Big Island Sams

I’ve been to Big Island Sam’s many times now. I’ll be honest, not every dish I’ve had has been amazing. But, in general, I’ve enjoyed the food. I went there when they first opened and, I’ll admit, the service wasn’t great, and the food took a long time to get to your table. But, they have done a great job in making your experience better.
Let’s talk about the food. If someone were to ask me what to order, my first recommendation would be one of the many Loco Moco entrees. They are delicious, and come in large portions. The pancakes are also great, and huge. Kalbi ribs are also excellent. My only complaint is the macaroni salad. I’m not a fan. Especially with the tuna? (I’m guessing that’s tuna) they put in it.
Overall, I love eating here and I’m always recommending it to friends and family. Delicious food, friendly people, and you’ll always go away with a satisfied belly.

Best poke bowl in UT by far. Their service was super friendly and we went a few times with big groups. My husband loved their loco moco and their coconut pancake is to die for. It’s so fluffy and huge and the coconut cream on top makes it one of the best pancakes I’ve had. I had the poke bowl and I love how they season the rice with some furikake and their fish is fresh and delicious. We also had the ramen bowl and it is comfort food to its best. My son had the chicken Katsu plate and the chicken was so crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. Will definitely be going back. Just writing this review is making me crave some poke right now.

This place is legit. Pretty much the best Hawaiian food you can get in Utah.
I moved from Oahu about 3 years ago and this is the best I’ve found in Utah. I’ve only tried L&L and LoLs so far though.
I’ve been here about 5 times in the last month… that doesn’t sound too good haha.
The owner and the staff are so welcoming and nice. The food is really good! I’ve had their kalbi plate lunch and kalbi saimin. My husband has tried the teriyaki chicken and the korean pork. I’ve actually loved everything I’ve tried here. Really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.
I really want to make it in on a Friday because they serve special items.
The prices are very fair, about $ 8 – 12 an entrée. Parking is very easy to find.
If you’re not familiar with Hawaiian food, don’t be afraid to ask about anything on the menu.
I actually might go tomorrow and try the pancakes.

Very very delicious and a rare find. Extremely down to earth and kind staff. They were ridiculously patient with us to help us enjoy our family Valentine’s Day meal. Sam’s really might be my favorite place to eat in Utah county for a number of reasons– breakfast menu, and fantastic dinner plates and loco moco combo plates. I tried the mo Bigga den moco loco. I definitely recommend the teriyaki burger after trying it in this combo with kahlua pork, fried egg, spam, chicken cutlet, and fried rice (yes all of this came with the plate priced at 12.99. I took 33% of it home to cook extra delicious fried rice for another meal). Looking forward to trying the Korean style recipes, and there are tons of great options you can choose from to make a dinner plate combo over rice. Maximum value. This is the 100% winning combination of soul warming food and kind service. Astonishingly rare.

I saw Big Island Sams last week when I was next door at Galilee and decided to stop in for lunch. I got the kalua pork and cabbage. When my food came out my initial reaction to the plate was «blah». But as soon as I took a bite I realized it was full of flavor. They brought out some extra sauce for my rice which was fantastic and well appreciated. About half way through the meal I kinda started feeling like the food was a bit too salty and would have liked something sweet to balance out the flavors.
The place was relatively full and the service was very quick. I think I was in and out in 30 minutes. Everyone was super friendly and willing to give suggestions as to what to order. Also, I don’t think my glass ever got lower than half empty!
I’ll be back! I’m excited to try their breakfast!

The first time I went I was so excited and the food was pretty good. The second time I went was terrible. The service was slow and the food was not very good. The garlic chicken was so salty my wife and I couldn’t finish it, even with rice. The kalua pork and cabbage was mostly cabbage and the Mac salad wasn’t Mac salad. I grew up in Hawaii and have never seen Mac salad served with peas and canned tuna mixed in. They went full haole on that one. Otherwise, the ambiance was great and the staff are super friendly.

Good hawaiian, 5star as far as any local hawaiian joints go. If you want hawaiian in utah valley, this is the right place. 3 star because as a place in UV it is decent.

They advertise pancakes the size of your head here. That’s a lie, unless you’re Charlie Brown. These things are huge. Like steering wheel size. Served with about a half a cup of butter on top. As a side, instead of toast. Other than that, they have really really good food. I’ve had the Korean chicken (which are like deep fried wings, with a delicious sauce inside through some magic process) and the Kalbi. Both were amazing, though I probably prefer the Korean chicken by a hair.
Honestly, their meat dishes probably deserve a higher rating, but I have real issues with the wait time. This is not a great option for a quick lunch. At all. But I’ll need to come here for brunch at some point and just have a leisurely meal. Also, their macaroni salad has tuna in it.

