Café Panini

A little confusing and difficult to find and parking is not easy. With all of this said, truly a hidden gem and worth it. Come early bc lunch here is busy but again, worth the wait. Call ahead and save time. Hot pastrami and side chili, what can I say, I skipped breakfast.
Yeah, call ahead

If all they served was the soups they would get 5 stars… the sandwiches are high quality & the specials are hit or miss… I work in the building so I can vouch for that… a double decker blt doesn’t hurt from time to time either

This place is a hidden Gem. The food here is great!
I ordered a platter of sandwiches for my graduation
Event in the past and everyone was asking where I got them. I would high recommend to have your next lunch here when you are in the area or if you work in the building or near by to stop by and check this place out!

Great take out for breakfast or lunches. They have soups, salads & sandwiches, pre-​made in the refrigerator if you’re in a rush, or made to order.
Don’t forget about their daily specials! Check out their website:

Please try and smile once in a while… it’s the running joke around the office that people are scared to even order from your food stand. Not to mention the fear of modifying a menu item or asking a question. Word of mouth means a lot and despite the convenience of the location it’s quickly becoming not worth it. Many of the surrounding businesses that supply your customers are corporations that pride themselves on customer experience. You might not want to be known as their daily reminder of how not to treat customers.

I wish I could give this place 2.5 stars because I feel like 2 is too harsh and 3 is too generous. Here are my thoughts:
Pros:
Good price
Food is good
Good sized portions
Cons:
Service here is awful. Like, really bad. I say this after multiple times of observing bad service, not just one instance. Orders are routinely missed/​skipped, people are made to wait a long time, wrong or incorrect orders are given out.
Lat time I went, the lady making the sandwiches was fairly rude — after I waited 40 minutes for 2 pesto paninis, I looked in the bag and there was only one in there. I pointed that out, to which her response was «I already gave you the other one». Yeah. I just sat there for 40 minutes waiting in front of you and you think I’ve got a sandwich hidden away in my pockets? Turns out they had it up there behind the counter. The woman working the register seemed nice and offered to give me an extra order of fries for my wait, but they weren’t made yet, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend the last 20 minutes of my lunch break waiting more.
This place would be 4 stars in my mind without the staffing issues. I’m done going there for now though.

They have really good sandwiches, salads and soups. I’ve never tried any of their hot food items, but heard they were «alright». It’s mainly for people who work in the area, you can’t dine here, which is too bad.

When I first moved on island I lived at the Best Western for 3 months. I was so glad to have this healthier alternative by. My favorite was the turkey, bacon avocado on sourdough. I also ordered truffle fries. These were always made fresh and hot. The food does take awhile to get, but it isn’t «fast food.» Also they no longer have a parking space, which makes this place a bit of an inconvenience.

I used to work in the commercial center so I came here quite often to avoid hiking it up the giant ass ramp to my car and leave for lunch. Even though everything is made fresh and was pretty tasty, I still think the place was just okay. First of all, it’s soooo slow. 2^nd, the owners/​employees are not very personable. They are to the point, take your order, give it to you. that’s it. No small talk or friendly exchanges. Which is fine anywhere else, but a place that I came to almost on a daily basis? You gonna act like I’m brand new? Ok! Another thing, it’s pretty darn pricey. Café Panini is definitely set up for employees of the area, I def don’t recommend making a special trip here.

Popped into the Café Panini on the 1^st floor of the Airport Commercial Center … their BLT was chock full of bacon in every bite! So fresh. Too bad the mac salad had egg in it but not their fault I have an allergy to eggs! Will definitely stop by when I’m in the area again!

Heard about this place from a friend.
Finally decided to try there.
There is only 1 parking stall for that place.
The cashier was very «unfriendly»!!! Very «sassy»!!
Not sure if she was the owner. I should’ve asked her name.
No «personality» and no «customer service» etiquette!
Asked if they were gonna make any Caprese Salad’s and her response was «no, you should’ve called»! Told her we did and the phone was busy!
Also asked her if they had a menu her response was «go on the internet»!!
Way to treat a «new or any» paying customer!
If you weren’t the only place in that work area to purchase food I wonder if you would still be in business with that «attitude»!!
Won’t be going there «again»!!!

