Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ

Super cheap place for a quick lunch by waikiki standards. The meat was tasty but pretty fatty. Helps in telling when its done though — when its stoking the fire by rendering down its time to turn it. All good.

Best deal in town! Fast, friendly service and delicious food! Can’t go wrong here.
We ordered the meal for 2 and split it between 3 people, ordering just 2 extra apps to flesh out the meal. Happy hour made everything even more alluring. Will be back again!

This location is conveniently located next to my office, but I never really considered it a place for lunch because I assumed that it would be over priced since it’s in the heart of Waikiki. I went with work colleagues and was pleasantly surprised that they have great lunch specials and happy hour prices. The two lunch options I considered was $ 11.95-$ 13.95 and includes 2 – 3 choices of meat plus all the fixins — soup, rice, salad, edamame. Definitely enough for lunch, but if not you can order extra meat and sides for $ 3 – 8 each.
The food was great. Meat + Grill = my ideal meal. Service was also exceptional. Quick, friendly and accommodating. They also offered a Kama’aina discount.
Definitely a place I would return to for lunch. For Dinner, we go to their location at the Windward Mall. Also a great place with great service.

Amazing food and excellent service! My partner and I have dined here three times already, that’s how much we like it! We’re in Honolulu for two weeks, and want to try as many restaurants as we can, but we keep coming back to Gyu-​Kaku. The set menus are the best value — we keep going for the $ 70 dollar one, which is plenty for two people and also includes their delicious s’more dessert. The meats are top quality, very juicy and delicious.
The service is amazing, too! The staff are so friendly and polite. We have been served by Alesha and Bill, and they are both really lovely!
I read that some people complain about the prices, but honestly, coming from Australia where you pay so much just for mediocre Japanese, I think this is great value. $ 70 for two people is excellent value when you are getting such good quality food with great service.
I highly recommend this place!

Amazing food! Great service! Little hot (no ac)
Bibbinbop is really tasty– garlic noodles amazing. Al the bbq was amazing!
Lychee splash was good too
And the s’mores !!!

After thinking I was going to have to wait thirty minutes as a «walk-​in,» I get a call three minutes later to come back for seating.
Food is great, service is fast and friendly – My husband and I left this place with happy bellies. We shared the top two popular meats, and it was very tasteful! We enjoyed the cheese corn, dumplings and vegetable garlic noodles in addition. My husband could not stop talking about how those garlic noodles were the «best I’ve ever had.»
We would definitely recommend this place!

Always great service when I’m there. Usually go during closing hours and it’s worth the trip each time. Food is always on point as well as friendly service so a no brainer for me.

Good food, I enjoyed cooking my cuts of meat over the open flame, delicious. I would recommend going during their lunch special (11:30 — 4:30pm). You will get the best bang for your buck at this time. Don’t order the cheese wontons not good. It would have been a 5 star but service at the Waikiki location is lackluster the two time I’ve been there.

Went with a large group about 13 people. We made prior reservations although they first sat us in a small corner where we all could not for after they let us know it was so we could at least get some water and sit down while hey arranged for us to have another table. We moved to the middle took a table and a half of another table. The service was quick and the guys were on it! I ordered about 5 different items during this happy hour and my bill was $ 34 dollars with a pear mojito! The atmosphere was relaxing and it is definitely a place I will go again. The portion size was bigger than expected I assumed would be small but I was able to share most my items.

On a day when I’d logged some 28,000 steps hoofing around Oahu I just wanted to stop walking and eat. I’d systematically avoided being entrapped by all the chain restaurants in one block of Lewers but as soon as I crossed the main road all bets were off. Gyu-​Kaku looked good enough, even if they’re a chain and even though they’d make me prepare my own food.

I opted for the Takumi course (for 2, $ 60) to remove all thought from the ordering process. The waitress called it a good choice and promised I’d leave full. What she couldn’t say was this:
* You’ll pay more and leave less fully satisfied than if you’d dined on hot pot at Ichiriki;
* Your grill will have problems that won’t be rectified until the mid-​point of your meal and only after you’ve logged several complaints; and
* Your meat will be cut far thicker than it is at Korean BBQ joints, leaving you inept at cooking it, especially with a malfunctioning grill.
And those are just the things I feel like mentioning.
The wait staff here seemed young and lacking in experience or coordination. Pleasant and nice enough, but a bit ineffective in the face of things not going as planned. The table-​inserted grill before me had only a single flame emitting from one small section of the grill. When I inquired as to how I could ever cook this meal, single threading it over one small flamed area, the waitress jumped in to help cook, as if my abilities were the problem.
Midway through the meal, when I realized I might be there cooking until dawn, I waived down someone older (a manager?) who understood and remedied the issue. My waitress returned, vaguely apologetic, saying «it’s been like that all night…». Oh, you mean broken?
Food here is good though not as filling as promised and I’d vote against going with the set menu.
Overall, Gyu-​Kaku struck me as loud and bit sloppy, a good place to gather with friends for big beers and little bites. There’s nothing at all wrong with that business plan; if you get a working grill the place ain’t half bad.

