Back Home In Lahaina

Unilocal removed my previous review, because reviews have to be about «customer experience»… apparently the REMOVER didn’t bother to read the entire review, because had they DONE so, they would’ve seen my «customer experience» clearly described throughout the thing… liike «THEE best Hawaiian food I’ve ever had» orrr the detailed descriptions of their delicious menu items, etc.
So, like i was saying…
I went to Back Home in Lahaina last weekend, after telling our guests how bomb this place is, and how surprised they were gonna be once they tasted it… i cried a little when it wasn’t there and had already been replaced with some Indian food
I could not believe it… Back Home in Lahaina has been such a major staple in my diet, I dont know what to even do now… there’s still the one in Carson, but I’m gonna REALLLLY miss my Manhattan Beach one… so fuckin upset, just thinking about it.
I wish i knew you guys were so close to going outta business, I woulda ate there at least once a week and brought as many people as I could to try and save ya…
If you’ve never been here, GO. It’s THEE best Hawaiian food I’ve ever had, hands down… nothing comes close. They have this fried chicken, that, if the Carson one were to (god forbid) disappear, I dont know how I’d live without it. It’s fuckin BOMB!
Their ramen cabbage salad is another classic, unique thing that I need in my life… oh my God, i cant believe Im forgetting the BEST item there; their MAC SALAD!!! I dont like macaroni salad, never have. Dont like the slimy, mayonaissey typical mac salad, like what you’d find at L&L or similar. THIS mac salad is fuckin World-​Class!!!
Its so good, when we’d have BBQs here at the house, I’d go get THAT specific mac salad to complement our BBQ… it’s unbelievable. I cant believe they went outta business, the ONLY thing I can think of, that they could have maybe spent more time on, was their marketing. I RARELY ever saw Back Home in Lahaina advertising, and that may have been what hurt ‘em.
Cuz once ANYONE steps foot in that place, they’re hooked… sad to see it go

The place itself is reminscent of being in Hawaii. Very homey and laid back. Came here with a big group and suffice to say, service was good. I wish I could say the same for the food. The serving here is huge and almost all entrees come with macaroni, rice, and ramen cabbage salad. Definitely plan to share or feed a family when you come. We ordered quite a few things:
Loco Moco-​who would have thought you can mess this one? Unfortunately, they did! Flavor was missing in all levels. The patty had a funny texture, not sure if it was overcooked or just dry.
Kalbi Short Ribs-​this was delicious and tender enough. The Korean style marinade they used hit the spot. Funny how they nailed this one and not the Loco Moco.
Hawaiian BBQ Beef– dry.
Macaroni salad-​a little too much pepper that it made me want to sneeze.
Ramen Cabbage salad-​I like how it adds texture to your meal especially with all the carbs on your plate. There’s something about the subtleness of its flavor that I like, almost refreshing.
Lahaina Fried Chicken-​probably my favorite dish here. Chicken is nicely breaded and the meat inside is moist and bursting with flavor. I like how it pairs well with the ramen cabbage salad and the macaroni (sans the peppery flavor to it). Nice combo!
Nothing more, nothing less. Mahalo!

I haven’t been to Back Home in years (since undergrad). I was in El Segundo shopping after work and thought I’d get take out from here. Man, did I miss this place! I ordered the Lahaina Fried Chicken plate with sides of rice, macaroni salad, and ramen cabbage salad. I got home and opened my big styrofoam take out box to find the most glorious (and ginormous) combination of comfort food. I probably heard angels singing in my head upon opening my take out box. The serving is seriously for two people… or for one REALLY hungry human being.
The chicken is moist, well-​seasoned, and very flavorful. It’s got that sweet island-​y taste to it. The teriyaki sauce on the side actually detracts from the amazing-​ness of the chicken, so please use with caution! The macaroni salad is not too mayonnaise-​y, which is fab. And the ramen cabbage salad — WOW. Such a simple yet quite a satisfying side dish. I’ll have to figure out how to make this deceptively not-​so-​healthy salad at home.
Service is great and there are tons of parking in the back. I’m sad they’re moving to somewhere further south after March 24!

Great Hawaiian place with a great staff and festive decorations.
Ordered the #2 Platter which came with Teriyaki Chicken and House beef. My sides of choice: Ramen salad and macaroni salad. This platter is enough to share with a friend and leave both parties full.
Hawaiian Nachos were spectacular with the perfect amount of cheese and tomatoes.
Teriyaki sauce was special
Macaroni Salad was a bit peppery
House beef was no good… until I added Teriyaki sauce!
Fried chicken was heaven — so moist and flavorful with a complete after taste. We concluded that this was deep fried in a special oil. That’s the only explanation!
Solid place — good for big groups. Aloha!

