Mulvadi Cafe

Love the food & the variety. Prices are reasonable.

I have eaten there 6 or 7 times which tops most restaurants in Honolulu.
Two words, good and fun.
Some meals were great, the Taco Salad and 2 of the combo plates for example. The breakafsts were very good.
Service was between very good and fantastic, and twice I saw music there which takes away the romantic date possiblity, but makes it exciting. BTW most of the participants and observers were my kids’ age (if I had had kids 20 years ago).
Met Steve the owner who’s a character and was cooking each of the Sun mornings that I visited. And Rob, who seems to be the manager at night is a hoot, always aiming to please.
The take out 5 tacos hit the spot both times. Overall, 4 stars. Not all meals were perfect and they were out of chicken when I really wanted it one time.
BTW#2 The Jimi Hendrix Energy Drink. Guys my age shouldn’t drink energy drinks, and yes I am qualified to talk about health… bad for the heart. And for those of us who actually remember… when did Jimi actually inspire health OR energy. That’s about the last thing I think of from a dead rock star (who did play incredibly in his short life.)
rick emmerich

I didn’t care for the burritos I’ve tried here, or their dry version of spanish rice, or the tasteless beans. At least the staff is nice and let us BYOB (we bought tequila and she had margarita mix), even offered us free coronas and jimi hendrix energy drinks!
My boyfriend wanted to try this place after hearing they have green chile dishes, but we found out they stopped making their green chile stew. oh well, one day I’ll get to try that.
The one thing I give Mulvadi is that they have really good salsa (free chips & salsa), and pretty good guacamole. They did charge me an extra for extra salsa to go w/​my meal. I guess a cool area to check out but don’t think I would come here again unless I’m dragged here (can only eat Mexican food once in a really great while). Sorry for name dropping: Maria Bonitas in downtown still is the best mex food in town.

Green Chiles!
I’ve not had Green Chiles in a very long time. It’s a total Southwestern thing, and I could never find it anywhere on either coasts. However, I see that they are emerging in places like San Francisco and New York; and Southwestern/​Tex-​Mex is starting to catch on. I’m excited that it has somehow found its way to Hawaii. I always remember when my friends would make these delicious home-​made Green Chile family dishes.
After hearing that this place used Green Chiles. I had to check it out. I looked at the menu, and I was sad to see that they discontinued the Green Chile Chicken Stew. I was disappointed to see the big sharpie mark right down the middle of that item on the menu. That was really what I was looking forward to: a Green Chile dish. However, they are the only place I could find that serves Tamales in Oahu. The key to everything here is that it is home-​made.
I ordered a Carne Asada Burrito with a side of Green Chiles. The burrito was served up in typical Southwestern-​style: flat and slightly browned. The Green Chiles were pretty good; familiar but I’ve had them better. Their refried beans were pretty good, better than most places. Their homemade Salsa was really outstanding, and so were their homemade Chips. Did I mention that «homemade» is a draw here?
Carne Asada Fries!
I long for Carne Asada Fries, and usually can’t find them outside of San Diego or Organe County. Carne Asada Fries are a total San Diego/​Bottom-​Tip of California thing: Memories of late nite taquerias come to mind. I was very excited to see that they have them on their menu. They use steak fries instead of regular fries, which I’m not accustomed to, but all the expected fixings are there: guacamole, sour cream, cheese, and steak of course! I’m glad that I got to get my fix for both Southwestern and San Diego Mexican food cravings all in the same place.
The staff is very nice, and the girl (Elizabeth) working the counter was very friendly. She made sure that we had everything that we needed, and informed us that the place was BYOB. She even hooked us up with some cups: very nice staff.
Good homestyle street-​side food with a variety of great selections.

I discovered this restaurant after passing their old location on King Street, seeing that there was another business there. I actually thought that they had gone out of business. I was sad for them, thinking they went out of business. Then I ended up calling them up and found out that they moved from their King Street location to Kaimuki on Waialae Avenue and coverted to a restaurant/​store.
I ended up picking up food from there, especially after I read the reviews online. Anyway, I ordered two taco salads, with the carne asada (steak)for me and my husband. The taco salad comes with your choice of meat, or you can choose not to have any meat in it. The cashier gave me guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and hot sauce. We both loved it! We both agreed that we would eat it again! We might even try something else next time.
And like some of the reviewers said, service is excellent! They are super friendly! Oh, and the lady who was cashiering told me that every Fridays and Saturdays (I think) they have live entertainment there.

