Hapa J’s

We always order tako octopus bowl. Menu at restaurant and menu online says 6.99. We pay and they charged us 9.99 the bartender said its market price. No the tuna bowl is market price and the octopus has a set price. He rudely comments «look man, I don’t set the prices» no but you charge the prices! And false menu. Are you kidding me?!
Then we found a piece of plastic in our food! Cut my husbands mouth. We came back in to show them. They offered us a free appetizer. Lol no we never want your food again. Keep the plastic for the next customer you over charge.

Extremely disappointing. Server never told us they were out of the fried rice until they brought white rice to the table. Waitress only checked on us once. The food did not taste good (weird flavor or no flavor at all) and we tried 5 different things. All 4 of us at the table hated it. It’s so loud you can barely hear the person next to you. Will never come back.

Service is on point! Never had to try to find anyone to help is. The food was pretty epic too. Want to try the fries bit they are huge and way to big for our family of three.

I am sort of loving this place. It is in a perfect location between San Diego and Los Angeles! It is right off the freeway and easy to get to, no backtracking if you are traveling to and from LA /​SD. The food is definitely a step up from L&L’s Hawaiian, although it is also more expensive.

I’m writing this review for their taco tuesday. Their taco Tuesday is amazing!!! They have amazing margaritas during their happy hour, I got the farmers market margarita first then opted for the traditional, both were amazing! The farmers market is a little more expensive than the traditional but its worth it. We got the black bean dip to share and it was so tasty, never thought black bean dip could be so good! I also got a ginger chicken taco and omg I would eat 5 of those tacos it was so good!
Service was good! Very attentive and friendly
Definitely want to make this place my taco Tuesday tradition

Went in on a fluke. 1 pm on a Tues. Not that crowded, but the food was fresh and the bartender Fernando was attentive and happy to please. Had the Local Boy tempura style. Deep fried spam?, uh, hello!
We’ll be back for sure.

Two words… Hapa Nachos. I mean if you get one thing here it should be Hapa Nachos. They are piled high with cheese, Kahlua pork, salsa, sauce… they’re fantastic. You can also do the fries, but I really love the nachos. They have some great drinks/​beers, and it’s a great place to come and hang out. Whenever I am down in South County this is definitely one of my favorite spots. Their other food is all good too, but I keep coming back from these nachos. I am not kidding, four people could easily share these and be good. They also have taco tuesday… just a friendly FYI, because who doesn’t like taco tuesday?

Went here for taco Tuesday. It was ok, but on the pricey side. Tacos for almost $ 4 each? Wow! A side of guacamole was $ 4.75 & chips were $ 1.75. The tortillas tasted fresh, but they need to step up the amount of meat they put on the tacos. This an a place for kids in their early 20’s. Very loud. Not sure I’ll be back.

Ordered the mix plate. Very good!!! I like the fact that all the different foods had it own taste on one plate. Nothing over powered the others. Also I am a fan of the Heineken but I tried the primo beer and it’s pretty damn good. All in all GREAT service and food.

Well for starters, you walk in and can already smell the overwhelming aura of genuine Hawaiian food, and that’s already enough to get me hyped about a meal! This was my first time dining in Happa J’s, and from the friendliness of the staff to the variety of food, it certainly won’t be my last! Love it! I also suggest the nachos, they are just amazing

Excited to finally be back here! I came with some
Friends for taco Tuesday, and everything was great. Delicious tacos and cheap beer! The service was fast and friendly, and the tacos were really good for just a few bucks! I wasn’t a fan of their beer that they had for the lowest price, but then again, it was cheap beer (it was just light, which isn’t my thing, so that would make sense). I would love to try some of their apps and entrees I’ve heard good things about as well. I’ll be back on a Tuesday for some delicious tacos for sure.

Hapa J’s has a pretty kick back atmosphere true to its Hawaiian Style. Came for a business lunch and the food was spot on. They open with a complimentary bowl of salted Edamame, which is a nice touch.
I had the Short Rib Sandwich stuffed with avocado, peppers, and little slabs of Galbi meat slathered in the sweet chile sauce. Thankfully for me, they use cloth napkins. Unfortunately for them, they were white. I had to ask for 2 napkins because the sandwich was messy, but soooo worth it. The sandwich came with a heaping serving of Fries, peppered for a nice flavor.
My guest had the Albacore Melt sandwich. I didn’t try a bite, but he reported that the tuna mix was very flavorful especially with the avocado. However, he mentioned that he would’ve enjoyed it more if the bread was softer. I asked him to quantify in stars, and he said flavor-​wise it was 4 – 5, but texture-​wise it was a 2.
It’s worth mentioning that the selection of appetizers was extensive and unique, although I didn’t have any this trip. I have had the «Man-​Fries» in the past, which is a combination of Fries served more like nachos with pulled pork, cheese, sausage, etc. They were incredible, but will fill you up before your meal.
Definitely worth checking out for something different.

