Lilikoi Grill

Food service lacked. Ordered brussels sprouts as an appetizer. Tasty; Those came out quick then we ordered our food. Took 45 minutes for half our order and an extra 10 minutes to bring out the pizza. ²⁄₅
Food taste wise was yum, especially the pizza. ⁵⁄₅
Atmosphere was hipster-​like. The live music was awesome! Highly recommend to go on Fridays, grab a drink from the bar, and sit back and enjoy! ⁵⁄₅
Overall: ³⁄₅

I’m giving this place 2 stars only because the pizza is usually pretty good. As other reviewers mentioned it can take forever to get get served. I once waited at the bar for 2 hours to get a pizza. Don’t know why they don’t have a chef. They used to and the food was great. Now I would not order anything other than pizza. Nothing worse than gourmet food that totally misses.

This place has a bad vibe. The bartender made me a luke warm martini… yuck. The food was meh, bordering on gross. I didn’t even finish my salad. We had the waitress take the chicken off our bill, it was that bad. Go across the street to Colleen’s, or Hana Hou, or Tuk Tuk Thai truck. You deserve better!!!

I’ve been to Lilikoi twice now and both times my husband and I arrived about 30 minutes before closing. It was the same gentleman helping us both times… A very nice, polite bartender who reminds me a little bit of Neil Finn (the lead singer of Crowded House and Split Enz).
I don’t remember much about the first visit other than the service and the beer being really good — I had a special brew that had a hint of lilikoi in it.
The 2^nd time we went, again the service was great, and the food was delicious. I had the Greek salad and we shared an appetizer of the baby back ribs which were cooked until they were falling off the bone. It was super tasty and the combo was actually really good. My husband had a bacon Bleu cheese burger. I had a bite of it and the burger was very juicy and flavorful. Now that I remember they had that Lilikoi beer I am going to have to go back to have it again.

We’ll start with the service, or lack there of. Took a long time to get a beer and cocktail. We were going to have dinner there but decided against it when i saw that there prices are ridiculous. So i ordered the shrimp ceviche appetizer for $ 12. when i get it, it’s a tiny ice cream scooper worth and 5 chips.
So, considering it’s in the middle of a small little town (Haiku), they are pretty uppity with their service and prices. I wish i read the reviews first. I’ll never go back.

This location used to be a GREAT restaurant called Max World Bistro. I wish it still was! My husband, son, and I went in looking for a simple meal. It’s in our neighborhood, so we were hoping the new owners would have a good thing. It was awful! My husband ordered fish and chips, and sent it back twice. The first time, the fish was icey and raw on the inside — definitely NOT fresh fish! We’re on an island, it’s not that hard to come by! The second time, it was cooked to death and just tasted horrible. This for $ 17,95, when many local restaurants serve FRESH fish for far less! The server was unapologetic and kind of rolled her eyes. We are not super picky eaters and I HATE to send anything back, but this was really bad. After getting the bill and seeing the fish still on there, I asked for the manager and asked that it be removed since we had not eaten more than a bite of it. They took it off the bill, thankfully. I had a kale salad which is pretty hard to screw up, and it was fine. Overall, bad food, poor service, and a disappointing replacement to a previously good neighborhood restaurant.

I dined here back in June, and I’m going there again tonight to watch a particular band I like. Unfortunately the food isn’t gluten free friendly here (though it was listed as such on Urbanspoon). I did have the lilikoi crème brûlée last time. It’s one of their «featured» desserts. It was terrible. The top wasn’t crisp. It was ice cold. I think someone just took it out of the fridge and put it on my plate. The flavor was meh. I did like their Lemon Drop martini, but it wasn’t something that I couldn’t recreate at home (and did). My boyfriend ordered the «mud pie.» He loves mud pie. But, this mud pie was awful. He couldn’t finish it. He has never not finished a piece of mud pie. He even had to tell the manager how terrible it was, and so she took it off our check. As we were leaving I noticed a cake in the dessert case. It was the same thing he’d just eaten and was labeled «Guinness Cake.» What the hell? If I want food tonight I’ll be taking my own along, and I’ll just order a drink.
Oh, and everyone else I know says that the food is terrible. Nobody likes to eat there.

