Pono Hawaiian Grill

Too often they have loud music blaring. The set up between the bar and the resturant is very awkward

I liked the musubis, got the chicken and spam. I liked the spam one more, the ratio of spam to rice was very different than I’m used to, but still tasted really good. There was a pretty long wait for our food almost 35 minutes but considering it was a holiday week pretty understandable. My friends ordered poke bowls and after tasting them it made me want to go home and have real poke bowls. There was too much ginger and other things taking over the flavor of the poke. But I really liked what I ordered so I’m a fan.

Mahalo Unilocalers! Po-​NO? More like Po-​YEAH! I was brought to Pono because my brother and friend wanted The Penny Ice Creamery… and after researching the restaurants around, Hawaiian cuisine sounded delicious! Plus with high ratings and live music, it was a sealed deal for me.
Luckily we found parking in the public lot of the library. Be warned: all street parking around is metered 7 days a week from morning till 8PM at night. Bummer! We walked a block and found that it was approximately across Café Limelight and around the corner from Luma Yoga.
«PONO» had a huge sign plastered on top of its double doors. The line was out the door already and on Valentine’s Day nonetheless! Waiting 20 minutes just to place my order and then another 15 minutes to receive our food was a bit disheartening. They have a cashier stand near the door and it always seems like they’re so popular all the time. When we left, there was still a line out the door!
One of the cooler things however was the enjoyable, free live music. At one end, there’s the Reef Bar and towards the other end, there’s a small stage for the live bands and an outside patio. There is plenty of seating inside and outside. The ambient and decoration of Pono was so genuinely Hawaiian and relaxing. Paintings of the island and natives were everywhere. Although the dilapidated wooden tables, chairs, and utensils were a turn-​off. Our experience inside was truly unique for the night.
Food quality here is top notch for Hawaiian food. I’m not a Hawaiian cuisine expert, and honestly my experiences have been eating at L&L or Ohana BBQ. But I’m still a big fan of BBQ chicken and teriyaki chicken, poke bowls, and musubi nonetheless! Tried the Teriyaki Chicken Plate with macaroni salad and rice.
.Gawd. The teriyaki chicken came with REAL white meat! It was not the stringy dark mystery meat that you’d get at most fast food Hawaiian places, and I was simply… astonished. The sauce was savory, flavorful, and had the right amount of tang! My brother had the #55 Poke Bowl special with sashimi poke, pulled pork, rice, seaweed salad, etc. His bowl was slightly pricey at $ 11.95 but the poke and pulled pork were high quality meats that really impressed. My friend had the Loco Moco beef steak patty with egg and commented that it was mediocre. I had a bite and thought it was just as delicious.
Overall, you need to try Pono at least ONCE if you’re in Santa Cruz aka the beach surf city. The ambiance and high food quality are splendiferous and really made my Valentine’s Day dinner unforgettable. Other irksome factors of questionable utensil cleanliness, painful parking, and eyebrow raising prices are forgivable once Pono creeps its way into your heart.

Been here twice while visiting Santa Cruz and I’m a fan!
Love that they have outdoor seating that’s dog friendly.
My bf and I love their kalua pig sliders, poke, chicken cutlet, fish and chips.
If you’re in the area and craving Hawaiian food I highly suggest making your way here.
Being from Hawaii it’s nice to know there’s a spot in the bay area serving up ono grindz

Wanted to like this place. Probably a great place for cocktails and live music but the dinner was ok. Pork and fish Lau Lau — where’s the fish? Lot of pork fat so tread carefully. Some pieces were tender some were kind of dry. Mac salad was good. The shoyu poke — sorry. Being near all the boats, I was shocked they served CO2 treated ahi — you can tell by the radioactive pink. The mamma kathy’s Teri chicken was on point with the nice char. Appreciated that. Prices are fair.
The place itself was cool — it’s a real bar converted restaurant — super casual. Short, flojos, all good.
For a drop in beer, quick plate lunch, live music it’s a great spot. Wouldn’t expect too much more than that.

