Kona Grill

Kona Grill is a rare restaurant that actually CAN please every single person at the dinner table. The menu spans from traditional sushi to custom American and Asian influenced dishes that compliment an exotic drink menu in one of the most pleasant and varied atmospheres of any Indianapolis restaurant. With a beautiful fish tank, large open area bar/​patio, elegant private dining room, sushi bar, and a traditional dining room — Kona has something for everyone.
The made from scratch kitchen can accommodate any special request and every time I’ve dined here the service has been more than impeccable and understanding. My moms gluten «allergy» has never been an issue here. The kids menu is surprisingly well thought out and our server even asked us if we would like them to eat first in case they were hungry. Not many servers even want to take care of kids, much less prioritize them.
I had the seabass and my mouth is watering just thinking of it again. Delicate yet flavorful and the fish was incredibly fresh. Will definitely bring my family here more often.
Food and service are A+, ¹⁰⁄₁₀

Their menu confuses me. Seems like they’re trying to do too much. That’s where the disconnect is for me — sushi, Asian fusion and American. The food is generally good, but I wish there was more of a uniting them instead of the randomness that seems to be here.
A couple hits for me:
Half price bottles of wine on Wednesdays. They have a great selection too!
Sushi… good stuff
Calamari
Macadamia nut chicken
Miss:
Spinach artichoke dip (no flavor)
I also got to sample the Caesar salad, egg rolls and flatbreads and all were really good!
The service is friendly and I like the location in Clay Terrace in that there is ample parking in the lot behind the restaurant.
I will say this is a great place for group dining/​parties! Very accommodating to requests.

Stopped by for drinks and sushi and the place is packed and very loud. Decent wait times for as busy as they were. This places makes great drinks but at a very steep price of 12 – 20 dollars per drink and they do not put the prices on the menu. The servers were nice and attentive. The sushi has to be the most overpriced and disgusting sushi I have ever had. The rolls are very expensive compared to other places and they lack flavor. You’d be better off at another sushi bar or even eating sushi from Kroger. They try to over compensate the lack of natural flavor by adding fruity or spicy flavors and soy paper but it just doesn’t work and the rolls are small for the price. 3 drinks and 5 rolls for me and my wife was almost 130dollars before tip. I would not recommend getting sushi here or drinks this place is very overpriced for the quality.

Just wanted to update my review and say that I’ve been here many times the last few years, and it’s pretty much always as amazing as it was the first time. This is my consistently favorite sushi place in the area, and when I have guests in town who like sushi, this is where I take them to impress. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything except the sushi, edamame, and gyoza, because it’s always delicious. My favorites vary depending on the day, just try whatever sounds good and share with the table!

Ate here during a weekday happy hour. Bar staff was friendly and diligent. I was a little disappointed when my lettuce wraps came out and I had to wrap them myself. Maybe that’s a normal thing, I don’t know, this was first time ordering lettuce wraps anywhere. Smoked cheese fondue was excellent! Food also felt like it took a long time to come out. Margarita was very refreshing. Bar was very busy and crowded though for 5pm, had to squeeze 4 of us at the bar because there were no lounge tables open, 1 of us actually stood for about 20 minutes until a 4^th bar stool opened up.

My family and I visited last weekend for my birthday after overwhelming recommendations from my coworkers. It’s a good thing I made a reservation, Saturday evening at 8 it was packed. It was louder than I had anticipated which my parents don’t care for, it was a bit hard to hear each other, but most places are loud these days.
Service was decent, the food was great. Everyone really enjoyed their dishes. My dad even tried sushi for the first time and loved it. The cocktails were delish and the bread pudding was to die for! The bill wasn’t the cheapest, definitely not somewhere we would frequent, but we will absolutely come back on special occasions. An enjoyable experience with tasty food!

The owner is rude. We came yesterday and had a lovely time for happy hour. Come back today and because we aren’t all 21 we can’t get the happy hour on Sushi. What kind of business says its against the law to allow us to have happy hour when we just had it yesterday. They offered free apps but we came here for the half off sushi. Fact is you shouldn’t treat younger customers different than 21+, if all customers are valued them «happy hour» should not be only for 21+

Oh nuts!!! Avoid Kona Grill if you have nut allergies because most of the menu items are unsafe. The miso soup was safe, but it didn’t have much flavor at all. We tried the spicy king crab roll and the flavors were just odd and the rice didn’t have the proper sticky rice consistency. The spicy tuna roll was not bad, but we have had much better. The calamari appetizer wasn’t very good — it was also not a safe choice for nut allergies. My white was good, but I’m not going to give the restaurant much credit for that. The atmosphere was kind of loud and not at all relaxing. We had been looking forward to trying the place based on the many positive reviews, but I doubt we will ever go back.

