As Popeye would say, " you gits what you pays for, and you pays for what you gits." Pretty good Texomexo. Great salsa. Everything is pretty ok actually. But, then this is a guy that can't figure out what the fascination is about the toughest cuts of meat being served with ten cents worth of rice and a nickels worth of beans anywhere. Really? read more

Man oh man. This is like a Lake Austin oasis!(literally, not the place on Lake Travis) It's practically Chuy's but with a Polynesian twist and a menu leaning more towards seafood dishes. I've had their shrimp tubular enchilada(the size of a burrito) and it was FANTASTIC! I've also tasted the bbq chicken tacos, salmon tacos and stuffed avocado to name a few. All of them were quite tasty even if I am partial to Trudy's stuffed avocado. If you go you HAVE to sit on the dock on the lake. Totally worth the drive and presumed traffic. They have decent drink specials as well. I had a drink yesterday, it was practically a Mex Mart served in a pint glass already mixed up on the rocks. Our server was kinda meh due to having a poor attitude, not really explaining things such as that drink being a Mex Mart, etc. That was an easy fix though b/c shift change happened and our new server was super sweet, attentive and an all around bada**. I know people have bad days and all but having JUST gotten off of work to meet some friends, I really could've had less attitude and more information to the stuff he serves EVERY DAY. That said, the food and drinks are well worth everything. read more

This was our 3rd time coming to Hula Hut, the food was pretty good but the service was pretty bad. I know it gets busy over the weekends there but the quality of service by our server was just not there. I think if you're looking to come here defiantly come during the week. We had about a 45min wait and they take your cell phone # down to text you when your table is ready. The girls up front typed my wife's # down wrong and if we hadn't gone up to check they were about to give our table away. That was a little frustrating. I think we just learned a valuable lesson to not come here on weekends because the service goes way down. Food was still good though so the kitchen was doing good. read more

SHITTY experience overall waiter didn't take our order after 20 minutes when we said ONE minute please. i normally love this place but i'm a little fed up...... read more

I've eaten here before. I first experienced this place from their location in Austin. I was excited that they were opening this one closer to home. Dined a couple of times... nothing exciting. I do like the decor. The last here, we received horrible service. Servers kept walking past our table and we sat there without being greeted. We decided to walk out and that's when they came to our table. I almost vowed not to come back, but I love the food! I almost got away this time... just after saying it's not so much of a horrible experience as the last. The server greeted, took our order, delivered it, noting special about service or extra ordinary... at this point it's what I expect of this place. Didn't ask if the food was okay, didn't chat, just took our order, dropped the food off and that was it. It would have been okay if she didn't deliver the check 15 minutes before close. We were not offered dessert. We weren't even half way done with our meal. Just really off putting... like they're trying to close up before we're done eating and that's all they care about. read more

Good food, amazing ambience. We went there on a Friday night, picked a table outside near the wharf. The location is amazing. Service was good, food was also good and ambience is casual fine. Definitely recommend for the location and ambience. read more

This is one of the most awesome and largest restaurants in Austin, it's all about mexican and seafood and the location couldnt get any better! It's LITERALLY right on a lake so the view is gorgeous. If it's your first time going there I definitely recommend the "Roasted chicken pipeline Enchilada" It's one giant chessy chicken enchilada that you won't regret. Pricing is fair and service is laid back and great! read more

Our experience was way less than par. We were excited per the reviews but the customer service from the moment we walked in was less than average, the food came out cold and took forever, the service was not good and I could tell from the table next to us, they felt the same way as I also heard the waitress apologizing for everything. Though it's a very cool spot, I don't recommend it. read more

The service here is poor. Wait time was over 2 hours. Unprofessional employees. Seating is awful your actually shoved as close to the next table as possible. Don't waste your time. read more