This is happening.
I’ve been coming to this place for almost a decade now and I pretty much order the same thing e v e r y time! La Haina Fried Chicken F T W ! BOOM! Now, w/​that being said, I have a love hate relationship w/​the portion size here. We come at different times during different week days for lunch and it’s like rolling dice to see how many pieces I get when I order the 2-​chicken plate w/​double fried chicken. I’m gonna keep the 4 star rating because even when I feel slighted, everything is still delicious. Other items of interest: Portuguese sausage sliders have a nice mild spice level (not spicy) and the chicken katsu is a still moist and flavorful but more healthy alternative to the fried option.
Sides! Go! There are four real options here actually. You can choose between macaroni salad (bland), crunchy ramen noodle salad (nice mix of crunch from noodle and soft of salad), white rice, and (little known fact/​rarely ordered even though it’s on the menu clear as day) wontons (which are in fact quite delicious if not a little on the greasy/​oily side depending on when they’re cooked).
Service on the whole averaged across years has been good. Hit or miss on refill time depending on which server you get, how crowded they are, whether or not there is a 8+ party in the giant table in the back, etc. But overall, I’m gonna give service 4 stars. We have never had an order misstep that wasn’t immediately corrected w/​o asking. Don’t come here looking for an «express lunch» and you’ll be OK.
Parking is always easy in the private shared lot in the back.
p. s. Pro-​tip: If coming from the north, turn one street before your GPS tells you to because that street it’s on is now no left turn and there are a lot of motorcycle police who frequent this establishment.

I’ve been coming here for over a decade for family dinners, since this has long been one of my niece and nephew’s fave spots. But after a birthday celebration dinner for my niece last night, it makes me sad to say that things here have changed. I guess the question is — have they gone downhill or was this a very off day?
We walked in around 7:30pm on a Sunday, and there was nobody in front to greet us. We stood around at the entrance for almost 10 minutes, and then figured we’d just walk up into the dining area and ask if we could be seated. When we did that, we got a sarcastic raised eyebrow from one of the servers — which is a pretty weak greeting if you ask me. The manager, who my niece and nephew recognize and really like since they come here so often, was at a table counting money and saw us walk in. He didn’t even greet us either however, he looked a bit irritated and asked the sarcastic server to help us.
There were only a few other tables occupied in the place, and I must say that the vibe here does not feel like it used to. It used to have this fun, happy-​to-​see-​you Hawaiian-​love vibe. I mean, there’s fake trees and a fish décor all over the place — it’s supposed to FEEL FUN here!
Now it feels like all the really young servers are just bored, and taking orders. Like a cheap fast food place.
To be fair, the Hawaiian-​style food here is likely still pretty good. My nephew and I have gone super healthy, so what we ordered didn’t wow us but it’s not what most people would come here to eat. He and I got the Grilled Salmon with steamed veggies. His was salty (I requested no salt), mine was ordered rare yet came overcooked by anyone’s standard, and both fish portions were small. The mixed shredded green cabbage, broccoli and a few carrot bits were fine, and a pretty generous portion.
We joked that maybe the food here didn’t wow us because we don’t eat the «good stuff» anymore. But we both do know the difference between a properly cooked piece of fish and an overdone one.
With that said, my sister and niece got:
Char Siu Chicken — served with ramen salad, mac salad and veggies. The chicken was cold, like stone cold — and it’s not a cold dish. My sister asked our server to warm it up, and 5 minutes later she came back with a steaming hot plate. As in clearly microwaved. Blah. Large portions though.
Lahaina Fried Chicken and Spam fried rice — one of my niece’s fave things here, and she loved it just the same on this night as she has for a decade. Still a big portion, big chunks of fried chicken, and lots of Spam-​studded rice.
We mentioned to our server that we were celebrating my niece’s birthday that night THREE TIMES, and there was not one word of acknowledgement, or happy birthday — nothing. She even took pictures of us when we asked, but never thought to do anything special or even say anything special.
So this place still offers the kind of rib-​sticking Hawaiian food that would make people happy. But the love that used to exude from the place is gone, and you feel that in the barely mediocre service.
Because my niece loves the food here, I gave it more stars than I would have on my own, and I predict that I will be back at some point. I just hope they bring the love back by then.

