The food was good! The service was amazing! We had amazing staff help us! Stacy was very knowledgeable and helpful with celiacs and gluten free items and what was available!
Food, for the most part, is good. Wouldn't recommend the fish tacos, very dry, but the chicken street tacos and tortilla soup is very good. Service is good, the server was very knowledgeable. Asked about gluten-free options and let me know what options would be best.
I have been eating at Kalapawai for years now and have never had a poor experience. The dinner menu is very impressive and they are very accommodating to my family’s allergies and celiac disease! My only complaints would be service members could be more friendly and during dinner time the outside seating can be quite hot so I would be prepared for that!
Mina’s Fish House was a home run, pricey, but worth every penny. The service was exceptional, food was excellent, and the atmosphere was perfect with Hawaiian ocean views…what could be better!? Mina’s had plenty of gluten free options for me, which was an added surprise and plus. They even had warm bread for me delivered separately with homemade hummus. The octopus was the best I have had to date, the Marlin dip and homemade taro chips were great, and we ordered a whole fish that was perfectly deboned and served table side. To end the evening, Mina’s brought my mother who was celebrating her 80th birthday that night, a complementary dessert which made her day. If you are in Ko Olina, I highly recommend making a reservation at Mina’s. You won’t be disappointed.
PRO TIPS: before we get to the food, service and parking review-- I've been coming here to Longhi's for 10+ years just for the golden sunsets (see pic). Before it was called Longhi's, it was known as Chuck's. Surprisingly Longhi's restaurant has been open since 1976 on Maui, however this review is for the Ko Olina (Oahu) location. We actually stopped coming here years ago (when it was Chuck's) because the quality of service dropped so dramatically. However, Bob Longhi has VASTLY improved the service & created some rather delightful dishes - So it's earned a revisit. The focus here is on Italian Hawaiian fusion with incredible sunset views on the beach to add to the dinner ambiance. LOCATION--> Longhis can be found at the Marriott Vacation Club Resort. This Ko Olina resort area only has a few fine dining options so reservations are a must when you compare it with the volume of tourists here. Alternatives if Longhi's is booked include (Disney Aulani, Monkeypod or Roys). PARKING-->> Longhi's is on the Leeward (west) dry side of Oahu at Honu Lagoon, near Kapolei. Marriot Ko Olina offers valet parking that can be validated for up to three (3) hours. Be sure you get your ticket!! Alternatively, you can get free beach parking for the lagoon but it generally filled up fast. This resort is MASSIVE so make your way to the 1st floor of the resort. You will find the resort wheelchair accessible, with easy traffic flows, elevators, and attentive valet staff. If you Uber here from Honolulu, expect to pay around $70-90 depending on peak times with an estimated 30+ minute drive. CV19 COVID restrictions have been lifted here at the resort.
RESERVATIONS-->> they offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. it's highly recommended you get reservations since there is a lack of fine dining options for the high volume of guests of Ko Olina. Longhi's can handle large reservations too. SERVICE-->> Vastly improved since the old days of Chuck's. We felt the aloha spirit here from check in, seating, attentive wait staff, fast drink refills to a knowledgeable waiter who made us feel like a guest in his home. It was just the right amount of time between meals where you were not waiting too long between courses. FOOD--> ITALIAN Hawaiian fusion experience is the best way to describe it. That's the differentiator for Longhi's and THEY DELIVER an amazing rainbow of flavors in your mouth. The complimentary bread with lilikoi butter starts the experience. Everything on the menu can meet your guests tastes from vegan, vegetarian to gluten free options. The kids menu will meet their restless needs. If you don't know what to order, then the macadamia encrusted anything works along with pasta shrimp or the fish of the day. Appetizers are varied based on personal tastes, however the zucchini and it's sauce (see pic) will elevate your taste buds. The crab cakes and fried calamari appetizers are delightful too for a gateway into the entree. DESSERTS-->> I'm torn here on the lava cake and ice cream. You must order this minimum 30 mins before your meal so they have time to prepare. The lava cake, while served HOT & freshly made on site, did not serve our taste buds. Our expectations was an over abundance of certain flavors based on the description however it did NOT meet our expectations.. Average lava cake at best for a 30 min pre order. Just remember to order it BEFORE your meal. HUGE wine menu and the liquor drinks are not to "syrupy" VIEWS/AMBIANCE--> TO DIE FOR. Literally. Beautiful architecture. Incredible sunset views (see the pics). Request a sunset view on the pond. AWARENESS: On Tuesdays, the Marriott Resort offers a Luau so be aware of the crowds attending the luau with it's related noise levels --this may disrupt your peace. OVERALL: thank you Longhi's for helping to fill our birthday celebration with the Aloha spirit and giving us some.wonderful tastes to remember our island trip. We will return. Mahalo!