I started coming to this place about 6 years ago when it was owned by Carlos and Jolyn. Limited outdoor seating, otherwise take and go. My fave things were the turkey pesto, grilled cheese with tomato, and the Carlos burrito (best salsa EVER!!!). Oh, and the hot entrees and soups. I would eat so much it hurt. Yes I did — don’t judge me! Oh also? You can get any sandwich in a wrap. How awesome is that? Sure parking SUCKS — 1 stall right in front, and it’s almost always taken — but to experience this food that is made by true artists? MUST HAVE!
Fast forward a few years. Carlos and Jolyn sold the business! What?! Strangely, under the new owners the sandwiches and burritos all look and taste EXACTLY the same. What what?! Yep, it’s true. But new hot entrees and soups? Not so much. We tried at least twice, and were sorely disappointed in the hot stuff.
You can order platters for meetings and such, but there is a extra charge (I believe it’s $ 10) to put it on the platter. Order at least 24 hours in advance, though I bet they appreciate a couple days’ notice. Also, DO NOT call this place during lunchtime! It’s ridiculously busy! If you have to place a catering-​type order, best to fax your order and follow up with a breakfast time or after lunch phone call, or an in-​person visit.
So, 5 stars for sandwiches and burritos, which are so A-​MAZING, it’s like they are from sandwich heaven. No joke! Ooh, also 5 stars for the addition of truffle fries, furikake fries, and sweet potato fries, also A-​MAZING! 1 star for new hot entrees, which leave a LOT to be desired. Well, you can’t win ‘em all, but I’ll take what I can get!

Food: B
Price: B
Customer Service: C
Location/​Parking: D
Café Panini is located on the first floor of the Airport Commercial Center. They work off a counter next to the elevator and tend to get busy during the breakfast and lunch rush. They serve really good sandwiches, cookies, soup and french fries and even put samples on the counter for customers to try. If you’re looking for a quick grab and go, they have pre-​made salads, fruit containers and bottled drinks in the fridge next to their counter.
Another awesome thing that Café Panini offers are sandwich platters. My company does a lot of ordering with them for our lunch meetings and they can put a whole variety of sandwiches on platters and have them delivered to your office if you work in the area. With our last delivery, they also gave free individual cups of macaroni salad.
Their food’s good but they could use some, ok, A LOT of work with the customer service over the phone. I called one day to place an order for a sandwich platter and female answered the phone. She really couldn’t answer any of my questions so I don’t think she had any business answering the phone.
Me: Hi, how many sandwiches can you fit on a platter?
Her: Um, (puts the phone down without asking me to hold and asks someone else to take the call. Talking in the background continues until she comes back on the line and tells me they can fit seven on a platter. (Which I found out later, by the way, is not true. They have different size platters and can fit as many sandwiches as you need on the platter.)
Me: OK, may I place an order for delivery for next Friday?
Her: Um, (puts the phone down without asking me to hold again and asks someone to take the phone order).
Really?! Really? Unacceptable. My co worker, who does a lot of ordering with them, said the customer service is always horrible over the phone. It’s a different story when you go in person though. The chef is friendly and other than the employees looking stressed out from long lines, they’re alright. If you’re planning to come here, especially during peak hours, make sure you’re not in a rush because there are NO parking stalls for Café Panini. All of the stalls in the area are reserved for other businesses in the area and Café Panini doesn’t have an assigned one. I usually park at the Airport Trade Center next door and walk over. You will also have to wait a few minutes for your food, especially if you’re ordering a hot sandwich.
Favorites:
+Chicken salad sandwich
+Roasted veggie sandwich
+Sugar cookies
+Sweet potato fries
+Truffle fries

