Papa Kona Restaurant & Bar

I don’t have many good things to say about this restaurant, which is unfortunate because we read great reviews before choosing to dine here. When we arrived around 7PM, the restaurant was not busy at all. We were seated immediately by a very friendly hostess, but the waitress did not come to take our order for a while. When she came, I asked her if the special was gluten free. She said she wasn’t sure, and was generally standoffish and rude. When she eventually returned to take our order, she didn’t provide any further information about the meal. It was very odd that she didn’t offer to ask the kitchen or provide any helpful information. The wait was very long for a restaurant that was not at all busy; we waited just over an hour for our food. I had a strawberry salad and added grilled Mahi Mahi to it. The fish was good and was a generous portion. The greens were wilted and the strawberries weren’t fresh. We sat outside on the deck, and a massive cockroach ran past us just before our food came. It’s hard to blame this on the restaurant given the climate of Hawaii, but we dined outside every night we were here and never saw cockroaches at any other restaurants. It was very unsettling, and it even jumped on some other guests who freaked out. Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant at all.

Delicious food and beautiful atmosphere. I have celiac and they have really tasty gluten free options! We loved the ocean views.