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Kalei's Kitchenette

4.3 (276 reviews)
Closed • 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Kalei's Kitchenette Photos

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KALEI'S KITCHENETTE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Trendy
Moderate noise
Outdoor seating

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Menu as of June 2026
Maria H.

Hidden and very tasty Hawaiian food restaurant in PQ. I never knew this place existed even though I live around the corner, but so glad I discovered it. The cashier was very nice and offered their weekly special. Service was great and my order came out promptly. They are closed on Mondays and Sundays and open till 7pm. Parking can be a bit hectic since the sports bar is right in front of it and plaza is very busy. I ordered the garlic chicken combo plate and that did not disappoint. Perfectly crispy and moist chicken in a sweet and tangy garlic sauce that is not overpowered by the garlic. The combo plate comes with 2 sides, I chose the furikaki rice and macaroni salad, the macaroni salad needed a bit more flavor, but it complemented well with the garlic sauce. Will be back to other dishes and the cucumber salad. They also have some desserts with appeared to be homemade.

Kalei's plate with garlic and huli huli chicken
Maynard O.

My wife and I came here on a Friday morning right when they opened at 11. There was plenty of parking outside on this holiday weekend and we were the first ones in so there wasn't much of an ambience, but it was very nice and organized inside. The girl who greeted us was nice and customer service was about standard. We ordered the Kalei's 2-item plate with garlic and huli huli chicken, Mac salad and rice. The garlic chicken was the star of the show. Crunchy, juicy, and the flavor was there. Huli huli was okay, but was a bit dry for being a chicken thigh and drenched with barbecue sauce so we couldn't taste the char/marinade/dry rub. Overall, I got my plate lunch fix, but I wouldn't drive all the way up here. I'd probably come back just for the garlic chicken, but only if I had business in the area.

Alan S.

Solid four stars at a five and I give this rating because the flavors were on point and the Cooley chicken and pork. We're all cooked very well. Spam musubi was just OK and felt like you could definitely make it at home versus the 4.50 you'd spend. Service OK nothing outstanding because it felt more like a café than a restaurant and it makes sense because there was no inside seating. They have outdoor seating which was nice. Love the decor and the story behind this place. I decided to come here for my birthday and it was a nice treat because I was looking for more Hawaiian spots in San Diego. The mac & cheese was great I wish as a side they added more furike seasoning on the rice. Again, these are just small changes but overall the food is great solid and everything tasted delicious.

Poke plate (half shoyu/half spicy ahi) only available on Saturdays
Pauline T.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not usually a big ahi fan and so I tend to avoid going to poke places that don't have salmon as an option but this place has definitely changed my mindset. I came in on a Saturday afternoon and ordered the poke plate with half spicy ahi and shoyu ahi. The price was a bit steep at around $25 but when I tell you, I completely demolished it within 10 mins... I got it to go but it smelled so good that I had to eat it in my car still parked right in front LOL. The ahi doesn't have an irony taste like other ahi I've tried from some other places. I think I definitely prefer the shoyu flavor though! I'm definitely coming back and bringing my boyfriend to try the other plates they offer!

Hulihuli chicken mini plate - yummy
Vivian H.

Met a colleague friend here for lunch and enjoyed my lunch here. I wasnt sure what to order here as poke is only available on Saturday so I tried the hulihuli chicken mini meal. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat a plate in one sitting so I am glad I got a mini meal. I also couldnt resist the butter mochi with coconut and got an oder of that. Also, there is a lower price for cash vs card, so you can save some money by having cash ready. Limited seating here so not the best place to dine in but we got lucky and gor a table inside. Overall, food was good and loved the butter mochi. I'd definitely come back!

Kalei's plate: Garlic chicken, kalua pork, 2 Mac salad
Catherine G.

My friend recommended this place to me and it is so good! For my Kalei's plate, my two proteins were garlic chicken and Kalua pork and I got two sides of Mac salad. There is very limited indoor seating so I ended up taking it to go. Service was pretty fast and friendly. Overall: 5/5 flavors were very good together, garlic chicken was nice and crunchy, and I love their mac salad

Hurricane chicken plate, poke, side of Mac salad
Jetrina M.

We went here for a late lunch and it was not busy at all. We ordered the hurricane chicken plate, side of Mac salad and poke to share. We loved the flavor of the fried chicken, though I think next time I would just get the fried chicken as I felt like the sauce was a little too much. The cucumber salad was ver refreshing and would definitely get again as well. We enjoyed the poke and it was a pretty large portion. Minimal searing inside and out, probably about 4-6 seats total. Free parking in the shared lot.

Dana R.

