Kona Grill

Came here during happy hour (3−7pm) to try the sushi. I ordered the rainbow roll (~$ 9), spicy tuna roll ($ 4), and seaweed salad (~$ 7). The prices I listed for rainbow roll and spicy tuna roll were happy hour prices.
I sat out in the self-​seating patio. It was nice and open and with perfect weather, the view was perfect. The waitress was in-​training. I could tell she was nervous, but she did a good job.
So overall the food was ok. Pretty standard. I wouldn’t pay regular prices, so I recommend coming for happy hour. Funny that I can’t think of anything witty or more interesting to say about this place…

Mid-​evening dinner, one person, seated in the bar area. Service is lackadaisical at best. I waited approximately ten minutes for any server to approach me. I was asked if I wanted anything to drink, having had only the happy hour menu to peruse. I ordered and my drink (after looking at the menu) and also made my other orders, Miso soup and edamame as appetizers, A couple of specialties as entrees, Checkerboard roll and Ahi Wonton. Soup: Hard to screw up, but overladen with greenery. Edamame: Undercooked, very tough and chewy. Entrees — Checkerboard, a specialty: Their definition of spicy apparently is the Iowa definition of spicy. Barely any burn to it and overall the soy sauce I dipped it in was the dominant flavor. (Only after trying one plain and being underwhelmed.) Ahi Wonton: Also a specialty… Beautiful raw tuna slices, but the sauce and wontons added nothing to the fish, nor did they provide any contrast, simply reducing the dish to a bland experience.
Back to the service… So I was poured my first glass of sake (from a 750 ml bottle) and had to pour the rest of it myself. I finished my edamame and miso soup and had to ASK that the dishes be removed from my small bartop table. Water went unrefilled until the server noticed. The bar wasn’t particularly busy, but having ample time to observe while waiting, I noted that nobody was served quickly. I’ve had better food and far better service for the price.

From the outside, the place looks hip and trendy. From inside, it still looks hip and trendy. But that’s where the good stops. Food was OK. I had a Dragon Roll, BBQ Flat bread, and Miso Soup. The only thing I feel like that satisfied me in flavor was the Miso. The dragon roll was OK. Usually specialty rolls are bursting with flavor and you don’t need any soy. I needed the soy. I needed wasabi. I don’t even particularly like wasabi, but I felt the flavor of the roll was so lacking that I needed to use wasabi to turn the bland into tasty. the BBQ flat bread was just OK as well. Waitress insisted it was good and to take it instead of another roll, so I tried it. It was just ok. The sauce is a little sweet, a little tangy, with a bit of heat in the end. I didn’t particularly care for it. I’d take a California Pizza Kitchen BBQ chicken pizza over this.
I feel like this place is trying to be the hip/​trendy place to be. But it’s a restaurant first and needs to put it’s food first. Food does not live up to the great and hip setting. The food is pricey for what you pay. Now if the flavors/​quality of food blew me away, I’d be happy to pay those prices over again.

Although I am not a big fan of chain restaurants, Kona gets my vote as one of the best in downtown Bmore. I typically go with friends during the late night happy hour which offers drink and appetizer specials. Some favorites are the avocado egg rolls and shrimp/​chicken lettuce wraps. And those doggone $ 5 margaritas (get the frozen, they’re more potent). The bartenders (particularly Miss Courtney) are friendly and efficient.

I was in Baltimore for a conference and went here for lunch with a group of 11 people. We were happy to split our group so it would be more manageable, but the manager turned our group and other groups because they were worried about the «flow of the kitchen». This was at 12PM during lunch time in a half empty restaurant. He then told our group the neighboring restaurants that we could go to instead. I’ve never been turned away from a restaurant especially since we were willing to wait for something to open up.

Great service and amazing food! Made a reservation for a Friday night since we had a large party and the table was ready right away when we arrived. Our server was great and helpful in making suggestions from the menu. The best part was the food! We had 8 people who all ordered different entrees, and they were ALL amazing. So good, new fave in Baltimore. Will definitely be returning!

With chain restaurants like Kona Grill it’s unfair to compare them to other restaurants because of their very nature. However, I feel comfortable giving this Kona Grill five stars in comparison to others because of the excellent service I received. I stopped at Kona Grill for lunch twice on a recent business trip to Baltimore. It just ended up being the most convenient place for a light lunch. I had some calamari one day and the oriental salad another. Both were quite good.
The wait staff and hosts at this location are really top notch. Our waiter one day was a very friendly young man who made sure to see to our every need despite how crowded the restaurant was at that time. The next time I stopped in our waitress was a blond woman with a bun. She never let me run out of coffee and was also very friendly. I had a good experience here and I only regret I didn’t have time to make it to one of their happy hours! I love those avocado egg rolls.

