Came for lunch on a Saturday. It wasn't very busy, but it was surprisingly loud. It was hard to hear the people at my table talking. The Service --- The service was great. Our table was a little small so server was very nice about letting us switch and even put 2 tables together for us. She was very friendly. Our waters were never empty and the food came out quickly. The Food --- I go the Loco Moco. Unfortunately, it wasn't one of the better ones I've had. The meat was tough and it seemed smaller than I'm used to. However, I was pretty stuffed when I was done with it. The potato mac salad was good, although nothing special. We also got the Cheesecake Lollipops. It came with 4 and they were pretty small. Bite sized which I guess makes sense since it's called cheesecake lollipops. You just would think that you'd get more for what you're paying. The chocolate cheesecake was the best. I was pretty disappointed with the food. I should have gotten the Man Fries! The Prices --- My Loco Moco was $10 and the Cheesecake Lollipops were $7.75. My Loco Moco was one of the cheaper entrees on the menu. I've had better Hawaiian food for cheaper. I would only come back to try the Man Fries. The service was really good though. read more

Hapa J's - Cheesecake Lollipops - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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After going to a Polynesian show, I got a craving for some Hawaiian food. Thanks to Yelp, I remember a place I've bookmarked for a while (enter Hapa J's). Place is nicely decorated, the booths are very comfy, the restrooms are clean, n the music selection is laid back. Equally laid back but intense is their menu list of island comfort food. Didn't feel like Poke, so we ordered the Muliti plate, which was Shoya Chicken, Chicken Katsu, n teriyaki beef. But instead of getting two plates, it was suggested to get one large Da Platter, which also includes Portuguese sausage n short rib beef. Also included is two scoops of rice, one scoop of macaroni salad. We deduced to share a large plate cuz we were mesmerized by this mountain of food at another table. Oh, that's the nachos! We ordered it, w Kahlua pork ... and all I can say is ................... WOW! The pork nachos were awesome ... and all the meats were great too. The sausage had a unique flavor (found out they bathe them in beer) that was pretty good. The rice, well ... it's rice. The macaroni salad was ok ... felt the elbow pasta was a little over cooked. But still tasty. This place definitely falls into the return category! Until then, aloha brah... read more

Hapa J's - Da Big Platter - chicken, chicken, sausage, beef, and more beef! - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Hapa J's is awesome! I feel like I always come away wanting to like it more than I do - maybe that's because I don't completely understand the food/theme of the place. But it's good food! So I'll let that whole confusion thing slide. So it's Hawaiian...but there's a lot of Asian fusion dishes too. And then just some random dishes like pork nachos (not knocking the pork nachos at all, in fact quite the opposite for the love of all that is holy try the pork nachos!). So I'm never quite sure what to get/what might be good. But honestly pretty much everything I've tried is pretty solid. Not like, foodie lover's heaven blown away type good but pretty good. No complaints at least. The last few times I've gone I've been on a huge diet kick so I've gotten the ahi salad. The last time my friend's boyfriend got the pork nachos and it hugely thwarted my diet and it was all downhill from there haha. But they were worth it - ohhh those pork nachos. The ahi salad was pretty good though. Someone else at the table just got the regular order of ahi which I actually liked better - the ahi on my salad was halfway cooked and I actually like it better when they just serve it raw with some kind of sauce like his. Either way though, both ahi's were delicious. Great beer and drink selection- I usually go with the Belgian Peach beer drink thing. One of my friends that loves this place loves the Brasilian honey which I took a si of last time - pretty delicious I would recommend it. If you're in the area and quasi Hawaiian quasi Asian food with pork nachos sounds good to you, I'd definitely check it out. read more

Hapa J's - Pork nachos! Sooo good (and really filling, we split between 4 people and were still super full when our food came lol) - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Pros: great food, great atmosphere, great service! They had a decent beer selection and the portions are huuuge! You could easily share. Yes, thean fries are pretty epic. Full of flavor but very filling so beware. You could share those as an appetizer with six people! The spicy poke plate was delicious! And the fiance had the beef teriyaki plate. He devoured it! Cons: portions we're massive but that's not necessarily a bad thing. And it can get pricey but again it's huge portions so it balances out! read more