The last two years we have ordered take out for our day after Christmas lunch with family. We love this place. We usually order the tofu katsu, spam mysabi, teriyaki beef, garlic chicken, and crab salmon dynamite. The best thing by far is the crab salmon dynamite. I'm not a fan of the macaroni salad. They don't take orders over the phone so we went in and ordered then went back and picked it up. Less than ideal. There is no where to eat inside. Everyone working was super friendly. My design daughter really likes their graphics. Parking is in front.

Crispy chicken combo plate ($15): comes with your choice of two sides (rice, mac salad, or pickled cucumber salad).
Grace L.

Right when I entered, I was warmly greeted by the workers. I decided to pick a combo plate, which comes with a protein, and your choice of two sides (rice, mac salad, or pickled cucumber salad). For my protein, I decided on garlic chicken ($15) because it's deep fried and comes with mirin sauce. This was my favorite protein out of all the ones that I tried. I also got the Kalei's Plate which allows you to pick two proteins (excluding loco loco and tofu katsu) so I went with teriyaki beef and kalua pork. In order of my personal favorites for the proteins: 1. Garlic chicken 2. Kalua pork 3. Teriyaki beef For the sides: 1. Mac salad 2. Rice 3. Cucumber salad One of the times that I ordered at Kalei's, I got to meet the owner. She was so warm and welcoming, and really left such a great lasting impression on me. I highly recommend Kalei's the next time that you're craving Hawaiian food! They really embody the aloha spirit in addition to their delicious Hawaiian food.

Loco Moco
Josh M.

Food was decent. Thought I'd try my luck with a new spot for loco moco. The food/gravy could have used some salt. Also for $22 I should get more than a tiny scoop of rice. $22 is really high for a Loco Moco. I had high hopes but left disappointed. Seating is also very limited inside. The staff was super nice also.

Outside
Rachel G.

Definitely a favorite for Hawaiian food for me! It's a cute and intimate little place to enjoy some delicious food. The service is usually cheerful & friendly! Never a complaint and I've always been served with a smile. As far as the food goes, I've eaten here a few times, trying the loco moco and kalua pork. The rice is always cooked just right - not too dry but not too wet to the point of being mushy. The egg still has runny yolk and the patty has good flavor for the loco moco. The kalua pork was most & had a smoky flavor! Mac salad is great, but still contending to be my favorite. My parents really enjoyed their garlic chicken as well! Can't wait to visit again

Combo plate: Teriyaki beef and Kalua pork
Justin C.

I was craving Hawaiin food and in the North County area, so I swung by this wonderful Hawaiin establishment. This is a newer eatery and the ownership really strives to bring the Hawaiin hospitality and culture to San Diego. I would say they succeeded! I got a combo "Kalei's Plate" $17 which meant I got to pick my two proteins and a garlic chicken plate: - Garlic chicken + cucumber salad + mac salad - Kalua Pork and Teriyaki beef + mac salad + rice - Two spam Masubis ($4 each) The kalua pork was my favorite, moist and bursting with flavor. The garlic chicken was deliciously crispy on the outside and juicy and on the inside. They do a fantastic job with the Mac salad. The food was very filling and was good for a filling dinner for my wife and I and an extra midnight snack. Service is very friendly and there are some limited seating options. I really enjoyed reading the history of Chef Andy and his team. I really appreciated the owner's wife who came to greet my wife and I warmly and explain the history of some of the dishes. This is a regular rotation in our dinners whenever we are craving Hawaiin!

$25 including taxes: Teriyaki Chicken, Garlic Chicken, Mac Salad, and rice.

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Kalei's Kitchenette Reviews in Other Languages

Ask the Community - Kalei's Kitchenette

Hi! Do you offer military discount?

Aloha Jillian, Thank you for your question! At this time, we do not offer a military discount. We… 

Hi Andy, on your website. I'm looking using my phone for itemized or combo dishes, not the party trays. You show a crab Friday combo special. I looked for more info on that plate. Where can I view the info on the plate?

Aloha Tyler! The best way is to go to our online portal: https://order.spoton.com/so-kaleis-kitchenette-12848/san-diego-ca/63f6a311d8bba0b9b2ee71a2 and change the date to Friday -- pretend that you are about to put an online order.… 

Another vote for malasadas, please?

Is the Huli Huli chicken sauce made with Sweet baby rays?

Aloha Albert! we make our own marinade and sauce for all our dishes.

Will you ever serve lau lau's?

Do you have malasadas?

No we don’t. Sorry. Maybe in the future.

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Oi Asian Fusion - Karaage Fried Chicken (5)

Oi Asian Fusion

4.6(362 reviews)
2.5 mi
•$$

Mahal Mahal. First off, I'm half Filipino. I'm fusion to the core. Stopped in because, gotta…read moresupport but DANG!!!!!!!!! This flavor is dynamic AF. It's like Kuyah hooked it up with style. My goodness if you're looking for banging dishes and stellar world class customer service and that asain fusion hospitality , this is a worth adding a stop to your GPS. Music comfort and very nice and tidy. 5 +++ stars!

