Byron’s Drive-In

Very sad that they shut down. Would always come here for slush float or the fried rice omlette. Tried to come by during their last days, but the line was way long.
Bummed that they didn’t decide to reopen at another location. They will be missed

Byron’s is now just a memory. No longer will I be able to savor their beef stew or have a thick milkshake. This place was not in the best area, there are some shady characters who hung out here. This is why I never went at night and I didn’t go as often as I probably wanted to. It was a great 24 hours alternative to Zippys. The staff was always so friendly and the food was good. I never had their fried chicken but I heard it was the bomb. I fell in love with their beef stew and I couldn’t move onto to anything else. This place also was one of the few places on the island that served Joe’s Special (google it and salivate). Hawaii has seen many places come and go, but people were really sad to see Byron’s close more than a lot of other places. I think because they have been around for so long (65 years I think), it was a family business, they had great food and service and it seemed like it wasn’t their choice to close (lost their lease I believe).
I’m glad I was able to get a milkshake for my last meal. I couldn’t get the beef stew since it was sold out (food was flying out like hot cakes!). I heard their shrimp burger was delicious so I was fortunate to have been able to get one. OMG I was missing out! It was one of the best ever, the shrimps were fried perfectly and plump! Sadly, it was my first and last.
Thank you Byrons for serving Hawaii local favorites and comfort foods. You may be closed but you won’t be forgotten.

Ok… so maybe I didn’t eat here while it was open, but I was able to get my hands on a day-​old shrimp burger since I had an awesome friend that bought extras. I was able to heat it up in the toaster oven and enjoy the shrimp burger, but I’m thinking it would’ve been 100% better had it been fresh. I’ll never know though since it’s closed now… *sniff*

It’s sucks to see this iconic establishment be demolished and taken away just to cut the commute time by 10 minutes.
Byron’s is a staple for the locals, tourists, and everyone in between. Whether it was to fuel up before you venture off to another location or to just get that local authentic fix, this place was the spot.
The staff are always friendly, food is great and it is such a sad feeling that I won’t be able to come to this spot anymore.
I will miss their famous shrimp burgers, their avocado burgers, green river, and my most favorite dish: the opala omelet with fried rice!
A big thank you to Byron’s and the Byron’s staff for the delicious food and all the service over the years. I wish the staff the very best and wish them good luck in whatever they do.

I’m so glad that I was able to make it out here one last time before they shut down for good! I stopped by last weekend with Chris L., and the place wasn’t as crowded as I was expecting for the last Saturday night of business before they closed.
We stood in line, and mulled over the menu board and I settled on some chicken katsu, the grilled bologna sandwich, and a piece of fried chicken. I am definitely going to miss the crispy deep-​fried goodness of the katsu and fried chicken here. This was the first time I tried the grilled bologna sandwich, and I regret not getting it before! Well, at least it’s something simple that I can make at home. I then ended this meal with a nice order of deep-​fried oreos! Since the great twinkie extinction removed the deep fried twinkies from their menu, I settled on these pancake battered, deep-​fried bits of goodness. Needless to say the food here isn’t the healthiest… But hey, the really tasty food never really is, is it?
I also tried to come back for one last taste on Tuesday night, but there was a fairly large crowd (I swear it must have been about 50 people standing out there) waiting in line. If you try to get your last taste of Byron’s I highly recommend making a phone order, although, it looked like there was a good long wait for that line too!
Thank you, Byron’s for all those years of tasty local drive-​In food, deep-​fried goodies, and keeping Chowder House chowder alive!
Maybe I’ll try to make one last attempt to eat there before the 28^th!