Hapa J's - Teryaki beef plate - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Love love Love this place! San Clemente is where it's located. Surf city. Hawaiian Asian fusion @ it's best! Cool, chill, atmosphere good flavorful food. Waitresses and all are super chill and fun & attentive and basically great service. Clean !! Causal, attire laid-back fun. Portion sizes are big shareable. Order: Poki, pork quesadillas, pineapple rice w/sausage. Parking kinda stinks... Park on streets pretty much, but that should NOT stop you @ all! Will Most def Come Back!!!!! read more

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We ordered the man fries. HUGE portion and 3 people still had a ton left over. Service was a little slow, food was decent. Atmosphere was nice. read more

Food was great! We had the shrimp truck plate, Kalua pork quesadillas and Hawaiian burger-will definitely go again! read more

Hapa J's - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

This is what my husband and I have been looking for since we have moved off Maui 3 years ago. REAL POKE FINALLY!!! I felt like I was back in the islands except for the higher price tag here. $7 for 1/2 pound of poke and ask for the spicy mayo on the side. You could also get the poke bowl for $5 which is about 1/4 lb with a scoop of rice and mac salad. read more

Hapa J's - Bottled sodas - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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This place is hopping with people. Went after a session at Dog Patch and Doheny. Our server was Casie. She seemed to be in a hurry most of the time and wasn't very personable. Never checked to see how we were doing, once our food arrived and didn't thank us, when she picked up the check. The tacos were big, but flavor was very small. Tortillas were homemade, but too thick. I think other items on the menu would be worth trying, though. Hope we get a different server. read more

The best Hawaiian BBQ I've EVER had. Now, I've never had legit Hawaiian BBQ on the islands so I don't know what the natives would say, but holy cow this place is doing something right! I came here on a weekend around 6pm and the place wasn't busy at all. I was a little skeptical at first, but it picked up the later it got, with a line out the door. The waitress was really nice, but didn't try to sell us any menu items. Luckily, half of our party had been there before and as always, thanks to the reviews and pictures on Yelp we were able to do our homework. For starters, I had the Rossy Boy Mai Tai and I kid you not when I say it was the best freakin' Mai Tai ever! The beers were on HH for $3. Good brews too! We ordered- the Hapa J's Man Fries (duh! How could we not! Look at the photo & you'll know what I mean) Luau Plate, Coconut Shrimp Po Boy sandwich, and the Quesadilla. Oh the man fries! One order was enough for our entire party of 6. They're HUGE. Crispy fries topped with tender Kalua pig, melted cheese, Hawaiian BBQ and a few other special sauces topped with everything else yum. Definitely a must while you're here! The Luau Plate was idillic. If the Hawaiian islands had a flavor, this would be it. Kalua pig with their signature BBQ sauce, a side of rice (white or brown) Mac salad, and highlight of the meal; Coconut Haupia and Pickled Mango. The haupia is unlike anything I've ever tried. The best way to describe it would be a jello-like texture with loaded with amazing coconut, vanilla, and cinnamon flavor. Combined with the pickled mango and Kalua pork.... GET OUT! SO GOOD! The quesadilla was also prepared with the Kalua pork and came with a side of peppers slaw that packed a punch! Overall, we were all so happy and SO stuffed! The portions are huge and the quality and presentation of their dishes is absolutely something worth trying. This will definitely be a regular spot! read more

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Really good food with really bad hours. Not sure if it's a covid thing since we moved here in May but I feel like every time I actually want Hapa J's, it's closed. Love the shaken beef, poke salad, and burgers. Service for takeout has been great but food doesn't always hold up during delivery from Doordash (comes kind of cold and soggy sometimes but not always). read more

This place is absolutely AMAZING. The presentation of their dishes are superb as well as the quality. My bestfriend and I were heading down to san clemente beach to go camping with my other friends when we realized we weren't down for campfire chili cheese dogs so we exited and decided just to eat here. The store is absolutely cute (: the ambience is awesome! We ordered the nachos (HUGE & exploding with flavor) spicy poke bowl (reasonable price = around $6-$7 ?!) & the thai beef salad. Clearly we couldn't finish any of the food but it was so good we couldn't stop eating! Our waiter was really sweet and attentive! The service was supeb, I don't even know what else to say about it other than it has definitely made it to my top 10 favorite restaurants! read more

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Best place to go after a good day of surfing. The poke was fresh and delicious. The food was light on the stomach making it easy to eat. read more

I used to come here all the time when I was in College for Taco Tuesdays with my buddies. We came back here recently and my wife had a hard time finding something vegan to eat. When she did order her meal was more expensive then mine when it had nothing much on it aside from salad, beans, and pico de galo. I do not think we will be coming back here. read more