I did end up coming here again, and I did want to give an update on the service, since I had commented on it the last time I was here. It was a lot better than last time. Maybe it’s because this time I ended up going first thing in the morning, when there wasn’t a lot of people dining yet. I think the service just depends on the day and how many people are working.
Either way, service is okay, and food is still good.

Went with a large group of people which included 6 middle/​high school kids. We all basically got the Lahaina Platters (1 and 2) which was HUGE! The fried chicken is to die for and definitely my favorite out of everything.
Definitely caters to families and the staff was extremely friendly in getting us anything we needed.

Their fried chicken is usually a favorite with the exception that one time we ate in the restaurant and it was overly fried and dry but the manager was very cordial and comped us with a meal. Usually do take-​out and every time I’ve done that, the fried chicken has been great. The chicken is fried in batter that makes it sweet — almost a combo of soy sauce and mirin.
The lau lau (pork wrapped in taro leaf) was good but I felt like there was an abundance of taro leaf in proportion to the amount of pork. The combination plates come with rice, macaroni salad, and ramen salad. The macaroni salad and ramen salad are both very tasty. The Kahlua Pork combination plate is usually what I get now and it is a very generous-​sized portion (was able to get a dinner and lunch out of it). Overall the dishes are a good size and you usually end up with leftovers.
I’m a self-​proclaimed spam lover but I was quite disappointed in the spam musubi. Usually the spam is sauteed in soy sauce/​sugar but this one wasn’t, and the «flavor» that was added to it was just a splash of teriyaki sauce.

I’ve been to both this location and the one in Carson. Both places have solid food.
This whole week I was craving Hawaiian fried chicken. I got my first taste of Hawaiian fried chicken at Harry’s café in Gardena, but I wanted to branch out and try some others. I’m glad I decided to do so.
Back home in Lahaina is home to humongous portion-​sizes. For those people who complain about not getting full off one order, this is the place. I’m not used to eating Hawaiian food regularly, but I equate my experience at BHIL as homey. The décor is nice with its island themed look. The A/​C is very nice for during the hot summer. Also, the service is friendly and genuine. With a small bar area, this can be a pretty nice spot for comfort food and a drink.
The food is great. If this Hawaiian food, then it agrees with me. I enjoy their signature Lahaina fried chicken, but their biggest star is actually their Char Siu fried rice, IMO. Everyone I’ve introduced to BHIL has commented at how amazing their Char Siu fried rice was. Their Lahaina fried chicken is good, but it’s not the best. Also, for those who are expecting an extra crispy breaded skin, it’s not there, but that’s because the focus is on the juicy marinaded meat on the inside. It’s not for everyone, but I do enjoy eating it. This place is somewhat expensive, but definitely doable for the portion-​size and quality. It’s around $ 10-​$ 15 an entrée. Oh, and their Jello-​cheesecake is really good (I know, it sounds a bit weird, but try it)! One thing you should try to sub-​out if you decide to get sides is their mac-​salad. It’s not tasty, at all…
I recommend it. It’s worth a try at the very least. You won’t be disappointed.
Try these: Lahaina fried chicken, Char Siu fried rice, jello-​cheesecake.
For the 2012 month of August at this location: special: 1 appetizer, 2 entrees, 2 fountain drinks for $ 22! (More than enough for two people).

Whats happening to them. They use to give big portions. Now it’s like recession.
We ordered the bacon fried rice not kid portion. It was so not worth paying $ 8.00 for. Neither was my $ 11.00 Korean chicken style special. They gave so much rice for nothing. We got the Lahaina garlic chicken that was fine. But man don’t skimp out on a pregnant woman. Service hella slow. Like there was a bunch of people NOT. It took them awhile to refill our water and they did not even look our way. I mean yes they are very friendly. Cool but thirsty.
We rarely come here since its so far but when we have to go to LAX its a must. Now I really don’t know. It might be a must not go…

My dad is from Hawaii, and after spending almost every summer there of my life, I think I can vouch for good Hawaiian food. Back Home in Lahaina is better than most of the hole-​in-​the-​wall Hawaiian places you’ll find in the South Bay. There are only a couple I’d rather eat at, and that’s purely out of nostalgia and/​or loyalty.
I’ll be honest… I didn’t want to like Back Home in Lahaina because it’s big, a chain, and the inside décor is a little iffy. But, it’s pretty damn good. The only dish I don’t quite care for is the saimin. It’s not that it’s bad; it’s just not as good/​authentic as some other Hawaiian places.
My order? Hawaiian sweet iced tea, spam or Portuguese sausage musubi appetizer and a combo plate of char-​siu chicken (I prefer the chicken to pork here) and kalua pig (yummy!) with sides of white rice, ramen salad, and wontons. DELICIOUS. And it’s a good portion. I think it’s gotten slightly smaller over the years… or my stomach has expanded (which is probably more true), because I used to only be able to eat half the plate and now I can almost eat the entire thing. ;)
I can’t think of one negative experience I’ve had here. Even when I went for a work function (a group of 20 people), the service was great. *thumbs up*

