Restaurant Review - Kona Brewing Company, Koko Marina Pub in Honolulu

Kona Brewing Company's (KBC) Koko Marina pub spans 7,000 square feet and seats 275 patrons, according to its website. It is located right on the water with a wonderful view of boats entering and exiting the marina. The décor is trendy, with full-panel windows that allow almost every table a view of the water and lets the ocean breeze right in. With quite a bit of outdoor seating, diners can enjoy their meal as well as the view.

Beer lovers can enjoy a wide variety of hand-crafted lagers and ales. Like everything else on the menu, the beers are imbued with a touch of Hawaii. Using local ingredients, KBC is able to create some of the best beer on the island. They brew over a dozen beers regularly, some of which can only be found in Hawaii.

Besides the beer, KBC offers many other drinks such as Gingerade, a 100% organic ginger lemonade, and pineapple soda, a lightly carbonated pineapple-flavored drink. On tap, they also offer several soft drinks.

KBC has a variety of delicious appetizers like their Niu Valley Nachos (made with yellow corn kettle chips), KB'Cilla Pookela (made with kalua pork) and Kuliouou Crab Cakes (with a wonderful taro crust). These unique creations are mouth-watering and very good ways to start off a meal.

For those who are health conscious, you might want to try the Paia Taro Burger served on a poi bun with Hamakua tomatoes, local greens, sprouts and garlic aioli. Another great choice is Pele's Throne Ahi Salad. This salad contains seared furikake ahi, local mixed greens, Maui onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and a sprinkling of pineapple vinaigrette.

KBC's entrees run the gamut from Kona Haupia Seafood Stew to Waimea Lilikoi BBQ Ribs, Lunalilo Linguini to Port Lock Pork Chops. An even more interesting assortment is found with the pizzas. With sixteen to select from, you are sure to find a delicious treat for all.

Despite the diversity offered to your palate, there are several things about KBC that are major disappointments. For one, the price is a little on the high side. For instance, both the nachos and the quesadilla appetizers cost $10, while the crab cakes are $11. The taro burger is also $10 and the ahi salad will run you $12. Depending on the topping, a small pizza ranges from $9 to $16 and a large pizza ranges from $13 to $23. The pork chops will cost you $19 and the BBQ ribs will leave you less $17.

Another letdown is the speed of service. I've been to this location twice and the service has always been slow. Normally, the restaurant is not even half full, yet the food takes ages to arrive. Worst of all, the servers are scarce and rarely return to refill your glasses.

Speaking of refills, this weekend I had the shock of my life. A friend and I ordered soft drinks with our lunch at $3 a pop. We spent so long waiting for our food that we had slurped up all of our beverages before our meals even arrived. Our server didn't return with any refills even though he saw that our glasses were empty. When we finally asked him for a refill, he took our glasses and refilled them.

Upon getting our check, we discovered that we were charged for four drinks. After ten minutes I was able to flag our server down to clarify the charge. After all, there were only two of us. How could there be four drinks on our bill? Our server explained that management had recently instated a new policy where soft drinks were charged by the glass in order to recoup internal losses in sales. Say what? First of all, we were not informed of this extra charge for refills when we asked for a refill. More importantly, who ever heard of charging soft drinks by the glass? Really, how difficult is it to make cola and ice tea? Does it really equate to $12 of our total bill? I don't know about you, but I think that is just ludicrous! If I had known this, I would have gotten several glasses of beer instead of a non-alcoholic beverage!

Because of this incredible lack of communication by the server regarding this "new" policy and outrageous new policy itself, I would not recommend that anyone eat at this establishment. The slow service is enough to drive anyone insane. Should you want to try some of their delicious but pricey food, I strongly recommend getting take-out rather than risk getting hit with a $6+ per person soft drink bill if you dine in. Although the location and scenery might be nice, it cannot make up for the lacking service and the per drink soft drink charge.

Restaurant information:
Kona Brewing Company
Koko Marina Center
7192 Kalanianaole Highway
Honolulu, Hawaii 96825
Open Monday through Sunday: 11am to 11pm

Kona Brewing Company
Kailua-Kona Pub & Brewery
75-5629 Kuakini Highway
Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96740
Open Sunday to Thursday: 11 am - 10 pm Friday & Saturday: 11 am - 11 pm
Brewery tours are offered Monday through Friday at 10:30 am & 3 pm.

Note: Prices were taken off the website, konabrewingco.com, and may be out of date. According to the website, soft drinks are $2 but I just paid $3 (a glass) this weekend so prices may have increased since the menu was last updated.