Barbecue Kai

I always get the chicken katsu and hamburger steak and it is always good. Unfortunately the rice tends to be soggy but that is no problem since I replace the rice with fries. Huge portions for the price can’t go wrong!

Solid place to get a huge plate of food (enough to share with 2 people!) at a semi-​decent price. It’s definitely not cheap like the $ 5 plate lunches on the side of Farrington. Plates run about $ 10 each.
The barbecue meat is pretty standard fare for local food– not the greatest cuts of meat, but tasty sauces. We got the combo plate with Kalbi and chicken. Mac salad. Rice. The Mac salad is sort of flavorless and watery. Rice was perfectly cooked. Kalbi was tough and grisly. Chicken was delicious.
It took about 5 minutes for the food to cook, which I never mind if it’s freshly made. It was hot and tasty.
The staff were nice. The parking lot had lots of spots but was slightly sketchy. Depending when you go and from what direction you’re driving, it can be tough to make the left turn in there and get back out to keep going towards Makaha beach.
Overall, it’s decent. Better than McDonalds. Not as good as L&L.

If you’re ever on the west side and don’t feel like eating any fast food stop by bqq Kai. Their inexpensive compared to other plate lunch places! I always get the Teri hamburger steak or sometimes they have the burger and fries combo great for after the beach or dinner. Easy to locate it’s right across from LnL

The best hamburger steak on the west side!!! Every time I go to the beach I swing by here for my delicious plate lunch!

Awesome little spot over here on the westside. Here’s my review of each aspect:
Staff: REALLY friendly, our orders are perfect and don’t take long (coming from a mom with 3 kids in tow). But seriously… the staff is wonderful… ESP Frannie… bubbly, happy and on point!
Location: easy and ample parking, outdoor picnic tables if you wish to eat there (we take ours home). Walking distance to/​from Pokai Bay
Food: For about $ 2 you can get an amazing cheeseburger that even the pickiest of eaters will devour! Flavorful, thick (not those nasty frozen patties, def hand pressed) and WAYYYYY better than anything else you can get over here, ESP for the price! Curry chicken katsu is amazing, I actually weighed my food…2lbs 12oz! That’s a dinner, and two lunches for me! And I will eat it for all of those meals because it’s delicious!!! I’m pretty picky with curry and this one is just right. Tons of chicken too… about 2 layers of piled chicken… WIN!
Price: Amazing, for the quality and amount of food I give it a ¹⁰⁄₁₀!
So to sum it up… if you don’t already frequent this place check it out! And if you are here vacationing this is a must go to! An easy walk from the Pililaau Rec center if you are staying there… you know you gotta try all the local style foods, at BBQ Kai you can try em all and still afford to get some surf lessons! Mahalo Barbecue Kai!!!

Still only cash only, and they make numerous mistakes with returning change, could be on purpose since there is a sign that says «check your change before you leave the counter» otherwise they won’t be responsible for giving out the wrong change or some jazz like that. However, if they are aware that they return the wrong amount of change so often they make a sign for it how about DO IT CORRECTLY THE FIRST TIME, THE REGISTER IS A CALCULATOR.
Glad I got that out of my system. Anyway the food is just ok. Not bad not great it’s just ok. It’s just one of those local spots with local food and mixed plates. They have A LOT on their menu so I take it there will be something for everyone, maybe save the vegetarians and clean eaters lol.
Three stars because this place cheap, pretty fast service, and the portions are huge. Everything I’ve eaten here has just been ok. I’ve ordered the garlic shrimp plate recently, comes with 16 pieces of small shrimp two scoops of rice and one scoop Mac salad for around 12. Not bad but heavily oily like most of the plates. I’ve also eaten their katsu curry. Like always good size portions. The katsu is crispy and enough meat instead of just breaded cardboard so that’s good, it also came with a fair amount of curry. The mini plates are usually enough to satisfy.
Overall there are too much local plates to cover, but just know that it’s cheap, ok food, and normal wait. People make their own parking lol so just park anywhere nearby and it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s extremely hot and there’s no inside seating, and the outside tables are usually just for waiting. Take out and take home or you can have a nice picnic at pokai bay next door.