Food = decent, didn’t impress.
Waitstaff = too many tables leads to them acting preoccupied and mistake-​prone, not to mention less than attentive.
Ambience = loud, who knows what the theme is, crowded
Hostesses = fussy, but trying.
Overall — not a lot of Aloha, east coast stress with some Polynesian food choices

Kona Grill’s happy hour is excellent. This time, we had the chicken + shrimp lettuce wraps and the Las Vegas roll. The lettuce wraps were slightly sweet and seasoned perfectly. The Las Vegas roll was crunchy (good), and you can’t go wrong with salmon, crab, and cream cheese. For dessert, we had the carrot cake, which is ginormous! I love the cream cheese frosting and the caramel sauce on the plate. This slice of cake is enough for 4 people.

I was visiting some friends and they made reservations for a group of us to head downtown to Kona Grill. I love sushi, so I was down.
It’s a pretty busy restaurant, and it was hopping around 8pm on Saturday night. We were seated in one of their larger, raised booths in the center of the restaurant. Naturally, we started with cocktails, and I asked for my classic «I can’t decide and don’t want to commit to wine/​beer so please give me a citron vodka and soda». The waiter came back to me a few minutes later and apologized, saying that they didn’t carry citron vodka. Mm. Not a huge deal, as I asked for Tito’s with soda and a twist of lemon. It arrived garnished with a lemon slice, which I promptly squeezed into the drink, as it was clearly just vodka and soda. It was fine, but I was surprised that a restaurant with a cocktail menu and a large bar didn’t offer citron. Oh well. Moving on. Two of my friends ordered off their cocktail menu (a strawberry basil lemonade) and it looked divine.
We ordered a margherita flatbread and the chicken potstickers for the table. The flatbread was good: cooked well with a bright balsamic glaze drizzle that perked up the mozzarella and tomatoes (they were both pretty flavorless or their own *sad face*). I didn’t try the potstickers.
I ordered sushi (they have a whole huge side of their menu devoted to classic and ‘speciality’ or ‘Kona’ rolls. I eschewed their Kona rolls for my favorite, basic roll that I judge an establishment’s sushi on: the spicy tuna roll. The roll was eight pieces, plenty for just me. You could taste the vinegar in the sushi rice, which I love. The tuna was bright and fatty, and the roll was served with cucumber in the roll. Not something I normally see, but I really liked the addition of cucumber against the spicy motoyaki sauce — it made for a balanced roll. The construction was where this roll fell flat: it was messily made, and 3 – 4 pieces began to fall and/​or come apart whilst I was eating. Boo. My friend ordered the filet, and it was cooked to his requested rare. I tried a bite, and it was really good. If I’d been in the mood for steak, it would have definitely fit the bill.
The service was nice, albeit a bit slow with lagging between dishes being cleared and drinks (water included) being refilled and/​or replaced. The waiter himself was VERY nice and friendly; I assume he was just slammed. I would come back and get that steak, and maybe try some of their other rolls (the soft shell crab roll seems to be a Unilocaler favorite!).

Always drove by this place when in Baltimore and was intrigued. Finally decided to check it out before the Garth Brooks show in January. So glad we did! Only disappointment was that they didn’t have poke! But otherwise, yum!!!
We had a slight issue because we were a little late for our reservation. I had called and said we were running late and were told it shouldn’t be a problem. We get there and the hostess had instant attitude saying they were full, etc… I looked around and there were plenty of empty tables! I finally mentioned I spoke with a David and we were let in. So thank you David!
Dinner was superb! London mule and the Sake Sangria were delish! Diner in crime had the magarita. I decided to have the macadamia crusted chicken and OMG… so good! I’m usually not a big chicken fan, but this was delicious! Chicken was moist, so flavorful. I will definitely get that again! DIC got the miso-​sake sea bass and that was melt in your mouth delicious!

Visiting Baltimore again and this is the spot. Had the spicy tuna roll and the crunchy crab along
The Cuban sandwich. Everything was great again. Our waitress was excellent. I will coming back again.

Our experience tonight was phenomenal. We are sushi lovers, and enjoyed the crunchy crab roll (not as good as Edo Sushi since they used fake crab, not real Maryland crab) and the soft shell crab rolls. The soft shell crab rolls included fried soft shell crabs with avocado. However, the descriptions were extremely accurate.
Our water was filled constantly, and our waitress was superb. She recommended the best entrees and desserts on the menu. I loved my soft taco duo, one with lobster and corn, and the other with a huge portion of fresh fried fish and tomatillo. My husband had to eat the Korean pork taco since the meal was so filling. He loved it since the pork was covered in fried onions and dried figs, which was a wonderful flavor combination.
We also splurged on dessert, guided perfectly by our waitress. I think it is very important for restaurant owners to allow their employees to taste the menu items so they know what to recommend. My espresso mousse chocolate pie was oversized, and perfectly executed. I am a baker, trained by my mom, so I know that they used crumbled graham crackers with real butter, and Kona nuts for the crust. The chocolate ganache frosting was also perfect. Ganache is surprisingly easy to make, it is just semi sweet baking chocolate and heavy cream, chilled for 30 minutes, and then poured over the dessert. My husband is also a former chef, so we are very picky eaters.
We will be spending the entire day tomorrow at the gym, even though we walked for 2 hours at a rapid pace prior to our dinner experience. I recommend taking the light rail since it costed us $ 28 to park the last time we visited the Inner Harbor. The $ 3.40 round trip ticket was worth the price.