Oi Fusion in Carmel Mountain is a casual Asian fusion spot with bowls, fries, wings, desserts, and…read morehonestly a menu where everything sounds good. One of my favorite things about this place is how easy it is. You order on the kiosk, grab a seat, and your food usually comes out within like 10-15 minutes. The inside has a lot of seating and even games like Jenga which makes it feel like a fun spot to hang out for lunch. I didn't interact much with service since I used the kiosk, but the worker upfront was really friendly and even brought my takeout to my table. This time I tried the Dynamite Crawfish Bowl and the Dynamite Fries. The bowl comes with crawfish, rice, dynamite sauce, eel sauce, seaweed, sesame seeds, and pickled radish on top. The fries normally come with sweet potato fries but I swapped mine for regular fries because I just wasn't feeling sweet potato that day. The fries were honestly kind of underwhelming. It was basically fries with dynamite sauce and only a few pieces of garlic confit, which was the part I was most excited for. They weren't bad, just really underwhelming. I honestly think the sweet potato fries probably would've worked better with the flavors. The crawfish bowl though was really good. The crawfish had this slight smoky flavor to it like it was lightly torched and they give you a lot in each bite. The rice was fluffy and cooked perfectly and the pickled radish on top helped cut through all the richness from the sauces. Everything worked really well together flavor wise. My only complaint is that halfway through the bowl the flavors started blending together a little too much and it gets boring, but overall it was still super satisfying and filling. Definitely still one of my favorite quick lunch spots in Carmel Mountain and somewhere I'd bring friends because the menu has so many good options. Their dessert menu also sounds insane so I already know I'll be back.

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Oi Asian Fusion - Delicious food and super friendly staff!

Delicious food and super friendly staff!

Oi Asian Fusion - Pork Belly And Umami Gravy

Pork Belly And Umami Gravy

Oi Asian Fusion - Order counter. They recommend ordering online.

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Order counter. They recommend ordering online.

Tong Sake House - CRUNCH ROLL

Tong Sake House

4.4(681 reviews)
2.9 mi
•$$

Our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs on this visit... but honestly, no regrets…read more We hadn't eaten all day, so we may have gone a little overboard. We ordered the Kimchi & Bacon Fried Rice, a Poke Salmon Bento Box, a Philadelphia Roll, and a Dragon Roll. The fried rice was fantastic, but the kimchi was easily my favorite part. It brought just the right amount of tang and spice that made every bite better. Now for my personal breakthrough... Growing up, I was never much of a seafood person. My partner has been slowly introducing me to sushi, and this dinner felt like another milestone. The Philadelphia Roll confirmed that I'm definitely a salmon fan, and the Dragon Roll introduced me to eel... which turns out I also really like. It's always fun when a meal changes your mind about something you've avoided for years. The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming, and another huge bonus was simply finding a great restaurant in Poway that stays open later than most places. Sometimes that's exactly what you need after a long day. We definitely ordered more food than we could finish, but that's just another excuse to come back. Looking forward to trying even more of the menu next time.

We were seated immediately. Our server was really nice. I felt bad we stayed a lot longer at the…read morerestaurant because we girls wanted to catch up. The food was really good. I would come back and try the ramen. Parking is plenty and free and its in the same plaza as star bread. The restaurant was clean and we got our food delivered at a good amount of time. Family friendly restaurant also. No dogs allowed.

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Tong Sake House - Inside

Inside

Tong Sake House - Bento

Bento

Tong Sake House - Garlic Edamame

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Garlic Edamame

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Shrimp Pad Thai ()

The Original Sab-E-Lee

3.9(1.4k reviews)
0.7 mi•Rancho Penasquitos
•$$

The BEST thai food in the area! I am never disappointed when I eat here. This is my guilty pleasure…read moreand when we have work parties we order all three red, green, and yellow curries because we all can't decide which is our favorite! Basil beef and all the noodle dishes are so flavorful and not too oily.The level 2 is definitely an entry level kick of spice. Last time we came you did have to pay for the rice to eat with the curry. The inside is a little outdated but the service is great. You can call in to order which is very convenient. There is a lot of parking and it is in a nicer plaza with many other restaurants and grocery stores. I have been going here for years and will continue to go here..