Good stuff! Came back to pick up stuff for dinner since it’s so close to our place. Nice people. Food is good and inexpensive. Love the fried rice they have there. Love love the BBQ fried rice. This place is a hole in the wall Hawaiian joint. It’s pretty much a Togo place. This place has done me good with the food. It serves a lot and also they can do ala carte which is good. Needed it for the family to try different stuff. The workers are really cool and helpful.
Mochico chicken was good I didn’t like it that much but the family did. The beef steak with gravy was yum! I really like the chicken Katsu with gravy. Now that was good. Kalbi was good also. Can’t go wrong with Kalbi unless you burn it. Noodle was alright. Nothing big about it.
If your around Waianae you should pick up and head to the beach. Good stuff.

Best Chinese we’ve had on the island. Sure, it’s a total dump place but so what? The food rocks. Huge portions, cheap, and super tasty. Most definitely we’ll be back whenever around Waianae in the future. And that’s gonna be within the next couple weeks!

Great hole in the wall place where the locals go, no frills cheap eats place =)
They definitely don’t skimp on the portions here =)
Combo: BBQ & Garlic shrimp: 4 stars
Meat was lean, no fat & tender. Shrimp was deliciously garlicky.
Combo: Garlic Shrimp: 4 stars
Deliciously garlicky but not a big as Giovanni’s shrimp truck & cheaper too but there was a lot more shrimps in this dish.
Service: friendly, nice & very helpful
Overall, I will definitely come back for lunch to try out the other combos because they’re very popular when I’m in the area again.

My boyfriend keeps bringing me here to get their loco moco and thinks it’s the best thing on the face of the earth. Unfortunately, I know what a REAL homemade loco moco tastes like, and I’m not impressed by BBQ Kai. The plates are packed with food, no doubt, but unless you like giant scoops of rice, tiny and oddly chewy hamburger patties, «homemade» gravy that tastes like plain flour, and a soupy mac salad that’s more juk than anything, I’d recommend just going down the road to Tamura’s for a slightly better (but still not up-​to-​par) loco moco. I usually end up eating a few bites of the over-mayo’ed mac salad, scraping the three tablespoons of gravy off to the side, and just eating the hamburger patties with the eggs. I only give this place 2 stars because the service is relatively fast.
P. S.: Thanks to my boyfriend and BBQ Kai for the most disappointing loco moco of my life.

Just thought I would give this place a try instead of going to the L&L right across the street. First off, I guess they have a problem with people stealing/​vandalizing their tables since they are secured to the concrete with a chain and eye bolt.
Anyway, I ordered a chicken katsu curry, because to me, the benchmark of any good plate lunch is how good their chicken katsu curry is. I must say that it’s only average. Actually, it taste more like chicken cutlet since it seems to be a little heavy in the breading. The curry was ok, but I wish they would have been a little more generous with their curry since it was only on the top half of the katsu.
The only thing I was really disappointed in was the drinks. I ordered a large drink and the large drink was more like a medium. Other than that the meal was ok. Not the best, but passable. The location is very interesting in that in the afternoons all the tables are in full view of the sun. So if anyone plans to eat their food at these tables in the evening/​afternoon, prepare to sweat
Just a pretty OK place with OK food.

Not for the grease faint of hearts.
This is the real greasy spoon plate lunch or burger joint on this island.
I ordered the double cheeseburger with large fries and jumbo coke. The burger is so greasy, it seeps through the wrapping, but you get two great home made hamburger patties smothered with cheese and some mayo. The fries are the crinkle cut and it was salted perfectly. As for the coke, you can’t go wrong with that choice, its pretty much a given when eating junk food.
The best cheat meal you’ll get for cheap.
I live in town, and the drive was worth it to try this place out.
There are a few outside tables, but I took mine to go and ate in the car.
Take a ride out to the west side, they’ve got some hidden gems and this is one of them.

My first time eating here I had chicken katsu and it was ok my friend had Mochico chicken and it tasted like grease what a shame I had so many people telling me this place was so good

Yummy Yummy Yummy in my tummy…
This is my jam!!!
After shopping at Waianae Store I always need to stop bye and grad a snack…

I suppose we could have eaten at L&L, located across the street from Barbecue Kai, but L&L is a massive chain, even having a retail location in my hometown of Seattle, so I know I can go to L&L any time.
Key points are (1) portions here are enormous and (2) though it takes a while to get your order, it’s because your food is prepared per your order. In other words, your dishes will be piping hot and fresh.
So, I have three words for you: bacon fried rice. This rice is dangerously addictive, oh-​so-​good. And Barbecue Kai does not stint on the bacon. Just one order of the bacon fried rice made for three meals! The black bean chicken was pretty good too, with the amount of chicken in the dish very generous. However, there was an excess of green bell pepper in the dish, resulting in green bell pepper being the only flavor in the dish.
JP and I also shared an order of the fried noodles, which turned out to be yakisoba-​style noodles. They seemed to be pretty heavily seasoned with Five Spice. Overall, we would rate the fried noodles as just okay.
If you want to eat at Barbecue Kai, there’s a couple of picnic tables.