Another one of our local Hawaii grind places biting the dust at the end of February :(…what can I say about this place…
One of my close friends told me that Byron’s Drive-​In is a «Hit or Miss» kinda thing, and I totally get what he says about this place. I can probably count on my hand, the amount of times I’ve eaten here, as it’s kinda out of my way for me as far as proximity from my home.
Yesterday, I was working on Kauai… and after a hectic day running around on Kauai, (as unexpected things kept coming up), I didn’t even get a chance to eat while I was there. After I landed back on Oahu… I was sooooooooo HUNGRY, I made a bee-​line to Byron’s Drive-​In as I remembered the last day of business is Feb. 28, 2013.
Upon arriving at Byron’s around 3:45 pm for my breakfast/lunch…I did a quick scan of the menu on the board, and noticed they had «BEEF STEW»! For me… I just love Beef Stew, as I’m still looking for the perfect Beef Stew since my beloved H.K. Restaurant closed in Moiliili a few years back (another local establishment).
I ordered the Beef Stew with brown rice & a soda… all of this for $ 11.00. I was thinking if was kinda pricy for a plate lunch…$ 8.25 for the Beef Stew + $.75 for brown rice + $ 2.00 for a soda.
Granted that I’m Chinese, and don’t get me wrong… I’m more than willing to pay top dollar, if the item was tasty & delicious, but in this case… it was not!
Although the Beef Stew’s taste was there, and they gave me an adequate portion of Beef Stew… what totally turned me off was that the beef (meat) was HARD AS ROCK!
If someone had served me something like this… I would normally just throw it away, or not eat it… but since I was up since 6 AM yesterday, and did not eat anything else but a banana when I left my house to catch my plane to Kauai yesterday…
Upon running around like a mad man, worrying about not missing my flight home, as most of the flights were sold out yesterday… when I finally got back to Oahu & made my way to Byron’s to eat yesterday at 3:45pm, I can surely say that the Beef Stew was a total let down for me! :(
I should have been smarter & read the Unilocal reviews before I went here, as some of the pictures of the food does look pretty good… oh well, to live & learn!
Well, although yesterday’s dining experience wasn’t too good for me… I still wish the hard working people of Byron’s Drive-​In all the best in their future endeavors.

Gotta go now, time is running out on this local favorite. February 28^th to be exact. One recent evening was spent having dinner here. I had the hamburger steak plate with brown gravy and my dining companion had the fried chicken plate. Also, some french fries were in order. Byron’s has always been a favorite of mine whenever in the airport area. Having worked many night jobs in the surrounding areas over the years, you could always count on Byron’s to be there when your lunch hour was at some ungodly hour of the night, or should I say, early morning. Like an oasis shining in the middle of an otherwise empty industrial area, you could get a hot meal, hot coffee or chocolate. In the days before the shutdown of Hostess Bakery, you could have a deep fried twinkie for dessert! How’s that! The clam chowder, the shrimp burger, the beef stew and seafood plates… They will all be sorely missed. As the many small drive ins we remember from our youth fall victim to the lease gods, we have to remember to support them, always, not only when they are in the process of closing down… I met a nice man who was there having his favorite shrimp burger for perhaps the last time. A dying breed, oh how I will miss them. I will especially miss the workers, always cheerful and patient, always willing to suggest alternates to items not available or to go the extra mile to make sure your order is correct. Thank you Byron’s for all the fond memories, from that box of broasted chicken we enjoyed as kids to the hamburger steak with brown gravy we enjoy now. Hope we see you in a new location someday or perhaps as a pop up someplace. Good luck…

I can’t believe that this place is closing down soon! Further more I can’t believe I drive past this place several times a month and didn’t try it till this week after I found out they were closing.
It’s located on the corner right before you enter the airport so it’s a convenient location to stop by before or after your flight. Plus it’s open 24hrs so it’s a quick place to go when your flight departs/​arrives in the wee hours of the night. Although I am not sure how safe this place is late at night…
When I was trying to decide what to order my eyes immediately caught the deep fried pb&j with bananas. I usually don’t go for the deep fried stuff but that just looked too good to pass up and for only $ 3.75! The sandwich was sliced in half and topped with powdered sugar. It came with generous amounts of pb&j with a hint of bananas where it came oozing out with every bite yumm.
My bf got the chili loco moco which filled up the entire box of those regular size square take out boxes. It was a lot of food and pretty tasty for under $ 8!
Our food came out pretty quickly and the staff members were really friendly and nice.
It’s sad to see that these long standing drive-​inn places are slowly disappearing.
I am going to try and go back again before February 28^th!

It’s one of the few remaining old fashioned drive-in’s on the island, and it’s about to disappear. Come February 28, Bryon’s will be no more. No trace of it will remain, since the landlord is planning to demolish the iconic building.
As with most people, once I heard that it was going to close, I made it a point to come here one last time. Unfortunately they had sold out of their legendary deep fried Twinkies weeks ago (we can thank the closing of Hostess for that), but I still got one last bite of their infamous shrimp burger and cheeseburger.
Let’s face it — drive-in’s like Byron’s are a dying breed, and there’s not much we can do about it, except enjoy them while we still can. While they aren’t cutting edge and they don’t keep up with the food trends, that’s exactly what their appeal is. They keep it plain, they keep it simple and they keep it old school.

