Luau Hale Restaurant

We have been going to Luau Hale for over 40 years, and until today it was one of our favorite places to go. But all good things come to an end, and that is what has happened here. The traditional pu-​pu platter has been discontinued, allegedly because the local fire chief has declared they are a fire hazard — hard to believe since servers of this type are still available on sale in restaurant stores everywhere. Now, at Luau Hale they are serving the ribs, egg rolls, and other traditional dishes, lukewarm on aluminum platters — very unappetizing! Without the traditional dishes, served hot, and no music, this place has become boring, and definitely not a place to go to. Meanwhile up the road, Enso hibachi restaurant has 5ft-​high flames on its hibachi grills! Where is the logic to that Lenox, MA Fire chief? Are you really responsible for such a fool decision, or is there more to the story?

There’s a first and LAST time for everything. We walked in and were seated and I realized the place smelled odd. Can’t put my finger on it, not clean comes to mind. We ordered and our waitress brought drinks and plates and things. The plates looked like they’ve been in use for 50 years, they’re supposed to be white but they were brown in the center. I’ll post a separate photo of that. Beef lo mein and chicken fingers were ordered for the other people in my party, and I ordered tangerine chicken. Their food was ok. My chicken was kind of gray, which I don’t believe is normal? The sauce had no real taste to it so I may as well have been eating McDonald’s mcnuggets with some sweet and sour sauce (it would’ve been cheaper), all I could taste was fried chicken. On the plus side, if you don’t mind crappy food the portion of chicken was huge. Unfortunately it went in the trash as soon as we got home. Our waitress was nice. I wish we had gone somewhere else, overpriced and not good for what we got.

Love this restaurant. Been coming here since I was born and my family 20 years before that at least. Not happy that they changed the pu pu platter from being served with the flame but hey the food is still yummy. This review is only being written because of the host. Half the dining room was closed for renovations I guess and when 10 of us rolled in for dinner apparently it was the first time in 60 years we were going to have an issue. He had room, he was just annoyed. I know, how annoying to be a host and have to seat people right? So he tells us, you can sit in three different booths. Really? We sat and stared at the 6 person open table next to us. Hum. Let’s move there and the kids can sit in their own both. So I get up and tell him that’s what we’d like to do and he rolls his eyes at me and gives me an attitudinal «sure». Luau Hale, I have been eating here way before him and I will be eating here way after him. I just hope the after is sooner rather than later.

The 007’s are huge here and the pork fried rice is the bomb. Nice place to go for a group party or gathering, definitely split the bill amongst friends lots of food adds up.

Great food. Mike at the front desk has the personality of a snail. Just cause his family owns the place doesn’t give him the right to treat people rudely. Nobody likes the guy.

A favorite go-​to for a nice scorpion bowl and consistent Asian foods. Excellent won ton Soup !! The facility is a little old, but it adds to the quaint charm. The servers are always A++ and super accommodating! And service is NEVER SLOW! Also recommend chicken chow mein. Very traditional but one of my favorites. Need to try the funky Polynesian lounge! Takeout is available. Large groups easily accommodated.

Tried to eat here last night and ultimately changed my mind. We walked in around 7:30 pm to the main dining area and were overwhelmed by the smell of toilets /​urine /​urinal cakes. The hostess seated us as far from the restrooms as possible (still in the main area — we looked longingly at the other sections with the festive décor, which were closed off) and we read our menus while still smelling the toilets. After deciding that we couldn’t get over the smell, we simply closed our menus and walked out. This problem really needs to be fixed!

Had Seven Stars Around the Moon… it was suppose to be a dinner for two but it could have easily fed four. Great food. Will definitely go here again.

