectly and I would definitely come back here again.
I want to try the chicken katsu and the kalua pork.

I’m going to start this off by saying that the food was a ⁵⁄₅. I ordered Chicken Katsu and Kalua Pork with French Fries and Hawaiian Macaroni Salad. My boyfriend got Kalua Pork with Hawaiian Macaroni Salad and White Rice. It was all very delicious, wonderful portions for the price and was warm on delivery.
My problem? The delivery took 2 hours, when the location is only 10 minutes away from me. I called them after an hour and 10 minutes and they said that the delivery girl had JUST left with our order. She had apparently been out with another delivery when our order was placed. When she did show up, she was very apologetic that it had taken so long.
I do understand that things like that happen, BUT if you can’t handle delivery traffic then don’t deliver. I would have really appreciated a call explaining the situation, instead of having to call them myself (I gave my number with my order).
I’ve had Mama’s Hawaiian BBQ before on a different date where we picked it up, and the food was excellent then as well. But they need to work on their delivery service. We would really like to try ordering delivery from them again and hope that next time our experience will be better.
Business owner said they would contact me, but never have. Would love to at least be assured this wouldn’t happen again if I order delivery.

Clean and nicely A/C’d restaurant, friendly and prompt service, good value for amt of food we received. Food felt like it took awhile to come out (but could be also that I was in a rush to get to next errand, so we were on a bit of a time crunch), but in actuality it wasn’t that bad a wait and well worth it. Our dishes came out nice and hot, and were all very tasty. My daughter got a nice heaping plate of the kid’s kahlua pork with white rice, which she thoroughly enjoyed — added some of the BBQ sauce from one of the squeeze bottles at the table, to go on top. I shared the loco moco (or is it moco loco? lol) with my other daughter. Nice lady who took my order warned that the egg would be cooked sunny-​side up but had no problem with my requesting that it be over medium. It was cooked just right, and there was a large hamburger patty and generous amounts of sauce over the soft rice. My daughter loves any kind of sauce with her rice, so she gobbled her half up. I also shared an order of the wings with my little boy. The wings were sizable and nicely fried, with a good amount of BBQ slathered on. Next time I’ll prob ask for the wings plain for him and just use the sauces at the table — might’ve been a little too much for him. But judging from his sauce-​covered hands and cheeks, I’d say he liked the wings. ;)
And there will definitely be a next time. Hopefully when we’re not in such a rush and the meal will be more relaxed. We had a horrendous experience at a hawaiian food place on the way opposite side of town, so that probably helps Mama’s get a good rating from me. But even so, I liked this place.

I am so tremendously happy that I came here! It is delicious and you get a lot of food for what you pay. We tried their chicken teriyaki and short ribs. The food was very tasty and the employees were very attentive and friendly. I never really bothered to come here and I’ve been living in Tucson for 4 years now but wow I’m so glad I did! I’ll definitely be a regular now :)

First time visit. But it won’t be the last. I need to try everything on the menu. Big Kahuna for me. Hawaiian Chicken Salad for my better half. Strip mall ambiance. Generous portions. Reasonable prices. Taste is out of this world. Awesome local chain.

Great food and great service! Must try especially if your on a food vacation/​adventure.

It will do for a quick Hawaiian food craving. But its mainland island food.
Overall they do it well, but I don’t know. Its just Meh.
It saves me time from making my own pork or mac salad and they have several locations now. They catering is also good.

Okay, this is an odd review but also an important one. A little over a year ago my 19 year old german shepherd loved life but wasn’t so hot on eating the amount she needed to eat. We knew her day’s were limited so she deserved to eat whatever the heck she wanted. The Big Kahuna plate it was We usually had it delivered. The delivery person was always quick and never messed up her order.
Jump ahead to this day and time. My sweet pyrenees has Valley Fever and today it is kicking her butt. She is not interested in eating. What is a girl who loves her dog to do? Yep. I ordered the big Kahuna. We asked for the pork to be substituted for another helping of chicken. The order is big enough that my other pyrenees can have some of the decadence as well. I don’t eat meat so I can’t review the taste but service was excellent and it looked and smelled delicious! Tracey took my order and she was fantastic and very helpful making the changes to the plate ie… no sauce etc…
My fur babies are extremely important to me. Weird as this review may be to those of you that don’t have dog’s… Those of you who cherish your pet’s will totally get this!
I recommend this place to all carnivorous folk as well as those of you in need of getting your precious pet to eat

I’m a little baffled as to why all of the Mama’s restaurants only have average reviews. Cities like Tucson need more local chains like Mama’s and this place has delicious food.
Kalua Pork! Delicious, salty and smothered in teriyaki — My favorite thing on the menu. I also like the Katsu chicken and Mahi. The wings are ok and their beef is average but I’m not a big fan of cheap cuts of beef so take that with a grain of salt.
They also have some unique hawaiian entrees that I have yet to try. Probably the only place in Tucson with spam on the menu, although I have never tried it.
My one knock is their side dishes. Mac salad is good but too sweet and you have to pay extra if you want a green salad or mixed veggies (neither of which is worth the extra charge).
I go here a lot and they have always been very consistent. Someday I may bump my rating to 5 stars if that continues.

