Kuleana Rum Shack

Food. Delicious with a great variety! My wife is gluten free and there were some great options for her. Shout out to the fired chicken with a side of rice for her. Rum. Fantastic. Did the tasting and loved the variety in it. Had a nice cocktail afterwards it was all so good. The waiter was kind, helpful, and great conversation. Overall one of the best spots we ate and drank at for the trip.

Sure wish we had the same experience as so many others leaving reviews. We went there specifically because we love rum and need gluten free (GF) options. We were sorely disappointed on both accounts. The locally produced rum they’re peddling really is not great rum. Rum is my go-to drink and I’ve tried rums from everywhere I could for the last 20 years. For the price they charge, it is pretty poor quality rum. Ironically they have some really great rums behind the bar but they are not offered as a flight. Their top priced rum is much more expensive than Ron Zacapa but you’d be far better advised to get the Ron Zacapa, trust me. There is a reason there is no market for “unaged” rum…. It’s because it’s more comparable to fragrant disinfectant than it is to rum. I wish the company the best, but they have a long way to go. Next is the GF deal. You can’t label things as GF and not have a dedicated fryer. This shouldn’t be news to anyone, and severely limits your options if you’re celiac. Of course we wouldn’t have driven almost an hour to the Rum Shack had we known. The only item she wanted out of the handful available was a seared tuna. Well they were out of tuna so instead charged the same for a different type of fully cooked white fish. Whatever. It would have been fine if the server wasn’t so blatantly unfriendly and unhelpful. You’d think for a place trying to sell rum from a new company you’d want to engage with the customer trying this new rum for the first time, but no, it was basically here’s the laminated do it yourself chart for the rum, “any questions?”. In fairness they offer a specific rum tasting, but the servers running that section REALLY have their work cut out for them with THAT rum. Who knows, maybe she got too much sun or was hung over or something. Certainly not pleasant though. And for the price they’re charging the service should be MUCH better. The only thing reasonably priced was the burger and fries. And it was good. But you really can’t judge a restaurant by the burger they offer. Anyone can do a good burger. Finally, while the location and atmosphere are quite nice (despite being an outdoor concept, and get windy), they decided playing 90’s soft rock hits was a good thing to do….. kinda weird, and of all the music available, makes me curious. I would have asked the server but she would likely have said something snide and walked away.