When I post a critique on my blog, I really want it to reflect MY experiences. So, when I write this critique of “Sweet Home Waimanalo” I am asking myself, after reading all those complimentary posts on Yelp, Google+, Urbanspoon, etc., why have my experiences been so different? But with a clear conscience, I just have to “tell it to you like it is”.
I want to quantify this by saying that not all my food experiences at “Sweet Home Waimanalo” have been bad ones. I have visited this restaurant several times and upon my first trip there, I would have given it 5 stars. However, I have been back three more times since and my feelings for Sweet Home 
Waimanalo have dwindled. I’m sad to say that I have been progressively disappointed in the food, ambiance, service, and everything else, over and over again. Culminating in my last visit which was the absolute worst ever!
This quaint little restaurant on the Windward side of Oahu is just what you’d expect to stumble across as you drive around the Hawaiian islands. It’s the type of restaurant you see in the movies and on TV shows. You know the one where the old, rundown jeep with surfboards peeking out its top pulls up to and the “surfer dude” jumps out and saunters up to the window to order his lunch in between waves…that one!
Upon first glance, this food shanty [slash] souvenir shop [slash] market, is cute and inviting…and I like it. It touts itself as a cafe’, but without any indoor seating, it’s
hard for me to think of it in that way. It’s a food shanty! Right off, parking can be a challenge since parking spots are slim pickins. If none are available, your next choice is to park on the side of Farrington Highway which can not only prove to be challenging, but somewhat dangerous. I’ve witnessed some people almost losing a car door here! (I think there’s a commercial here somewhere.) The fact that on my first couple of trips I had to walk down to the McDonald’s on the corner to use the restroom – that didn’t even damper my enthusiasm for this place. They have since built a very cute little purple bathroom in the back.
There is no indoor seating here and that can be very off-putting for some people from the mainland. It also can lead to a very bad experience–more on this to come. As you try to enjoy your meal at the several wicker booths and pub style “community” seating area, the street noise, dust and sun beating down on you can get uncomfortable and oft times unbearable. The layout of the seating area being very near to the garbage cans is also not ideal and can be annoying. On a very hot day, I guarantee that the flies will eat more of your meal then you will. On days like that, your lunch experience will feel more like a trip to the gym as you work up a sweat just swatting the flies off your food.
Well enough about ambiance, and the lack thereof, now let’s get to the “meat” of the subject (as it were). I went to Sweet Home Waimanalo on my first visit because it was featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The first thing you see when you enter this food shanty is a large autographed poster of
Guy Fieri. I was pining for brisket one day and remembered this episode and Guy’s recommendation that it was tremendous. So, I convinced my husband to head to the Windward side to satisfy my brisket binge and, happily, he was all in. I have to say on my first visit, the brisket and the experience here were very good. On my brisket sandwich the meat was succulent, stacked on a homemade baguette with just enough pan juices to make it moist and tasty. Even on that first trip, I wasn’t head over heels in love with the sides of bok choy slaw and sweet potatoes, but they were Okay. I was there for the brisket and it was something that was memorable and made me want to go back for more.
So, the next time a friend was in town, I couldn’t stop bragging on the brisket at Sweet Home Waimanalo. After a long morning of sightseeing at South Shore 
Lookout, Sandy Beach and the Blow Hole, we headed on over to Sweet Home Waimanalo. I can truthfully say that my mouth was watering in anticipation of their brisket. But, sadly, this trip was my first big disappointment. What happened? It wasn’t that long since I had been there the first time. I was so surprised that the food and service had gone downhill so quickly. As my friend “picked” at her brisket, pulling off the fat from a dry piece of meat so she could get just a few bites to eat, I was mortified and totally embarrassed. After singing its praises, she looked at me like I had lost my mind. Not only were we so disappointed in the food, but as we sat on the wicker benches the noise from the road and the dust and diesel from the trucks were just more than we could bear. Needless to say, our lunch was cut way too short.
Not giving up on Sweet Home Waimanalo (I do want to love this place), my husband and I made yet another (and another) trip here when we were visiting
that side of the island. I hate to give up on any place, but our experience these last two times were pitiful. It began with the two “ladies” behind the counter having an, uncomfortable for me, argument in front of customers (about whose job it was to wait on the customers) and ended with the hundreds of flies that felt like they were more entitled to my lunch than I was. It seems that it wasn’t anyone’s job to empty the garbage cans that day either. Without any overhead fans to help keep the fly population from flying on hot days, it is a scourge. Unfortunately, the fish tacos and the pulled pork sandwiches we tried to eat in between were not any better. The fish was greasy and cold and the sides were dry. My husband’s pulled pork sandwich was also dry and served on a “hard” roll…I think he cracked a tooth. I am sad to say that Sweet Home Waimanalo is no longer on my list of “places you must eat” when you come to Oahu.
On a brighter side, Sweet Home Waimanalo’s tofu and black bean menu choices may be just the thing to satisfy the pickiest of vegetarian eaters. In contrast, their beef, pork, fish and chicken choices may appeal to the carnivores in your family. I have never eaten dessert here, but their dessert case always has some decadent-looking offerings. So whatever your choice, Sweet Home Waimanalo does have quite a variety.
I do like the fact that Sweet Home Waimanalo tries to make their dishes healthier by using locally grown, organic ingredients. The sustainable agriculture, farm-to-table concept is one that I support whole-heartedly. I also think it’s very cool that it has an organic farm roof where they grow their own sprouts and other produce. Very unique! Sweet Home Waimanalo serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday.
I am still in a quandary over why my experiences differ so much from the ones posted on the other social media sites, because I really want to like this quaint little restaurant in Waimanalo, but I just can’t any longer. I do encourage you to give it a try and if you find that your experience was/is much better than mine, please leave me a comment and let me know. I will happily give it a try again if I hear good things back from you! As always…
…Ua leʻaleʻa kūikawā aukiki (Have a good time)
Mahalo–Melody Leigh
5 = Superb; 4 = Great; 3 = Good; 2 = OK; 1 = Bad; 0 = Awful
Critic’s Ratings: Food: 2; Drinks: 3; Service: 2; Ambiance: 3; Family Friendly: 2
rustic but elegant restaurant (built from ironwood trees cut down on property) past glistening sandy beaches, over beautiful, serene azure waters as far as the eye can see. Ola is literally eating your dinner with your toes in the sand! Ola’s is the essence of one of my favorite Stephen Bishop songs “On and On”: “I got the sun on my shoulders and my toes in the sand…”
Sangria in my hand, it couldn’t get much better. I was so glad too that my son’s friends were there to witness this dramatic and exhilarating event with us.
yl have strayed from their ‘recipe’ for success and excellence, since they exhibit it in everything they do to this day. Ola’s cuisine can be best described as Hawaiian fare with flavors from around the world.
m farmers and cattle ranchers located within miles of Turtle Bay Resort. The fresh catch from Hawaiian waters rounds out the exceptional care they put into their menu selections.
ch choice was different in it’s own way…from a savory Red Pepper to the sweetness of the Pomegranate & Kabocha and the Macadamia Nut Feta in between — the only downside was that for the number at our table, there wasn’t nearly enough to go around to satisfy everyone.
The Critic's Table Hawaii 