First and foremost, this is a non-​food review, so I understand if you don’t want to read this and that you’re a superficial person who only cares about the product. But for those of you smart people, you don’t want to miss out on this kind of information.
A friend in need is a friend indeed. To be a dependable friend, sometimes you need to play the devil’s advocate to keep things in check. Enter Byron’s Drive-​Inn…
But not literally because literally you don’t want to enter Byron’s Drive-​Inn. The place is a disgusting hub of years and years of filth piled on top of each other, and that’s just the parking lot.
Even the eating area parallels, dare I say, the parking lot. The only difference I notice is the flies that inhabit this eating area/​fly convention/​ghetto unfabulous. Ghetto because some of the bench seats are missing under the tables.
Furthermore, the smell of grease that channels out from the cashiers window while you wait in line is deterrent as well. Similar to eating at Yakiniku Millionare and your clothes comes out smelling like the food you just ate. This was the deal breaker for me. My lungs are scared for life, thanks Byrons.
If that doesn’t deter you enough, then maybe the people that frequent this refuse convenient center because that’s what it smells like. There are some decent people, but you’re taking a big risk eating here with those shady people.
In conclusion, the one thing common among the points i’ve made is, dirty… dirty people, dirty parking lot, dirty air, dirty scene. No plate lunch, burger, etc is worth getting in these conditions. If there is anything positive about Byron’s Drive-​Inn, it could be the good customer service. Maybe that’s why some decent people still eat here because they feel bad about going someplace else. It’s the relationship. Also, I notice the workers working hard, so I can’t take that away from this place.
P. S. Thanks for reading this long review and stay safe.

Nice friendly customer service but other than that this place wasn’t all that great.
1.they don’t accept credit cards, cash only.
2.they serve a little bit of everything from standard plate lunches to chicken and waffles to even deep fried oreos yet emphasis on quality isn’t there. Ordered a chicken katsu curry plate, Katsu was OVER COOKED, COLD and literally had BARELY A COUPLE TABLESPOONS OF CURRY SAUCE ON IT and for some reason the cook still added some Katsu sauce on the side? Maybe the cook wasn’t sure what the order was so adding a little curry sauce and throwing in a side of Katsu sauce would fix it. The food was such a DISAPPOINTMENT and an embarrassment of what local food is especially feeding tourists who just left or at headed to the airport.

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RjR — Issue # 81 — THE SEDUCTIVE OREO, OH MY Edition
==============================================
Spread me apart,
Lick me with your Tongue,
Grab my sides,
And eat my Cream
— Oreos
Now let me just state, «I love OREOs» And when I get in that certain creaming filling mood here on the islands, I don’t just go out and merely buy a family pack at the local market like mere mortals…
I come here, and pick up four of these double stuff creamy sweet things to quench my «likelike» satisfaction!
«DEEP FRIED DOUBLE STUFF OREO’s» — Dusted with POWDERED SUGAR”

ALL da’ locals know Byron’s! Open 24 Hrs, local flavor ka’u ka’u!
‘First meal off da plane w/​my bruddah @ Byron’s, it’s where da locals go! (‘And military!)
Loco Moco: Ono; tasty; «Winnahs!»
Photo —
Medium Lilikoi: Nice
Bruddah Tom had the Beef Curry & a Diet Coke. (I wen’ sample the curry.)
Beef Curry: Ono; tasty
Photo —
Feels like I was just there yesterday, sadly it was over two months ago… That’s one of the things I miss about being back home on the aina, you can find a place w/​ono grinds just around the corner… (sigh) I’m hungry… ‘Again. 8)
If I craving poke, no problem! Foodland, the local market, even COSTCO get poke! «Wat, like sample?!» 8) No thank you… I «LOVE» sample!
— Big Aloha!
Total: $ 21
Receipt —
Food: 4
Ambiance: 3
Service: 5
Value: 4