Service here was good, but the food was just ok.
Miso Soup — flavorful but very salty. Good amount of seaweed and tofu in it.
Calamari — had no flavor… just tasted like the oil it was fried in. Best part was the dipping sauce, which was pretty much just sriracha mayo… can’t go wrong with sriracha!
Lobster Mac n Cheese — Had a lot of lobster in it, but just tasted like bacon.
Mahi Mahi — good flavor, well cooked. No complaints.
Yamada Roll — was a good roll, but the sweet chili sauce overpowered the roll and that was all you tasted.
California Roll — pretty much try this everywhere, since my son loves them. Not the best I’ve had, but not the worst.
Key Lime Pie — tasted like a key lime apple pie… if there was such a thing. Key lime part was really good, but the crust had a lot of cinnamon flavor… which is weird for a key lime pie.
Brownie — came out warm with vanilla ice cream on top and raspberries with a caramel drizzle. Delicious!
Best part of this meal was the dessert. Dessert portions are huge, so you can definitely share!

Sushi in the Midwest is always a fraught proposition…
But this place was actually pretty decent. It wasn’t «melt in your mouth and taste the ocean» sushi, but it wasn’t «stick in your throat and taste whatever else was in the freezer» sushi either.
They also have really nice lettuce wraps here and the service is good. I think this would be a good place for a business meeting or maybe even an event like a birthday or engagement party.
I’d definitely return.

Quick seating in bar area fir ‘Happy Hour’ menu. House wines were okay, I ordered a better choice at recommendation of our server, Sara. Great sushi rolls. From the long list of rolls, I chose the outstanding Philly with smoked salmon; the Wave — a nicer spicy salmon roll and the Voodoo roll with crawfish. All were excellent. I also tasted the avocado egg roll, the potstickers and the spinach/​artichoke dip. Again, all were very good. Two members of our party had their favorite Oriental Chicken Salad. Though the coconut chicken breast was not as flavorful as one would like, this cabbage laden salad is always delish. The turkey burger is a satisfier for the conservative palate. Fries were adequate. I say, «Do the sushi and potstickers». They are at the top of the food chain here. Sara was really good to us — efficient and personable. As a customer service nut, I really appreciated her. Drawback: bar is ideal for a couple but a bit noisy for a group of 5 for comfortable conversation.

HAVE AGAIN: the sweet glazed salmon with green beans was outstanding. Just a bit crunchy for both salmon and beans. Very good and patient server. Eel cucumber and salmon roll were also very good, but only 3 stars.
NOT HAVE AGAIN: the key lime pie was heavy with a very thick crust. It was good, but not delicious and I would not order it again.

Picture it: Clay Terrace, at the end of summer. You and a friend on the patio of Kona Grill, sharing appetizers and drinks. The wind is gently wafting around you — just enough to keep you cool on this humid midwestern evening. You laugh and talk, all the while sipping your Moscow mule, watching people walk by.
Yes, all this can be yours during happy hour at Kona Grill. (Although, I just heard tell that Indiana doesn’t have «happy hour» anymore, so I’m not sure what discounted appetizers and adult beverages between certain hours would be called. Special hour?)
We ordered a few sushi rolls — the fiery shrimp roll, California roll and spicy salmon roll — and all were delicious. I was hesitant to order sushi because a) I don’t usually like sushi, and b) this is sushi in a land-​locked state, so how good could it really be? The answer: VERY GOOD, MY FRIEND. I am a sushi convert now, because of Kona Grill. Give me all the sushi. All of it.
My one gripe is that my Moscow mule needed more alcohol. It tasted kind of watered down.
The service was great, though, and the seating on the patio is perfect for people-​watching and relaxing.

A great neighborhood restaurant. I am Gf and Paleo for health reasons, not a lifestyle preference. So… I wish there were more a couple more options.

I had philly role and Cal. role, the taste was good but the server was too slow! It took 10 minutes to bring the check and it
It was a weekday lunch and I expected faster service!

One of the best Asian fusion restaurants I’ve ever been to! It offers a good selection of Asian inspired dishes, and an extensive sushi menu at very affordable prices. It took me forever to order because I couldn’t pick between a number of dishes; you know a restaurant is going to be good when almost everything on the menu appeals to you! I settled on the Lobster and Shrimp roll, which was the best sushi I have ever had — the seafood was fresh, and tasted delicious with the habanero cream cheese. I also tried the Tuna Wonton Crisps, Checkerboard Roll, Sunshine Roll, and the Rock Shrimp. Since all of those were also delicious, I can only imagine how good everything else on the menu is! I would have ordered everything on that menu if I could.