Came here specifically for the Moco Loco after it was recommended by a friend… unfortunately it was probably the worst Moco Loco I’ve ever had.
Maybe we came on an off night, but the burger patty was absolutely terrible. It was dry and flavorless… as if it was unseasoned ⁹⁰⁄₁₀ or possibly a sirloin patty. But again, no salt or anything, just a dry, bland patty. One egg came out runny, the other one hard. The absolute kicker was the fact that there was absolutely zero gravy on the plate. (See picture) Then they charge you .25 cents for extra gravy. Lets be real here, moco loco should be almost drowning in gravy… you could complain that there wasn’t enough, but I legitimately had none.
The mac nut and cheese was average. The amount of macadamia nuts was sparse. I know truffle oil is a sham, but if it’s advertised, you should use it. Again, none or so minute it wasn’t even present.
The luau plate was definitely worth it.
On that note, we apparently happened to show up at happy hour. The waitress did a great job of mentioning drink specials, but made no mention of appetizer specials.
The only reason why I knew there were specials is because the receipt showed me a smaller charge than the menu. Also be advised, the costs listed on their website are anywhere from $ 1 to $ 2 lower than in restaurant on every item.
Had I known that there were food specials, I would have probably ordered more, but I digress.
All in all, it was edible and some of their other offerings i saw being brought out looked pretty good. I’d be willing to stop by again, but wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

YUM !!! Had to drive an hour and ten minutes out to San Clemente and get our hands on some MAN FRIES and boy were they worth it !!
We ordered just the Man Fries and the Kahlua Pulled Pork nachos and between the three of us (and we are three BIG eaters) we could only down about half of both items and took the rest home. Everything was DELICIOUS !!
The only reason I am not giving them 5 stars is because they do not have a soda fountain. They charge $ 3 for each can of soda and in this day and age, I wasn’t happy about that.
That was the only downside. Otherwise it was WELL WORTH THE DRIVE !!!

I have to start off by saying I really wanted to like this place, I love Hawaiian food and the reviews for this place were so positive. the sweet Maui onion soup was really great and the Mac salad was really good too but the service was really terrible and the lighting in the restaurant is really dim. We had the ahi poke plate and the market price was 23.90, shit that’s pricey ! Then we also ordered the Yokozuna burger and the patty was raw, the manager was really nice and took it off our bill but we were already kinda turned off by the whole night. our waitress was really sub par and only came by the table twice and the worst part was she placed a drink on our table that wasn’t ours then came back and took it and gave it to the right table, she didn’t even ask if we drank it !
Overall we most likely would never go back but it was certainly worth the try.

I’m from Hawaii so once in a while I start to crave the 808 state grinds. Since my husband comes here all the time, he decided to take me here to try it out.
On my first visit, we got the Hapa Nachos which is nachos with kalua pig and other good stuff. It was ONO (delicious). Warning, it is HUGE… truly a Hawaiian portion lol. We didn’t even finish half so we took the rest home. We also got Da Mixed Plate which had shoyu chicken, chicken katsu, and kalbi. It was okay. I have to say though the shoyu chicken was dry and kind of hard to eat.
On my second visit, we got the Man Style fries since it seems so popular here on Unilocal.Just like the Hapa Nachos, it was ONO. Also like the Nachos, the portion is huge and again, we didn’t finish even half lol. I also got a mini Loco Moco plate which also came with Mac salad. The loco moco was okay. The gravy wasn’t too heavy and I kinda wish the burger was cooked a little more. Overall, it seemed much more healthy than the loco mocos I eat back home lol. The Mac salad was more on the wet side, but it was okay.
Overall, I like this place. LOVE the nachos and fries! Even the feel of the restaurant somewhat makes me feel like I’m home. I’ll definitely come back to try the other food!

Stumbled upon this little gem today on our way out of town. The only Hawaiian food I think I have ever had is L&L so I was not too sure what to expect. We tried calling before hand as were in a rush but no one answered the phone… that would be my biggest criticism. But I digress… we decided to drop by anyway and roll the dice on if they were open or not. Happily, they were.
As we entered we were greeted by a really sweet hostess. I’m sorry I didn’t get her name because I’d love to commend her on her service… I need to get better at that. So we sheepishly told her that we had no clue what to order but we needed it to go and she patiently went through some options. Trying a new place with lots of options is tough but being adventurous is exciting, isn’t it? So we went the adventurous route. Mind you, it was only the two of us but we threw caution to the wind and ordered like a BOSS. We inquired about the man fries (look at the pictures, this plate is MASSIVE) the hostess recommended to just get it when we visit again. So instead, we opted for the Kahlua nachos, a ahi poke bowl with fried rice, Loco Moko with white rice and a side of the mac salad. Wifey got the tea and pineapple juice for a drink.
Let’s start with the Kahlua nachos. OMG. If the hostess recommended this because it was SMALLER than the man fries??? I can’t imagine what the man fries look like! There was so much Kahlua pork, I can’t see how these guys make any money on this plate… It was really tasty and gluttonous and terrible for me and I regretted ever second, but after every bite I just needed ONE more. «Ok, I’ll stop after just one more bite. Oh I can’t leave that poor little morsel all by itself, I have to eat that too.» …was basically the dialogue going through my head as I was eating. So after a bit, we set it aside and dug into the poke bowl, which was a nice switch from the richness of the nachos. The tuna was cold and delicious and I would go back for that again. They have three different options and I plan on trying the other two. We ate all of the poke and then it was time for the Loko Moko. This was my least favorite of the three dishes we ordered. The gravy was lacking depth and overall the plate was rather bland. Mind you I was eating this off my lap in the car, so I may not have gotten the entire range of the dish. The mac salad was also a little bland. Maybe they could add some lemon or vinegar… something to pep it up a bit. I forgot to mention the tea/​pineapple juice. This was a delicious, refreshing combination. This will absolutely be ordered next time we drop in.
I was a little upset that we didn’t have more time to stick around and have a drink at the bar. All the servers and bartenders were so nice and helpful, it really made for a comfortable relaxed atmosphere. We live in Carlsbad which is a small hike to get up here but I will make an excuse to get up to Hapa Js again.

