A must have, the food is so good. So many options! The service from the hostess to our waitress Marrissa is spectacular. The table next to us just happened to be the owner here and his brother thebowner of Hulas in Santa Cruz. We sat out in the patio which was so romantic! If you never have eaten here give it a try. read more

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It was pretty late and most restaurants nearby were already closed, except this one and it had good reviews, so we decided to give it a try. My family and I arrived around 8:30 PM and were seated immediately. The menu was interesting, though I was a bit disappointed there was no dedicated kids menu. When we asked our waiter, he mentioned they did have two kid-friendly options available: a cheese quesadilla and chicken & rice. We ordered both of those, along with calamari from the starters and a Thai chicken rice dish. Unfortunately, none of it landed well for us. The cheese quesadilla came with nothing but melted cheese between the tortilla no sides, no sauce. The chicken from the kids menu needed salt badly, and the sauce that came with it wasn't to our liking either. The calamari dish was especially disappointing -- just 5 strips for $15, which felt like a rip-off, and the sauce was watery and not good. The chicken bowl came with plantains, chicken, beans, and rice, but the beans caught us off guard, they didn't mention this in the menu. Overall, we didn't enjoy any of the dishes, and the food-to-price ratio felt way off. read more

Fun vibes here! Booking made for 7 or us on a Wednesday at 6:30pm and they were very busy so it was necessary. DRINKS Painkiller - 4 stars FOOD Plantains - 4 stars Jawaiian Jerk Pork Plate - 4.5 stars Kingston Crab Kurry - 4 stars (The last 2 entrees were a great combo together!) read more

The hula pie which is so highly rated is a cringe worthy amount of sweetness. The kahlua flavored icecream with chunks of sugar. Felt like pulling after eating that. Should have left it. The Buddha bowl is below average. You are basically eating raw veggies and rice. There was no flavor, tiny amounts of curry. The Brussels sprouts was the only highlight of this bowl. I was so excited by the plant menu and amazing seating, but the food was a let down read more

Hula's Island Grill - Pie - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

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Have I not reviewed Hula's yet?! We LOVE Hula's Island Grill. Tonight our server Jen was fantastic. We grabbed some drinks (Dr. Funk is our fav) and appetizers (if you like ceviche, get it here) before ordering dinner. Happy hour is daily 4-6pm and all day Tuesdays. For dinner I had the udon, one of my favorites, that has shrimp, fish, cilantro, and a coconut milk base. It was plenty large enough for me and my 3 year old to share. My husband ordered my other favorite, Duke's Luau Pork Plate. My parents ordered the crab curry and fish tacos. Everyone was happy with their meals! Service and food are always good here! read more

Hula's Island Grill - Pupus and drinks, (and the baby's snacks) - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Located in the heart of downtown Cannery Row in Monterey, Hula's offers Hawaiian fusion cuisine with indoor and outdoor seating. There's 60 and 90 min street parking around the restaurant. We got a table for 8 and sat in the outdoor patio, which was covered and had heat lamps for the cooler temp- perfect and spacious enough with our 4 kids in tow. Menu has a good variety, even a separate vegan menu. I got the fish sandwich with Caesar salad (ok- but bread overpowered the fish), mac and cheese (really creamy and cheesy) for my toddler and my hubs got the vegan cashew kale salad with vegan chik'in. We got calamari, which was abalone style and kinda bland. Rest of the table got burgers and fries which overall had good reviews. Service was a bit slow but it was Memorial Day weekend and it was pretty busy. read more

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$35 Kingston Crab Curry: it's very good? Or am I delusional? At the least it was hearty and filling. But I don't think it actually came together. The blackened white fish wasn't a good counterpoint. Crab meat is also more texture than flavor. That means the curry has to do all the heavy lifting here. And it's good curry but I wanted it to be an even heavier presence. I've eaten here multiple times over the years and happy to come back again. I'll just stick to their other menu items. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Kingston Crab Curry - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Food: 4.5/5 Excellent presentation, very creative menu items. The Bento box combines Korean, Japanese, and Jamaican flavors. The ceviche tastes fresh and addition of coconut milk added island touch/Kokoda style. Crab curry had ample meat for the price and serving. Service: 4/5 Friendly Ambiance: 5/5 Loved the interior with the pictures and artwork. Beautiful setting on a rainy day. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Bento box - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