This store is an average size Down to Earth store on Oahu. They have different items mixed in occasionally that are on off items so look around while shopping. This store has the best vegan gluten free donuts of all the DtE locations on Oahu and has started making raspberry flavored donuts in addition to the traditional vanilla and chocolate. They also carry them with gluten too for those that have that preference. Biggest downside is they finally started making vegan and gluten free muffins again after almost a year, but now use an a common allergen with almond flour.
Food took forever to come out. My chicken marsala was extremely undercooked. The gluten free bread was just plain toast. For the price it was no where near the quality. Beautiful patio thats about the only good thing. Service was friendly but slow and non attentive for a “high end” restaurant. Seemed short staffed. Everyone in my group left feeling underwhelmed.
D I S N E Y A U L A N I - M A K A H I K I
The Character Breakfast is always a reservation we book, (set your calendar reminder for a month out). This year our boys were 9 & 10, and last time they were 4 & 5. Our boys have severe food allergies which is why we make this a regular breakfast on our vacations; we feel safe ordering food for the kids here.
🤩 The staff live up to ever customer service expectation you can think of. Willing to help, pleasant to talk to, smiling and welcoming. Most importantly, we cannot thank Disney enough for the training the staff have when it comes to food allergies. The allergies are capture at the host stand, with our server and in our first visit the chef came to our table to talk to us! The character breakfast is always a plus however, my 10 yr old wasn’t having it. My youngest still wanted the autographs and photos and it really made his day. Our server was so kind and we have no complaints.
🥞🍍 The food is amazing. First for the kids with food allergies- there were gluten free brownies that were substituted for the basket of muffins and pastries. The boys both used to be able to get the waffles, but this visit only one child (allergies: egg & tree nut) could have them. My other son was able to have steamed rice, bacon and ham which he reported was delicious! Both boys received different fruit bowls based on their allergies as well. For the adults, the breakfast was really good. The Punaluu sweet bread French toast was amazing, but I heard amazing reports about the Loco Moco. My wife got the waffles but preferred my French toast.
🥃 it was 5 o’clock somewhere but we stuck with orange juice and coffee, which was good.
Overall, the experience has always been amazing. The characters interacted with everyone, the food was great and our kids could eat without worrying about cross contamination. Thank you Disney, please continue to serve families this way!
My only recommendation to Makahiki is to go back to using the rice flour you had on our first trip so both boys could have the waffles 🙏🏽
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Delicious! The gluten free options were limiting for the members of our party, but there's always steak on the menu. It would be nice if they used gluten free soy sauce for their sauces and sushi rolls to increase variety.
Overall, the food was exceptional. Not to be missed! My mom raved about the ribeye and said the chocolate lava cake was amazing. They bake it fresh as you order it. The drinks were full sized and delicious! Excellent mai tai! I had the crispy pork 3 ways with the mac and cheese.
Definitely no Gluten Free friendly!
Im allergic to Gluten, not bad like Celiac disease but I do end up looking like Hitch in the movie when he had his reaction.
I had the Thai Lettuce wraps, and boy did I pay the price The next day!The sauces have gluten. So now I look like Quasimodo 😞
My hubby's Fish Tacos tortilla didn't taste like OG Corn tortillas, so I did a little research when I got home, turns out there is flour in their corn tortillas, and also their corn chips are dusted with flour . Also their artichoke dip has soy sauce which has gluten. Gluten allergies are a serious concern.
My friend and her 2 kids ended up in the hospital because the paper take out containers had gluten! Not from this establishment but, just sharing to show how serious Gluten allergies are.
I used to love Cheesecake Factory, but now that I have developed allergies I don't think it's something my health can afford to gamble with. There should be some guidelines to alert us about things we assume are gluten free, like corn tortillas or lettuce wraps.
Besides that, the service was great!
They have a ton of gluten free options. They do give pita bread with salads but it is in a separate bag and doesn’t touch the food. I’m sure you can ask for none (I always just gave it to my family members lmao)
Cupcake n Things has been our go to for birthdays because of our dietary restrictions. The owner is extremely accommodating for Celiac/gluten free and vegan options for dairy and egg allergies. It’s only available through special order right now, but well worth it.
I like going to California Pizza Kitchen because of the gluten free pizza crust and the menu has something for everyone in the family.
Not sure how the incorrect communication happened when ordering but pizza came on a normal crust instead of GF crust. The manager came over and corrected the order. He wanted to make sure the order was correct and no gluten cross contamination would happen.
We all got our food in the end. We just ate at different times.
The service was out of this world. The food almost as good. I ordered a omelette with bacon and cheese with potatoes. Gluten free options are available and staff is knowledgeable.
As a celiac, I drove out of the way to get some rice noodles. I assumed the Pad Thai would be gluten free. Turns out it wasn’t until I had a few bites and asked.
The staff and owner were so great. I felt so bad because I should have asked first which is my fault. They went above and beyond and made the gluten free version for me even though me not asking was my fault.
Made my day. Great tasting and great sized portions. I highly recommend this place if you are hungry for some Thai food!
Accommodating Gluten-Free