Two words resound in my mind when I think of this place… MAN FRIES. It’s a heaping mound of pulled pork and cheese on a large bed of fries, topped with bbq sauce, ranch dressing, and green onions. No other fancy fries can top this creation.
It’s more than a meal in itself and can singlehandedly feed a family of 4. Sharing with a friend on more than one occasion, we can barely get through one corner of the serving in one sitting. After we surrender, it still looks like we’ve hardly touched it. And after taking it home it still takes us a few days to finish. By the way, still tastes great after only a few minutes in the toaster oven!
What can else can I say about this place… Their Hawaiian bread pudding is also highly recommended. I loved the laid back and casual ambiance true to Hawaii, and not to mention great service. Rare to find a sit-​down Hawaiian joint that takes the experience further than your typical hole-​in-​the wall fast-​food joints with their katsus and loco-​mocos.

I can’t believe that they have a limited menu on Taco Tuesdays. We went there for the man fries but oh we can’t have it bec it’s taco Tuesday.
Ordered:
— chicken nachos– big portion, bland chicken, very cheesy and nothing spectacular about it. $ 15.00 — it’s way too overpriced
— kalua pork quesadilla– very flavorful, stuffed with pork, 2 good sauce but needed more salsa on the side
The service is great and fast. I might come back another day to try something else on the real menu but only if I’m around the area.

On a drive up to Orange County, hunger pangs were beginning to get the best of us. I quickly whipped out the handy-​dandy Unilocal app, and Hapa J’s was the first entry to pop up. A Hawaiian-​style lunch sounded perfect, so we got off the freeway at Avenida Magdalena, parked in Hapa J’s convenient lot, wandered inside, and helped ourselves to a table.
The first thing that struck me is that Hapa J’s clearly caters to the surfer crowd. I don’t think I’d ever seen such a critical mass of buff, sandy, blonde dudes calling each other «brahhh». None of this bothered me, since everyone was exceedingly easy on the eyes.
While eye candy may be nice, it doesn’t provide the necessary nourishment for survival. We were there to eat.
While looking over the menu, our server brought over a complementary bowl of edamame with sea salt. It was absolutely delicious, and a nice change of pace from the typical bread and butter.
We also had a round of drinks. My cocktail of choice was the mango margarita, which was easily one of the best margaritas I’ve ever tasted, anywhere. The highlight was the fresh mango, which, as far as I can tell, is pureed in-​house. (Hapa J’s doesn’t skimp on fresh, high-​quality ingredients, which is one of the big strengths of the place.)
To start, we shared the seared ahi appetizer, which featured beautifully seared ahi slices with cream cheese slices, shoyu onions, unagi sauce, with a seaweed salad on the side. I can’t begin to gush enough about how fantastic this appetizer was. If you think ahi tuna is good on it’s own — just wait until you have it with cream cheese slices. It sounds rich (and it is), but the shoyu onions and seaweed provide enough acidity and tartness to cut through it all. Absolute heaven. Easily one of my favorite dishes, anywhere.
For the entrees, we stuck to more traditional options. I had Uncle Miguel’s albacore melt, with avocado and Swiss cheese. This melt was top-​notch — fresh and full of flavor. All sandwiches come with one side, so I opted for the macaroni salad — because what’s better to have with carbs than more carbs? The mac salad was delicious, by the way.
My guest had a much healthier lunch than I did — the spicy ahi poke plate with brown rice and side salad. I stole bites of the poke, and it was simply perfect. Fresh, tangy, and not the least bit «fishy». Between this and the seared ahi app, I’m convinced that there’s nowhere else in Orange County (or Southern California, even) that does ahi as well as Hapa J’s.
Service is as top-​notch as the food. Our server was prompt and very helpful as we navigated the rather long menu. Even though we were first-​timers at Hapa J’s, we felt at home and were treated like regulars.
And you know what? If I lived in the San Clemente area, I totally *would* be a regular here.