Kua ‘aina

After spending a couple of hours surfing I was so hungry all I wanted was an excellent burger. Had the ½ pound cheeseburger adding pineapple for local flavor. It hit the spot and the shoestring fries were just about perfect.

So not worth the money. Yes I understand they were busy but then they should be more prepared. They were out of fries, out of tomatoes, out of most everything. The staff were not friendly. Obviously they were tired from a busy day but this was a very dry and bland burger with a dried out bun. I heard so many good things about this place. Too bad I didn’t get to see it at its best.

This place has a perfect spot for the sunset! And I found my favorite drink, dirty martini infused with jarapeno! The hostess, Amber was so sweet and the server, Peter was awesome!

I really want try this for a while and honestly I was expecting more. Burger was cooked well but lack of flavor, I ordered the avocado burger add extra cheese, didn’t have enough avocado. Fries were ok. I’m gonna stick to 7 brothers and Kahuku grill.

A+ — Shoe string fries. Crispy and hot
B+ — Avocado Burger: extremely well seasoned and tasty. 2 large halves of avocado and onions. Only issue was that bun was to small and made hard to eat… but would definitely order again.
A — a great value

Kua’aina is a burger place where you can customize your order with add-​ons, different cheeses, and garnishes, but you have to pay for each separately. There are burgers, sandwiches, and add-​ons you can add to your order. The meat for the burgers come in ¹⁄₃ or ½.
I got a Bacon Burger with ¹⁄₃ burger ($ 9), side order of french fries ($ 2-​$ 3), and medium drink ($ 2) for a total of $ 15. It was pretty pricey, but it left me feeling full.
*Tip: If you order to go, you have to pay 10 cents extra, but if you order «for here», you don’t have to. *
Food Review:
1) French Fries: (3/5=Average)
The french fries are shoe string fries so very skinny and kind of crunchy, but when I got mines, it was kind of soggy and not the best fries I had in the world. It was also lacking in seasoning so I had to add more salt (if you sit on their tables, there’s napkins, ketchup, salt, pepper, and Tabasco).
2) Bacon Burger: (4/5=Above Average)
The best bacon burger I ever had. The bacon was crispy, there was enough seasoning and the burger was done in the middle of medium well and medium rare which I deeply enjoyed.
Most of their burgers come with a choice of cheese, choice of bun (whole wheat, 8 grain, and something else, I forgot), lettuce, and tomatoes, but since I couldn’t eat tomatoes, they took that out, which I deeply appreciate it.
I got mines with American Cheese and a Whole Wheat burger bun, it was totally worth it and I enjoyed each bite.
The only downside of this place is it’s pricey since your order doesn’t come with french fries or a drink so you have to pay for each. Also, when we went on Sunday, it was kind of crowded even though it was 1 pm so prepare to wait awhile for your food. The staff is very wonderful though and they always try their best to make your eating experience a wonderful one so I truly recommend this place.

The food was great. They cooked the bacon on the burger perfectly. My wife had the Ahi salad. Huge hunk of fish! The fries are shoestring and delicious. Clean. Great patio! Very friendly service.

This store is better than Kapolei. Staff are friendly, burgers are good. Recommend the Mahi Fish burger.

Yesterday on the way back home from surfing, our family decided to come here for lunch. Before we ordered our burgers, I asked the lady behind the counter approximately how long would it take for our order to be ready?
She said it would be apx 10 – 15 min.
After we ordered, we waited outside on the tables. 15 min past and I go inside to check on our order. Our order wasn’t up, but the people who placed their order after us were picking their food first. Our Burgers were not ready, and I didn’t understand why people who ordered after me got their food before.
I walked back outside to wait. It turned out being 25 more min before our food was ready! A 15 min wait ended up lasting apx 40 min! During the wait, I walked next to the building where they had huli huli chicken and purchased a plate. At least we had something to eat while we waited (amazing huli huli chicken btw). Hungry children are no joke lol.
The burgers were fine, the fries were stale, not worth the time they made us wait. I don’t know what happened, the only thing I can think is that maybe they messed our order up and had to re-​make it. If that was the case, we should have been notified. Overall experience was not satisfying.
**** on a side note, there were what seemed like hundreds of flies swarming around the tables out front. It was bad enough for a few people to move. I don’t know if this is common, but it makes the eating experience unpleasant.

There are three location in Oahu. Whenever I went to Hawaii. I went there at Haleiwa. The avocado burger is excellent but french fried is soso :)

OK, so I’m up late done with a review of Alan Wong’s and a rant about some inconsiderate, ignorant oaf we experienced and I’m wondering. I’m still not hungry.
I ate a burger at Kua Aina, like, 10 hours ago.
10 hours onna burger fill up.
Impressive.
Gotta say, totally tasty burger ¹⁄₃ or ½ lb u can order in Haleiwa, the awesome gateway to the Oahu North Shore Surfing Mecca!
Xcept, We’re here September, wave peaking 1 – 3 ft.
Not ur mommas curl, brudda… or maybe it is.
So, curl up widda burger or any of their tasty sandwiches (roast beef, pastrami, veggie, any combo) while ur adventuring North Shore way.
Really good burger, friendly staff (just be ready to tell em with what u want, dammit! c’ mon they’re busy, do ur part.) and tidy interior for a brief sit-​down.

This burger is crap. Med ¹⁄₃ Lb with cheese is actually a beyond well done cheeseless mess that tastes like a Salisbury steak field ration I once had.