I have not been to Back Home in Lahaina for years until recently when I went to a friend’s birthday dinner party. I was set on getting their fried chicken but then saw their specials and was intrigued by two of the specials, the Korean fried chicken and the Thai –Style chicken. I asked if I could get a combo of the two specials but the waiter apologized and said these were set portions and could not be combined. I ended up getting the Thai-​Style chicken.
The Thai-​Style chicken plate was $ 10.59. It’s deep fried chicken sauteed with spicy Thai chilies’ garlic and fresh basil with homemade Thai sauce. The plate came with three sides and for my sides I got the macaroni salad, the ramen salad and wontons.
This dish was super spicy. I was quite surprised. I knew the dish would be
on the spicy side because of the Thai chilies. I didn’t expect that it would be this spicy. I needed to ask for a glass of water. Hehe. The dish was good and the sauce was sweet and spicy but I think I prefer the original Hawaiian fried chicken better.
The sides were good. The ramen salad was nice and refreshing. The macaroni salad is always a favorite of mine. It is the perfect creamy salad to match the chicken. The wontons are now a new favorite of mine. They gave two and there was yummy ground beef inside.
I also got a a mango orange drink. No refills on the special Hawaiian juices but it was very yummy. I do wish they added more ice or had the drink colder though because the drink was on the warm side. It was good having this drink since my dish was so spicy.
Good food just a wee bit spicy but I know will be back.

Came here for lunch and ordered the Hawaiian BBQ Chicken. I ordered the bowl, which just came with the chicken and rice. Even though it didn’t look like much, I was still able to get full off of it.
Service was okay. The waiter was helpful but busy, so it took awhile to get our check. There is free parking in the back.
I wouldn’t make any plans to come here again, but I also wouldn’t mind trying out other dishes if I ever do. They have a pretty good selection.

Free, private parking lot. Fast service. Friendly staff. Cute décor.
Even with those pluses, it still doesn’t make up for the mediocre, borderline sub-​par food =(This is what I ordered:
–Drinks: I ordered their specialty drink at the bar (can’t remember the name of it. first one, top right hand side of the drink menu). It was alright. Not strong at all. Very fruity.
–Spam Musubi: These things were small! A little bit bigger than a California roll sushi if you will. There was a thin slice of spam. Not much of a dressing to go with it.
–Saimin: I got the Char Siu Pork. The pork was DRY and hard. The noodles were soggy. After 5 minutes, the entire broth became pink, due to the food coloring of the Cha Siu.
Granted, the portions are huge and the prices are reasonable… but it doesn’t really matter. Even if it was for free, if it doesn’t taste good, I’m not going to eat it. And sadly that’s what happened to my bowl of Saimin.
I guess I’m just a Shakas kind of girl xD

The food, since the beginning of Back Home in Lahaina time has been great. The ramen salad and katsu are my personal favorites.
It’s usually always really slow so there’s never a wait, which is nice. The staff is pretty friendly. There’s a young girl that works here that’s always super friendly.
The only bad thing I have to say about this place are the prices. I mean, I know prices over the years are bound to change but being a regular, I didn’t like it. For the amount of food they put on the plate versus the bowl, it might just be worth all of your hard earned cash. But hey, what are you gonna do?

I attended the Surf Film Festival is Hermosa Beach several weeks ago and the host Barry was giving away gift certificates to Back Home In Lahaina. He called it his favorite Hawaiian BBQ restaurant so I had to give it a shot.
I went there with my girlfriend and was blown away. We both ordered the BBQ Beef plate. I am a very picky eater & have quite the sensitive stomach. This dinner goes down as my top 5 meals of ALL TIME.
The food and the service were outstanding. I could not eat the entire plate that was brought out and had food for the next day.
We actually ran into Barry that night and thanked him for the recommendation. I have lived in the South Bay for many years and never knew this place was here. It is located right next to the Wave House Hotel on Sepulveda/​PCH. There is plenty of parking with an off street lot.
If you are looking at the front of the restaurant from Sepulveda/​PCH the front entrance is actually located behind what you are looking at.
When visitors come into town this place is a must to bring them to. I can not say enough good things about the friendly faces, the fast service, the great food, the great atmosphere & the great prices for the quality and quantity of food you pay for.
Thank you to the staff for being so helpful, much appreciated.
ALOHA=)

