Uncle Bo’s Pupu Bar & Grill

I’ve been to Uncle Bo’s plenty of times, and while the food has always been great, our service last night deserves a special shout out! We had reservations for 8pm, and it was slammed when we got there. I actually arrived twenty minutes later than the rest of my party, but they still hadn’t had their food or drink orders taken yet. This is the point in the story where our night could have taken a really terrible turn, but instead it turned out to be my favorite dinner yet at this place.
The wait staff projected a calm, friendly aura despite how busy the restaurant was (completely full with a line out the door). Because our waiter was so friendly and attentive, it honestly didn’t feel like we waited almost an hour before getting our first appetizer. My friends and I were having such a good time that we were completely caught off-​guard when the manager told us that our next round of drinks was on the house, which is pretty great considering the place charges $ 9 – 11 for their, admittedly delicious, cocktails. Not only did they bring us another round of drinks, towards the end of our meal our waiter brought us a plate of dumplings as well! Seriously, these guys just went above and beyond last night.
If you go to Uncle Bo’s, I would highly recommend ordering the dumplings as well as the SOS, Kalua Pork Nachos, Hapa Rolls, Spinach-​Artichoke Dip, Boco Rota, and Hobos (taro beignets). Honestly though, you can’t go wrong when you eat out with a group of friends at this place!

Food was awesome .
Service was great
It’s very hard to get in but it is worth the wait. I would highly recommend this place.

I am a big fan of Uncle Bo’s despite the loud setting and somewhat cluttered interior. The food is really tasty and the staff is generally nice, which is basically what I search for when I want to go out with friends.
Uncle Bo’s is probably best for larger parties as it is noisy and not very date-​friendly. I don’t actually care that much for the ambiance of the place (dark so it makes it seem club-​ish but noisy so it seems bar-​ish but the furniture set up is more restaurant-​ish). Anyway, I overlook all that because I love the food here.
I usually order off the pupu menu. and I think most people do that here. One of my favorite menu items is the bo’s big nachos which are wonton chips with kalua pig and cheese and other nacho things but the highlight is really the wonton chips + kalua pig. I also really liked this spicy tofu dish but that doesn’t appear to be on the online menu anymore. hmm. Also good is the boca-​rota which is garlic cheesy bread with prime rib strips and some other things but do I really need to say more?
Their prices have gone up a little bit but they now have fancy backlit menus so maybe that’s what you’re paying for with the extra couple bucks you’ll be spending on your dish.
Pro tip: I once called ahead to see if they had HH specials and they said «it’s always happy hour here!» which translates to: no, you aren’t getting any cheap food from us. The prices they charge aren’t outrageous though and I still make it out here a few times a year when a large group of my friends want to get together.

What can I say? This really was the first time hubs and I ate here, and I was really impressed. We are generally early eaters, (hubs is usually up around 4 am for work, so dinner is usually at 5−6pm or he is a bear. GRR!) So we headed to Uncle Bo’s. Well, it’s a good thing we were early, because there were only a few open tables left, and we scored one of them!
We decided to pupu it, so we ordered the Boca Rota, escargot, six little piggies, and greasy noodles. In hind sight, I would probably order the boca rota instead of the escargot (or vice versa) because that wound up being a whole lot of cheese and bread! Everything came out at pretty much the same time, which is always a good sign of a well run kitchen. We had a 2 seater, and with that much food, we had to be creative in where to put the plates, but we survived that by ditching our little plates and just eating from the plates the food was served on. Side note: you must try the Boca Rota, I mean seriously tasty morsels of divine cheese and meat and mushroom… now my mouth is watering.
Drinks were yummy, (sorry, can’t remember exactly what I had but I know it was good because I had 2 of them).
Parking is a paid lot next door or across the street, or if you feel like walking off your meal, you could probably find some free parking behind the building in the residential neighborhood. There is a sign, warning diners to be aware of your time, because they tow cars around here, so be sure you know how long you have.
Next time we will have to try ordering from the entrée menu, and trust me, there will be a next time!

So for the past three years I’ve been holding my annual Christmas party here at Uncle Bo’s. The reason why is because for parties with ten people and over, for $ 28 per person you get unlimited appetizers including nachos, gyoza, boca rota, calamari rings, steak pieces, clams, spinach dip, dynamite shrimp, and crispy crab cakes. My favorites are the clams and boca rota! The clams have a sweet sauce that it comes in that is super good! I like to put that sauce on bread and eat it. The boca rota is delicious! It’s a creamy sauce with pieces of steak inside and you put it on cheesy bread, yummy!
What’s great is the restaurant is really good at hosting large parties! This year we had 16 people in our party and the waitress was very nice and attentive to our table. Even when we’re like little kids playing obnoxious Christmas games in the month of January lol. This year they brought out a LOT of clams for our party which is super nice because everyone LOVES the clams! Like last year they gave our party a complimentary desert. This doesn’t seem to be on the menu, I’m not sure? But it’s sort of like a small malasadas ball with no sugar and a side scoop of ice cream. They let one person have one piece which is nice and it is good!
I would recommend here if having a large party! You do need to call prior to make reservations, and they are very accommodating if having to change the number in the party. I did it like three times and they were always nice about it. But you just have to make sure you make the ten person cut off for the appetizer buffet!

You guys I’m so sad.
The recipe for the clams has been changed *insert sad face here. Went here the other night with a couple of friends, ordered my usual Boca Rotta and clams plus decided to try their S.O.S aka pan roast.
As I prepared myself for the clams, I looked at the soup and thought, that’s weird, it’s red. Usually it’s like a pale yellow soup… Hmm…so I decided to take a spoonful of it. THIS IS NOT IT. This is not the buttery garlicy broth that I know and love! Instead it was creamy and super sweet, like tomato bisque. Oh my god I was so upset. I’m pretty sure I talked about it the whole time we were at dinner.
Boca Rotta tasted the same thank god. Delicious and creamy.
When I ate the S.O.S. I loved that all the seafood was super soft and not rubbery but I noticed that the soup was the exact same base as the clams! Super sweet and red.
Ugh, I hope they change the recipe back!

Yes to EVERYTHING. This place’s food items are a great fusion between lots of cuisines. I mean, cheese with steak, but then some clams, a ceviche, etc. PUPUs for days son… for days!
the ambiance is ultra loungy kinda… It’s located closed enough to the tourist area but far enough to keep most of them away. An über will from waikiki beach was like 10 bucks.
They have great mai tais and a good selection of beers.
Honestly, everything we ordered was great but we were also with a local so he knew what we should get.
Great experience!