Campy Hawaiianesque decor, check. Lakeside view tortued to look like you're in the Pacific, check. Hey, sometimes the best part of the meal is the cheese, especially when it's laid on thick. I would describe Chuy's Hula Hut as gracefully lightheartedly cheesy. The food is your typical mixing and matching of Tex-Mex fare. Tex-Mex is such a dirty word nowadays oooohh! It should be on the list of words such as s*** and m***********. I'm reclaiming Tex-Mex like my black folks have reclaimed the n-word, but that doesn't mean YOU can say it too. Tex-Mex is a blend of Mexican foods found in Northern Mexican and what is now the American Southwest mixed with Anglo accents. Unlike central and southern Mexican foods that were blended with more Amerindian influences a lot of the areas in the Southwest (with the exception of some parts of Southern Utah, New Mexico, and some areas of Arizona) were thinly inhabited by Native Americans when viewed in context with the more heavily populated areas in central and southern Mexico with large urban centers. Ok, so now on to the food. I don't know where the Hula comes from, because there seemed to be precious few Polynesian or Micronesian inspired dishes on the menu. They do have a lot of great Tex-Mex inspired dishes and dynamite Tex-Mexish hybrid seafood. I've always been dragged to this place kicking and screaming by any Austinite compadre of mine. Kicking and screaming for joy that is. It's excellent. You can watch through a strategically placed opening in the kitchen as they prepare your tortillas fresh (hey, by real Hispanic women, no doubt). I made a fatal error my friends. I had recently been a glutton at a different seafood restaurant the night before and did not partake of the seafood. I did sample a shrimp taco that was delicious. The plus and draw back of this place is the college crowd. Don't go expecting too many long time Austinites more like recent college transplants and their weekending families. Food is food and the food was good. First, the aforementioned sampling of the shrimp taco: The shrimp was perfectly cooked and not rubbery, the tortilla and sauce was perfect. It was balanced and gave equal dimension to all the flavors. I was not belted over the head with shrimp flavor nor was the shrimp mutilated by being covered up by a strong masking sauce. Next the steak tubular taco: The meat was great, it was tender and juicy, light beef flavor. It seemed like decent but not great quality beef. The taco seemed to be in a red sauce that had just the right amount of sour heat. Moist, but not clumped rice was great. The cheese would have been the highlight of this taco had it not been for the excellent tortilla. The cheese oozed without being gooey or watery. It was a white quesa fresca, I'm assuming with great flavor. Now for the tortillas: delicious light, no leathery hide, melted in your mouth, and served warm. These were some great handmade tortillas. The atmosphere was ok. I'm reminded of a favorite sitcom when a character is forced to give the police a description of a missing person, "She's caucasian....very caucasian." I'm not the most fratastic person on the planet, but I put away most of my class warrior weapons a long time ago. Most of my table was ex frat. They look on their fraternity days in about the same light as the days they built tree houses and had "No Girls Allowed" clubs. Childish, sometimes pretty senseless, a little mean at the time, they don't talk to most of the people any more but they got maybe one or two good friends out of it. I was a confirmed anti-frat. The older you get the more that divide fades, but I do respect that it matters in school. The lesson is: bring your own folks, screw what everyone else at the other tables is doing. They do have outdoor seating(if you can get it) and an outdoor dockside bar to enjoy the splendid lakeside view. The views in this place were great. Excellent views of Lake Austin at night are highlighted by the beautiful lighting and architecture of houses on the hill across the lake. Remember to make sure to DEFINITELY reserve(not sure if they take reservations) your seat early or have some serious time to kill waiting.....like.....an hour. The service was alright. Our waitress exuded a little too much of that too hip for you Austinish vibe that seems to run amok among transplants. I guess we didn't smell of enough patchouli. Hey sister, just cause I'm wearing these Levis jeans and a semi-mainstream band t-shirt doesn't mean the heart of an ex-punk-ISH rocker doesn't pound true. I'll go get my laptop out of the car and play you some Op Ivy, The Queers, Misfits, Black Flag, Pennywise, NOFX, Swinging Utters, and Bad Religion. She was a little sharp, but not too rude, However, she did get the job done in a quick enough fashion. I'm guessing it was maybe the busy night. It was all in all a great night peace, paz, salaam. read more

The shrimp tacos were amazing! The drinks are pretty good as well. I recommend the Kraken Moku

You can tell Chuy's owns this place. It's a pretty standard tex-mex menu with a few token Polynesian touches. Not bad, not great. I will admit that the mango margarita is excellent. read more

Hula Hut was anything but tasty. In fact, it was downright aweful. Being newbies to Austin, my boyfriend and I approached the location with confidence that the restaurant could successfully feed our grumbling tummies with a delicious meal. We were unfortuantely very wrong. Upon arriving, the hostess was very friendly and we told her we would like to sit on the patio, she messaged someone outdoors that we would be arriving and told us ok, go. My boyfriend and I looked at eachother confused, go where? Are you taking us? Where do we go? She pointed and we hastily walked through, feeling a little odd we were walking in the middle of the restaurant (we had never been here before, we didn't know our right from our left!) Anywho, upon arriving to the patio we sat down and we were quite pleased with the atmosphere. We sat for about ten minutes until our server stopped by to take our drink order. We ordered queso as a starter and received it with our meal. The boyfriend ordered a burger and fries, hey can't go wrong. I ordered a noodle salad that was recommended by a friend and I added shrimp. As we were waiting for our food it began to get very windy, chilly, and frankly unbearable. We noticed the servers begin to put down plastic shades that surrounded the patio allowing protection from the winds and visibility to our scenic surrounding. The servers placed the plastic shades down along the sides where people weren't sitting down. This made little sense to me. Unless they see dead people, who were they protecting from the chilly tornado winds. Our server brought our food and I asked her nicely if she could place our shade down, with hesitance and a "well i'll have to stand on here and blah blah blah" she finally placed the shade down. Mind you, I am not exaggerating it was really freakin windy, the guests seated next to us requested the shade down as well. Anyway down to the food. It sucked. The shrimp tasted like dirty sea water, I love seafood-I eat seafood, this was HORRIBLE seafood. My boyfriend claimed his burger meat tasted a little fishy, which isn't pleasant for someone who isn't too fond of sea food. The only positive, was the queso. What a bummer! read more

