Literally the best shrimp I ever had. Absolutely delicious!!…read more I don't say that lightly either. It was otherworldly!! The staff was great too!!!! I'll be back!

Giovanni's is one of those places where memory does a remarkable amount of the seasoning. I've been…read moreeating here across decades. Enough visits that this is no longer about catching them on a bad afternoon, ordering the wrong thing or failing to understand what the place is supposed to be. I've tried the different shrimp, stood in the lines, eaten at the tables, navigated the parking, brought people here and returned because, for a very long time, Giovanni's was simply one of those places you went when you were on this side of the island. At some point, repetition becomes evidence. The truck itself has become an artifact. Covered in signatures, battered by time, photographed millions of times. There was probably a period when all of that felt charming. Now it mostly feels tired. There is a difference between patina and neglect and the surrounding experience has increasingly crossed that line for me. Flies, crowded tables, overflowing activity, rough parking, heat, trash nearby. You can romanticize rustic only so far before rustic starts asking for a pressure washer. Then there is the service, which has consistently been the hardest part for me to understand. I don't need anyone performing hospitality like they're auditioning for a resort commercial, but basic warmth costs nothing. Too often the interaction here feels impatient and transactional, as though the customer is somehow inconveniencing the operation by showing up to buy the food. After enough visits, you stop calling that an off day. And then there is the plate. The shrimp itself is actually the least offensive part. It is generally cooked reasonably well. Tender enough, rarely destroyed and when you get a good batch you can understand why this formula became so popular. Everything around it drags it down. The rice has repeatedly been soft, clumped and bordering on mushy. I am annoyingly particular about rice, but rice is not some decorative substance placed beneath the main event. It matters. When half the plate is rice, screwing it up is not a minor detail. The garlic is abundant, certainly, but abundance and care are different things. It often arrives more like a wet mass of processed garlic than the fragrance and texture you get from properly chopped fresh cloves. Add the butter and oil and you certainly get intensity, but after several bites the whole thing becomes heavy rather than interesting. The little salad on the side generally feels like an afterthought that has been waiting for someone to remember it. And that is ultimately my problem with Giovanni's. The entire experience feels as though its reputation arrived at the destination years before the restaurant did and everyone decided there was no longer much reason to keep improving. People will continue coming. Of course they will. The name is famous, the truck is recognizable, the photographs are practically mandatory and nostalgia is one hell of a business model. I understand it because it worked on me for years. But strip away the mythology and ask a brutally simple question: If this exact plate came from an unknown truck with no history, no signatures and no reputation, would you still wait in line for it? I wouldn't. Two stars. The shrimp can still be decent and I have too many memories here to pretend the place means nothing to me. But nostalgia should bring you back to a restaurant. It shouldn't be responsible for making the food taste better. I kept returning because tradition can turn habit into taste. I'm done confusing the two.

The kalbi was so tender and charred nicely. I liked its slightly sweet marinade and the japchae…read morethat came on the side. Since the food is freshly cooked, there was a slight wait. You get a good portion of food per order! Definitely try it out, I left full and satisfied! I was probably so distracted by how good the food was that I forgot my purse at the dining area. The owners found it and held onto it for me. It was so nice of them. Thank you so much for keeping it safe!! I'm so grateful for you guys!

Kalbi on Fire is what some say is the best kalbi on da island, and I can see why! The owners were…read moresuper friendly and the portions were generous with plenty of rice and japchae. Everything came out fresh and almost unbearably hot, which I'll never complain about. The kalbi was a little sweet for my liking, but had a great char and was still really good. The outdoor seating area was fun with cute cats and plenty of chickens roaming around. The flies got a little annoying, but we're eating outside in paradise, so who can really complain?