This review got knocked down from a two star to a one star. I rarely give one stars because that’s usually reserved for the very worst but Byron’s came through on their promise to garner themselves a one star today.
Case in point:
— Ordered the Dole Pineapple whipped cone, only to find out they were out; no problem… we settled for two vanilla soft-​serve cones.
— Got the vanilla soft serve cones, only to find out the cones tasted… weird. I thought it was just me, but my 8 yr old said «mommmy, this tastes kind of funny»…and I mean in a sewer-​water kind-​of-​funny. I swear, it was like tasting how a sewer would smell, in your mouth, accented with a cold aftertaste of vanilla.
— Walk up to the counter to tell the staff to be on the look-​out for possible sickness-inducing-sewer-cone…no one at the counter. The fry cook stared at me for a while and then went about his merry business slapping a hamburger bun down on the counter while reaching and touching for the freezer/​fridge locker with the same hand.
— Waited.
— And waited, while the evidence started to melt in my hand.
— Cashier comes to the counter and I tell her something’s wrong with my cone. She calls over another girl to refund me my money.
— Girl looks sullenly at me and gives me back my money; that would have been the two-​star rating if it wasn’t for the filthy look she shot me when I told her what was wrong.
I am hoping I don’t have explosive diarrhea tonight and neither does my son, but Byron’s doesn’t seem to care one bit. I’ve had pubic hair in my salad (California Beach Rock-​n-​Sushi) and pubic hair in my Beef Broccoli (Patty’s Chinese Kitchen at Pearlridge) and even a roach in my noodle (Maile’s Chinese in Mililani) but never a rotten tasting vanilla soft serve! You know its gotta be bad when something that is frozen tastes rotten, not to mention the looks I got when I tried to explain why I was returning said-​soft serve. My guess is that they know it’s bad but won’t do anything about it as they didn’t even bother to ask me what was wrong. Big Fat Fail.
I may also add that being an old business doesn’t mean your business should be dirty. Greasy thick dirt in the cracks of windows should have been the biggest hint that this place was less than kosher.

Byron’s is a 24-​hour dive of a drive-​in diner near the airport that serves perfect, cheap drunk food at two o’clock in the morning when you’re craving it the most and don’t care that you’re eating unhealthy but tasty food in a literal crap-​hole wondering if you’re going to get mugged in the middle of your meal.
Crappy oldschool diner burgers that inexplicably taste better than gourmet burgers in the middle of the night. Perfectly deep fried food, crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. Meat and egg breakfasts over fried rice with hot sauce. Or any of the dozens of choices on the menu that are seemingly random and unrelated — until you show up after a long night at a bar with munchies and realize that every-​single-​thing on the window is something you crave but never realized it. It makes me wonder if the person who designed the menu did so after a long night of drinking and thought up everything he could possibly want to shovel into his mouth.
I’ve been coming here since I was about 8 years old. It’s an interesting experience, eating here.
There are places that are sketchy, and then there are places that make you wonder if you’re going to get jacked by the mokes hanging out nearby drinking 40’s, one of whom is standing around shirtless and barefoot (classy!), and the others dressed like thugs. Sitting around eating my food, I’m constantly watching out, making sure everyone stays in my field of vision, prepared if someone decides he wants to try mugging me.
That was yesterday, by the way. At lunch time.
A lot of times, in the middle of the night, it’s diners like myself. One by one, we come and go, in our minivans or on our motorcycles, sleepless and awake for no reason at two o’clock in the morning, not quite sure if we’re living double lives as Tyler Durden, half-​conscious under the flickering greenish tint of fluorescent bulbs in the middle of this industrial area; almost itching for the guy at the next table to come over and punch us in the face to wake us up from our dull existences.
We sneak back home, back into our beds at three o’clock in the morning, bellies full of disgustingly delicious food, and try to sleep again; knowing in a few hours it’s the same thing all over again, knowing that at the end of the day, the hell of living our sleepless insane nights wandering and ending up at places like Byron’s is the life we live and that doesn’t get any better than this.
*****
Here’s what you need to know about Byron’s:
Parking: Plenty of it. Park somewhere where you can see your car from where you’re eating, or you might return to find your window smashed and your valuables gone.
Food: As mentioned above, the food at Byron’s is the kind of food best eaten at two o’clock in the morning after a night of drinking. Their menu has an great variety, all the time. It seems to make no sense at all, until you show up drunk in the middle of the night and realize you want to eat everything. Think of what you like to eat then, and Byron’s probably serves it. They even do deep fried oreos and twinkies with whipped cream.
What most people don’t realize is that when Chowder House in Ward Warehouse closed down, the chefs moved to Byron’s. Because of that, you can get the food you used to love there, including the Clam Chowder, at Byron’s now for almost half the price you used to pay. When I’m in the mood for a Fisherman’s Platter of fried seafood for cheap, this is where I go. When I’m in the mood for good, hearty New England Clam Chowder, this is where I go. Inexpensive, but top-​notch; the quality you would find in a mid-​high-​end seafood restaurant; except served in a styrofoam box for less than ten bucks a plate. Crust is perfect golden brown and crispy, sealing in perfectly cooked seafood dripping with juices. That’s how it should be done.
Everything I’ve had here has hit the spot.
Ordering: Counter service. There’s a menu board, and then there are pictures of other random food in the window that they make, a lot of which is really good. Byron’s is really slow. Usually about 20 minutes, but I’ve waited for over 30 minutes before getting my food. You can phone order in.
Seating: More than enough. Bench seating, probably for about 80. Tables are in terrible condition with bird droppings on them. Filthy. Sit somewhere you can be seen by the service window. Too far back in the corner and someone could probably murder you and no one would find you until you started smelling bad.
Service: Friendly enough, but no one ever comes out from behind the glass.
Décor: Looks like the kind of place an impromptu fight club would be. Falling apart, filthy, in an industrial area. Tables are dirty, floors are dirty. Old fluorescent lighting. Human fixtures that look like they might mug you.
Cost: Cheap, $ 2 to about $ 10.
Come here in the middle of the night drunk or stoned, and you will understand and love Byron’s. ⁴⁄₅