Took the wife and kids to Hula Hut for Mother's Day. Parking was up the hill, not too much of a walk though. I knew we would have a wait. Hostess said an hour, but our table was ready in about 30 minutes. Drinks are small and pricey, food is good. Portions are huge! I love eating on the water, the scenery is great. It was crowded but we got our order in a timely manner. Nice special occasion place because of the price and crowds, I would imagine weekday lunches would be a better time to visit. The Grackles seemed more behaved than my last visit. Maybe they have undergone some sort of 'training' not to take chips from your hand. read more

I just came back home after waiting over 2 1/2 hours for a table at Hula Hut. There were 11 of us, so I expected it to take a while on a Friday night. They told us it would take up to an hour to 1 1/2 hours. We waited the full time and went to check on our table. We told them that most of the party had just driven down from Alabama for over ten hours and that we had two small children with us who were getting pretty hungry. They told us 30-40 more minutes. We waited then went back to the hostess, who told us once again 30-40 minutes. The next time we went up to check on our table, they told us that they were actually "frozen" and that they couldn't make room for us yet and that they didn't know how long it would take. At this point, we had to give up on ever getting our food. Unfortunately, most of the party was visiting from Alabama and are now convinced that Austin is terrible. It's embarrassing. I'm waiting for Domino's at 10:21 pm when I arrived at Hula Hut for dinner at 7:20pm. I'm typing this while shaking with hunger and anger. I'm mostly irritated that they knew it would take longer than they were telling us and let us continue to spend money at the bar (over $200) and NEVER ACTUALLY FED US. If they had been honest and told us that it wasn't looking good sooner, we might actually have been able to have the big family meal together. That's the last time I'm ever going to Hula Hut. I will also be discouraging my friends and family from going there in the future. read more

I only gave it one star because you can't give zero. Great view, I'll give you that. Aside from that, the food is terrible (unless you want pineapple on everything), the drinks are terrible, and the place is completely filled with sorority girls and their families, and tourists. If that's your kind of place, go for it. read more

Well we had a group of people took a long time to be sitted finally we sat down and ordered the waitress comes back a few mins later to tell us they are out of guacamole so some of the meals we couldn't get so we said ok then a few mins later they were out of ribs then a few mins later they were out of hamburger we ordered 2 so they said they could only made one. so basically half of our table couldn't get what we ordered. we had to call the manager worst manager I have seen in a long time she didn't want to give us any kind of discount not even 10% off of the bill she told us if we can eat a hambuger we can get tacos but tacos is not what we wanted she went back and forth until we were like whatever what manager agrues with the customer and if is your fault not ours that you don't have food. I don't know her name but she was horrible she had tattoos all over her arms needless to say we will never go back there again!!! P.S waitress was great everything else was horrible... read more

After reading a wide range of reviews I took a chance. WOW!! So glad we did. Arrived at 12:40 on Saturday, put our name down and received our pager. Proceeded to the bar and ordered a Hu La La, large fishbowl specialty drink. Sat at the bar by the water. Pager went of a bit earlier than the 35-40 minute estimate. I had the beef fajita enchilada, my wife the cheese. She's vegetarian. The first order that she asked for our wonderful waittress, Bel, came back to let her know that the sauce that came on that had a beef stock base. We didn't even ask her she just caught the vibe and checked. The food was excellent, the beef in my enchilada was a very tastey steak. During the several return visits that Bel made to check on us, I mentioned that it was a couple of weeks until my wife, JudyAnn's birthday and I was getting an early start. When we were all done with our leftovers all boxed, Bel shows up with their desert nachos with a big happy Birthday for JudyAnn. The ambiance was exactly what we love, we're both beach people and love eating next to the water. The food was excellent and Bel was great. The two kinds of wait staff that annoy me is those that drop you and you don't see them again and those that come by so much it's a nuisance. Bel struck that great balance, we didn't want for anything and never felt intruded upon. Oh, and we finished with their Skinny Magarita all TX indgredients. Good Margarita as well. I was torn between 4-5 stars as I am reluctant to gush but my experience was to much to just be a fan so yeah, they get and deserve the 5 stars. Take a chance, just be aware that there will be a wait and we chose valet parking as never being there before just thought it would be the easiest. I'm not a person who ever uses valet and JudyAnn even commented about it but hey it really was convenient. JudyAnn was planning our return visit food selection before we left. read more