After always dining at the Gyu-​Kaku near Ala Moana, this place delivered what the Kapiolani location couldn’t; great service!
The waiter was very alert while serving the food, he even pre-​bussed the table; bringing new utensils as the dishes came out one after another. Our water glasses were never empty. Once, when the wife and her friend dined here, the waiter was extremely attentive. Every time they had a question about the menu, the waiter would magically appear and happily answer the question. At one point, the wife had her Gyu-​Kaku rewards card out and the waiter appeared to explain that it had switched to an app (and explained what to do to transfer points and such). Wow, that was one attentive waiter and she was extremely impressed!!!
The food was tasty and filling. As mentioned, they also have a rewards app, which is almost like a points card, but on your phone. When you spend a certain amount you can trade the points for certain food items, or even $ 25 off your meal! This location also gives you free edamame if you check in via Unilocal,or on Facebook.
Although we started dining after the lunch rush, I still consider this location to be one of the best. Even though parking in Waikiki can be a hassle, the service has always been commendable. Kapiolani’s location could learn a lesson or two from the waiters here.

It’s very tasty. Nothing like eating hot off the grill. They have a wide variety of meats, veggies and seafoods you can grill up. We decided on the Kalbi beef, a thinner spicy beef cut, asparagus wrapped in bacon, scallops, and garlic shrimp. Everything was perfectly marinated and tasty. We also tried a rice bowl which was good.
This place is great for dates and groups because of the interactive DIY self element. I was full after dinner but I really need to check out the grill smores. Check it out great spot.
They have happy hour specials as well and a good variety of alcoholic beverages.

Can easily be one of my favorite restaurants in Honolulu. You order what you like from the menu. Then you grill your food.
The menu features vegetarian, meat, seafood, and rice plates. The rice bowls — bibimbap, has been prepared in the kitchen and the server brings it to you. Your server then mixes the rice in front of you. I ordered the Parmesan tomato rice bowl tastes wonderful!
As an appetizer, we ordered the endamame. It tastes great. When you check into Unilocal,it offers you a free endamame plate.
The menu offers values for $ 60, and $ 70 for larger groups of people. This place caters to an array of people. Anyone can enjoy cooking and barbecuing the food. The server explains which sauce goes with what.
After shopping at the Galleria, why not stop in and give yourself a treat. Come to Gyukaku for a personal BBQ. You will not be disappointed.
I LOVE this place!

My boyfriend and I wanted to try something new, so we picked this place for our Valentines dinner. It was super busy. The restaurant itself is quite compact.
I like the idea of cook-​it-​yourself. I don’t usually dine at places like that, so this experience was refreshing (although it did get a bit hot). Too expensive for my preference but the food was yummy! :)
We ordered their Valentines special: $ 60 for a variety of dishes. There were miso soup, edamame, Gyu-​kaku salad, cheese wontons, garlic shrimp, and different types of bbq meat. I definitely recommend this place for a Valentines dinner or anytime they have exclusive deals — much more worth it that way.

It can be hard to find a good KBBQ place in Waikiki, especially a place that doesn’t break your wallet ;). This is my go to place for KBBQ! They have a very very good selection! Their garlic noodles are awesome! Go during their happy hours, they have excellent prices.
I would highly recommend taking your mainland friends here for dinner. Their staff is great and will greet you with the warmest aloha. The vibe here is chill so no need to worry. It’s not super loud so if you are taking that special someone here for a first date, you won’t have to yell across the table. Make reservations if possible, it can get crowded.
Don’t forget to check in for the free edamame! And be ready to grill to your heart’s desire and eat some tasty meats. So Ono!