The delicious smell of burgers gently cooking, wafts towards me as I walk in. Instantly I know this is going to be an excellent experience. Reading the menu confirms my mind and taste buds are in sync. After ordering, we wait patiently to be called at a nearby table.
My burger was cooked medium (to my liking) covered with cheese using lettuce as my ‘bun’. Since I need to avoid gluten I’m always appreciative when my dietary needs are accommodated. The french fries are thinly sliced, seasoned nicely and still had the yummy potato taste.
Kua ‘aina
A kuaāina came to be looked upon as someone who embodied the backbone of the land. Indeed, kuaāina are the Native Hawaiians who remained in the rural communities of our islands, took care of the kūpuna or elders, continued to speak Hawaiian, bent their backs and worked and sweated in the taro patches and sweet potato fields, and held that which is precious and sacred in the culture in their care.
Na Kua’aina
I’m endlessly fascinated by Hawaiian culture. So much tradition and meaning in everything.

These folks do burgers the right way — I opted for ¹⁄₃ pounder with Ortega pepper plus some thick cut tomato & onion slathered with a bit of mayo and some crisp lettuce — it works! The carrot wedge is a nice touch and a side of fries is a must. One word of caution: be prepared to wait after placing your order — these folks aren’t using heat lamps; made to order — Ono!

Wow, a great find! They apparently have another location in Honolulu, but this one is amazing as is! The staff is super nice and helpful… and this was by far one of the cleanest and most established places we ate at in Oahu! Parking is a breeze and hours are a bit more reasonable compared to other places in the North Shore (where everything closes at 6pm)!
The menu is pretty simple and straightforward, consisting of mostly burgers. I tried the avocado burger, which is basically the same as a regular burger, but with half of a giant avocado on top! They are crazy generous with the avocado here and it’s actually a bit cheaper to order the avocado burger than to add a piece of avocado onto a regular burger. The burger is unbelievably juicy and flavorful — it definitely stands out amongst the rest, and was hands down probably THE best burger I tried in Oahu, which is saying a lot cuz I ate a TON of burgers everywhere I went! I wasn’t as big of a fan of the fries, though. They serve little shoestring fries, so they’re the type you need to eat with a fork or grab a bunch of, in order to get a full bite in… which makes me just feel like a pig, haha. On the bright side, the «large» fries are still plenty to share with at least one other person, which makes the meal super affordable. Best of all, this place is a hop and a skip away from a ton of other convenient stuff, like banks, Longs Drugs, other restaurants, Matsumoto’s, etc.
As I mentioned, the staff is just superb. We came in just a little before closing, but they still let us order our burgers and eat our meals inside, even though they were already starting to clean up all the other tables. When we finished our meal, we tried to clean up our tables, but the staff insisted we leave everything there and that they would pick it up. We were so pleased with the service that we ended up leaving them a huge tip because that was pretty much the only time we ever experienced the «Aloha spirit» while we were in Hawaii! Otherwise, some of the locals were surprisingly pretty mean, rude and helpful. So kudos to Kua ‘Aina for having both amazing food and extraordinary service!

The burgers were good. They claim to be «the best» — they’re not. But they’re still above average!
The business is brisk at their Haleiwa location. The line was going out the door during lunchtime on a weekday. Once you’ve ordered, it doesn’t take too long to get your food, but it did take a while to get all the way through the line! On top of that, you’ve got to keep an eye out for open tables, since they’re so busy.
There’s a big parking lot across the street, and a smaller parking lot behind the restaurant, too. Restrooms are located behind the building.

Kua ‘Aina is located in at three locations on Oahu, one on Odaiba, Tokyo, and even in London! There are other burger places to visit on Island; however, when in Haleiwa, there is only one and the only place worth having a great burger at a great price.
They are located half way down the main street in the small town, on the right (coming from Honolulu), and best to be located on foot. There is no parking anywhere near, so I suggest you look for Pizza Bob’s and Bank of Hawaii (on the left). They have a huge parking lot in the back. Park there and you can walk here.
They’ve expanded over the past year and now have a very clean indoor dining area. There are no restrooms here. The food is exceptional for this side of the Island. It’s THE place to go for a vast array of burger selections. Great for a family or just one person. Again, clean, modern, and tasty. Check them out.
Cheers!

Super fresh toppings with a carrot slice comes with each sandwich! I always get the grilled onion and a side of cole slaw!
Call ahead to avoid a wait!

It’s sad when the best part of your meal is the carrot that came with it. Brilliant idea, by the way.
Was visiting the north shore and decided to stop by because the avocado burger looked appealing. Turns out they were out of avocado. So I got an ahi sandwich, and it was one of the driest things I’ve ever eaten. It looks more like a hamburger than a sandwich. The meat tasted like dust — the ahi was way over cooked. On top of this, the buns are SO thick that for each bite I had to throw away some bun. They could have made a sandwich from just one half of the bun. But despite the size of the buns, the sandwich still fell apart. What?!
So even though the flavors are somewhat there, put together, all the components of my sandwich became just dryness. And the greasy little fries didn’t help.
Plus one star for a nice environment with outlets on the walls. Thanks for the electricity :)

Okay, it’s smack dab in Haleiwa aka surf town. Things can get pricey in this North Shore area but the prices here are not too bad. They aren’t cheap but won’t break to bank trying to grab a bite for lunch.
The service is friendly. Not the fastest but i guess that’s expected. A positive is they have pre-​made cups of ice water that are complimentary and help a little w/​the cost by not spending another $ 2/​drink.
We split the pastrami sandwich. There wasn’t much pastrami on it but enough to taste it. This wasn’t a NY style pastrami sandwich by any means. They offer a variety of bread choices as well as cheese. We also split a small fries. They were my wife’s favorite kind; stringy and crispy. Saw their burgers after the fact and I think we ordered the wrong plate. They looked thick and juicy! Next time we’re getting one. They even have ahi burger, teri chicken burgers as well as quite a few others to choose from.
There is outdoor seating which is shaded and great for ppl watching.