Kauna’oa Bar & Grill

We had cocktails here at sunset. It was gorgeous and there was live music with a live hula performance– absolutely stunning! The drinks were okay, definitely cost more than they’re worth at $ 14 each but the experience was incredible. It was obvious we were only there for cocktails and therefore were not worth the waitresses time but we didn’t really need her anyways. We ordered, got our drink then maybe an hour later got the check. The experience was 4 or 5 stars but the actual restaurant I’ll stick with the 3. Free valet (again, they weren’t super nice because we were clearly not there to spend a lot of money, but it’s all good!).

The friendliest waitress on the island, remembered our favorites on our second visit. Killer views, great drinks. I used to come here with my parents as a kid, love it. Expensive. Live music every night, with a hula dancer who seamlessly fit in lessons for the 3 year old girls who were fascinated. Super touching.

My boyfriend and I had a very nice dinner here a couple of weeks ago. We meant to go to the Hau Tree restaurant (located in the same resort) but got lost as we were wandering around the resort, and ended up here. It was a happy accident that resulted in the most pleasurable meal of our Hawaii trip. We came straight from the beach so weren’t at our neatest and most presentable but no one seemed to mind. We sat out on the patio and were treated to the most beautiful view and sunset. Really, this patio is a great place for a romantic dinner — just beautiful! We don’t drink alcohol so the waitress recommended a virgin drink; I think it was called a Lava Flow, which was a piña colada with some sort of strawberry purée in the middle — delicious. For dinner, we shared the tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad and the Hawaiian pizza without the ham. The salad was simple and very tasty; the pizza was solidly good. Our drinks and food came very quickly, which was really nice after a day at the beach. But what really made this a great experience for us were the absolutely gorgeous view and our excellent waitress. She was attentive and friendly and made us feel welcome. Actually, all the employees we came in contact with were very nice and helpful. Service can really make or break a dining experience and this staff was great! If we go back to the Big Island, I would definitely make a point of returning here based on our experience.
One thing to note: this restaurant is located in a private resort but is open to the public. You have to enter the resort through a gated road (just tell them you’re going to one of the restaurants) and you must use their valet parking, which is free (minus the tip).

Let me start off saying I know this is Hawaii so I will NEVER expect the promptness of service I get back home and you should do the same. This used to be the Montes restaurant at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel but they recently closed the copper bar and Montes and consolidated the two into this gastropub type restaurant. I wouldn’t call it a gastropub but I think since they have some beer taps thats why they think it is one. The waitresses were friendly and did their best but they were way overmatched with our table of 18 plus they had to service other tables as well. I put the blame on the management that they did not properly staff the restaurant in preparation for having so many covers. I saw the manager helping bring out food but all he did was put it on serving trays that just sat around the corner for us and waited for the waitress to serve them. Well they were busy with the 10 other tables they had to wait on so food just sat there. My kids were literally looking at the entrees sitting there so I did what any dad would do and walked over and picked the entrees up and served my children myself. The flatbreads and the pizzas were good and I was happy to see that this place didn’t just serve the same thing you could get at room service. It was also nice to have pool tables and darts to mess around while waiting for our food.