Great comfort food. $4 draft beers on Sunday was the icing on the cake. The short rib was the best part and I'll be coming back just for that. read more

Hapa J's - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Food and Service good They gouge you on the prices though I can do without the $4 milk and the kids meals were overpriced for what you got $14 poke salad was ok The $10 maitai...na , ill stick with Wind and Sea ill go back to the massive $10 nachos and a couple beers read more

Hapa J's - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

This could possibly be the only sit down Hawaiian restaurant in the area. I absolutely love Hawaiian food so I was very excited to try it out. It's a pretty big modern space with 2 dining areas and a bar. Bar patrons were very "lively". Service was not that great here but at least friendly. We started off with tempura musubi and macaroni and cheese. The musubi wasn't as good as the stuff you get in Hawaii but didn't taste too bad. Mac was very cheesy and had nice crunchy toppings. For entrees we went for loco moco and kalua pork sliders. First of all Mac salad was not good. Huge disappointment!! Loco moco was very bland. The pork slider meat was very tender, juicy and flavorful though. But so much was given you can hardly pick it up in the roll to eat! This place had hit or misses for us. I just wish there were more Hawaiian options in the area!! read more

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If this place went off of first impressions, they would've lost a customer that day. The hostesses are pretty awful at what they do and I'll leave it at that. Now, the reason why this review has 4 stars: It was three of us and all we ordered were the ManFries (heard the talk around town!). First of all, it LOOKED delicious! Everything about it WAS delicious! And it was enough for each of us to get seconds and me, of course, thirds and fourths (ya girl can EAT!). Besides the food, the waiters were amazing. A young lady served us (she was AWESOME!) and this super tall waiter walked by a bunch of times and smiled politely- which makes all the difference. Hiring team should definitely train the hostesses or hire some new ones. Other than that, I'm bringing hubby to eat some MANFRIES! read more

Immediately when you enter Hapa J's you enter you get this really nice Hawaiian vibe place. My boyfriend and I were immediately seated and we knew what to order because this wasn't his first time here but it was mine. He said we needed to order the Man Fries and didn't want a thing else. But I decided to do one order of this Hawaiian sandwich/burger with pineapple. The items didn't take long too come but before that we were given snap peas to munch on. When the food came, I took one bite of the Man Fries and I have to admit that was one of the most tastiest fries I've ever had. There was so much flavor and the fries with the meat tasted so good! I was so surprised by how good it was that I completely forgot about my burger. I did manage to eat a few bites of the burger later on and it tasted really good but the real hit for me was the delicious MAN FRIES! The service was excellent and I recommend everyone to try this place if they are in the area!! read more

Hapa J's - THE MAN FRIES ! Yum - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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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. read more

Hapa J's - Good kalua pork quesadilla - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Mai Tais, Beers, great atmosphere, EPIC Food. Been going here for years and it has never disappointed. Great happy hour specials and good pricing. **GET the Pele Wings. Unreal. read more

One of my favorite places to eat when I am in the area. If you are looking for a new Hawaiian joint this is the place to stop if you're in San Clemente. So far we've ate here a few times and haven't been disappointed. Portuguese fried rice is bomb, so is the tuna and Man fries are delicious! Bottom line the food is delicious and portions are huge. Staff is super nice too read more

Stopped by mid-afternoon for a late lunch and really enjoyed it. The Hawaiian menu was a fun departure from the norm and food was really good. There are two sides to the restaurant with a bar connecting them. One side is almost like a beach shack (a rally nice one) and the other has a more zen feel. The beach shack side was showing continuous video of surfers, which added to the atmosphere. Although it was quiet at the time of day I was there (which was nice) I plan to go back some evening when I imagine it will be even more fun. Prices reasonable, service good, food interesting and good, bathroom clean - what more can you ask? read more

Hapa J's - The south side of the restaurant (north side has a totally different look) - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

A must when we're down in San Clemente. The Man Fries are the best "off menu" item in Orange County. They are basically their Hapa Fries but with Hawaiian pulled pork, bbq sauce and anything else they can pile onto fries. It is a ginormous order (see pic) and plenty to share. I mean PLENTY! Their Country Salad is my favorite though I like their Seared Poke Salad as well. Get one salad and Man Fries and you'll be all set. The service is always friendly and fast. The establishment is a bit dirty. That is my only complaint. read more