Ahhh I’m so missing the food back in Hawaii and being a person that loves fried chicken I was craving some of that good stuff from the Lahaina Chicken Co in the Ala Moana mall food court. So when I remembered bookmarking this place several months ago I had to come and get me some taste of the island.
The restaurant was all dressed up in island glory and it made me feel like I was at a tiki bar. We shared a plate of lumpia and I got the iced coffee, spam musubi and went with the Lahaina chicken with the ramen cabbage salad, mac salad and rice.
The iced coffee was tasty
Lumpia ~ The seasoning in the filling was just how I like my lumpia, unfortunately the skin wrapping was a on the thicker side.
Spam musubi ~ Was good with a nice cut of spam in it and was made to order. I totally would have been ok without the extra sauce on top as it was sweet.
Chicken ~ It was nuggets and not a whole fry of pieces. The flavor was sweeter than I cared for but the chicken was nice and juicy. It reminded me more of a chicken karage that you get as part of a Japanese bento combo. The ramen cabbage salad was tasty and not drenched in dressing. Mac salad was just so so.
It took me back home to Lahaina halfway yummy goodness.

3.5 stars. Catchy name. I like the décor and atmosphere, food portions are huge and price is pretty easy on the pocketbook, liked some food, some other were just okay. If you like a lot of food, this place is definitely for you as they follow the usual humongous hawaiian food portions.
Pull and find parking in the back of the restaurant. This place is like a 3 in one, little hawaiian goods store, a small bar area, then the main room thats for dining. Run out of siracha hot sauce? Well get it here for 5.95. Walking in, at first it kinda felt like the rainforest café, fake plants all over the walls and crawling over the ceiling, and a huge tree in the middle. No big tanks of fish or moving fake animals though. I think I like that better actually, not as crazy of a spot to eat it. Service was just okay, not bad, not super great.
They have some specials running than I couldn’t find on the menu, but had to ask about. 2 entrees from the normal entrée menu, one appetizer, all for 22 dollars. They first serve miso soup that has thin rice noodles in it. For an appetizer, big plate of 7 pieces of the Lahaina fried chicken. Pretty heavy stuff for the first dish, but tasty anyhow. It was slightly sweet but mostly salty. Crunchy. Came with a dipping sauce, ate 2 pieces and moved on to something else so I wouldn’t be weighed down before my meal.
My entrée came out soon after and it was… enough to feed me 3 times over! 2 big scoops of white rice, lotsa ramen cabbage salad, 2 large cut up piece of beef katsu, wonton, and some sauce. You definitely get your money’s worth here. I really liked the ramen cabbage salad actually, surprisingly since at first I was like ramen??? It’s basically uncooked ramen that is broken up and used like croutons. Quite tasty and a nice change to the heavier fare surrounding it. Wontons were okay, not a lot of filling. The beef katsu had good flavor, but wasn’t to my liking. Thick breading with thin beef sandwiched inbetween, and kinda greasy too. My friend had ordered the chicken katsu, I did like that much better where as he liked my beef katsu better! The chicken had much thinner breading and the meat itself was thicker to balance it out.
Haha somehow my fave was the ramen cabbage salad. I’ll definitely have to come back and try out more items on their menu. good place to pig out on fried, fried, and fried foods.

Went here for a late lunch after spending most of the day at the beach… Everything I had was great. The food hit the spot, that’s for sure. I had the hawaiian iced tea to start. And when I asked for some sugar (i like mine sweet), she not only obliged but brewed up some more of it (this time just the way i like it). I ordered a plate lunch of kalua pork. Shredded smoked pork goodness. The plate came with a side of ramen cabbage salad (Yum) and a scoop of macaroni salad. Very satisfying… Portions here are huge. I also ordered a plate of lahaina fried chicken to go so I can have if for lunch tomorrow. It’s probably my favorite dish that they have… So much flavor in their boneless chicken pieces.
For dessert, I ordered several things to take home. I got slices of haupia cheesecake, passion fruit jello topped cheesecake and chocolate cream cheesecake. I also got 2 dobash/​vanilla filled cream puffs. All very good…
I’d say that was a productive day at this restaurant… A must-​stop for me whenever in Manhattan Beach. And perfect after spending the day on the sand…