Amina Pizzeria

This place was great! The pepperoni, beef sausage and bacon (turkey really) is halal but confirm when you get there. Our first time there, we ordered their pepperoni pizza and a beef sausage pizza and thoroughly enjoyed it. The second time we went, we got pepperoni and beef sausage calzones to go. Loved them! The owners are super nice and even the security guard that watches the parking area was friendly and funny. Definitely a nice change when you get tired of eating seafood :)

Amina’s food is Awesome & Amina herself is Awesome! We usually get the Spinach & Garlic Calzone with Grilled Chicken. It’s the best marinara sauce we have had outside of the East Coast. Simply Superb! If you are near the Ala Moana Mall or the Convention Center I’d highly recommend stopping by. It’s not far from Waikiki also. You can park in the little lot in the back.

1÷19÷16 first time here with my bf.
It was easy to find parking because we came at 4pm.
Once we entered the store we were welcomed from a lady and given a menu.
It’s not table service so you will have to order at the counter, but the food will get delivered to your table.
There is also pictures on the walls of some of the items they have.
Everything on the menu looked absolutely delicious but I was craving for the traditional marinara sauce with meatballs. I was all smiles when my plate was placed in front of me. That garlic bread didn’t only look good, but it tasted good as well. It had a crunch with softness to it not soggy on one side like other places.
I give this experience 5 stars because from the time I entered the place til I left I was highly satisfied and my tummy was too.

The large cheese pizza is 14″. The dough is not impressive, seems like a store bought frozen offering. The crust is as flat as he rest of the slice. Sauce is good as is the cheese, but $ 14 for a cheese and $ 25 for a specialty pizza is just crazy. I understand mark ups for being on an island, but not this much for low quality pizza. Specialty pizza can hide the true quality, cheese is the truest judge of a pizza.
Sorry, but this is just not good, living in NY I learned what is truly good pizza. Surprisingly I’ve yet to find better pizza than in Chinatown.

Had a pizza there (hawaiian pizza how original of me) and it was good. It took 10 – 15 mins to get it prepared (it was the middle of the afternoon). Asian lady at the counter was nice.

We parked behind phở bistro (free and safe) and walked around the corner to Amina’s. We had the combination pizza and combination calzone and both were delicious. We eat zabihah halal only due to religious dietary restrictions and they were very accommodating about pointing out which items on the menu to choose. The owner came out from the back and greeted us. Lovely mom n’ pop type of feel. Will return again!

Spaghetti meatball, average
Garlic bread with cheese, good
Amina special sandwich, very good
Everything is fairly priced, we will go back if we are in the area… Parking sucks here though so be prepared!

Went to this restaurant because of their 4.5 star reviews, but I must say I was disappointed. I am used to a pizza restaurant with freshly made pizza crust (cooked in a brick oven), so the pizza from here tasted like a store bought frozen pizza. :(HOWEVER, great service! :)

This little hole in the wall restaurant was so good that my husband and I came back two nights in a row! We actually decided to walk here all the way from our hotel at Waikiki Beach. Our meal was worth every step. I am no fan of pizza but it was so good that I needed to try more items before our wonderful vacation came to an end. What made it good was the quality of each and every ingredient all baked to perfection. We also ordered the calzone which was extremely delicious and a bowl of pasta. The prices are very reasonable and the staff is so pleasant. Thank you Amina Pizzeria for the affordable, tasty food that put all of the overpriced, underwhelming resort restaurants to shame!

I am writing this review only about their calzone.
I used to get my fill of calzone at Bella Mia’s but it closed a while ago. We recently had a craving for calzones, which brought me to Unilocal!for suggestions. I didn’t know that Unilocal!had a search specifically for «Best Calzone», but apparently Amina Pizzeria is #1.
I called and was greeted by a friendly Asian lady. She took my order and said it would take about 15 minutes. I ordered a Combination Calzone, which has cheese, mixed veggies, sausage and pepperoni.
I had to use Google Maps to find this place and was happy to discover that it is located just 5 minutes from my apartment and is right next door to one of my favorite phở places — Phở Bistro 2.
When I got to the restaurant, the same lady that took my order helped ring me up. She was very friendly and polite, smiling the whole time. She gave us our order and we went home. The smell is the car made us realize just how hungry we were so we started eating one of them on our drive home. It was so warm, cheesy, with the perfect saltiness from the meats and some crunch from the veggies (onions, bell peppers, mushrooms). It came with a side of marinara sauce for dipping which was the perfect amount for the whole calzone. When we got home, my bf and I fought over the last few bites of the second calzone. Our first experience was so amazing that we were back there the next day. Oh, who am I kidding? We ate there four nights in a row. By the fifth, I had phở from Phở Bistro 2 and my bf had TWO calzones for himself.
Pros:
–Friendly service
–Food is cooked fairly quickly
–Variety of calzones: combination, just cheese, Hawaiian style (with pineapples), spinach and garlic, pepperoni and mushrooms, or vegetarian. We have tried everything except for vegetarian and Hawaiian. All were great, but the combination is the BEST.
–Great prices
Cons:
–Parking lot is shared with Phở Bistro 2, the massage parlor, and a small convenient store. There is not a lot of parking, but if you go in before 5 or after 7, most of the parking spaces are available.