Tried this place yesterday for the first time, as we had avoided it prior (largely based on poor reviews). But upon being urged by a friend to give it a shot we finally gave in and I am SO SO glad we did!
First, the staff is welcoming and friendly! Very accommodating of our young kids and the hectic-​ness that can come with crazy toddlers running around.
But let’s talk about the food…
If you came here expecting BBQ, you’d be disappointed. I really think they should change the name to Mama’s Hawaiian Grill or something like that. It’s definitely not a traditional BBQ like you might expect (which could have lead to some confusion and poor reviews of people who didn’t get what they were expecting). But for what it is, it’s fabulous!
We ordered the family order and decided to try out the Teriyaki Beef and Pork as our meat options, with the white rice and french fries as sides. The amount of food was incredible! It says it serves 4, but we still had plenty of food leftover! Next time I would have switched out the french fries for a vegetable (it was a little carb-​heavy), but both sides were delicious.
Both meats were tender and melt-​in-​your-​mouth incredible. I’m excited to go back and try the chicken next time, too. But the real star of the show was the teriyaki sauce. It tasted homemade — not from a jar. It was SOOOO delicious and I enjoyed my meal doused in a mixture of the hot sauce (warning: very hot) and teriyaki to give it a spicy/​sweet taste. Incredible!
Before we left I got a sight of the desserts and decided we MUST have a piece of cheesecake. Best decision I’d made all day! The cheesecake tasted like it had been made that morning (come to find out, they use a baker out-​of-​state, so it wasn’t made that day, but it IS in fact homemade, rather than mass produced). It tasted so fresh and rich and exactly how a good cheesecake should be. The crust was a rich, crumbly graham cracker base and the cake was so light and fresh (even though obviously a not-​so-​healthy dessert, it didn’t leave us feeling weighted down and gross). Plus, the slice was HUGE!!! More than enough for sharing!
Overall, I was incredibly impressed with the quality, quantity, and taste of all of our food options (beef, pork, rice, fries, and cheesecake). Plus, you can’t beat the price! I really think some of the negative reviews are from people who just didn’t know what to expect. Maybe they had ideas that this was super authentic Hawaiian (which, I can’t comment on as I’ve never even been to Hawaii), or traditional BBQ (which it is not). But if you just remove expectations and enjoy it for what it is, it’s a really incredible, well priced, quick order-​at-​the-​counter type of place. Very, very good and we will for sure be back!

If you’re looking for authentic Hawaiian food this is not the place. We ordered the Kalbi short ribs, spam and eggs and the Portuguese sausage sandwich. The Kalbi was to thin and had no flavor. The Mac salad we ordered tasted like the ones you buy at the grocery store and it was so unappetizing and gross.
Although the food was a disappointment, the service was really good. They were friendly and polite. The restaurant is clean but we had a lot of flies in the booth where we sat and that was kind of annoying while we were trying to eat.

I’m really not impressed. I’m always asked if I’ve tried it (having 50+ members of your family as native Hawaiians will get you these questions) and I finally tried it today.
Macadamia tilapia fish, Mac salad, oriental dressing salad, and a side of teriyaki sauce
Macadamia fish was interesting but not Hawaiian. I know better but I really wanted fish. As a dish it’s not bad, but nothing special. Very crunchy outside and not soggy which I appreciate.
The Mac salad was off. It tries and fails to capture the flavor of Hawaiian Mac salad. It tastes like they added sugar to normal Mac salad.
The salad with oriental dressing is bitter. It has pineapples in it, too, and you wouldn’t know unless you looked at them. It tastes like they stuck a few pineapples in pico de gallo. It does nothing to add to the dish. Originally I mistook their oriental dressing for a pathetic attempt at teriyaki sauce. The dressing is sickly sweet. Not subtle and delicate like I want my oriental dressing to be. Maybe my expectation was more along the lines if «hibachi ginger salad dressing» instead of «Panda Express thinks this is teriyaki». If I wanted syrup if have had waffles next door.
Finally the teriyaki sauce. After digging in my bag of sauce I realized the actual container of teriyaki sauce. Meh. It’s the correct viscosity for teriyaki sauce, I will admit to that, but it tastes like they used sugar and soy sauce. There might be a hint of other flavors but they’ve over sweetened it. Very easy to do if you’re catering to the masses. Great way to lose business if you have anyone familiar with Hawaiian food.
I wish I grabbed a musubi (spam with rice in seaweed) but they wanted $ 2 for it. Nowhere in Hawaii is a musubi worth $ 2. I refused to buy it out of principle.
If you’re looking for authentic Hawaiian food I would not recommend Mama’s. If you’re looking for lunch with a different flair than you’re used to, it will fit that bill. I love food and unique flavors but I would not recommend this restaurant.