This is my favorite Hawaiian joint in Southern California. The food was excellent the service was extremely friendly and helpful I believe it might've been the mother and daughter, they act like owners that care about the customer. We are going to order everything on the menu eventually I haven't even had an average meal there yet. Creative menu that is very flavorful read more

Good happy hour, good options for kids for dinner, huge menu. delicious mai tai and chili!!! Edamame on the table complimentary as soon as we sat down. Great for our kids. Strawberry lemonade was delicious. Large portions and the Mac nut Mac n cheese was delicious read more

Hapa J's - Kids menu - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Came here for Mother's Day and as usual Justin and his staff are AMAZING & the food was BEYOND AMAZING!!! Totally reminds me of the islands with a Cali twist!!! Love this place!!!! My wife and I has them catered our wedding 2 years ago and the family and friends still remember the food!!! read more

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Initially I wasn't too crazy about this place, but they've really stepped it up over the last year or so. I've tried most of the dishes on the menu. My favorites are the kalbi ribs and poke. Their loco moco is super good as well. Their fried rice is a little hit and miss - when it's good, it's good. When it's not, it's just so-so (the rice can be a little mushy sometimes). Two things that are of particular note: their kailua pork nachos and their tempura musubi - both of which are outrageously good! The service is usually good and my food has almost always come out promptly. Prices are very reasonable - in the $$ range for a table of two. If you haven't been to Hapa J's in a while or if you've never been, for sure give it a try. They've really done a good job in winning me back over. read more

Hapa J's - Garlic shrimp plate. - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

I wanted to try this place for a long while, so finally I did. The person greeter (didn't get name but was blonde, tall), went and walked me to the back.. And then went back and also seat 2 women behind me, but then took their orders them and totally ignored me.. when obviously I was before. But I noticed this as she takes only large parties and let the other waitress server take the smaller ones. Mayb girl wants bigger tips.. Here's one, that one person might be rich and tip you more and gift you in ways more valuable than..that party of 20 you just ditched him or her over... :-) So I had to ask for, got the other server as she walked by, Ms Biggin?s, the darker haired girl. She totally took care of my time there and enhanced a somewhat weird sour experience of this place as I never come back to a place with bad or lack of good service.. The foods.. Well I'd return to try their other dished because of Ms Biggins ? Otherwise I almost walked out of restaurant aftet what the blonde girl did. . and the reason I went was for the lava cake and found they stopped making them,and plum wine-another thing I wanted to try -they ran out. So I had the coconut hauipa.. Which was the life-saver of the entire experience.. I loved it! I had the ahi trio, side rice and salad.. All of which would have been cheaper if you get the entree with all 3 of that.. But I didn't know until I looked again here. I would not try the Ahi sampler again. Not worth $19.. Or $17 with happy hours. read more

Hapa J's - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Ambiance (rating 4.0) Hapa J's has a nice bar / casual restaurant feeling and is well done in my opinion. They have a nice bar area as well. I'd stop in for a beer, but if you're looking to impress a date, go elsewhere! Man Fries (rating 4.0) They sure can't be classified as health food, but if your in the mood to go off the wagon they're a good call. It's a huge plate of fries covered in pork, bbq sauce, ranch and it's just plain good eats. Try one for the table. They have some decent beers as well. I'll be going back again to try the entrees. (2/18/2015 Review) Garlic Steak (rating 3.0) So last night's visit I tried the garlic steak. While the flavor was OK, everything on the plate was under seasoned. Surprising for "garlic steak" as I was worried about there being too much flavor covering the steak. The steak, diced and mixed with onions, mushrooms, garlic, scampi seasoning and white wine unfortunately was of very poor quality and allot of gristle. I definitely was caught a couple of times wondering if I'd have to spit out a bite because I just couldn't chew through it. While the Garlic Steak description seems unpleasant, I can't give the the dis lower than a 3 because overall the food was actually "OK" and not very expensive. To top it off their Imperial Stout (darkest & thickest beer they have), worked well to wash it down. read more

I have been waiting months for the opportunity to try the food and more importantly the Nachos with pig. The nachos were perfectly layered with real cheese. Not that fake nacho cheese! The salsa and avocado sauce was amazing. Best part was the pulled pig. Every bite was flavorful, moist and had that slight greasy texture that let's you know it wasn't boiled or cooked for mass use as just a topper. read more