A great comfort food pizzeria for families with kids in the Waikiki area — and it’s off-​the-​beaten-​path enough that there is no line or crowds to fight. Yeah, it’s like a pizza and pasta place molded after Ameri-​Italian pizza/​pasta place you’d find in many shopping malls — but that should in no way bias your opinion. .. Well, maybe it does a bit.
Okay — on to the pluses: the ingredients are all fresh and the woman who runs the place is so darn nice. The pizza — your standard pie, comes with loads of fresh (i.e., real) cheese. On top of it all — our five old pizza-​loving little girl thinks it’s great. That’s endorsement enough!

Overall impression:
Decent. Basically a little better than sbarro, in my opinion.
Average price: $ 10
Positives:
–pretty good tasting
–customer service was great
–not too expensive
Negatives:
–little parking
I had a pepperoni calzone. It was about $ 10. I got it to go. It was actually very good. Not like, knock your socks off good, but very good. It made me nice and full… and full of calories, like a proper Italian meal should. Not bad for $ 10. You can get a cheaper one at sbarro but it won’t be as big and won’t taste as good.
I would come back but I could also live without it and not fall into depression if it went out of business.
Tip: add sriracha sauce to your pizza or calzone. Sriracha with tomato sauce is downright necessary and will blow your freaking mind

Wonderful Italian food hole-​in-​the-​wall. The lady who takes orders and serves dine-​in customers is super friendly, polite, and is always smiling. I think she is Vietnamese and is the owner. She’s always there and seems dedicated to her work.
Amina’s never gets super crowded, but there’s a steady stream of customers even at night. Many customers also seem to have an amiable relationship with her, kinda like Ah-​Lang (a Korean restaurant) if you’ve ever been there. If not, see my review.
There aren’t many things I haven’t had so I’ll highlight just a few so you get the idea. Can’t go wrong with any of the calzones. They’re filled with a good portion of gooey mozzarella along with other ingredients and are perfect for take out. Pizzas are also good. I personally like the combination pizza. Lasagna is also good containing a fair amount of meat and cheese. All dishes are well balanced, full of flavor, and not too salty.
Tip 1: Lasagna and alfredo, as well as other baked dishes that are full of sauce, are best enjoyed there and not as take out. The difference is that if you dine in, they’ll bake it in a stone dish, but if you order it to go, they’ll bake it in an aluminum container, which gives the sauce a tinny taste.
Tip 2: You can phone your order then pick up so you don’t have to wait.

I love this place!
I usually get take-​out from this place. The lady who always answers the phone is always nice and sweet.
Well, I saw a couple of negative comments about the foods they have here. I think you’re wrong if you are comparing this place to some fancy, five stars restaurants…
The foods from here give me comfort and satisfaction. The taste is great not like from a fancy restaurant but homemade style.
So please don’t judge this place by eating just a couple of dishes from the menus…
I really appreciate the service and the food from here. They don’t deserve to get negative comments with just one star by ignorant people.

I can’t believe I didn’t know about Amina Pizzeria until this year. I love Italian food but don’t get to have it very often. I actually learned about this restaurant from my daughter, who learned about it from Unilocal — again, Unilocal makes life better!
I had the veggie spaghetti and it was very tasty. I was absolutely stuffed but ate it all anyway! I was so focused on eating my dinner that I can’t remember what my husband had. I remember thinking he’d order the famous calzone but he didn’t. The next time I go, I’ll definitely order that because I’ve heard it is AMAZING!
The two ladies that were working that evening were super sweet.
If I lived in the area, I’d be there weekly!