Definitely disappointed. Would not come here again because the food quality is definitely not equal to their Unilocal review.
Vibe and service is great, the space is kinda dingy divey but ppl and workers are friendly enough.
We ordered pork fries and a spicy tuna poke bowl and a salmon poke bowl. We’re big poke bowl fans. If you’re in San Jose try Poki bowl off Almaden. That spot is certainly way more worth your money.
This spot charges market price but they hardly even give you fish — the bowl is 65% rice, and the rest is this poke mix of tomato and fish and seaweed salad –there’s as many chunks of tomato as there are fish.
I was excited because most poke places don’t offer scallop, but then I realized here they only do spicy options — hint, if a seafood spot only have sauce drenched or spicy mixes of a raw fish, it’s not as fresh. So I opted to just go with salmon, you can get that fresh here readily. My tummy still got upset, let me tell you that I eat sushi (like sashimi) on a regular basis. My stomach should not hurt from a poke bowl.
Note also their seaweed salad and ginger are def the grocery store bought kind.
The pork fries, actually we had pork onion rings because they ran out of fries. Really. And not a good combo cuz the onion rings went to mush and the pork was just way too salty we didn’t even try to finish it.
Pretty sad, but I guess that Santa Cruz really has no decent food.

I’ll admit, the food is inconsistent here but overall, I really love this place. I come here often (weekdays, weekends, day time, night time) and Friday nights are the best. They have live music and I just have a really good time whenever I come. The environment and atmosphere is laid back and fun, really no other place like this in Santa Cruz. I usually order the chicken katsu and I like that they use all white meat for it. Also lots of drink selections in the Reef bar. Perfect place to hang out with friends, especially since you don’t have to worry about everything being under the same tab. You just walk in, order your food and pay for it, and find your own seating.

I missed the restaurant (their cedar plank salmon and chicken wings were bomb) and coffee house that was here prior that got my friends and me through college. BUUUT… I can live with Pono. Lots of dishes! I can live with their musubi, pork sliders and fries. The wait time isn’t bad and there is plenty of seating both indoor and outdoors. Next time those desserts are getting tried.

My favorite restaurant in Santa Cruz hands down! And really the only place to get poké in this town. And a super strong Mai Tai!
AMBIENCE: it’s like you’re transported to Hawaii the minute you walk in. The walls are decorated with photos of Hawaii, surfers, and tropical flowers. There are a couple TVs around, but there’s also LIVE MUSIC every night to keep you entertained. Every time I’ve gone, the music has been great and adds to the tropical vibes (mainly reggae bands).
MENU: long list of pupus, rice plates, burgers, and POKE! The one thing I find annoying is that the poké prices are market price so it’s never listed. But I can never see the price at the register either so I just blindly pay…
TASTE:
~ Pele’s Fire Ahi (spicy): I got this as a salad (no rice but has salad, tangerine slices, cucumber, edamame beans). It’s a pretty big portion — I can never finish it all! There’s about ¹⁄₃ cup of poké on top. It was pretty spicy, and there was a good amount of tomato and sweet onion mixed in with the fish. Although it was good, I can never really taste the tuna… So I’m never sure how fresh the fish is. The seaweed salad was a great contrast to the spiciness.
+ Teriyaki chicken plate: the chicken was tender and the sauce was good — not too sweet. The macaroni salad was ok but a little bland in flavor.
+ Coconut prawns: Really surprised how much I liked these! Wish there were more than 5 per order :(the batter had a great coconut flavor and the shrimp was juicy. Tasted great with the sweet dipping sauce.
Overall, I love this place. It’s really the best Hawaiian food you’ll find in Santa Cruz!

Ohhhh Pono… How you make my heart (and taste buds!) swoon!
This is probably my FAVORITE place to eat, whenever I’m home visiting my friends and family! The quality of your food, the freshness, everything about the Pono experience… floors me every time!
I love how relaxed and low-​key this place is. The staff are all incredibly friendly, the atmosphere is amazing and again, the food… well just YES! For those of you who haven’t had a chance to stop in, please do yourselves a favor. DO IT!!! Not one thing on their menu, is less then amazing!!!

Popped into Pono for a Saturday dinner given all the great Unilocal reviews and color me impressed! I’ve never been to Hawaii before but I have to believe that Pono Hawaiian Grill is pretty close to the real deal. Order up front and choose from poke, rice bowls, plates and more, all very reasonably priced. Grab your number, grab a table and grab a beer at the bar. Pono is a popular spot so the staff is hustling hard during the evening.
Seating is a mish-​mash of small 2 — 4 tops, high-​boys and even some couches. It’s a first-​come, first-​served situation so keep an eye out for when something opens up. A cover band is up front playing favorites for the crowd and there’s a chill, surf feel to Pono. Our food comes out, some wings and a Galbi rice plate for me. Two scoops of rice, some seared/​charred short rib pieces with some teriyaki sauce and some macaroni salad. Humble but tasty food, the wings are solid but not my favorite.
Overall I really enjoyed the feel, food and service at Pono Hawaiian Grill. Relaxed, a good enthusiastic crowd and decent food works for me! Hopefully I’ll get to Hawaii sometime soon so I can really compare to Pono Hawaiian Grill…