Seriously. SERIOUSLY? GOOD SOUTHWESTERN FOOD?
HONESTLY?
you might have to try it to believe it, but the green chilis are authentic, yummy, and just the right amount of spicy.
Service is super friendly.
There was drool-​worth guacamole, creamy sour cream, lightly griddle grilled tortilla… decent prices… AND they serve their breakfast menu all day…

thank goodness i’m not the first to write a review! i hate to be ‘the first.’
so my husband wanted to try this place as we came down from saint louis heights. we swung in to the lot which surprisingly was kinda empty!
so apparently half of their ‘menu’ (which is written on a huge piece of cardboard) is theirs and the other half belongs to the shave ice/​ice cream/​coffee joint right next to them-​i think. their menu seemed a bit overwhelming to me, probably b/​c i’m EXTREMELY indecisive. they offer the standard tacos, burritos, enchiladas, taco salad, green chicken chili stew, and oddly a fried calamari sandwich among other things.
sorry such an extensive introduction, i’ll get to the food:
taco salad (in my attempt to be ‘healthy’-hah)
2 enchiladas w/​meat & taco (my mom)
chicken chili verde (husband)
the taco salad to me tasted a lot better than the one from taco bell… i’m guessing b/​c it’s due to the fresh ingredients like the first reviewer mentioned. the avocados were nice and ripe, diced tomatoes were firm, lettuce was crisp, olives were also included, and the shell was enormous. of course it defeated the purpose of eating a salad when i ate the shell. but it was crisp and tasty. it also came with a small thingy of guacamole, some sort of hot sauce, and sour cream (gag). the guacamole was awesome, they had onions in them and it was green! their refried beans was yummy too, i even had the occasional whole bean. not sure if they make their own refried beans or if it’s from the can, but it’s definitely not ‘instant beans.‘
my husband loved his green chicken chili, it was pretty good. chunks of chicken, in their green chili sauce with a hint of cilantro. his came with a side of beans and rice, and veggies, and four, cute sized, yummy tortillas. my mom also loved hers too-​sorry can’t say much about hers, i ended up not tasting it.
another plus about this place, customer service was good, they were friendly, even the cook thanked us as we left! amazing. and they use those biodegradeable containers-​cool! husband wants to go back to try something else… like olivia d. said though they are not really an ‘authentic’ mexican place, but in my opinion better than jose’s or taco bell (sorry!).

This place has delicious, fresh, homemade guacamole. I’m not a fan of guacamole and I didn’t even order it, but they put a ramekin of it next to my tacos and I was hooked. Yummy ripe avocado, finely diced red onions and cilantro. .. mmmm. .. The lady said they just made it that morning.
I was at City Mill across the street when I saw the big yellow sign that read, «Mulvadi Café/​Chili in Hawaii» and my interest was piqued. I made my friend walk across the street to check it out with me.
I thought this was a joint that served homemade chili (ya know, that sign is misleading) but it serves New Mexican style Mexican food. Having never been to New Mexico, I have no idea what style that is, but the owner was talking about green chilis a lot.
Anyway, I wasn’t even hungry, so I just ordered two shredded beef tacos to give the place a try. The owner highly recommended the green chili chicken stew, but I didn’t feel like chicken. Tacos are $ 2.50 each or 5 for $ 10.
The tacos were fine. I liked the way they did the shell. I ordered soft tacos, but the tortillas came out very lightly fried so they were still soft, yet tastier! Yes, more oil = tastier. The tacos on the whole were okay – too American for my taste. They had shredded lettuce, pre-​shredded cheese from a bag, canned sliced black olives, and tomatoes, with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream on the side. I eat Mexican food in L. A. a lot, and I’m not used to the whole sour cream, Taco Bell style tacos and burritos.
I’ll be back to give this place another try – then I can give it a better rating. So, 3.5 stars for now.