Dot’s In Wahiawa

It was a interesting yet funny experience here. Other than the sticky carpet and empty koi pond, the food was ok… waitress looked overwhelmed (tipped her 20% anyways) and the noodles in the wonton saimin was soggy. Waited a while to get the bill. Probably won’t be coming back. But always wanted to try here.

The waitresses are rude! They acted disgusted when we walked in and didn’t seat us, they just looked at us and said «go sit». After being seated for a minute or two my husband had to get up and get us menus from the front. Our waitress was grouchy and told us that we could ONLY order off the yellow menu even thought we have come here on numerous occasions and ordered off the other sections of the menu.
We asked for spoons and ketchup and the waitress walked by the table and just dropped the spoons.
The thing that kept us coming back was the food.
VERY DISAPPOINTED!

Came here two times within the month, both times got bad service and missing food ordered. Only the food redeems this place from getting 1-​star. And even that has been waning.
Bad, slow to non-​existent service and filthy dining area that smells like a dirty wet dog was dragged through the carpets from the 70’s. Not doing the 3^rd time a charm crap. BYE FELICIA!!!

I once enjoyed coming to Dot’s. Yes it’s dated, but coming here makes me remember going out to eat with my grandparents. The food is okay and prices are decent. It’s cheaper than Zippy’s which I can appreciate. For dinner, I usually order their sizzling hamburger steak. It’s delicious and filling.
Why 2 stars you ask? The service. It sucks! We used to be seated with a really nice waitress who would always check on us. The last 2 times I’ve come though, the service is horrible. You’re left waiting when you walk in while the waitresses talk amongst themselves. When you are seated, you likely won’t be checked on once your food comes. My partner in crime never gor her miso soup, but she couldn’t even ask because the waitress never came back. No refills on drinks, just left sitting hoping your check will come.
Will I come back? I’m not sure. Service really needs to improve. I could understand if you’re slammed but it was a quiet morning… hope you can turn things around Dot’s.
#10 of 100 2016

Worst Katsu Ever
If there was an option for no stars that would be the score. The service was terrible. The floor had a lot of food on the ground. If Dot was personally running the business the quality and food would be much better.

It’s the best place for everything in terms of family gatherings. This is our go to place to drink, play pool, play darts, sing karaōke, and get some good pupu’s. At times they incorporate great live entertainment. The service is friendly and has a family feel, just like Cheers!

Update to my previous review:
Service is still HORRIBLE! We have yet to be checked on, we’ve had our food for 30 mins are done eating and still waiting to be checked on!!! Come on Dots!
Horrible service!
There were three other tables in the restaurant at 1 o’clock in the afternoon and we waited 5+ minutes to place our order.
The waitress was so busy talking to other tables to even bother greeting us.
After we got our food, our waitress didn’t stop by once to check on us or even fill our empty water cups! She came back to the table after we were already done eating, then asking if we needed anything else. We said more water and got attitude for asking for more things including a Green River which she then had to change our bill.
Dots has decent food and unfortunately the service will slow the business down.
I know how to help this place be successful with the years I have in the restaurant business… it needs an overhaul of its older/​not as capable people.

Dot’s is just an old school Hawaii diner. The waitress are as «nostalgic» as the place is. They even sell candy at the register. They serve stuff that a lot of times you can’t get anymore… like green river.
Don’t expect great service or fancy food. But it definitely hits the spot when you want to wear your comfy-​est clothes out to have comfort food.

Not a big fan of this place. The food is bland. You get large servings but it’s so tasteless. Wouldn’t go there again.

I love this place. The food and service is always awesome! The Sizzling Hamburger Steak is my favorite!

I and my husband stopped by here after we bought eggs at Petersons Upland Farm.
I always hard to make decisions what I order.
My husband ordered oxtail soup and I ordered pastrami sandwich. The server came back from the kitchen and said «sorry no oxtail soup today but we have chicken pot pie». After she left I chenged my mind my order. So my husband went to the server and asked to change my order to «chicken pot pie».
Finally our meals came, but my order didint look like chicken pot pie, looked like chicken papaya soup.
I tasted my dish the soup was good, there was chicken but no pie.
I asked my husband did I mishear? (I’m ESL person) He said no she exactly said chicken pot pie. (He is local boy)
We asked sever we heard «chicken poi pie», but…(and pointed my soup). She said «oh, no we have chicken papaya soup». We heard «papaya» now.

Had a weird experience.
Food was ok, inside is kinda old feels like need «restaurant impossible».

Okay here’s the deal… I LOVE old family establishments that have tons of history. And Dot’s is that and more. I literally grew up partying in their banquet halls wearing diapers. Talk about nostalgia.
So it’s been a while since I last ate in the dining room. Too long really…
We went on a Saturday night, and they offer prime rib special on Saturdays. So while I had fully intended on going there for sizzling hamburger steak, who in their right mind can pass up a good sized (petite) prime rib dinner for $ 16.95!!! The cut was bigger than I had expected (they offer petite, larger and ridiculous size). The rolls, soup and sides were good, and the meat was tasty. Had I eaten better??? Not for $ 16.95.
Our service was great! I read some of the low star reviews and that was one of the primary critiques. Not a problem at all, in fact it was great!
All in all it was a great family dining experience and had a family feel. Support these small family owned establishments gang!
Or they won’t be around, and we will kick ourselves when it’s too late…
PS. My wife ordered the sizzling hamburger steak that is humongous… so in the end, I WON!!!

This place never fails and is always to die for! There sizzling steak is huge and can feed me my husband and our 2 kids! For the price it’s worth it. If you go early enough on a Saturday night you can have their prime rib! $ 25 for a prime rib that’s bigger then your plate! Good family restaurant!