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Food: Fantastic. Flavorful. They are happy to work with you on substitutions and spice options. Generous portions. Kid approved. Veg approved and overall all good. Drinks were also great. We liked it! Burpppp! :) Service: Quick food. Our host, Meg was superb. She knew the portions that would work for kids and accommodated dishes that works for them nice. She was patient with us all as we were a big crowd with several kids. Cheerful and always checking in with us, we loved her service. Thank you Meg! Ambience: Hawaiian ambience. Chatty friendly vibes. Nice music. Restrooms: Clean, well maintained. Parking: Street parking. Challenging but if you have some patience you will find it a few blocks away and walk it up to the restaurant. read more

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We stopped by while exploring the Cannery Row area, and overall it was a bit of a mixed experience. On the positive side, the service was great--friendly, attentive, and welcoming throughout our meal. The cocktails were also a major highlight, perfectly mixed and really delicious. However, the food was just okay and left us wishing for a bit more flavor across the board: Tuna Caesar Salad: I ordered the Caesar salad topped with tuna. Even though the tuna was cooked rare/undercooked, the texture surprisingly came out on the dry side, and the salad overall lacked that punch of flavor you hope for. Jerk Chicken Bento Box: My husband got the bento box with jerk chicken. While it was a great concept, the chicken was unfortunately dry as well and could have used much bolder island spices. It's a fun spot with fantastic drinks and top-notch service, but with a few tweaks to the kitchen's execution and seasoning, the food could easily match the vibe. read more

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Ambiance: 4/5 Service: 5/5 Food: 5/5 Drinks: 5/5 Price: 4/5 Parking: 4/5 Second time at Hula's, and I'm a fan. Good food and drinks. Hazen was our server, and he was great. Price is what you'd expect in Monterey, and while often paid, the parking is everywhere. read more

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Whether it's happy hour or normal dinner menu, this place is a solid choice. Everything is always delicious, cocktails are strong. Happy hour menu is really great, especially the bites. Main plates are moderately portioned and taste amazing. Pretty fun vibe inside, no complaints. Servers also know the menu well and make good recommendations when you're undecided. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Pork plate - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Very cool spot, we ate here twice on our Monterey trip. Came for the vegan options, returned for the plant based salmon and amazing ambiance. Really personable and kind service, both times we had really good conversations and check ins from our server. Neat vibes, definitely the place to get a drink if you like tiki culture. I had a "lightly spritzed" drink and a soda of the day. Good for mixed groups, we had no wait for either lunch or dinner, and definitely a fun place to visit. read more

We came here years ago and we were not satisfied with our meal but on our recent trip to Monterey, I thought we should give them another chance after reading reviews on Yelp. First, I must admit the Tropical, Hawaiian decor is really cute. We were seated quickly and our waitress was nice and attentive. My husband ordered a steak sandwich which wasn't on the menu but used to be a long time ago. Reviewers on Yelp even recommended it. I ordered the Hula burger with sweet potato fries. The steak was small and thin and was not anything special. The hamburger was terrible. All the toppings are extra from cheese to pineapple to avocado. The bun was a hard ciabatta roll. I imagined both of our meals would have a sweet teriyaki kind of flavor, but no such luck. Hamburgers at Red Robin are way better, even In n' Out would be much tastier. Parking is difficult and the prices are high. Our lunch for two people was over 60.00. We will not be back. read more

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The decor in here is awesome! Even just coming in from the street, it looks exciting outside already with tiki decor, indoors and there also an outdoor patio in the back with colorful lights for a festive vibe. Well done! There's a mug cabinet display in the left side room near the kitchen. No mugs for sale. Lots of cocktail choices like regular or double (bigger glass) or premium cocktails. Some come in legit tiki mugs Lots of food options whic is appreciated for a tiki bar. Burger was enjoyable and I coul put in my own lettuce tomato onions. Got sweet potato fries on the side. Drinking food DRINKS- -hurricane: strong! Bitter -zombie: classic tiki choice. also strong! Prefer this more than hurricane read more

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110% wish I could give them more stars. We just happened to see this place on list from our hotel as places to eat. Best price for happy hour appetizers food & drinks-great service ( Kelly) was so sweet & check to make sure we had everything we needed. Definitely worth a 2nd or 3rd. Visit The crispy coconut shrimp rolls come with 4 pieces ( pictured only showing 2.), read more