Hapa J's - Cant wait to try their flavor and twist on a little bit of night life and hot dogs at JD's. Nachos done right! - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Get the man fries. To our surprise they were at least 3lbs! You will probably end up taking most of it home but that's okay because you can use the remaining 2lbs of pork for different meals throughout the week. We didn't get a chance to try anything else on the menu. read more

Hapa J's - Man fries - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Got here and the staff was super nice and helped us pick our dish! They were helpful and the food came fast. The food looked really good and the prices were great. The food portions were actually really generous and we had left overs. Definetly will come back again! read more

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*COVID UPDATE* I am a long time fan of the food here, however was dismayed to find that the servers were NOT wearing masks when I went to pick up my food, nor were they enforcing patrons to wear a mask. Please, manager, have your cashiers and servers wear a mask -- it's the law, and for all of our safety. read more

We got here right when it opened at 4:30 on Tuesday. They have a different menu for taco Tuesday. My wife and I shared 3 tacos (coconut shrimp, kalbi short rib, teri/ginger) And the Kalyan Pig Quesadilla. Everything was very tasteful and had a lot of different sauces, which I love. Our waitress said the Coconut Shrimp is the most popular taco and it was my favorite. Service was great, food came out fast and it is well priced. I will remember this place when we come back to San Clzn read more

Hapa J's - Taco Tuesday menu. - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

Saw this place on "Travel Channel" and thought to give it try. I ordered the Chicken Katsu, which I thought was overcooked and paper thin, but the katsu sauce was decent, the wife had the shrimp plate which looked really tasty, she said it was good. Also had the Haupia coconut dessert which was really good. Overall, should have had the "Man Nachos", which would have had the Kalua pork on it, but I would definitely try another dish we ever make it back. Staffing was on par! read more

First time here Ordered: Fries- good Variety Plate with chicken, Korean BBQ, and chicken katsu with brown rice and green salad. The sweet teriyaki and katsu sauce were a bit overwhelming and saturating the plate. The rice became soaked in the merging of sweet sauce then the warm plate was wilting the mixed green salad. The Korean BBQ meat was too thin, over cooked and chewy. The katsu was drenched with lots of sauce. Keiki chicken katsu with rice. I'm glad that the chicken katsu had sauce on the side. Kids ate it so I can't complain there. Poke- husband said it was good. Chicken Katsu with brown rice- same issues with too much sauce and wilty salad due to warm food and plate. I brought my kiddos with me and they ran out of a high chair. I was bummed because I planned ahead and made a reservation making sure they would have a high chair ready to go for us -it was a little difficult dealing with a squirmy toddler while eating dinner. read more

Two words that aren't Man Fries...MAI TAI's! And not that fruity nonsense that hooked tourists in Hawaii and allowed resorts to use less rum, but the original Trader Vic's Mai Tai recipe. Never heard? Read about it here: http://postprohibition.com/recipes/trader-vics-mai-tai/ But yes, Man Fries and Hapa Nachos are insane. I'm a huge Hawaiian food fan, this spot takes the prize in OC IMO. Atmosphere is contemporary coastal, no weird tiki vibe or anything like that. Perfect for a post surf binge on a plate dinner. Portions are substantial and always good for seconds. We like to take the kalua pork remaining off our fries or nachos and add them to rice in the morning with breakfast eggs. Crazy good. Happy hour here is great too, 2$ off of starters and discounted Mai Tai's and beers. If you've got that island crave this is where you quench it. So good. Mahalo Hapa J's! read more

Hapa J's - Man Fries are a whole other level of goodness. Save that pork for morning left overs on eggs or rice. - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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I love this place. Great environment and awesome food to get my hawaiin food fix. I totally recommend this place

So I am not from the San Clemente area, however one of my friends had heard of this place so we stopped by on our way to San Diego. The place is nice with a "Local" feeling. Staff was very friendly and attentive. As soon as we sat down we were asked if we would like to order any drinks. Our server suggested the Passionfruit Mimosa, and boy was that a great start! I ordered the Poke Bowl with Chicken Katsu and both were very good! My Poke Bowl came with one scoop of rice and a side of mac salad. I thought the portions were very fair and I wish this place was much closer to home because I would definitely come back here again if I could! My friends and I also got a small laugh from our bill. When paying we noticed that our server's name was "Nurse Ratchet". We all agreed this place had a nice vibe to it and the food was just as great as the service :] read more

Hapa J's - Passionfruit Mimosas! - Hawaiian Near Me - San Clemente, California

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