Love the atmosphere; the deck is the only way to go IMHO. Grab some appetizers and a beer and chill. My favorites include the chicken quesadillas and coconut shrimp. read more

The feeling is mixed once you enter the restaurant. You're thinking you'll be eating Hawaiian food but the first thing you get served is chips and salsa, which I might add, are delicious! I wanted to try something that was a blend of both Hawaiian and Mexican food so I got the Hawaiian Fajitas. So good!! My husband for the Chicken Tubular Taco which was great as well. read more

We have been coming here since many many years but I don't know if the management has changed or what but we had once of the worst experiences today. The server was prejudiced or something clearly. He kept ignoring us and even though we asked for simple chips and creamy jalapeño sauce he kept giving us lame excuses, my shift has changed and this is coming from the kitchen so... I don't know how long it takes to cook creamy jalapeño sauce. I was pretty sure they already have it in their kitchen. Anyways, after the order arrived I noticed that my plate had only one chilli relleno. Again we asked why my plate had only one whereas I know I should have gotten 2 and the server said well I didn't know how many you wanted to eat, because are you having lunch or dinner? my husband called for the menu again read out the menu item and said we should have received 2. Anyways he said ok I'll get one more made. Then he again ignored us even after we repeatedly asked for more jalapeño sauce and and coke refill. Eventually we asked for the manager who came and we told him the whole situation. To our surprise he said oh I'm sorry and literally walked away. He brought us a refill of coke and that's it sent our bill. I was expecting the manager to at least step up but seriously this put me off even more because you expect the manager to go out of the way to resolve the situation but nope not here. read more

I work near Hula Hut and find that it's a great place for afterwork drinks and group lunches, but the food in general is nothing special. When people come into town I'll bring them their just for the atmosphere/location. I'm a big fan of the Tres Leches cake, and will go their just for a drink and desert. If I have to eat something i'll get the Tubular Taco which is huge or something smaller like Chicken Flautas. read more

One of our absolute favorites in Austin. Great all the time but also to bring guests. To die for mix of Mexican food and Hawaiian. Lovely setting w/ fantastic outdoor seating on the lake. Try the Haleakalada drink or the Hula Lui Platter. Great coconut shrimp. Usually good service. All the good parts of Hawaiian Barbeque without the bad parts like poi or too much taro. PLEASE FIX THE DANCING SINGING FISH!!!!!! read more

Now yes, it's a bit touristy. But the locals seem to be there having just as good a time. The wait for a table can be a good 45m to and hour on the weekends. Parking kinda bites. But once you just accept that you're going to wait and relax there's the location and the food. Good vegetarian options and meat options for everyone. The queso is really good. The drinks I'd go with the "higher" end stuff and not the HH ones as far as cocktails. I mean you get what you pay for, right? Good thing is outside you can serve your own chips and salsa whilst you wait. Patio is large BUT this is Texas so expect it to be hot in the summer time. Outside birds and ducks hang around just in case anyone "drops" any chips but they're not intrusive. Overall, vibe is fun, crowd is chill and the food tasty. read more

Great location by the lake. However, food has gone downhill and fast. Does not taste the same as several years ago. Not sure if it is new management. Event the signature salsa is watered down. read more

Great fish tacos. I hate the wait, but cool to eat on the lake out on the deck when the sun sets in the summer. Not sure what the fire will mean for this summer, hopefully they will have it fixed. read more

awesome view and food. Austin classic and one of my faves for years. Service is friendly, and some of us enjoy seeing a crowd especially in the summer months. This place is like a resort in the middle of town. read more

This is the first restaurant review I have written, but I feel obligated to let others know. My 11 and 13 year old boys went to Hula Hut today with their summer camp group. As my 11 year old was eating chips and salsa, he found a cigarette butt in the chips. I have heard other stories about the lack of quality control at Hula Hut, but this tops the list. Never again. read more

What a fabulous ending to a great Mother's Day! Sunset, mango nachos, coconut shrimp and fish tacos! By the way, our server, Andrea, was super duper fantastic! Thank you! read more