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Yummy drinks and food, kind service. Indoor or outdoor seating, cute tiki menu. Pricey but feels like a getaway and is good quality at least! The vibes are very cute. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Cute photo spot next to the bar out back - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Stopped here for lunch while in Monterey. We went to the one in Santa Cruz a couple of years ago and liked it. I would say overall, it's solid. Food: We had the fish sandwich, the pork sandwich, and the chicken plate. Everything was pretty good. We found the bread on the sandwiches to be a little crumbly, which meant they kind of turned into a mess, but the flavor was good on both. I felt like the salads that came with them had way too much dressing on them. The coleslaw on the chicken plate tasted full on like ginger which I thought was too too, but our other diner enjoyed it. Drinks: We ordered two. Both were reasonably good. A little bit of a " from a mix" ish, but drinkable. I'm picky about drinks, so this is actually a compliment. Service: service was solid. Ambience: I like what they're going for here, but they could step it up a little bit. First of all, it was ridiculously cold in there and we had to wear our coats while eating indoors. We actually might've done better to sit outside near a space heater. The outer patio is actually quite nice. The indoor decor is cute although they need to lose the T-shirts hanging from the ceiling as it just looks tacky. They were literally blasting music and the playlist was super distracting and it' sort of made it hard to carry on a conversation. Basically we ended up talking about the music throughout most of the lunch hour. Lots of dance versions of retro 70s and 80s hits. A little mystifying. Why don't they just play Hawaiian music? Definitely family friendly. You'll have to park on the street or find a paid lot somewhere as they don't have their own lot; we didn't have a problem, but during peak season you might. And it's only one hour allowed on the street fyi. Oh we also ordered the mac & cheese appetizer and it was really good, very cheesy and creamy. I was somewhere between a three and a four but I'm rounding down due to the temperature and the music. read more

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I have no idea how anyone could recommend this place in good conscience. It was the worst meal I have had in a very long time. My entire party felt the same way. I'm giving one star for ambiance because the place inside and out is cute enough. And one star because the staff was friendly. But WOOF, that food. Yuck. Came on a Tiki Tuesday (all day happy hour) and ordered 4 tiki drinks. They tasted like happy hour drinks--very little alcohol, canned fruit juices. The pineapple on the garnish was bruised and brown. For food, we had the tater tots (greasy frozen tots with a bizarrely sweet sauce), the calamari (bland and dry), the ceviche (cloyingly sweet), tofu tacos (cafeteria food), and finally, the worst chicken wings I've ever eaten. How can someone mess up wings??.. Just ask Hula's. The meat was incredibly dry with an odd texture--like something that's been frozen for too long and then steam-cooked in its own freezer burn. Don't believe the 4+ star reviews. There's something seriously wrong here, and I regretted going. read more

Food here was pretty solid. Service was really good. I came here with the family and we walked away pretty filled up. If I have one complaint, it's that some of the food was on the bland side. We made the mistake of ordering some sides, which came with the other entrees that we already ordered. I wish the server would have told us this, but it's our own fault for not being more attentive. Also, we made the decision to sit outside. I think that was the wrong call, because there were a lot of flies. Everybody inside looked happy, and the police was well ventilated. We should've sat inside. All in all, if you're looking for Hawaiian food, it's hard to beat this place. There aren't that many good choices. We look forward to coming back! Thank you guys. read more

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Super cute tiki bar with amazing food and themed drinks! Was able to be seated right away and waitress was nice and helpful in making suggestions for most ordered drinks. A nice place to stop by along Cannery Row read more

Hula's Island Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

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Definitely worth going off of cannery row in my opinion, we wish we'd found this place sooner! From the service to the food, everything was amazing. We'll definitely be back. Made us feel like we were back on the island, from the food options, to the drinks, the cannot miss dessert, the decorations & the music. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Amazing service and delicious food. Saw reviews of the coconut shrimp roll. It's as amazing as the other review said. We had the pork, chicken bowl,& tuna. Poke bowl was fresh and delicious ! Juan our server was fantastic!!!!! Service was great if in Santa Cruz again I will come back! read more

Hula's Island Grill - Poke bowl - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Delicious food. Chicken plate, Ceviche: 5 Shishito pepper: 3.5. It is plaint flavor with salt on the plate coconut shrimp roll: 4 Serve: 5 Price: 5 read more

Hula's Island Grill - Chicken plate, Coconut Shrimp Roll, Shishito Pepper, Ceviche - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

The jawaiian jerk chicken and the crusted salmon were phenomenal! The feel of the restaurant was great! The drink as well as the drink ware were fantastic. Alice has been a great presence! She made my entire trip, always on point with the suggestions. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Kona wings - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