Decently delicious paninis and sandwiches, fresh quality ingredients, soggy fries.
Tucked away behind the Airport Trade Center, Café Panini exists as a small indoor walk up shop on the bottom floor of what I think is the Hawaiian airlines corporate headquarters? Order your food, pick it up in a classic brown paper bag, and sit outside on one of 3 stone tables with umbrellas outside. No seats available? Might be out of luck, as there’s no other seating in plain sight.
Paninis? Delicious! Try the turkey pesto panini which is a yummy conglomerate of turkey, pesto, fresh tomatoes, and lots of gooey cheese. Best hot, this is my favorite sandwich here! (
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If you’re looking for something a bit on he healthier side, try the simple yet fresh turkey avocado sandwich. They stuff that sucker with generous amounts of turkey, avocado, tomato, and lettuce, so you really feel like you’re getting your moneys’ worth. Check the thickness of this sandwich; it’s huge and can barely fit in my small Asian mouth! (
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(All sandwiches/​paninis come with a small container of Mac salad and cost around $ 8/​sandwich.)
Skip the fries. Apparently a new addition to their menu (maybe they haven’t worked out the kinks yet?) the furikake fries we ordered had good furikake flavor, but were SO SOGGY. They literally looked and felt like limp noodles when I picked them up. Maybe some of you out there might enjoy this, but I personally believe that fries should be crispy! Disappointing $ 4.25 I’ll never get back. Go for a bag of chips instead.
Parking is located in the airport center. Customer stalls are only 30 minutes max so keep that in mind while getting your food!

I was in the area for work and it was lunch time. Great to pick up salads on the go, wish the spam musubi was not sold out hehe. Tofu salad fresh and lettuce crisp with a sesame dressing. On the specials was a kalua pork burrito YUMMM but did not have time to try.
I will return so I can pick up couple more items

I’ve been hooked on turkey and avocado sandwiches lately, so finding Café Panini made me super happy. The place itself is kind of hard to find, even with GPS. I suggest parking in the parking lot where Big Kahuna’s, Starbucks, etc. is, and then just walking over. While facing these stores, you head to the left end, and make a right. It is under the blue awning. The establishment itself is just a small counter in the lobby? of the building. So… no eat in option.
That day was a fat day, so I wanted to eat everything. I got the turkey avocado sandwich and the turkey pesto. Despite my craving for the turkey avocado sandwich, I was slightly disappointed because there were no sprouts in mine! (The Unilocal pictures showed some with and some without. Sad face.) Overall it was an OK sandwich; healthy and satisfying. The pesto sandwich on the other hand. DELICIOUS. Eat it ASAP so you can get all the melty cheese yumminess! But to be honest, I only ate half right away and ate the other half cold. Still freaking good. Both sandwiches came with a small thing of mac salad. Meh. I ended up throwing it away.

This place is amazing! I love it. So fresh and the people are friendly.
It is hard to find and no parking close, but so worth it!

I love your $ 1 bag of potato chips. Sure it’s just potato chips but when I was stuck in a cold room for 8 – 10 hours a day for the craziest training of my life, I felt that eating something comforting was good for my morale.
Café Panini also has good salads and soups. The Chinese Chicken Salad was my favorite. The soups are changed daily but they did not disappoint. I wished they had a soup + salad combo.
This is a great little lunch spot if you work in the immediate area but I wouldn’t purposely go out of the way for it.

This place really met up to my expectations. My only disappointment is that although it’s called café PANINI, there’s only two choices of panini to choose from. I also want to clearify that they are open on Fridays from 11 – 2.
It’s been a while since I had this but I think about it all the time when I’m hungry. It is more of a pricey side but it is absolutely delicious. It tastes like a hearty home-​cooked meal. I really would recommend anything. It’s a matter of preference. I especially loved the daily special that day. It was the chicken pesto penne. If ever you get the chance, do it!
Place is actually really hard to find. We were getting pretty frustrated but the food was really worth it!

I’ve been dying to try this place! It’s like a mile from my house, but since I work in town during the week I can never find time to go here! Finally took off work (aka called in sick) after a night of drunken craziness and decided to give this place a shot for lunch.
It’s located NEAR the airport trade center/​industrial center (where big kahunas is), but in the blue building next door (where like Hawaiian Airlines offices are located). If you feel like you’re walking into a warehouse area, then you are on the right path.
The food was quick and delicious. The Turkey Pesto panini was delicious, and so were the sweet potato fries. The special of the day was a Baked furikake salmon and rice. I think for everything we paid like $ 20 or under so it was great. A lot of food and very delicious.
Hope I’m «off» again soon so I can return!