What are they doing? What is taking them so long to leave? They see that I'm here waiting for their parking spot! How long has it been? Three minutes just sitting here? Come on, man! Wasting gas! After what seemed like forever, the car FINALLY pulls out and turns towards me, which is the wrong way as the exit is the other way. -_- So this entire time, they were waiting for me! How ridiculous! I considerately waited on the opposite side, so I would not be blocking their way towards the exit, but they thought the exit was where I was waiting. Idiots! I drove forward to let them by me and quickly reversed into the stall only to watch them reverse back towards the correct way. I could feel and see their shame as they drove by lol. That's how the parking structure is for Rivals located in the Ohana Waikiki Malia Hotel. The entrance ramp from Lewers St. is a single lane, two way ramp that also serves as an exit. The whole parking structure is super tight and can be very confusing to those who aren't as sharp. I can't imagine how many problems arise when cars are coming at each other on the ramp. Frustration to the max!
Anyway... Rivals Waikiki is an interesting place, albeit quite small, but it brings an interesting environment with a mix of locals and tourists during NFL Sunday Football. The place is overwhelmed with autographed sports photos that seems to take away important real estate that can be used for flat screen TVs. The set up is odd as the shape of the layout is a long strip with a single row of small tables and a row of counter-style seats plus the bar in the upper part with about 7-8 TVs lined up, and the lower part has regular tables and only three oddly places TVs, so if you're looking to catch most of the games, the top level is the best, but sitting down together with friends will be difficult, and the bottom is the opposite.
Looking through the drinks menu, Rivals has a huge variety of beers that are decently priced, and an even larger variety of hard liquor that even serves Johnnie Walker King George for $250 a glass, which is something I've always wanted to try, but my pockets aren't THAT deep. It was nice to drink a variety of beers rather than just Coors Light all the time.
We ordered the Rivals Signature Nachos. It was big, but the thing was so simple, so lame, and so awful. How lucky for us, we got the bottom of the bag chips, so most of them were crumbs. We added steak to it, but there was barely any, and the meat was the overcooked and chilled variety. All the toppings weren't mixed together, but placed together in one area, so you will either get soggy chips with a lot of toppings, or a bare chip with a single jalapeno, or a sprinkle of cheese. Regardless, the size was sheer and a nice appetizer to share amongst many friends. It's just not worth it, and the price is pretty high.
The Fries were very, very good. It was hot, fresh, and fried perfectly. This was one of the best fries I've had in a while. Though, $8 for a basket of fries is a little hurtin'.
The Chicken Wings were so-so. The chicken wasn't prepared well as the chicken was dry and tough, and on the bland side. Also, $16 for 16 wings is not expensive per se, but it should be cheaper with the more wings you order.
The service was amazing. Our server was very friendly and super attentive. She made sure the drinks kept on coming (to my friends).
Overall, this is a great place to hang out with friends and have a fun time with great service. The extensive drinks list is awesome as well, but the food menu is a bit pricey. For NFL Football, it's an odd setup if you like to watch every game, but fine if you only watch a few. The environment is great with more enthusiastic fans rather than loud, obnoxious, annoying fans. read more