How come no one knows evil jungle?…read more Ok it must be a Hawaiian thing but this is another place in San Diego that doesn't offer evil jungle. But at least they have the other stuff. The family ordered the following: tom yum shrimp, pad see eww beef, garlic chicken wings, and papaya salad. Tom yum was good. Larger chunks of tomatoes than I like but still good. I wish it was more sour but that's my preference. The pad see eww very good. My favorite of all the dishes. Good balance of meat to noodles and with the added red pepper fish sauce just the right amount of kick. Chicken wings were average. Nothing special to me and they didn't have much garlic flavor in my opinion. FYI, there is no stuff chicken wings offered here. Lastly the papaya salad is fresh. It's salad, what do you want me to say :p Overall four stars. The service was friendly, the kitchen was quick, the restaurant is clean and well maintained, and plenty of parking. Just no evil jungle :( M

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The Original Sab-E-Lee
The Original Sab-E-Lee - Pork Jerky ()

Pork Jerky ()

The Original Sab-E-Lee - Crab Fried Rice (), Curry Puff (), Pa-Nang (), Drunken Noodles (), Papaya Salad

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Crab Fried Rice (), Curry Puff (), Pa-Nang (), Drunken Noodles (), Papaya Salad

Burma Place - Palata w/Chicken Curry Dip

Burma Place

4.5(567 reviews)
4.5 mi•Rancho Bernardo
•$$

Delicious food! We ate it all…read more We shared Burmese noodle with chicken, beef with sesame, and green tea salad. It's all tasty and done. Service was friendly and efficient. It's a storefront restaurant so it's a casual ambiance. If I lived nearby, I'd visit here often.

Where's Burma or what's it called now?…read more I couldn't find this country on a map but Apple Maps and my cousin helped me find the restaurant. My cousin's been here a few times and loves the freshness of the tea leaf salad. The only time I eat tea leaves is when it's used in a lau lau. We got the tea leaf salad, samosas soup, spicy beef, chicken lettuce wraps, garlic noodles, and green beans. A few dishes were okay and a couple of dishes were excellent. The okays were the green beans, chicken lettuce wrap, and samosas soup. Nothing really stood out for flavor. I did find the chickpea crunch for the soup very interesting. The above average dishes were the garlic noodles and tea leaf salad. I enjoyed these dishes. The garlic noodles had some flavor and the salad brought the freshness. The great dish was the spicy beef. It brought the heat and I really enjoyed that. It went well with the coconut rice and extra fish sauce I asked for. The bonus: dessert. Black sticky rice and banana palata. Sticky rice ok but that pancake was fabulous. The gooeyness of that banana next to that crispy dough is pretty good. Plus I scream for ice cream. (Don't put the hosin sauce here, it's an inside joke with the server Cindy). Overall four stars. The restaurant is spacious and very clean. The food came out fast and service was great. Definitely a great cultural experience. M

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Burma Place
Burma Place - Black glutinous rice with icecream

Black glutinous rice with icecream

Burma Place - Mango Tofu

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Mango Tofu

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

3.8(1.5k reviews)
3.2 mi
•$$$

If you haven't had Japanese BBQ yet, you're missing out!…read more We dropped by for their late night happy hour (after 8:30pm) and got the Value Course for 2. It included a few starters (salad, miso soup, edamame & rice), various BBQ items (6 different cuts of meat & veggies), and was more than filling! During happy hour, this set is $70 ($35 per person). Honestly, quite the steal! You cook your own meats here and the staff checks in periodically. I was quite impressed with the quality of the cuts, portion sizes, and overall hospitality. Super yums! Will be back!

We came here to celebrate our 5-year wedding anniversary, and unfortunately, the experience was…read moreincredibly disappointing. First off the quality of the food was very good. Shortly after being seated, we noticed that our grill wasn't getting hot enough to properly cook our food. We brought it to our server's attention, but she assured us it was working fine. We had shrimp on the grill, which should cook relatively quickly, but it was barely cooking at all. When our server returned, we mentioned again that something wasn't right, and she offered to oil the grill. Unfortunately, that did nothing to resolve the issue. After about 20 minutes of trying to explain that the grill simply wasn't working properly, we finally insisted that something needed to be done and were moved to another table. We thought that would be the end of our issues, but shortly after sitting down, we noticed water dripping from above onto us and our grill. The manager happened to notice my husband looking up at the ceiling and asked what was wrong. When we explained that water was dripping on us, his response was essentially, "Oh yeah, that's condensation from the AC." What was most frustrating was how casually this was brushed off, as though having water drip onto guests and their food while dining was completely normal. No solution was offered, and we spent the remainder of our meal with water continuing to drip on us and onto the grill. We were really looking forward to a special anniversary dinner, but instead spent much of the evening dealing with issues that should have been addressed immediately. Equipment problems happen, and we understand that, but it's how those situations are handled that makes the difference. Unfortunately, the lack of urgency, dismissive responses, and overall handling of the situation left us feeling incredibly disappointed. Definitely not the anniversary experience we had hoped for.

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Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

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Kalei's Kitchenette - hawaiian - Updated October 2026

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