The young lady who took our order was awesome, very patient and friendly. Food came out pretty quickly.
We ordered:
Mahimahi sandwich (Bland, dry, unimpressed)
Cheeseburger (Soggy, bland, unimpressed)
Fries (Just fine)
Chicken cutlet plate (Huge portions, pretty good!)
Fried shrimp plate (Incorrectly gave us fried instead of garlic shrimp; Fried shrimps weren’t so good. Looks huge but ½ of it is the fried batter. Tartar sauce was like Crisco — bland and greasy, very strange.)
And then one of the cooks sat on the bench behind us and proceeded to eat his meal and watch a video on his phone. Looked like he was on his break. The phone volume was super loud and of a female moaning, screaming, and yelling, «Stop it! Let me go!». I thought it was porn at first but after hearing it further, I think it was of some brutal beating. Whatever it was, it was inappropriate. He watched the video several times over. And this freak just cooked my food?
And while this is totally out of control of BBQ Kai, towards the end of our meal, a dog that was hanging around the property darted onto the Farrington and got struck by a car. It was utterly horrific to hear and see a dog croak in front of my eyes.

Yummy! Pick up some ono grinds when you’re going to or headed from Yoks. Great prices and great portions. Standard fare here — chicken katsu, hamburger curry, all types of fried rice. If you’re hungry, you won’t be disappointed.
Prices have been steadily increasing, but that’s the way it is everywhere. Deal with it. You still get choke food for your money. Forget L&L across the street and come here instead.
BBQ KAI FTW!

No need display for public this place. I’ve been driving past Barbecue Kai for a long time then one day decided to eat here so about 11:30 AM only 1 customer before me waiting for food.
Took Greg S advice «on Unilocal» ordered a double cheese burger deluxe & small fries from a local girl who seemed busy with something else in shop but took my order anyways which came up about 5 minutes. The bun was not toasted, the cook skimped on veggies & dressings but the fries were good & hot. Yes first impression on Kai not good.

Talk about cheap eats! While every other place has prices going higher and higher, this place goes against the trend. Here, you can find a HEAVY plate lunch for cheap! Even their mini plates are big. Their hamburger steak and loco mocos are really good. In all honestly, there is nothing on the menu that I didn’t like (and i’ve tried pretty much all of them since I moved to Waianae in ‘9). The one thing that stands out though are the New York Steak and shrimp plate and the Grilled Pork Chops plate. Oh my, they are GOOD! Very tender and juicy and so much flavor. I’m an NOT a pork chops person, but this place is the exception.
The place is a drive-​up inn where there are only 2 picnic benches outside. Their service is fast and friendly and you can call in your order in advance. They’ve never disappointed!

Wow! This place totally caught me off guard! Still working on that «Spirit of Waianae» photo doc and met up with a friend who recommended I try their burger (she teaches an after school art class at the high school). The charm for her is the meat patties here are homemade. Being that Faith’s Place let me down last time, I felt like I needed to find a new Wesside spot for fast and cheap grindage.
First of all, the burgers here are not only ¼lb in size but also very cheap. A BBQ Cheeseburger here was only $ 1.75! (BTW since this is an Asian run joint, remember their version of BBQ is usually in the form of a teriyaki sauce, not the kind you get with pulled pork or brisket, which I only remembered after I bit into my burger. Still delicious either way). The meat patty wasn’t overly dry, in fact a little salty but balanced well with the sauce and other condiments at hand.
Also note, unless your really hungry or on some kind of potato binge, don’t order the large fries, cause they give you a lot. Almost too much, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re expecting the type you get at Mickie D’s or W & M, the kind they serve here are the large crinkle cut ones. Just an FYI for those who have a preference on their tater. I like em’ all, cept for the kind they serve at Hanks Haute Dogs. Yeckkk!
Highly recommended if you’re in the area, looking for a cheap, fast and delicious burger, even if they specialize in Korean/​local-​style eats!
4 stars
Barbecue Kai in Waianae