I really wish I would’ve read the reviews before eating here. Waited over an hour for a 2 topping pizza. No response from server except she was leaving and bartender was supposed to be taking care of us (she explained being annoyed). When we finally got our pizza after asking twice, toppings were very sparse. Horrible service (you have to track them down for drinks, utensils, etc., barely average food. Will not return.

Aloha — i was just at the restaurant after I had called ahead to make sure i could order a pizza to take home and got there and the same person i spoke with said — oh did you just call? Then he was told by someone else behind the bar that i could in fact, NOT get a pizza until 5 o’clock. The sign on the door also says fresh pizza 11a.m.-9 p.m.
This is the second time i have tried to order a pizza and been told — oops — sorry — so i was going to order some happy hour sliders and heard someone say oh we only have the hamburger and the pork and the kalua pork sliders aren’t very good —
Wonder how long you folks will be in business doing it this way — too bad — your pizza is really delicious…

Definitely not worth your time or money. After 30+ minutes of waiting, the pizza we ordered arrived doughy and undercooked. They had the audacity to take it back and put it in the oven again instead of baking us a fresh one! WTF? The second time they gave us the pizza (with 2 pieces missing!), they asked us if it was acceptable. Even on their 3^rd attempt, they didn’t get it right. At this point we had already wasted 1.5 hours of our time. The waitress, Morgan, was lazy and unprofessional. She did not inform us that they ran out of dessert we had ordered until the restaurant was pretty much closed for the night. Overall a horrible experience at a restaurant w/​poor food quality overran with incompetent people.

Didn’t order food but sure had 2 double of crown royal on the rocks and friendly bartender at your service that gives you a shot of hot chilly water… it was so tasty and yummy… :)

Wow. Save yourself the annoyance! Another mainland restaurant with no idea what Aloha means. We had never experienced such snotty inept service from all involved. Manager/​owner was awful to us after we inquired about our food, after an hour! They hadn’t even started it because they WERE OUT OF WHAT WE ORDERED and didn’t bother to tell us. He did not apologize, just got irritated and made excuses. It wasn’t even busy.
The food was overpriced and not worth the ridiculous wait. Unfortunately I had to experience this for myself as I didn’t listen to others who had already been.

We swung through here not knowing what to expect. But it was the middle of the afternoon and we were starving. I don’t know what it is — but there is great pizza all over Maui, but here on Oahu, there is great pizza in like 2 places.
We ordered Dante’s Inferno (Red sauce, mozzarella, smoked mozzarella, Italian sausage, red onions, grilled red peppers, pepperoni habanero chili peppers) which they made fresh out of the pizza oven and it waaaaaaaaas awessssssome. The staff there was warm and friendly and the guy cooking the pizza really wanted to make sure we love it. I don’t believe I have ever had a pizza that spicy, nor one I ate so fast.
Gotta tell yah, I was more than a little gluttonous.
Over all, pretty much loved it. If you go, get spicy pizza. You’ll be glad you did.

I was very happy with the Dante’s Inferno pizza and my husband had the lilikoi glazed ribs. The music was not as loud as at Colleen’s, the other pizza place in Haiku. The pizza was the right amount of hot, and had a very nice thin and chewy crust. A nice dessert selection! Ordered the lilikoi crème brûlée which had lilikoi sauce. It was yummy. The server was friendly but not constantly checking on us. Service was efficient. We didn’t wait a long time for food. I would definitely go back for more pizza.

I am confused! Previously Max Word Bistro, now Lilikoi Grill with exactly the same menu, and problems as before. new management? same chef? who knows, but they sure do advertise a great deal for front of the house workers, pizza chefs, and baristas on Craigslist, so something is surely amiss with a turnover greater than the Titanic.
I had been a fan of their pizza, but honestly, the last few take outs, something is very different than when they started (up again?) several months ago. The quality of the cheese is not what it once was. They now throw diced out-​of-​season tomatoes on the margarita pizza, which not only is unnecessary, but totally ruins the pizza, giving it a watered down and flavorless component (reminiscent of the diced tomatoes they threw in a seafood plate when it was still called Max World Bistro.) Where did all the fresh herbs and artistry go? Lately the pizzas have been over-​cooked, something having to do with a pizza maker who is constantly walking off the line to his car to …? Nothing worse than an over cooked pizza and strung out pie head! This descension in quality can not possibly justify the raised prices, so I am genuinely baffled and frustrated…
I really do hope they get it together. As I mentioned in my review of Max World Bistro, I would encourage them to ditch that extensive dinner menu (every other restaurant in a 10 mile radius serves the same beet salads, fish and chips, over cooked fish entrees… etc) and focus solely on an incredible pizzeria, which is something Maui really needs and would be a huge success. Put your money back in your pizza pies… we know you can do it!!!