Update 2÷20÷16−− Excellent all around! Very prompt, knowledgable service. Soft shell crab roll– amazing! Sea bass moist, perfectly cooked. Taco trio rich and satisfying, with excellent complex flavors like roasted fig on pork. Desserts and coffee on point. Cocktails and drafts likewise. Glad we gave them another chance– will be back! Thank you to Sam for coming over to say Hello!
Update— Got very nice, very professional response from a manager. I’ll add two stars back for that and update when we go again– will give one more shot! (Below is original update)
Service dive bomb!!! After great initial time we went three more… Two the service was very slow to greet us, give us menus, refill drinks, take orders… Food still really good. Atmosphere still sophisticated fun. But service slow and unworthy of all else. Third time we were seated. Fifteen minutes went by– not even menu or water … We walked out. Greeter just said, «Bye!” — not even a lick of concern. Never again– too much competition around to merit another visit!’

I see why this place just has ok reviews… they are just ok.
Was in town for the weekend to see Garth Brooks and after the show we were happy to find a place that was open. We walked in and were told that they wouldn’t seat anyone who didn’t have a reservation. I asked if there was a bar and he said no. So, I used the restroom and when I came out, my boyfriend took me into the Bar area and there were all kinds of seats and we could get full menu. Weird I was told no and he wasn’t? And there were lots of open tables in the restaurant.
Anyway, we sat and were told HH was starting in a few so we were stoked. Food was ok. Service was ok.

I’ve stayed in the Inner Harbor a million times and never thought to check out Kona Grill until I was hungry after a mediocre dinner elsewhere and wanted a late night snack.
We were happy to discover a late night happy hour on a Saturday night with drink and food specials. I ordered a Moscow Mule that was a bit watered down and a vegetarian sushi roll that was small but fresh. My friends also ordered sushi and were pretty happy with their food.
I’d definitely go back for some late night grub if I lived in the area.

Maybe happy hour is good but for the price, regular menu isn’t worth 4 or 5 stars. Plate comes with main protein and some sides on one plate and it’s very loosely filled. I wasn’t sure if the kitchen didn’t measure enough ingredients including fried rice for a group of 5 but all plates looked something was missing.
Flavor of the food was good. Not spectacular though.
Overall, I can go back for happy hour but not for regular dinner menu.

I loved it here! I went once during lunch and another time during dinner.
I love the fact that they have two happy hours! It’s perfect for the after work drink/​dinner or the late night snacks and drinks.
I had the calamari, it wasn’t that great as it was soggy and not crispy at all. I also had the pork tenderloin, which was really delicious. During happy hour, I ordered the spicy tuna roll, which was really good, especially because it was half price!
The best part about this place is the desserts. The carrot cake is MASSIVE, the brownie is huge and the best dessert of all is the butter cake. I will definitely go back for happy hour and desserts!

This place is very close to Bronycon (Baltimore Convention Center) so that was a plus. Inside, it felt nice and chill with the AC on full, as well as comfortable and roomy.
My friend asked the waitress if they provided bread for the table and even though they don’t, she still gave us a complimentary basket of bread.
I ordered the basil pesto linguine with chicken, tomatoes and garlic bread. The menu also listed andouille sausage but I didn’t see or taste any of that, however I was not disappointed in the slightest. The pasta was cooked to al dente perfection, there was plenty of hearty chicken pieces, the tomatoes were juicy and fresh and the pesto sauce was extremely flavorful and creamy, with strong pesto taste to it. Also, the garlic bread was wonderful with tons of cheese that went well with the crispy bread and the garlic.
I shared dessert of Snickers Ice Cream Pie with one of my friends. It was truly delectable, consisting of oreo cookie crust, snickers & vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, one perfect raspberry and fresh whipped cream. The ice cream pie was so delicious and everything swirled together, from the chewy snickers/​caramel bits and chocolate crust to make it taste even more amazing. I highly recommend ordering this!
I also got to try the Ultimate Fudge Brownie, which was HUGE. It was served warm with vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate, caramel and vanilla cream sauce. Incredibly chocolatey and perfect chewy texture.
The service was superb. Our glasses were always full, the waitress took care of the bread, and was very patient when taking our order. Also, the total price of the meal was a lot less than we anticipated, which is always great!

After my reading my previous review the manager, Michelle, contacted me promptly. Not only did she apologize for the service, she offered to make it right.
I received a letter in the mail from Kona Grill HQ also apologizing with several gift cards.
Thanks Kona for great customer service! You exceeded my expectations in this area. I will definitely try your establishment again.