Pono Hawaiian Grill

Address:	120 Union St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, USA
Phone:	+1 831-426-7666
Site:	ponohawaiiangrill.com
Rating:	4.4
Working:	11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 10AM–10PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 9

cyphnd

Ok ill be nice, Being from maui its hard to find legit hawaiian food on the mainland because there is none, and I dont give a damn what L &L claims cause that food/crap is not hawaiian! Anyways I had the Alii plate because when I saw the lau lau, I just had to get one! Lau lau in da mainland!? I thought i found my missing part in life, but i was sadly halted in a small awakening and somewhat hit by reality...."duh we in the mainland!" It was dry, my braddah, mr chef, please dont be shy with da hawaiian salt please just give em!" Also one or two more luau leaf wouldve helped. Cut it smaller, lau lau supposed to be juicy and meaty, one part shoulder and or butt and another part belly for fat. But the kalua pig was good. Lomi salmon..... nice rendition but not the same. Im pretty sure the salted diced Salmon is cheaper than fresh salmon, so make it like how we eat it at home! Or not, its your buisiness. The poi was decent i know its expensive, so watered down was expected, i just needed real lomi lomi salmon on top but i already mentioned, not the same.. the haupia was good, if that was bad i wouldve given one star. The lau lau is the star of that plate, and it needs help. The food reminded me that even though we are thousands of miles away from home, we are still thousands of miles away from home. #almostbutnotreally besides the food the dining area is cool and has a "chill" vibe with nice island reggae music ^_^

Aaron Garcia, Jr.

Not from the area but stopped in -with my family- during vacation. Although the restaurant states that theyre family friendly I didnt totally feel welcome there with kids. They do have a kids menu though which works just fine but it isnt the highlight of the restaurant. I tried their ramen style soup (-fish cake). The broth was very delicious and my favorite item that I tried. I would have enjoyed a cup of broth minus any of the other ingredients just to drink. Panko breaded tuna and panko breaded chicken. Both were tasty. The pineapple coleslaw was very nice. Wings were typical wings. Service up front was very friendly/helpful. Would like to try more of their food. 3/5 due to their ordering/seating set up and their lack of drink variety. After figuring out what you want to eat (cross referencing menu item names/basic descriptions with 2nd menu with more detailed menu item descriptions) you order up front, pay, take a number, and seat yourself. The only drinks they sell are canned fruit punches in a variety of flavors none of which we found appealing or interesting. Had to go the bar adjacent to the grill/restaurant to purchase drinks and carry them back to our table.

Jim Brown

Its always amateur hour at this cross between a local music spot and Hawaiian-theme menu. Service is sometimes friendly, always unskilled, sometimes the kitchen puts something fairly close to the menu description on your plate. On the plus side, the food is often fairly tasty and fresh, outside seating is quite pleasant, and dogs are welcome. Thats good, because inside can get very noisy when theres music. Theres a bar, but no waitress service, so after ordering and paying for food at the front door counter, you stand in line again at the bar. The closest thing to service is that someone brings your food to your table. Its hard to get a menu of the little dishes, which is mostly what I want to order, so its always a hassle figuring that out. I really wanted to give this place 4 stars for the times they get it right, but thats only about half the time, so its 3.

Jason Tsai

There are tens of poke places opening up everywhere in California. This place takes it to a different level. We came on a saturday night. They had a live band that did some covers. Were not locals, but really enjoyed the atmosphere. We had the Pono Poke plate. 2 scoops of rice, edamame, seaweed salad, and ahi. They have different flavor ones, we got the garlic ginger one if i remember correctly. We also got the kaluha pork fries to share. It was really delicious. The people here are also very friendly and there were people of all ages out that night. So, its very open. I love the beach town atmosphere even when it was freezing outside in the middle of november. There s a Reef Bar attached and they serve great micro brews on tap as well as some special drinks.

Paula Zappettini

Braddah Timmy, Since moving here from Kihei of course we were looking for some good Hawaiian food..We found it at Pono and love the relaxed Island feel of your restaurant...We have been there twice but noticed that the tables werent cleaned and the floors had not been swept or cleaned. Maybe it was a busy day but heads up, that will drive customers away faster than anything....we had to wipe our own table before we could eat and it wasnt that crowded. Then, we saw a waitress deliver food to a table and she was on her cell phone....a little bit too casual..We will definitely be coming back for the food but would just like to see it a little bit cleaner..Thanks.

Alan W.

Decided to go to Santa Cruz to enjoy the beautiful weather and found this cool little place for lunch. The restaurant is housed in a old building that I think might once be a warehouse of some kind. All orders are placed at the front counter and brought to your table once it is made. We ordered two poke bowls and a fries with pork. All the food sounded great until we got it. The fries and meat was rather flavorless and greasy. (just FYI, I love fries, but this just wasnt one of them) as for the poke bowls, they were decent, but definitely nothing to write home about. All in all, the restaurant is cool, but the food has a lot of room for improvement!

Jared Waters

Food: 1/5. Saimin was flavorless, broth tasted like water. Spam musabi wasnt marinated, just hastily fried up, still cold in middle. Portions were ok for the price, but not impressive. Atmosphere: 4/5. Friendly and casual, lots of decor without kitch. Service: Order at the counter, they pick up the plates. Seat yourself. Service such as it was is okay, definitely not a place to go if you want a service experience. Overall, Im not impressed by the place. Usually places like this have to have much much better food to survive. Ive had better hawiian at literally every place Ive tried.

Evan Rapoport

After living in Hawaii for eight years, Ive had a huge craving for excellent poke... and Pono has it! Wow, a huge selection of poke and all the other favorites I had back in Honolulu. Kalbi, Kalua pork, Kahuku shrimp, manapua, lau lau, and more. And a great bar with all the drinks Im craving after a day at the beach (Mai Tai, margarita, and Kona beers). Chill atmosphere, live music, friendly staff, outdoor seating... This place is perfect!

Carly Doi

Very cute place to sit down and have lunch. I went there about an hour after it opened with family and ordered french toast, but they said that they ran out of french toast after just an hour of opening (they said that morning that it was a slow day too). For the outside patio, they have a water dispenser where customers can get their own water, but some of the cups were dirty. Overall, it was a good meal and I would probably go again.