This is a nice mom-​and-​pop restaurant with plenty of space for large parties. Their menu items are inexpensive, portions are generous and the ingredients are always fresh. I’ve been eating here for years and my favorite is the sizzling hamburger steak. Hidden under a paper covering, you can hear and smell the steak as it cooks on the cast iron dish. The brown gravy used to marinate the steak, is flavorful and delicious. The only concern I have is the waitresses on duty, try to take your order without writing anything down and end up giving the wrong thing to the wrong person in the party. In looking at other reviews of Dot’s, I’m not the only one who’s had this problem. Other than that, it’s a great place to eat!

I have heard about how bad the service was here. There is a lot of free parking, lots of room. The fried chicken and sizzling hamburger steak were ono. The service at 1:30 PM on a Sunday was superb. Nikki was awesome.

The food at Dot’s is truly wonderful. Simple, tasty, classic offerings from a well known classic restaurant. I like to order the Master G cut Prime Rib. Trust me… it is damn good! But, don’t just take my word. Take your family, take your friends! Take your appetite!

It was my first time to Dots. I figured it’s such an iconic place in wahiawa, I’d try it. We first drove in the parking lot, it was empty so we thought it was closed but we opened the door and walked in. The 2 waitresses working today (around 8am) was busy so one of them told us to sit anywhere. It took awhile for one of them to give us a menu. Our waitress took our order right away and we didn’t wait too long for our food.
We ordered corned Beef hash with fried rice and sweet Bread French toast. It was okay. Nothing special. For the price I paid, I would rather go to zippys and pay the same price for better tasting food. The corned beef was a little bland and the French toast didn’t taste like sweet bread.
The waitress kept telling everyone how surprised how busy it was in the restaurant but there was only about 8 tables taken up… with 2 waitresses, that’s 4 tables per waitress. Maybe that was too much for them to handle. Our waitress never came back to refill our water to ask if we are ok. She just left the check and left.

I am not sure why I didn’t review Dot’s before. My fam bam always come here for a good dosage of comfort food! Dot’s is a no frills eatery but it’s like coming home. Aunties or cousins as your servers and most of their menu is a mix of Filipino, Japanese, American and Hawaiian food local style.
However the best most spectacular thing on their menu is the famous sizzling hamburger steak. I will order other things occasionally but when you see and hear the waitress bringing out smoking sizzling cast iron plates of hamburger smothered in gravy and onions with your choice of mashed potatoes, Rice or fries… nine times out of ten I will change my mind and hear myself saying sizzling hamburger steak please! or for my family 3x’s It is pretty exciting when your plate is bubbling and sizzling and popping as it is set in front of you with smoke wafting in your face the smell of the hamburger onions and gravy all mixing and cooking together. You also must exercise restraint as to not pull off the parchment paper too quickly or risk being splattered by the boiling gravy. As the sizzling dies down and you reveal the awsomeness you must again exercise caution and some common sense! This buggah is hot! I admit to falling victim of my own impatience thus resulting in the loss of the skin on my upper pallet and few taste bud’s. But oh well a bit of pain for glorious hamburger gain! So worth it!
Dot’s also has a bar in an adjacent room with nightly karaōke and another huge room for parties they also cater for any party. So another gem in Wahiawa in the books. Long live Wahiwa grinds!

Dot’s is a landmark from my childhood even though we rarely frequented it so seeing the inside of the restaurant after all these years was as unfamiliar as a first time visit. Unfortunately, I probably won’t get the «way to represent» approval based on the length of this review, but, in a nutshell, Dot’s is to Hawaii what Denny’s is to the mainland. It’s conveniently located with plenty of parking and features a bar where someone was hosting a reunion when we were there. If you want a representation of island classics served at pretty reasonable prices, Dot’s is your pick.
We were gathered to see family so someone reserved the dining room set apart from the rest of the main one. I had the won ton min, Mom had the «tender“teriyaki beef and my uncle had the butterfish plate. The service was great based on our party’s number and our taking the primo room. A couple of people had the sizzling steak or sizzling hamburger plates. No one said anything effusive about their dinner and if they had the same quality as mine, I understand. The won ton min was surprisingly cheap for $ 7 as well as filling but very salty and not particularly notable in contrast with the numerous competition to give Hawaiian visitors a taste of Hawaii.
Come here for the ohana, not for the food.

If you want a taste of old-​school local flavors, Dot’s is the place to go! Rich with local history and classic flavors, it’s the kind of place that serves food as good as your grandma’s and offers a scoop of ice cream at the end of each meal!
Located on Mango Street, Dot’s has a parking lot with several available stalls. Unfortunately, with their banquet hall hosting a graduation party the same night we arrived, we circled a few times before finding street parking a block or two away. Although the banquet hall was clearly hosting a huge crowd, the restaurant area of Dot’s had only a few tables occupied. We sat in a cozy booth and looked over the menu.
I ordered the Sizzling Hamburger Steak and made it a Complete Meal which came with Rice, Mash Potatoes or French Fries; Hot Vegetable, Toss Greens, Soup or Potato/​Macaroni Salad; Bread & Crackers; and Pudding or Jello. The Sizzling Hamburger Steak came on a hot iron plate and was indeed SIZZLING! Soaked in delicious gravy, each bite was hot and tender with a slight crisp seared in from the hot plate. I could barely eat half of it and took the rest home for dinner the next night!
Even better than the food was the amazing service we received from our friendly waitress! Dot’s certainly brings back a certain nostalgia for old-​school diners where everyone knew your name!