If you want to instantaneously whisk yourself away from the fierce brutality that is the Berkshire winter, and I know you do, then I suggest you gallop as fast as you can (or use a transporter beam if you are a denizen of some futuristic landscape) to that wondrous island gem — the Luau Hale. It is so delightfully kitschy, if you are a lover of tiki culture (like I am.) As soon as you walk into the tropical twilight that is the ambiance of the eatery, everything becomes dreamlike. You feel the intoxicating presence of Pele — the fiery Polynesian goddess, who seductively lures you into her lair. Her presence insinuates itself into the innermost recesses of your psyche, and you are never the same after that. Your senses are subtly altered, and you are able to experience all time happening at once. Past, present, and future all merge into one.
I have been going there since I was but a lad, so many moons, and much water under the bridge, ago. But that is fodder for a more introspective post. Back then, it was called The «Huke Lau», but since there was already an existing restaurant with that name in Chicopee, the owners were forced much against their will to change the name. Regardless of what you choose to call it, it is a scintillating culinary delight of which I am very fond. I spent many a Christmas huddled over the sputtering flame that is the centerpiece of their amazing Pu-​Pu platter. I would gaze into the hypnotic fire, and fall into a deep trance, dreaming of beautiful tropical isles where winter was but a distant memory.
I was so utterly hypnotized by the flame, I am surprised I did not catch fire and blaze with the effulgent splendor of a million suns. Okay… I confess. I did catch fire. I found myself mysteriously transformed in a being with piercing, iridescent eyes. I gained an ability to look into the dark soul of humanity. I also found I now possessed the ability to perceive other dimensions of reality. I never thought that would happen as a result of of satisfying my food lust. You see, as far back as I could remember, I obsessed over Chinese food and the tiki culture. In fact, one might say that I had a fetish for it. I steeped myself in all things Polynesian. The next day, after the flames subsided, I found that I did not really have this ability. I was suffering from severe hallucinations caused by a weird chemical in the accelerant used in the brisket on top of the platter.
Alas, I am now a vegetarian, so I can no longer overindulge in this gustatory extravagance. I am jealous of all you of the carnivorous persuasion. Well… not really. I became a vegetarian after I broke up with my lover. Her name was Meghan. She was the most ravenous carnivore I have ever encountered. Meghan had a singular blood lust that could not be quenched. I was sickened by her need to sink her teeth into bloody flesh every couple of hours or so. The day I walked out of that Third St. apartment was the best day of my life. You know — the one with the inflatable Santa Claus on the second floor that remains fully upright even on a sweltering July day. Once I walked out on her, I gave up eating meat and all that it signified.
The drinks at the Luau Hale are exceedingly potent — the cocktail artisans definitely do not water them down. I have had a tantalizing glimpse of these masters of the pour in dreams. There is an aura of unreality about them. I beg them to dilute their libations, but they refuse to allow anyone to escape their inebriating power. The liquid intoxicants just serve to accentuate the dreamlike qualities of this windowless heaven. Their scorpion bowls are the stuff of legends. You only need two of them (which is the limit) to enter that heightened state of consciousness the locals lovingly call the «Huke-​high.»
I highly recommend the General Tso’s tofu. The dish consists of deliciously crispy morsels of deep fried tofu, exquisitely marinated in a piquant spicy sauce. The delicately shaved vegetables placed gently on top are an inspired touch. The vegetable spring rolls are heavenly — crunchy, with a veritable explosion of tastiness that is enough to send me into paroxysms of rapturous ecstasy. And the Hawaiian Vegetable Fried rice is a perfect complement to the other two dishes — if you are a vegetarian, you should order the three of them together. You could also get the vegetable Lo Mein, if you really want to overload your taste buds in the best way possible. If you want to embark on unparalleled dining adventure, I suggest you visit this exotic paradise. Just make sure Meghan does not find you.

