Overview
Uahi Island Grill is a long-running Kailua restaurant on Oahu’s Windward Coast that presents itself as contemporary Hawaiian cooking with a casual, neighborhood feel. The Google Places record and the restaurant’s own site both place it at 33 Aulike St in Kailua, and the business is currently shown as operational. (uahiislandgrill.com)
For a traveler, the draw is that this is not just a generic “Hawaiian food” stop. The menu and review pattern suggest a place that leans into local plate-lunch comfort food, seafood, and island-fusion dishes, with drink options and brunch/event service adding some flexibility beyond a basic lunch counter. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
Uahi Island Grill’s food lane is best described as contemporary Hawaiian with island-fusion elements. The official site says the restaurant opened in September 2007 with a goal of serving “fresh island flavors” using housemade products and local produce where possible, while the menu evidence shows a mix of Hawaiian staples, seafood, salads, sandwiches, curries, and bar drinks rather than a narrow single-cuisine concept. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Notable items that show up repeatedly across sources include kalua pork fries, ahi katsu cake, garlic shrimp, garlic chicken, seared ahi salad, Thai red curry grilled fish, Mandarin duck confit, Mai Tais, and the tajin tamarind drink. The strongest pattern is that diners come here for familiar island flavors with a more composed, slightly upgraded presentation than a standard plate-lunch spot. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Overall menu style: contemporary Hawaiian / island fusion; plate-lunch comfort food mixed with seafood, salads, sandwiches, curry, and bar beverages. (foodnetwork.com)
- Notable dishes and specialties: kalua pork fries, ahi katsu cake, garlic shrimp, garlic chicken, seared ahi salad, Thai red curry grilled fish, Mandarin duck confit, and Mai Tai. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Drinks: cocktails are part of the draw; Google review excerpts on the official site mention alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails, plus a tajin tamarind drink that was singled out positively. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Price expectations: Google marks it at price level 2, and Tripadvisor’s category listing places it in the $$-$$$ range, so this reads as moderate rather than bargain-basement. (tripadvisor.com)
- Dietary usefulness: the menu evidence points to vegetarian options and a kids’ menu, while the official site also emphasizes biocompostable takeout packaging; that said, the menu is meat-and-seafood heavy, so strict vegans likely have fewer choices than omnivores. (wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu)
Notable Features & Ambiance
The overall setting comes across as cozy and casual, with a neighborhood restaurant feel rather than a destination dining room. Review snippets on the official site and Tripadvisor describe it as comfortable and homey, and the business appears to function as a full-service restaurant with reservations, online ordering, catering, and party hosting. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Service model and seating style: table-service restaurant with reservation capability; also offers online ordering, takeout/delivery, catering, and event booking. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: cozy, casual, and homey rather than formal or high-concept. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Amenities or practical features: open every day; appears to accept reservations; takeaway and delivery are available during open hours; there is a bar component. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Best fit: a relaxed lunch, beach-day meal, casual dinner, or small celebration where travelers want local flavors without a white-tablecloth setting. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Weaker fit: travelers wanting a formal fine-dining experience, a purely traditional Hawaiian menu, or a highly minimalist quick-service stop. This is an inference from the menu breadth, bar service, and casual presentation. (uahiislandgrill.com)
History & Background
The clearest background signal is that Uahi Island Grill says it opened in September 2007, with a mission centered on fresh island flavors, housemade products, local produce, and lower-waste takeout packaging. That gives it enough continuity to read as an established local business rather than a short-lived tourist novelty. Beyond that, I did not find a richer founder or chef story in the sources reviewed. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
The recurring positives are straightforward: people like the food, especially local-island comfort dishes and seafood; they also praise the drinks, friendly service, and casual atmosphere. The official site’s embedded Google review excerpts repeatedly mention kalua pork, garlic shrimp, ahi dishes, and cocktails as standouts. Tripadvisor snippets also place it among Kailua’s local-eat options rather than as a one-off novelty. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Common Gripes
I did not find a strong, repeated complaint pattern in the sources reviewed. The main caution is more implicit than explicit: because the menu is broad and comfort-food driven, diners seeking a narrowly traditional Hawaiian experience or a very quiet, upscale room may find it less distinctive for their purposes. That is a light inference rather than a well-documented criticism. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours currently show 11:00 AM–9:00 PM Monday through Saturday and 11:00 AM–8:00 PM Sunday on both the official site and the Google record. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- The restaurant’s site explicitly recommends reservations, and it provides a reservation path plus a direct email contact. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Takeout, delivery, catering, and party bookings are all promoted on the official site, so this is not just a dine-in-only operation. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Best bet for a traveler is a beach-day lunch or early dinner, especially if you want a more relaxed local meal rather than a formal night out. This is an inference from the menu, hours, and neighborhood setting. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- The restaurant sits in Kailua, so it fits naturally into a Windward Coast or Kailua/Lanikai day rather than a Waikiki-centric itinerary. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Verification Notes
- Official name, address, and phone are consistent across the Google Places record and the official site: Uahi Island Grill, 33 Aulike St, Kailua, HI 96734, (808) 266-4646. (uahiislandgrill.com)
- Website on the Google record and official site matches:
http://www.uahiislandgrill.com/and the current site uses the same domain. (uahiislandgrill.com) - No major verification issues found. The only notable conflict is a stale secondary listing from Food Network showing a different Kailua street address; the restaurant’s own site and Google record agree on 33 Aulike St, so the Food Network address should be treated as outdated or incorrect. (uahiislandgrill.com)
Sources
- Uahi Island Grill official website —
http://www.uahiislandgrill.com/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Best source for identity, current hours, reservations, ordering, catering, and the restaurant’s own origin statement. - Google Places / candidate facts provided in prompt —
https://maps.google.com/?cid=9479895997752758036— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Best baseline identity anchor for address, phone, website, business status, rating, price level, and hours. - Menu PDF indexed via Menuweb —
https://wnam-cdn.menuweb.menu/storage/media/companies_menu_pdf/113797564/uahi-island-grill-kailua-menu.pdf— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for concrete menu items, beverage categories, and menu breadth. - Food Network restaurant profile —
https://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/hi/kailua/uahi-island-grill— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for a secondary description of the cuisine lane and for flagging an address mismatch that appears stale. - Tripadvisor Kailua restaurants listing —
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g60652-Kailua_Oahu_Hawaii.html— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for category framing, price band, review volume context, and how travelers cluster the restaurant among Kailua local eats.