This place used to be a Chinese place which wasn’t so bad apparently they went out of business this afternoon they change to the big Island Grill. I ordered the number one on the item which was a combo plate with eggs hash browns and corn beef hash and Sam cakes. If you want to lucky it’s very fair price these guys are the ones to go to the food again may not be as quality as I’d like but I’d like to place I’ll Tim

Kalbi ribs, man it’s good. Big fan of the shoyu chicken, almost as good as my wife’s. And the Mac salad was top notch! Great food, great service.

I’m so glad we came here tonight! My husband wanted to try the new (ish) Hawaiian place, and we were not disappointed! My husband got their pancakes and omelets which were HUGE and delicious! I got the kalbi ribs, and that may be the best ribs I’ve ever had. I started talking to one of the staff, because we were on the big Island last year, and if you ever went to the Hawaiian style café in Waimea or hilo, Sam is that guys brother. That’s why the pancakes are soo good! And they were super cute with our toddler. Highly recommended!

Ugh, people and their over-​ratings. This is going to sound like I’m the complaining type, but I don’t give very many 1-​star reviews.
My husband and I decided to take our 8-​yr-​old son out to dinner for a date. First, the host was not well-​groomed and quite hairy. On the way to the table his neck hair was right in front of me and it was off-​putting. Is this weird to notice? Maybe. All I’m saying is that I noticed right before sitting down for a meal. Our table wasn’t wiped down very well, but we didn’t say anything.
Second, our meals all came out separately. Husbands first, then four minutes later mine came out, then seven minutes later our son’s meal finally came out.
Third, the food was the worst. My scrambled egg patty was slimy in the middle. My Kalua Hash was not a hash; it was a greasy, flat, mashed potato pancake. Fried rice was very bland and mushy – old maybe? My son’s french toast was grainy and he couldn’t finish it. My husband’s macaroni salad was very bland and had something flaky in it – canned chicken or tuna maybe?
It amuses me when people rave about a restaurant because of the huge portions…
Trust me foodies, not good.

We were a little hesitant while waiting for the waiter to appear, because it took a few minutes. However, our decision was completely validated when the food came. Huge portions! And so delicious! We are absolutely going to come back and recommend to friends.
We got the Kalua pork and cabbage, the mushroom Swiss Burger, the Hawaiian sweet bread French toast and kids Samcake.

Hard to give it 5 stars as it was my first visit… but it’s pretty freaking AWESOME! The beef stew was a bit of perfection… completely filling yet I couldn’t keep from wanting to lick the bowl clean. ;-)
Service was great, food was great… ambiance could only be improved by moving it to Hawaii.
This is a great place to eat…
Ok, so I’ve been back a few times and it’s a 5 star experience. The loco moco is absolutely wonderful. It’s worth going once a week…

The best Hawaiian Food in Utah. The portions are huge!!! The food quality, Hawaiian owners are amazing!

Huge hit! I love that the kalbi has no bone and a decent amount of meat. Shoyu chicken was moist — fall off the bone. Kalua pork was moist, great flavor. Mac has tuna in it and it was good. Rice was well cooked — I’m picky. I’m looking forward to trying breakfast.
I occasionally try the various Hawaiian places around and this is the best so far. I love that it is indoor and sit down with a waitress — that is different than other places and more comfortable in the winter/​summer.
Onolicious might be an understatement.

This place is awesome! We have been to Hawaii many times and really enjoy having some authentic what Hawaiian food here Utah. The place is clean, food is great and the staff is friendly. I also enjoyed the relaxing island music.

I have nothing but good to say about Big Island Sams. Everything we ordered was AMAZING! My favorite was the Kalbi Ribs. The portions were massive and everything was full of good flavor.
The pancakes were massive and soooo good.

I was pleasantly surprised when we walked in that Big Island Sams is a restaurant, and not the typical café style of most Hawaiian places. We were instantly greeted by a hostess and seated. Very large menu with a variety of choices, they serve breakfast all day which is definitely a plus! I ordered the Kalbi ribs and Shoyu chicken and we also got an order of the Haupia pancakes (coconut pancakes) to share with our table because they looked so good. First of all, my Kalbi ribs were AMAZING. So much flavor that you had to eat it with rice in every bite or else your taste buds would explode. The shoyu chicken was also awesome. The only thing I didn’t thoroughly enjoy was the mac salad. It has peas in it and what seemed to be crab as well, which gave it a strong flavor of fish, I wish they’d lose the fish and peas and make it a standard mac salad, but that’s just me.
The Haupia Pancakes were to die for, and I mean it. They were out of this world! 2 huge pancakes with whipped cream, real coconut flakes, and covered in coconut cream. I’m telling you, they were SO good. I also had a bite of my buddies Korean Chicken which was deep fried to perfection and bursting with flavor.
Sam came to our table to see how we like the food and he was super nice and appreciative. Come here for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and you won’t be disappointed.

Five stars because I support local !! The kalbi ribs were my fave. Grew up around some Polynesian friends and everything reminded me of their cooking. The rice was a tad dry the Korean chicken was juicy and the noodles rocked.