Eating here is a must when in Santa Cruz! This place has a great environment with comfy seating areas, decorative walls, and sometimes even a live band! What keeps me coming back are their poke bowls. They’re on a separate menu so ask the cashier for it!
The fish is fresh and the bowls are just delicious. My favorite poke bowl from here is Pele’s Fire Poke, which has ahi tuna, seaweed salad, and spicy tobiko mayo. I’ve tried the Salmon-​Cilantro and Avocado poke, but it was pretty bland compared to the Pele’s Fire. The only complaint I have is that the rice to fish ratio is like 5:1 sometimes (over exaggerating, but you know what I mean). However, for a reasonably priced, tasty poke bowl at ~$ 10?! Why not!
I have to come back to try more stuff on their menu!

I’ve only been here on weekdays during lunch and my experience so far has been great– if there’s a line, it usually goes by really quickly (although you will occasionally get the random person who’s there for the first time and doesn’t know where to start– and yes, that was me my first few times, sorry.) It’s a very casual place– you order at the front and get a number. You have to serve yourself your utensils/​napkins/​water, and bus your dishes yourself.
I had a spicy poke bowl the very first time I was here, which was good, but not the reason why I love this place. On my second visit, there was the start of a line behind me and, not having decided anything at all, I just blurted, «I’ll have that!» pointing to a sign on the wall with a picture of what looked like a regular poke dish. I had no idea what I had gotten and it started to get a bit crowded so I kind of shrugged and went to find a seat.
I got the Spicy Mauna Loa Poke Stack. I don’t even know if it’s on the regular menu because I haven’t looked at the regular menu since. It’s basically layers of ahi tuna, seaweed salad, avocado, some sort of relish (the first time I had it, it didn’t have pineapples but the second time, it did), lemon sriracha aioli on top of 3 big wonton chips. It’s amazing– bursts of flavor in your mouth with different textures– and it looks pretty amazing too! My jaw may have dropped in astonishment that first time I got it because i was in no way expecting that.
Seriously, everyone should try it. I have (or will) upload a picture so you can all appreciate how awesome it looks.
Solid 4/​5, will definitely come back again and again for that Spicy Mauna Loa Poke Stack.

My favorite part is the groovy dog friendly patio — no wait — fav part is the strong azz Dark& Stormys $ 5 per Mug-​o-​Grog at happy hour — no –its the poke — that’s «poeKAY, Bra «-
Which one? Exactly.
I liked the #1 (braddah Timmy ?)but also the PELE was not playin if you like SPICE— but MY FAV WAS THE COCO ONE ! — No backup, dem Korean short ribs ! Oh WAIT —LISTEN —sssshhhh— and this AIN’T on the Menu … Kalua pork on French Fries& cheese $ 7.50 secret local house special is FAT ! A better value than the sliders, too.
Did I mention? strong drinks, Bud-​dy !!

Pono transports you to Hawaii. Even the people who work and eat here look like they belong on that island. I sort of love how Santa Cruz has their own micro-​culture.
I don’t like that the menu up ahead has all the names of poke but I have no idea what each one means. The names are ambiguous. The descriptions aren’t on the paper menu either. They’re only on the menu taped to the front so when you get up there, you have to read through all of them fast. Instead of doing that, I just looked at which one had the most chilies next to it.
I got the one with 3 chilies, the Spicy Lava Flow Poke. I don’t remember what was in it but there was no mayo. I was disappointed because the fish is supposed to be sushi grade but it didn’t taste fresh and the marinade was pretty mild. The bowl comes with your choice of white or brown rice, seaweed and pickled ginger. It’s a good portion size.
My husband got the Da BBQ which is a pretty big portion. Two scoops of rice, one scoop of macaroni salad and an entirely separate plate of kalbi/​beef teriyaki/​chicken teriyaki. The kalbi was probably the best of the three meats. The other two were a bit overcooked and chewy.
I tried a couple pieces of my friend’s coconut shrimp and that would be worth getting. You actually get an aroma of toasted coconut when it’s usually just panko crumbs.
On hot days, it’s cooler to sit outside at the patio than it is to sit inside. It’s just like Hawaii inside – hot and humid. Cool bar inside though. The vibe is very comfortable.