Tommy Bahama Restaurant & Bar – Mauna Lani

I echo the sentiment expressed that this feels like a nice chain restaurant (which it is, and which in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing). We sat out on the terrace around noon and there was a wonderful breeze up. We sent the Moscow Mules back for being too watery/​zero gingery. They came back remade with a bit more ginger and the manager came to check on us. They were slightly better but still not good — we didn’t want to drag out the issue, so we smiled and said they were better. I don’t think they used ginger beer, or they were cutting it with seltzer. Boo.
The (sword)fish tacos were generously portioned and decent (I liked the touch of small bits of crispy tortilla to add crunch, and the flavors were correct), but the tortillas were a flour/​corn hybrid that came right out of the package — gotta heat ‘em up in the pan!
The folks there were friendly, but it felt like a chain, and I don’t dig that for the price. The prices were the same as eating lunch at Merriman’s up the hill in Waimea. If you are staying in Mauna Lani, Tommy Bahama’s is a solid choice. If you are driving from elsewhere, keep driving up the hill to Merriman’s.

The food was very good! I had the macadamia nut crusted snapper, and was very impressed. Our waiter was very straightforward, and told us his honest opinion about anything on the menu. We asked him for his opinion on the one meal, and he told us that he flat out hated it. He said that the scallops came in cans, and the shrimp were shipped in from Vietnam, so it was very hard to like. Although that wasn’t my favorite phrase to hear from a waiter while out to eat, it was very amusing. He was not very professional, and was a little goofy, which was very entertaining and funny. My family and I ended up getting a kick out of the waiter!

Unfortunately we thought from the reviews we would have a great dinner. Daughters hot dog came out black on one side, what child eats a burned hot dog? They did take it off the bill. My macadamia crusted fish, they didn’t have the fish they would normally make it with and it didn’t taste good. It wasn’t just the wasabi cream sauce which I didn’t like but something else about it was off. The sunset from the balcony was beautiful even if not over the water. For what we paid dinner should have been great, it was just so so

Very salty food… Service was ok-​ish, but overall felt like a chain restaurant that was way overpriced with disappointing menu options.
Ambience wasn’t great either. I think we were ready to go home as quickly as possible after our long drawn out experience there.
Not sure if others in my party enjoyed their food, but my soup was in-​edible and my salad was meh. I had them bring me sour cream to cut the saltiness for the soup. It helped a lot!

What a great experience … totally unexpected good food, beautiful setting, and not bad $$ either.
Hubby and I went to some «lunch/​snack/​breakfast» and enjoyed three (3) great appetizers that were more then enough for us to share. We started with the Ahi Tacos ($ 17.00 for 4) that were perfect… filled with fresh ahi, served in crisp won-​ton shells with a nice avocado aioli. So many times the won-​ton shells are limp, these were not. Really nice crunch. Our second choice was their Fried Green Tomatoes (14.00 for 4) — perfectly done. Nice thick slices of crunchy, slightly tart, green tomato, in a crispy crust with a spicy sauce on the plate and a roasted corn relish. YUM. And our final was their large Coconut Crusted Crab Cakes ($ 18.00 for 2 served with a crunchy slaw) but these guys are ALL crab, hardly any filler at all. We enjoyed our lunch with a bottle of Château Montelena Chardonnay, offered both by the glass or the bottle and it was the perfect accompaniment to the flavors of the food. They have a really nice wine list so there is something there for every taste — plus a full bar.
Service was attentive without being over bearing.
LindySez: I usually don’t do «chain» restaurants — they do have locations all over the USA, but in this case, and for this location, I highly recommend you stop by and enjoy a ‘nosh.

Golfed the Tommy Bahama big island classic for the second straight year. The whole thing is outstanding. the tournament, appetizers and silent auction, followed by tender prime rib dinner and live auction. Great cause for the north Hawaii hospice. All around great time!

We’ve never been to TB café before so we were anxious to try it. He got the burger and I got the kalua pork sandwich, both with fries. We decided we’d split the sandwiches so we could both try them. The burger was decent but almost every bite had hard bits in it. (I believe they call that bone.) The pork sandwich was okay but they mix the sauce in the pork instead of topping it with it so the actual flavor the sauce may have had gets lost. It was kind of mushy too. The fries were generic tasting. They reminded me of fries I’d get when Friendly’s were still popular. I will say the staff was really friendly though, so that was nice but service was slow. (Read: Kitchen, not necessarily servers)

My wife and I had the ahi tuna tacos & jerk chicken tacos. They were both delicious. And for our honeymoon our waiter David gave us a free dessert of our choice! Definitely a great, quaint, & delicious place. The breeze comes through wonderfully on a warm afternoon. They weren’t super busy and the service was phenomenal. To top it off, we had the best crème brûlée of our lives.

Wonderful seared scallop sliders! The margaritas on the rocks are freshly made. A great happy hour place when visiting the island.