Nos gustó mucho! Sin duda regresaremos cuando volvamos a Hawaii! Aunque las porciones son pequeñas es muy divertido asarlas, los postres son ricos, los nachos japoneses y las bebidas! Yum yum!

This is for the Honolulu location.
We ordered: pitcher of Kirin, Meat lovers lunch special, Bibimbap, and buttered corn
I had cold tofu, cheese won-​tons, and seaweed soup sides with the Bibimbap, also edamame
Macadamia ice cream dessert
Service was great. Food was great, and extremely filling. They were out of pitchers, so our Kirin was served in a beer tower which was pretty awesome.
There is an app you can download to get discounts, and accumulate points towards additional discounts the more you visit.
Prices were affordable and the lunch special happy hour was definitely worth coming back for!

Solid stop for a fun meal! We came here close to closing for a quick bite to eat after a long day at a conference. The overall experience is super fun, especially if you are with folks who have not done BBQ before. Happy hour is definitely the way to go here.
We tried a variety of items including: garlic shrimp (really didn’t taste the garlic), scallops (a few plain scallops), butter corn (surprisingly delicious!), all of the mushrooms (all really good– especially enoki!), shishito peppers, zucchini and miso soups.
Fun, tasty, good for a group!

This Gyukaku is located on Lewers st. across of Kimukatsu and GS Studio. There’s no parking and your best bet is to try to find a good flat rate deal in one of the nearby lots. I can only give Gyukaku 4 stars if you’re going for one of the happy hours. 530pm-​630pm or after 9pm. It’s so easy to go for happy hour it’s not worth paying full price outside of those times.
Food wise I want to say the Kapiolani location is slightly better (so is the parking). Some of my go to foods here are:
Toro Beef
Bistro Harami
Jalapeño Cheese Wonton
Kim Chi Chigae
Tofu Salad

I came here with a few of my friends on a Friday night. We made reservations to ensure a table. This location compared to the one on Kapiolani Blvd is fairly small. I’m surprised it’s not bigger if not the same size as their other locations.
We came for happy hour so we ordered most of our food from the happy hour menu. A pitcher of Kirin beer only $ 10. That’s a deal! All the food tasted great, the only thing I wouldn’t get again is the garlic shrimp. I was a little disappointed because I love shrimp especially with garlic but when I cooked it I couldn’t taste the garlic. It’s as if all the garlic fell off on the grill because I was able to see the garlic when it was served to our table.
Parking can be difficult. There are a couple parking garages that are flat rate $ 5 on seaside and off of Royal Hawaiian. Most of them start at 6pm and have to be out by midnight.
I deduct one star because they didn’t refill our water once the entire time we were there, we weren’t even asked. We did get beer but it would have been nice to be asked throughout the night.

Date: September 4, 2015
Location: Gyu-​Kaku Japanese BBQ
Reason to go: Happy hour dinner with Yvette and Mark
I’ve always bypass Gyu-​Kaku Japanese BBQ when I’m walking around the vicinity in Waikiki. I’ve always wanted to step inside and get something to eat but I never do since I didn’t want to dine alone. Friday was the first time I stepped foot in Gyu-​Kaku Japanese BBQ with new friends Yvette and Mark.
We were immediately greeted by the hostess and were shown a place to sit. The hostess even handed us the menus. Yvette and Mark has dined here before because Mark was explaining to me the different types of meat that the restaurant has to offer. He even recommended on getting the beef chuck with spicy jalapeño miso.
During happy hour… an order of the spicy jalapeño miso beef chuck costs only $ 3.75. That’s good to know especially if an individual is on a tight budget. I ordered one spicy jalapeño miso beef chuck as well as a small order of ahi poke and miso soup.
Everyone cooked their own orders of beef chuck. Mark even set up the three different dipping sauces that needs to be tried with the beef chuck. A few times Mark even placed some of their beef chuck onto my plate to devour. Thank you for sharing Mark.
I’m not much for spicy food… but I did manage to eat my share as well as some of Mark’s and Yvette’s spicy jalapeño beef chuck. The meat was absolutely delicious. Cooking over the grill and eating spicy food had me sweating up a storm. LOL. Our friendly waitress made sure that our cups of water was never empty. Ice cold water is a one good way to cool down near the grill.
For individuals who have Unilocal app on their smartphones… when you check in at the restaurant you are able to redeem free edamame. I’ll remember that the next time I am in the vicinity and able to eat during happy hour.
Overall experience was awesome… especially when dining with new friends.