I feel like I’ve entered the Twilight Zone!
FOOD:
This is where I’m lost. The pizza here is some of the worst pizza I’ve ever had in my life.
The crust was chewy (in a bad way), the sauce tasted like preggo, and the toppings weren’t even close to being fresh. Absolutely every part of this pizza tasted like it was pre-​made or from a can.
I don’t know what’s going on with everyone else who’s been to this place. Maybe calzones or pasta is better? Not sure. But, seriously, don’t eat the pizza.
SERVICE:
Not great. There’s one lady who takes the orders and makes all the food. If it’s busy you’ll be waiting for her to come out and take your order.
PRICE:
There is no price to make up for the food. It’s really just that bad.

My friends and I were on our way to Home Bar and Grill one night when we passed by Amina’s. I was intrigued at how small it was, and I love italian so I Unilocal’d it. Flippin 4 and half stars? I knew we had to check it out later.
Let’s start with the food — I got the much recommended spinach and garlic calzone, with sausage added. My biggest fear when ordering calzones is the bread to filling ratio — you never know when a place is gonna give you a handfull of cheese/​fillings and 50% of the calzone will be the bread. Fortunately, this was not the case. My calzone was stuffed with spinach, sausage, and cheese, with a nice herb-​y cheese sprinkle on the outer crust. The included marinara was also pretty tasty.
The only drawback was the sausage — it ended up being a polish sausage type of meat. like a sliced hot dog. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, but maybe I was supposed to say «italian sausage?»
My friend got ravioli, which he thinks may be the frozen kind. Sauce was good though and the garlic bread was massive. I don’t think he had a problem with that.
My recommendation would be to take out. This was our biggest mistake. The eating area is SMALL. As we sat down, one family with a stroller was finishing up, so we figured, hey, we get this whole area to ourselves. Small but not so bad. As we waited for our order, another family with a stroller and loud children came in. Oh fun, one more family but could be worse. Then a large group (6+) young adults came in, talking loudly and chattering about whether to eat here or go across the street to Home B&G. Guess where they decided? As soon as they got food, someone proceeded to drop their marinara on the floor, which sprayed across the small room and on my leg.
Would pass on doing that again next time.

I really like Amina Pizzeria. This has to be one of the best places to get fairly decent Italian food with LARGE portions (I always have leftovers) for a reasonable price (say, $ 10 – 12).
Parking is a bit of a pain because they don’t have a dedicated lot, but you can find street parking or use the parking lot off the side street which is shared with Phở Bistro 2 and a liquor store.
The seating is limited, with only a handful of tables, but I’ve never had to wait for a table. You can also get your food to go, as I’ve observed other people doing.
Service is awesome. I was there recently and the lady (owner?) was very gracious and served us with a smile the whole time.
The food, nothing to write home about, but it’s not half bad either. I would deifnitely rate the food better than Old Spaghetti Factory and maybe on par with Bucca di Beppo (Bucca has more menu offerings). The 4 star rating is definitely a function of price vs. value.
If you’re looking for an Italian place but don’t want to break the bank, definitely give this place a try.

Can I say winnah winnah Italian dinnah?
The ambience: Although this place is small, this place gives you a warm and comfortable feeling like you are eating right at your home.
The service: Every foodservice should have the same attitude as this owner. She is the cashier, cook, and the person who brings the food out. With all that she has to do, she still remains calm and gives the best possible customer service ever! She made my food more enjoyable to eat since she cooked it with love and care.
There was a family next to me who was dining in. After they finished eating, one of the family members came up to the owner and let her know the food was delicious! Now that’s how you can tell they really enjoyed their dinner.
The food: The food was very fulfilling and the portions were worth my money. I tried the calzone before and it was amazing! You cannot leave this place without trying the calzone.
This is my absolute #1 place to get my Italian fix!

Sunday night spent baby sitting for a friend, stomach says «what about me??» I pressed nearby for hope a 4 star. I found Amina.
Atmosphere: off of Kapiolani across the street from Home Bar. Cramped seating inside with predominantly red décor.
Service: The cashier was extremely sweet and nice. Ordered my food to go so I could get back to the baby sitting and only had to wait a few minutes.
Food: I ordered the meat lasagna and the mushroom garlic calzone. It tasted like my frozen lasagna at best. The calzone was very garlic heavy but dining at Amina confirmed to me that Italian food is hard to find especially good italian food in Hawaii.
Intangibles: If you really need an italian fix come here, but there are many better alternatives.