Definitely worth a visit for Happy Hour.
Great atmosphere. Super casual, which was a pleasant surprise. Although some still «dress up».
Good Mai Tais, as it should be.
Super delicious Blackened Fish Tacos.
Nice greeting from the hostess, friendly service.
I was skeptical of all the rave reviews for Happy Hour. Glad we gave it a try. Looking forward to another visit in the future. In fact, I’m intrigued if Hapoy Hour at my local Newport Beach location is the same.

I would normally avoid places like this. The name, the location, all of it screamed overpriced and bland chain food. That being said, it was close to our hotel, it was our first day there, and we were starved. We found two spots at the bar and enjoyed our time with Margaret. She was attentive, but not overly so. The pacing was great and she completely understood that we wanted a leisurely dining experience; we weren’t in a rush to get anywhere.
We tasted two of their tropical cocktails; they were good but, like many tropical cocktails, they had more sugar than I’d like (not that they were overly sweet, by any means) and not as much alcohol as I’d like (yep, I’m a lush). As for food, the Macadamia Nut covered Chicken Lollipops were really good. We also enjoyed a wonderful bottle of wine and a solid ribeye.
This isn’t a place that I’d necessarily make a destination, but the food was good, the service was good, and the live music was a nice touch. Mahalo for the nice welcome to the Island!

We didn’t want a super touristy spot, but it was our first day there. We were super tired so we stopped in to Tommy Bahama since it was close to our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised with our experience and the food.
We ate at the bar and Margaret was great. Perfect pacing, just enough interaction and she made sure we had everything we needed.
We started with a couple cocktails. The Pine-​Yuzu Mojito and the Tiki Tonk put us right into the island mood after our flight. We also shared the Chicken Lolipops and the ribeye steak. The steak was really good and for only $ 41 way less expensive then I thought it would be.
I’m glad we stopped in and gave Tommy’s a chance.

2^nd time was the charm. Everything was great. Came back to the island again this year and were dining there tonight!

After waiting at a nearby restaurant for over 30 minutes after our reservation, and having 3 other couples who came after us be seated before us we decided to leave and come here instead. We’ve been here a few times before for lunch, and have always enjoyed the food and service. We called for a reservation, and they accommodated us soon as we arrived. At this point our daughter (5 year old) was so hungry waiting at the other restaurant, our server came immediately with her juice and got her order started. Her mac and cheese came soon after, followed by our delicious Furikake Seared Ono and Kona Longboard Fish & Chips. Our server and the musician from their live band came over to greet our daughter at our table. We all enjoyed the food and excellent service. Thank you Tommy Bahamas for saving our night! 5 stars!!!

The food was amazing and the service was great. For dessert you must eat the pineapple crème brûlée, it is to die for.

Ate lunch and dinner both while staying at Fairmont Orchid. Not a tourist trap but a well run restaurant producing quality food and a reasonable cost. Not much different in dinner and lunch prices. Staff was friendly, efficient and helpful. Would definitely eat here again, we did.

Everyone knows the typical Hawaiian shirt that is tommy Bahama… But what I didn’t know is how awesome of a restaurant they have. That was my experience on the big island. We had talked about going to Roy’s but it was booked so I went to open table and decided to give it a shot. Totally worth it. This place is pricy. Like almost fine dining. But when we signed the bill I didn’t care I was so satisfied.
We got the fresh tomato and mozzarella salad. The server said it was all local and fresh and I believe him. It was really great. I got the filet (duh) and hubby got the pork chop. The both had really tasty sides and I don’t think a drop of food was left on our plates. Then as if I wasn’t happy enough I got the key lime pie. This happens to be my favorite dessert so I’m kinda picky. This one rocked. It was just the right amount of tart sweet and buttery crust.
The service was top notch and he was happy to get us anything we asked for… I think there was a yummy bread basket but to be honest I was just so pleased with my whole meal I don’t even remember. Let’s just say I’m not sure if we will go back to Roy’s of there is a tommy Bahamas near by.

Delicious food, nice ambiance and most specially awesome service!
Whenever I am back to the island I will come to Tommys Bahamas restaurant!
Mahalo!

Best happy hour on the Kohala coast. Really nice bar with an upscale island vibe. Happy hour is 4−6PM and is a great option for high quality mixed drinks. The bartender Paul is awesome, so personable with lot’s of aloha. He makes one of the best main tai’s on the islands, great martini too. Get the olives with goat cheese, simply amazing. On the happy hour menu, try the kalua pork quesadilla. Put a little of the relish on each piece, so ono. Staying at the Fairmont Orchid or Mauna Lani? This is THE PLACE.

I have to say I really enjoyed this restaurant!
We ate here for lunch today. It wasn’t too busy and we were seated right away next to the balcony. Our server Dave was really great! He gave us a few recommendations and was just perfect with timing and everything! The menu had a bunch of options and it was tough to make a decision but we had a blood orange margarita (really strong! Worth the $ 12.50), Maui IPA ($ 6.50), house roasted pork sandwich and the arugula, pesto and candied bacon burger. Both of us enjoyed our food. This place is pricey but seriously everywhere is around here — I think it was worth it completely!