The Luau Hale originally opened in the Mid-​60s as the Hu Ke Lau and was my introduction to Tikki as a young boy. It was my favorite restaurant growing up eating countless Pu-​Pu Platters and Egg Foo Young dishes and fried rice. I moved to the Phila area in 1985 and visit Luau Hale almost every time I return to the Berkshires.
The Ambiance: Back in the 60’s this place rocked on the weekends! Water fall when you walked in pennies and all. Classic Tikki murals on the wall depicting a far away tropical place. Bamboo and lanterns as well as a classic Tikki Bar with all the drinks! There was a floor show with Hula dancers and Fire dancers. It was a place where Tikki dreams came true. Today all of that is still there to a large degree except for the floor show and the insane crowds. Mind you, It can still get busy on the weekends.
The Food; The Luau Hale Pu-​Pu platter is the gold standard for Pu-​Pu Platters. Egg Rolls that have a distinct flavor found no where else. Chicken Wings that have been marinated in a secret sauce for no less than 24 hours, Thick Meaty and wonderfully tasty Spare ribs while the Gold Finger Chicken fingers and batter fried shrimp rings have a batter coating that is light and crunchy. There is none better.
Much of the Cantonese dishes are made in the classic style and many like the Egg Foo Young, Chow Mein, Fried Rice, and Sub Gum are solid. The duck Dishes are tasty and crispy. New on the Menu are the Lobster Dumplings which are outstanding.
Luau Hale has been successful at moving to more contemporary Chinese dishes while still providing excellent traditional Cantonese and Polynesian favorites.
The Bar: Let’s start with the granddaddy of all Tikki Drinks at the Luau, The Scorpion Bowl. Killer! Three bowl Max and there is a reason why. All of the Tikki drinks are made tasty and strong. That is why there are so many regulars sitting at the bar.
Enjoy and have a Scorpion and a Pu-​Pu for me!

This restaurant is consistently terrible. I live nearby and gave it another shot based on a good review in the Berkshire Eagle. Bad food, tea, and service. Ginger chicken tastes like Happy family shrimp. Salty, MSG, saucy with beef broth. Yuck!

For years I’ve been hitting up Polynesian restaurants across the country that are listed and reviewed on the excellent
, and the only still-​active spot in Massachusetts that I had not explored yet was the Luau Hale in Lenox, MA. We were finally able to check it out after returning from a weekend trip to the Albany area.
I had heard that the Luau Hale was originally a sister restaurant to Chicopee-​based Hu Ke Lau, and from the outside you can see the similarities. It’s a giant, windowless box. You step into a small, dimly-​lit entrance where they have a non-​functioning faux rock fountain, and then into the restaurant proper. Like Hu Ke Lau, it’s a winding series of huge rooms, most of which were unoccupied and closed off when we visited. These rooms did have huge murals of quiet Polynesian villages at night, all very cool. Vintage tiki!
The bar is off in it’s own separate room, has a few plasmas scattered about but also features many tiki murals on the walls as well as a few tiki statues scattered about on the walls. Very cool lighting in there. According to the Barkeep and a Regular at the bar, Luau Hale used to feature a Polynesian stage show with luau dancers and a steel band, similar to the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee, but it got too expensive to maintain the weekly shows. So the Regular and I started encouraging him to bring back those shows — they certainly have more than enough space to accommodate something like that. If anybody else reads this and think it would be cool, please mention it to them — maybe they’ll do it sometime.
The staff was friendly and prompt. I love the font on the menu, which looked like they hadn’t been changed since the 1970s — not necessarily a bad thing for a vintage tiki joint like this. Best of all: they were playing vintage exotica music throughout the restaurant. To me, this qualifies moving my rating from three stars up to four, because almost NO tiki joints are actually playing the exotica music that I always hope to hear. It was a welcome surprise here!
Drinks: I had the usual two Mai Tais — both landing on the good side. My lady had a Headhunter, for her second drink she was recommended the Zombie, which they make with grapefruit juice (she loves grapefruit juice). Zombies are usually pretty potent, but the waiter insisted that it wasn’t as strong as the others.
He lied.
It was like a Zombie blended in the River Styx of Hell. This thing was so powerful that we couldn’t even finish it together. I usually love the strong cocktails, but this one was over the top.
I would have loved to have sampled their scorpion bowls, but didn’t get the time.
Food: it was pretty good, better than usual for a joint like this. We especially liked the crab rangoon. Recommended!
Overall, we thought the Luau Hale was pretty awesome and would definitely come back. Just watch out for that Zombie, it’s a killer!