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We booked a long-table set up on the lanai for our wedding rehearsal dinner at Hula's! I communicated with Tiffany and Nellie during the planning process and they were both so kind and helpful! Hula's menu is amazing and everything is delicious!!!! Everyone at our rehearsal dinner said the food was the best! They did a great job setting up our table with placecards I brought in ahead of time and had personalized menus printed out for our group. The servers were also so attentive in making sure everyone had drinks and appetizers when people came in late. Thank you for a great night, Hula's!! read more

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Stopped in for happy hour. No beers on happy hour list. Just cocktails. Ordered wings and fries. Wings were overly dry. Tasted like they were cooked a while ago and reheated. Had the poke and chips. It was very citrus based. Almost sour and served lukewarm. Beer selection was average at best. Food quality appears to have really gone down hill here. read more

I eat meat, my partner does not eat meat. I've never been to a place that had so many options for both types of people. Great vibes, we ended up going twice on our vacation. read more

Love the energy and decor of this place and their menu had a lot of unique Hawaiian inspired food. We tried the Dukes luau pork plate and shrimp tacos. Plates were about $25-28. I asked to substitute the coleslaw on my plate and they gave me so many options including sweet potato fries, which was so nice of them. My pork plate was good, but the meat is soy sauce based with pineapple, so it did get sweet over time to eat. The sides helped balance it out. Loved the sweet potato fries. The shrimp tacos were pretty simple/good (was better with some extra sauce) and the rice with beans on the side was a nice touch. Service was consistent and friendly. Instagram give this place a 3.5. They have a lot of street parking and you can walk the street to explore other restaurants and shops easily. read more

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Everything was delicious from start to finish. We had a crab cake, Khalbi, and the macadamia crusted halibut- fantastic island flavors on every plate. Each drink I tried was skillfully crafted to not be too sweet or overly boozy and hit just right paired with the food. Our server was kind, respectful and quick to help offer suggestions, though I didn't catch their name. The vibe is so fun, I'm so glad we came in! read more

Hula's Island Grill - Ohana pie - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

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The drinks and desserts are on point! Drinks, which you can order as a single or double, are strong (even as a single!) and tasty. Wish we had a chance to check out their speakeasy next door. I got the coconut crab curry, which was spicy but actually didn't have much flavor. There were a few big chunks of crab in there. A hearty dish and a generous portion size. My coworker was debating between the blackened wasabi ahi vs macadamia crusted ahi. Our server advised him to go with the blackened wasabi, as the mac crust didn't go as well with the ahi. He didn't lead us astray, as my fiancé ordered the latter and I was able to try both. Hands down the winner was the blackened wasabi ahi. The mac crusted was crispy, but bland and boring. We ended with sharing the lilikoi pie, Ohana pie and coconut cake which were all tasty and not too sweet. Ohana pie was the favorite, followed by the lilikoi pie then coconut cake. We were a party of 11. Flexible with reservations on the phone. I was made aware if our party was over 15, we'd have to do a set menu. No kids menu, but they have kid friendly items like mac and cheese. They also offer a good amount of plant based proteins. Come for drinks and desserts (and maybe pupus? We didn't order any). The entrees overall were not the strong point, but a-ok. read more

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We ordered the Poke bowl and the Pork sandwich. The pork sandwich with sweet potato fries was our favorite of the two. The staff were good. The interior has the Hawaiian decor flare which was cute. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Interior/Bar area - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Visited town recently and had the hankering for some great tiki drinks at a tiki bar! Overall, the ambiance immediately was perfect, and very well-themed. We truly enjoyed looking around and sitting in with the vibe! I opted for the Tropical Itch, which I would highly recommend if you're not sure what drink to get. The food, I ordered the Ahi Poke bowl which was DELICIOUS. I couldn't emphasize it enough. I truly enjoyed it. The reason for the 3-star rating however was my husband's pulled pork tacos. The meat was dry and over-cooked and quite frankly, wasn't as saucy as it could have potentially been. Not sure if it was an off-night, but it left us feeling disappointed. However, the service was superb and our server was an amazing help for us. We will be back again, and hopefully give the pulled pork another chance! read more