I’ve been to Kona Grill more times than I can count. First in Phoenix where the company first started, and now in Carmel. I’d say other than the fact Indiana does not allow happy hours (Alcohol), it is pretty much the same. One of the best, if not best Happy Hour specials on food however still exists here.
I came in for a business lunch and sat in the restaurant as opposed to the usual bar. It was then, when looking at the menu when I realized, I had NEVER eaten here for non-​happy hour. I was not familiar with the menu and there were a few things that really caught my eye. In the end, I landed on a tuna steak over a bed of sticky rice with Bok Choy and Sweet & Spicy Asian sauce.
It was fantastic. The Tuna was cooked perfectly rare with a slight sear on both sides. The rub they used for the tuna gave the finish a great flavor that was slightly spicy and balanced out perfectly with the sweeter (and supposedly spicy?) sauce on the plate. My only complaint would be that there is a ton of the sauce on the plate and it might be overbearing.
All in all delicious however. My guests at the table ordered the same thing but in a sandwich form, which basically housed a tuna steak in between sandwich slices with burger fixings and avocado. Meh, save the calories and carbs and get it like I had it… simple. :)
I’d come back for more business meetings, but don’t forget about their happy hours!

I absolutely loved the food and service I received. We had 3 sushi rolls (habanero tuna roll, coconut shrimp roll and shrimp and lobster roll. Everything was fresh and the rolls were rolled tight and easy to eat.
We ate the lobster mac and cheese and the macadamia nut chicken. Both were awesome. I’m not a Mac &Cheese person and I might order this as a meal. The macadamia nut chicken was rich and with the marmalade purée it was a great combo.
Dessert was the «Spiced apple bread pudding». It was big enough to share. It was really good and I can’t say more than that.
The drinks that were ordered were Sam Adams cold snap, tropical Mango Punch, Fiji apple sake and several Kentucky Mule. They were all great. The Kentucky Mule is light and refreshing. I think it is my new summer drink.

With a few minutes to spare, we managed to make it for the tail end of Happy Hour (weekdays 3 — 7pm). The bar area (inside/​outside) was packed when we went on a recent Friday night. Luckily, a table opened up after a few minutes of standing around waiting.
Service: 4.5
After we sat ourselves, a guy came by to clear and wipe down the table. Soon after, our friendly server came by to take our orders. Water, drink and food orders came all within reasonable times. Despite it being packed, the service was attentive.
Food: 4
Chicken satay: 4 skewered chicken with a serving of a mild slaw. It comes with two sauces, one peanut and the other hoison based. Both paired well with the satay.
BBQ chicken flatbread: Crisp flatbread topped with a tangy bbq sauce, chunks of chicken, thinly sliced red onions, cheddar & gouda, & parsley. I managed to eat two of the six slices and took the rest in a to-​go box.
Kona salad (on the regular menu):
Macadamia crusted chicken on a bed of mixed greens. Couple slices of avocado. Chunks of hard boiled lettuce. It was a big salad ($ 13) that we split. It was a solid choice, but I probably wouldn’t order it again. This seemed like something I could make with relative ease. I tend to order foods I wouldn’t make at home due to the ingredients or pure laziness, but I was looking for a lighter, shareable option.
Drink: 4
My go-​to is the strawberry but I opted for the raspberry frozen margarita with a sugar rim this time. Pretty and tasty for less than 5 bucks.
All in all, this is a great spot for Happy Hour. Each table has a menu with the Happy Hour food and drink options (refer to the regular menu for a description of ingredients). HH options are very reasonably priced (believe most are half off), and the food is better than the typical bar fare. It’s always fun to order a few items to share. We also observed that many appeared to be on dates. I’d recommend this as a date spot. It’s not loud like other places that you’ll have to shout across the table, and it has a cool, yet casual vibe. My dining companion was surprised and even questioned to me if the bill was right because it was much lower than expected. While it came on one bill, the server was good about splitting it down the middle on both our cards.

I really really WANT to love Kona Grill, but food-​wise, it’s only So-​So. I’ve received great service there though, so I’m giving Kona a 3 instead of a two.
We tried the bulgogi tacos because they sound SO delicious, but the sauce was way too sweet and almost impossible to eat. the taco shells were really good, and everything was fresh, but they have got to work on that sauce to have a real winner there.
My husband got the Tuna Ceviche and I got a Yamada sushi roll. Now I did really like my Sushi roll, it tasted fresh, it was beautifully presented, and had a nice crunch. There was a sweet sauce on it, which I enjoyed but my husband didn’t.
The Tuna Ceviche was fresh but it had a TON of cilantro… and for $ 12, it sure wasn’t a lot of food. 3 tortilla chips and a handful of Ceviche. At least give a few extra chips. It WAS pretty though-​very pretty.
Service was really great though, and they did offer to bring us dessert since we didn’t like the Ceviche. We declined, and they ended up taking if off the bill-​which was completely unnecessary, there are times that we are just not going to like our purchase.
This was my 3^rd visit, and I haven’t been too impressed, I don’t think I’ll be back.