Hostess talked on the phone for ten minutes with her back to the front door. When the call was over, she started waiting on the crowd that had formed in random order. I left. read more

the two times i have been to the hoola hut were for the boat rides. the boat ride is absolutely charming and it takes you all along the Austins most scenic places. the food served is absolutely delicious. they have the best tortillas and fajitas. if you don't know where to host your company party or special event then i recommend this place, hands down it is a good ol' time. read more

In short, not impressed. I decided to go with the Classic fish tacos because a LOT of people on here thought that was top of their list... but they were meh. I mean for $9 you only get 2 tacos and they weren't even over stuffed. Although the atmosphere was really cool being right there on the lake (river), but it was WAY over packed, parking was horrible and our waitress, even though she was a sweetheart, messed up 3 of the 6 people in my parties order. Totally understand it being really busy on a Saturday night, but I expected more from a place we waited over an hour to be seated at. I don't mind waits, but my expectations increase with the longer wait times. So... sorry, wouldn't bring anyone here, there's several much better taco places and a MUCH better food place that's right on the water as well. Bit more of a drive, but far superior in taste, cost and it's more hidden for that special "in-side Austin" feeling. read more

We were visiting the area and friends brought us to Hula Hut because we were asking for Mexican food and good margaritas. Both the food and drink at Hula Hut are Meh; for sure there is better. People mention "the view". Only water starved desert dwellers would consider that deck any type of water view but then I am opinionated by my easy access to restaurant decks. Ordered a top shelf golden margarita which was heavy on the mix and light on the tequila. Entree veggie Tubular taco had to pick out the pickled veggies (gross! who puts pickled veggies in a burrito?). Seriously it tasted like garadina salad or whatever that's called. Looking around the table of 7, most others picked at their food as well. Even my husband had scraps of food pushed to the side and he eats everything! On the plus side, our server was amazing and we tipped accordingly. My recommendation is to skip the food here; just have a bottled beer and people watch. read more

While spending time in Austin, the Hula Hut was recommended and we were excited to spend the afternoon having a drink on Lake Travis. When we arrived, I specifically stated that we preferred a table by the water. We had to wait about 10 minutes for this request, but when we were taken to our table, it was in the middle of the floor on the "deck" but the plastic walls were down and there was no view whatsoever of the water. We were told that it was just too cold at 69 degrees. There were no draft beers, no Austin craft beers and the waitress was not friendly. As far as the food, no complaints. (It is hard to mess up chips and dip). read more

The epitome of Austin dining... Sit right above the water on the back deck and have that on the lake vibe any day of the week. Appetizer stuffed avocado makes for a great entree. Great service. Parking is sometimes an issue but only during peak hours, plus they have a valet. read more

Food is good and service was average. However, I was disappointed by an overcharge on my credit card of $1.62 (I had left a 18.3% tip, and with the extra charge it amounts to a 21.4% tip pretty high for average service). It's a small amount; not worth my effort to get back. I have to ask the wait staff if this is really worth it since I'll think twice about dining there again. read more

I had the worst experience today. Literally everything that could go wrong went wrong. The waiter got our drinks and food wrong. It took like 20 minutes for the right food to come out. He overcharged us after I pointed it out to him. Then he screwed up the refund. They refused to compensate for anything that happened. I will never go to Hula Hut again. read more

The only reason they are getting 3 stars is for environment. They've got an awesome spot on Lake Austin and the whole restaurant is pretty cool looking. I think their drinks are strong. At least a double is! On the other hand, all the food I ate was bland. The grilled Mahi salad was awful. My mahi had absolutely NO SEASONING whatsoever. I should've just gotten a plain salad because it was lacking what it was supposed to come with as well. I also had the tree hugger nachos. They were alright. Quite soggy from all the black beans on them and none of the ingredients would stay on the chips. The waitress was pretty on top of her game for a table of 9. All of our glasses stayed full but she brought our food out at separate times. That is a big negative to me. Are we all supposed to wait around until our food gets cold waiting on the others? If it was up to me, this would be a place just for drinks after a long day on the water. read more

had the tacos, so good! and another amazing appetizer that I can't remember but it was some kind of egg roll. the queso was so good too!

went to hula hut with a few friends. we sat outside. i like the atmosphere for what it is. being on the water is nice. our waitress was kind of lame. she took drinks and our food order. and brought our bill. that was it. the amount of food they give you is insane. seriously. i had a veggie burger, and was really impressed. they make their own patties. we had some veggie nacho plate to share between three people. that was enough for us, we shouldnt have ordered anything else! read more