This place is going down hill fast! They started out with good prices and good pizza, then the prices shot up only after a month of opening and then the quality went way down. First strike; pizza maker gets pulled off the ovens or walks off and pizza takes over an hour to come out! OK Second chance Tonight I ordered a Haiku Rasta Pizza substituting there processed house mozzarella for fresh mozzarella. Well guess the pizza guy screwed up and made the pie with there processed cheese then someone saw the mistake after the pie was cooked. The fix: through few pieces of fresh mozzarella on top of the already cooked pie, double bake it and call it fixed. Well now the pie is like a cracker and still not what I paid EXTRA for! Sorry guys if you want to stay in business you have to fix you mistakes ! Now you lost another customer because im not coming back.

I’ve not tried many stuff on their menu.
But spotted a bargain as far as fish and chip goes on Maui.
Four mahimahi pieces for 12.50 with shoestring fries,
Now where else in all of Hawaii can you find that?
Yum
Keep the price and you’ll pull in the traffic.

We waited nearly an hour for our food. The manager/​owner came out and asked how everything was so we told him that we had been waiting a really long time and he started mumbling some excuse about it being Valentine’s Day before wandering off without having served any purpose or bothering to apologize.
I went in and asked the lady who took our order and said «It’ll be out in a minute» without having consulted anyone; apparently she just knew. Then 10 minutes later when it still wasn’t out and we went in to ask for a refund, the same lady said «The girl told me that your order never got processed…» so my wife asked why she hadn’t told us and she didn’t really seem to have a reason. We didn’t get a refund for our drinks and didn’t get more than a half-​ass apology; she seemed to be apologizing more for having to deal with us.
Another couple next to us got their food about 20 minutes from one another and each ended up eating alone on Valentine’s Day; we ended up going across the way to the local Café where the food was great.
Also, what kind of bar doesn’t have beer on tap???

I ordered my burger at 7:12 pm, it’s 8:09 as I am drafting this review and still no signs of our food. The manager approached our table asking if everything was ok, however telling him that we had been waiting for over 45 min made him unhappy towards us and justified himself saying it was the busiest day of the year…
To make matters worse, the table next to us just got some of their food and they ordered only 20 min ago.
My husband kindly asked about our order and the only respond he got was «not ready yet».
1 hour and 10 minutes after we ordered we decided to ask for a refund (yes our food didn’t come out even though we had already paid), they barely apologized and said our food didn’t even get started, we didn’t even get a drink on the house to make up for screwing up our valentine’s dinner.

I should be the first to review as I checked in a week before the 1÷27÷2012 review but Ms. D beat me to it. :(
Any-​hooo…
The best Lilikoi margarita I have ever had; actually the best margarita i have ever had. You would not think it is possible but the tartness of the fresh Lilikoi juice is the perfect combo for Tequila. The fish special’s tend to be a little on the high side (25 dollars a plate) but the portions are huge and filing; the fish came with delicious purple sweet potatoes and asparagus.
I also had the short-​ribs which are a much better deal then the steak (15 dollars I think as opposed to 25) and they were the perfect moistness yummy protein power.
They are famous for their Pizzas; wood oven perfect consistency. They have every topping you can imagine from Ricotta, chicken breast etc… Definitely the place to get pizza on the North shore… yes better then the restaurant in Paia.
Tons of different types of Organic local salads that looked yummy. My only complaint is I did not like the shrimp appetizer at all; bland and small for the price. For this indiscretion they loose a star.
The staff is friendly, honest and knowledgeable; the menu is so big you could eat here every night for a week and have a different entrée.
Did not try the deserts but I bet they are delicious.
I’ll be back Lilikoi Grill; make sure those margs are waiting :)