A good place when you are either so hungry that your body is craving fattening and eclectic junk food or you want a good burger. The cheeseburger with bacon and avocado is easily the best burger I’ve on the island. Just for that I will go to Byron’s even though it’s kind of rundown, in a sketchy area that isn’t probably all that safe for women and seems plain ol’ dirty.
At least it’s open 24/​7, cheap, has some weird options for the adventurous type and a good place to go to when drinking in Chinatown and your desperately craving junk drunk food. It’s the kind of place where you need to at least try one of their fried desserts because where else will you find that on an island.

Byron’s is a place I grew up visiting with my Mother, usually after picking up a relative at the airport. I remember eating paper packets full of french fries and hamburgers with yellow special sauce. Everything is amazing when you’re a kid but unfortunately growing up means higher expectations and adult sized disappointment.
It was breakfast time, my boyfriend’s favorite meal, and we decided to grab a to-​go meal at Byron’s. As we pulled into the driveway my BF said «Whoa! What is this place?!» You would think that I had just flown him to Never Never Land. I replied, «Uh it’s Byron’s. I’m not sure you’re going to like it. It’s kind of greasy.» That’s about as eloquent as I am in the morning.
We ordered the breakfast special with fried rice, eggs and luncheon meat. I in addition ordered a hamburger deluxe. Everything came out fairly quickly and we hopped into the car to eat as the dining area was a bit too dingy for our taste. Well, as I had predicted we were indeed disappointed by our meal. The luncheon meat was burnt and the eggs were waaaay overcooked. He was starving and didn’t even eat half of the plate. The hamburger I ordered «deluxe» was the saddest little thing with a wilted half piece of lettuce.
So if you’re looking for old school nostalgia you might enjoy Byron’s but I’d do it when you’ve been out late night hitting the bars. Breakfast was not great but maybe late night fried food is where it’s at? Either way we probably won’t be returning. Unless I’m with my mother and she wants to pick up a relative at the airport.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #116/​365 (The Airport Pick-​Up)

Came here in August 2011. This was our first stop since our hotel/​condo was on the other side of the Island. I really like Byron’s but something might change my mind this time. The portion was small and not what I expected.
I ordered:
teri beef burger= small and gross
breakfast fried rice= not bad
double hamburger= where’s the beef
I guess i got the wrong fried rice and next time I won’t get any type of burgers. But other than that they get 4 stars cause it’s still not bad for the price and friendly service.

Everything at Byron’s is usually very good.
My recommendations are:
Mahi Mahi Tacos
Avocado Burger
Fried Chicken and Waffles
Egg Foo Yung on Fried Rice
Fried Pickles
…The menu is huge and I like to try something new every time… I’ve never been disappointed!
Lots of good parking spots, too!

My inauguration to chicken and waffles was a forgettable one. I’ve heard so much about the combination, so I decided to stop by here on my way back to HNL.
To my surprise, the waffle was the just-​pulled-​out-​of-​the-​freezer eggo variety which spoiled the entire experience. Leggo this menu item and try something better. To their credit, the chicken was piping hot right out of the fryer, but a tad overbooked.
Next time I’ll order something different or settle for airplane food.