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We decided to come to Hula's for dessert after spending some time on Cannery Row. The ambiance of this place is great and the lighting and vibe are perfect for a date night. All of the desserts seemed delicious but we settled on the Ohana Pie for $15. This pie is Oreo cookie crust, ice cream (the flavor changes and this day it was chocolate fudge brownie), whipped cream, macadamia nuts, and hot fudge. The dessert was so delicious! It was exactly what I wanted and a large serving that was perfect for the both of us. I have absolutely no complaints about the food. The service however was bad. There is a bar in one room and additional bar style seating in another. We took a seat at the bar style seating (not the actual bar) since it was self seating and the restaurant was mildly busy. It took a while for a waitress to come up to us and take our order. When she did we made it clear that we just wanted to dessert to split and a couple glasses of water. When she brought the dessert out 15 minutes later she brought our check out with it. I took a bite of the dessert and then immediately put my card down so that she could take it whenever she came back. She did not check on us again for a full 40 minutes. The only reason she ended up coming up to us is because I was turned in my barstool waiting for her with the bill in my hand. We wanted to ask for napkins since we were eating what was essentially ice cream cake and didn't even get those until we were actively leaving. The dessert was good, but I hate when a restaurant offers self seating and then does not do a good job actually servicing it. I don't know if that was the reason the service was so terrible or if it was because we were only ordering dessert. It was disappointing to feel like we were being ignored by our waitress when she was incredibly attentive to other tables. read more

Hula's Island Grill - Ohana Pie - Asian Fusion Near Me - Monterey, California

Popular Hawaiian restaurant. Casual interior with friendly staff. Some selection of Hawaiian influenced cocktails to choose from. The food was decent. Street parking. read more

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3.75 rounded up (4/5) The cechive is really good! A tad of spice but the coconut milk cools it down right after. There is a more tart/lemony forward flavor profile that I love bc I love sour. The chips are fun too -- crunchy and a solid companion to the fish. We both got the barramundi fish market. I did chimmichurri, husband did lemongrass. After I made my order I regretted it because I don't usually like chimmichurri so IDK why I was compelled to order it LOL. That said if you like chimmichurri I think it's fine. It wasn't bad but not my thing. (3/5) The lemongrass one was better imo with a creamy sauce that feels hearty and warming like clam chowder. (3.5/5) The brown sugar lemonade is also more sour than sweet (win for me but I know some people prefer a sweet lemonade). I feel like it reminds me of an Arnold Palmer but no tea haha (4/5) Service is friendly and solid. Their outdoor ambiance is really cute and preferred with such nice summer weather with a light breeze. read more

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We had the pleasure of trying Hula's Island Grill on our recent trip to Monterey Bay and so very glad we did. Very walkable from our hotel at InterContinental The Clement. Immediately greeted by super friendly staff. Have indoor and outdoor patio, but definitely would recommend dining outdoors. Patio space is fantastic and super comfortable. Food is awesome. Had the burger and fries and no regrets! It was fantastic! That said, we were in a large group and everyone's meal looked amazing. Drinks!! Their cocktails, especially tiki drinks were out of this world. Definitely will be back on our next Monterey Bay trip!! read more

We absolutely enjoyed everything we got! Cocktails: Pick yo self off the floor, You guava be kidding me, Hulas Hurricane. Island style Poke, Fried Plantains, Kona style chicken wings, and the Macadamia crusted Mahi! Server was friendly and quick! Love the ambiance, we sat on the patio! read more

Tonight, I was walking in and there's nobody else there and the hostess asked me to move out of the way. I explained I was there for a birthday party could they hold the cake. She said there would be a cakeage $20 fee. I asked why she asked me to move out of the way as I walked into the restaurant and I said she was rude. She was very rude and so what's the manager. There is no amount of food in this restaurant that would make up for how rude they are. We left and went to the Fish House instead and ate like kings and were treated with utmost appreciation and respect. No comparison. The Monterey Fish House is a real restaurant with real food but the Hula Restaurant is an arrogant chic crowd catering to something OTHER THAN good food. I promise you the difference is profound. The difference between a real well prepared restaurant with some place like Denny's. read more

Aesthetic was fun for a tiki bar and the heated outdoor seating was the best for families with kids. Food was overpriced for what you get and the flavor was dependent on the dish. The kids enjoyed the sweet potato fries and kids quesadillas. The appetizers were 8$ during happy hour which luckily we hit. They aren't worth more than that. The chicken wings were flavorful. The fish tacos were fine and packed. The rice tastes like minute rice, not authentic sticky rice which was disappointing. The kalbi was good and the real short ribs were appreciated. The Mac salad was aloha style! The Duke's luau pork was a bundle of pineapple shredded pork, not delicious to my pallet. It included pineapple chunks, minute rice and Cole slaw that was over gingered. The plant based chicken sandwich tasted fine with lots of fries. Overall with all the options on the street I'll be giving the others a try. read more

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