Very disappointing — but passable
We have loved a number of Polynesian themed Chinese restaurants — many similar in look and feel to Luau Hale — and were really looking forward to eating here on our visit to Lenox. Sadly, we were very disappointed.
The egg rolls were good, the spring rolls were OK, and the spare ribs were actually excellent. But everything that was actually created in the kitchen ranged from eh to awful. None of the dishes that were supposed to be hot had any heat at all. And the non-​spicy dishes were more or less flavorless as well.
On the drink side, the scorpion bowl was passable but the mai tai was rather nasty. Which is sad — «Polynesian» drinks are supposed to be one of the high points of these restaurants.
All in all, if I was visiting for a week and craved Chinese I would come here again — particularly now that I better understand how to order. But if you just have a weekend in the Berkshires, there are many, many better places to eat.

Best scorpion bowls in town. Depending on what you get the food can be good or bad –we have had great experience with chicken but not so on the seafood dishes. They also have a great selection of vegetarian dishes. I enjoy going here with big parties. Service has always been fantastic.

We had dinner there this past Saturday night. My husband was released from the critical care unit today after suffering food poisoning that almost killed him. We will never eat there again.

You really have had to grow up eating here to enjoy it. The food is poor/​fair, but the cheesy 70’s décor, ability to accommodate large groups, cheap lunch specials, and giant Scorpion Bowls keep the locals coming back year after year.

We recently tried Luau Hale and were really disappointed. The menu has both Polynesian and Chinese dishes. The exterior is uninviting, but the parking lot was quite full. We later found out that it was graduation night and there were a number of larger parties there. Hopefully that was what impacted the kitchen.
The food was about as poor as any Chinese/​Asian/​Polynesian that we’ve eaten. Steamed dumplings had an overly thick layer of dough and the meat was not spiced enough and too dense.
The Ginger Chicken had an uninteresting soupy brown sauce and contained more celery than chicken. The Luau Lo Mein was worse. It had almost no flavor, and again huge chunks of tasteless celery ruled the dish and far outweighed the combination of chicken, beef and pork. The noodles were way overcooked, and there was virtually no flavor to the dish. It tasted as if everything was rinsed in hot water before serving.
Combine that with a general dingy look and it made for a poor night out.
Serving sizes are very large. They would be much better off cutting down on the portions and improving the dishes.

I have loved this place since childhood. I still love it. It’s also hubby’s favorite restaurant in all of the Berkshires. I adore the moonlit tropical murals on the walls and the Polynesian melodies wafting lightly through the restaurant. This place has character. The food is always excellent. The offering is somewhat Americanized Szechuan, Cantonese, and Polynesian cuisine, plus a good selection of Polynesian themed drinks (I like the Head Hunter with coconut cream and rum). The pu pu platters are a must-​have, with spare ribs, golden battered fried shrimp and chicken, crispy wings, and the most unique eggrolls I’ve ever had. There is a large selection of main dishes and sides, and all are amazing. It’s hard to pick favorites, but I’m really fond of the lychee duck and the south sea steak. The lunch specials are a good deal. The service and food at the Luau never disappoint.

This is more sentiment than food review. However, I do luv the food & the totally cheesed out Polynesian interior. The exterior is scarry but — no mind. Get the Poo Poo for 2 w/​extra shrimp, shrimp fried rice, & scorpion bowl. Their rice is «well done» & dark– smoky. Its a place my brothers and I have been going to for years whenever we are in the area. Maybe it will become a tradition for you too.

I love Scorpion Bowls. And the Luau Hale is a great setting to get a group of friends together for some food and drink. The lounge area is great if you’re with a big group and don’t want to disturb other diners.
The staff is always friendly and accommodating.