Had heard about Eighty Chicken Sandwiches from a couple pre-trip searches and wanted to make it one…read moreof our must-go dining stops on this trip. We drove up to get there just before noon on a Saturday. It was rainy, so the numbers were a bit light in the area, but there were still thirteen people in line when the truck opened for business. The owner was fun, friendly, and engaging the customers in conversations while prepping the food. There are times when I think some food truck owners take on the role of a short order cook and get annoyed that you don't understand "how" you're supposed to order; that was certainly NOT the case here. You just need to decide if you want a hot or regular sandwich and whether you want bleu cheese or special sauce. We got one hot and one regular, but the chicken is HUGE and two adults can easily share one sandwich. I'm torn, because while we would probably order just one sandwich next time, I also want to support the business and get two. The chicken was as good as everyone told us and had incredible crispy batter. The fries though...those were maybe the best I've ever had. I don't normally love the double cooked style fry, but could live off those and never get tired of them. FYI...we took ours to eat at the Beer Garden about 100 yards to the west and that's a winning combo.

Love Eighty Chicken Sandwiches! Chef Adam is great. He's obviously in this for the joy of it and…read morewants his customers to have a good time. He gives excellent clear directions on how to order your sandwich. I love that the concept is simple. Order the number of sandwiches you need for your party. Do you want spicy or not? (Spicy is delicious and not too spicy at all.) Do you want blue cheese sauce or "dat sauce" which is like fry sauce? No drinks available so bring your own or take it to the beer garden nearby and get an adult beverage. Cash or Venmo only. The price is $20 for a huge chicken sandwich, delicious fries, and your side of sauce along with a cup of ketchup. My sandwich was MASSIVE. Honestly, you could split with another person--but I always want my own. Well worth the drive out to get it. Saturdays and Sundays only; check his Instagram for updates.

So freaking good!!! Literally melts in your mouth. You can taste the freshness. Love that their…read morefish is local, fresh and sustainably caught. I don't think I've ever eaten a half pound of poke so fast. Should have gotten the full pound. One of their specials was the yuzu wasabi and that absolutely smacked. Will definitely make this a must stop every time we venture up to the north shore.

If you want authentic, high-quality poke, Ry's Poke Shack is a must-stop. The fish is incredibly…read morefresh, perfectly cut, and I absolutely love that they have such unique poke flavors you don't find everywhere else. We actually got to meet the owner, Ry, and he is a really great guy - awesome, friendly service served with genuine aloha spirit. Fun fact for anyone on the mainland: they also just opened up a brand new location in Huntington Beach, California! Incredible flavor, awesome portions, and easily sets the gold standard!

Brah hands down best garlic shrimp on the island .. especially the spicy one . Came there again…read moretonight on Easter after a long drive through traffic and bradda hooked it up . Throw bradda a nice tip and your plate just might weigh a little extra .broke da mouth. This my first review I ever wrote From braddah Kai spears Yessah

Foi muito bomb! The service and food alone were outstanding! It was the best food we had in Hawaii!…read moreWe devoured our plate in 3 minutes go check out this spot when you can! Amazing location right by the beach as well!

Meh. I feel like the quality of Mike's has gone downhill…read more I stopped by yesterday during a trip to the North Shore to get some lunch. I got the #9 plate, which is kalua pork, huli chicken, and I got mac salad. The kalua pork meat itself was fine. Not gristly and not too fatty. However, barely any smoke taste to it and was fairly bland. The huli chicken didn't have crispy skin. It seemed lukewarm like it had been cooked a while earlier and was just sitting. The sauce is amazing and I do think it's delicious with the sauce. Rice was just rice. Meh. Even adding shoyu didn't add much flavor to it, to be honest. The mac salad is extremely bland. I don't know if they need to add some acid to the mayonnaise or more salt, but it was pasty and no flavor. I would honestly skip getting the mac salad next time and get regular salad! That's how bad this mac salad was. Two slices of pineapple on the plate were fresh and flavorful. I did enjoy these. Service was okay. I had asked if they still honored kama'aina discount and was told no. That's fine; I understand not all places offer discounts. I don't know when kama'aina discount stopped being offered, but back in the day I used to receive it when asking. I did notice though that two guys who ordered before me got a "mahalo, braddah" in a friendly tone but I got a terse "thanks." Guess haole girls don't get mahalos even if local. It's just uncomfortable when certain people get friendly, effusive mahalos and others get terse thanks, like I didn't want to be serving you food today. Maybe cause it was Mother's Day and they didn't want to be there? Sure didn't feel like 'ohana today. So many flies around, it made eating uncomfortable. A few fly fans on tables but not at the one where I was seated, so it was basically like constantly shooing away flies and trying to take a bite of food super fast before they came back on my food. Probably I should have taken my food away and gone to the beer garden nearby with fewer flies. Meh. I used to really like Mike's but I will stick to Da Bald Guy and Seven Brothers when I visit the sugar mill in the future.

Checked in around noon on a Monday. Parking was pretty easy, the lot offers plenty of spaces on…read moreeither side of the Seven Brothers main shops. Definitely worth stopping in at Seven Brothers Restaurant and or the bakery as well. Back to Mikes, You'll walk up and spot signage plus the yellow signature bus shack. I'd seen Mikes Huli Chicken on an episode of Diners Drive Ins and Dives and Guy said "the skin is as crispy as it gets next to being fried." That never left my memory. This being my next visit since seeing that episode, I had to try it. What did I order? - Mikes Huli Chicken Plate $17: 4/5 Stars - Chicken is a nice half chicken portion, perfectly juicy, nicely slight char taste. Crispy skin? Unfortunately no. - The Mac salad is nice. - Generous serving of rice *** Mikes Huli sauce is delicious! Be sure to find the self serve bottle and the to go sauce cups and get you some extra. You'll walk up and place your order at the window, pay, cash or card, then find yourself a seat. The cashier was simple and quick to the point. No small talk. The seating area within mikes truck is a decent size accommodating roughly 15 to 20 people. Outside, there additional tables as well. Overall, I'd say if you're in the area, give it a try, it will neither blow your socks off nor disappoint. Mikes is a solid Huli Chicken plate. It simply delivers satisfying meal.

Tried out Aji Limo Truck for dinner while in the area. It's neighbours to Seven Brothers…read more - Fried calamari ($12.00 USD) - standard fare - Yuca fries ($10.00 USD) - small portion - Thai poke ($19.00 USD plate) - out of mango. Poke was substandard. Plates aren't worth the extra cost - Ceviche poke ($17.00 USD bowl) - only came with a few chips, red onions and lettuce. Meh - Spicy poke ($17.00 USD bowl) - way too much raw white onion - Hawaiian poke ($19.00 USD plate) - Palo santo poke ($19.00 USD plate/17.00 USD bowl) - best of the pokes we tried - Yakisoba ($17.00 USD) - chicken was dry, noodles were bland Foodland in the adjacent lot has better poke at half the price.

Super good surf and turf, more turf than surf but the flavor was really good all around! ‍read more

Sorry late post! This was about a month from posting this!…read moreMy family, bf, and I wanted to support food trucks today for our lunch, so we decided to head to the Kahuku Sugar Mill I wanted a garlic shrimp plate and this is usually my go-to spot. I love the garlic smears they leave on the rice and that it's almost like a paste (my preference lol). Though it is very oily/buttery (almost like a pool) where they have the shrimps- still really Ono! My dad wanted to try their squid and shrimp plate (garlic butter combo)- he said he enjoyed it! He requested no garlic on his rice. Overall, this has been my preferred garlic shrimp plate. I don't like the shrimp heads at the shells aren't too hard. There's some places and it's very crunchy. These ones aren't pretty soft so I don't have to worry about it hurting my lips when I suck the garlic off lol I do want to note that I had shrimp here once and it was a bit mushier than usual. This was a couple months ago, but all the other times, the shrimp has been a good texture

1/5 -- Buyer Beware: Tourist Trap…read more Very disappointing experience. The rice was old and mushy, the shrimp did not taste fresh, and the beef was extremely chewy. Most concerning, there was a visible fly on the shrimp inside the food container. Between the food quality and cleanliness concerns, I would not recommend this place. Stay away--especially if you're a tourist looking for a good local meal.