Sam’s Kitchen

Don’t go to their old place from 2 years ago. They moved over, it’s the same street but a couple stores over. Of course the family ordered almost everything on the menu but our overall favorite was all different shrimp we ordered. We got the spicy garlic, the garlic, curry, and matsuri shrimp, they were all

I would recommend this place for great shrimp in Waikiki. Aloha!!! And Mahalo

Low key place but food is pretty good. Tried the spicy garlic streak, chicken and shrimp. All were pretty good.

So good! We were on our honeymoon and were desperate for poke and stumbled upon this little place and we are so glad we did! The service was great and the food was delicious. He also recommended we go to Nico’s for dinner which was also a win! We would definitely eat here again!

I have a favorite shrimp truck on the windward side toward north shore, but the spicy garlic shrimp here are the best of all the rest!

Great place to eat, Garlic shrimp, pineapple ice tea was Great, friendly staff, we’re not to busy and food is made right on the spot. The Poke was fresh and really full of flavor. If you are looking for a quick great inexpensive Bite, this is the place for you!

Tucked away between some gift shops and an ABC store, you’ll find Sam’s Kitchen. This is a new location different than the walk-​up counter serve joint. The fusion of flavors that Sam has concocted are delectable. The best garlic steak, tender, seasoned just right, can be washed down with a refreshing glass of plantation ice tea complete with a juicy wedge of pineapple. Fresh poke and a shrimp plate also dazzled my taste buds and left me planning my next visit back. It can be hard to find a decent place to eat in Waikiki that doesn’t serve over-​priced, bland greasy food. Here you can choose your meat, seasonings and sides just the way you like them. Sam’s is that unique local spot that always leaves me fat and happy.

5 stars based on food and the service… Spicy garlic & steak plate is BOMB! Isaiah at counter had great customer service! Definitely would recommend!

Amazing poke!!! Get here by 11am for the freshest tuna catch not 12hours that day!!! Ahi Poke and the amazing shrimp matsuri do it please it’s amazing I swear!!! Also this is a BYOB and an ABC Store (Hawaiian CVS) one store down so booze it right there. make sure you don’t pass it its in an ally way by another restaurant so be careful! Also holy crap just had some pineapple tea here, sooooooo good!!!

Great garlic shrimp and really cool chef! Great service!
First time here and I will be back, very relaxing. I feel like I am in my backyard!

Our hotel is located really close to this place and me and the boyfriend frequently passed by this place wondering if it was good or not. Finally decided to give this place a try out tonight and was pleasantly surprised! Their spicy garlic steak and spicy garlic shrimp are bomb!!! Seriously, hands down one of the best. There are places around here that claim they’re just as good as Giovanni’s, but this place is legit! Their pineapple ice tea tastes like a Mai tai without the alcohol. So goooood!

I miss Sam’s Kitchen on Kapahulu… the good old days.
My boyfriend and I couldn’t figure out where to eat and of course I ended up on Unilocal,which directed me here. We decided to check out the Waikiki location just because we were so fond of sams back at the old location.
Pros: Food is just as good as before, everyone is very friendly, free plantation iced tea with Unilocal check in, decent portions, BOMB FOOD.
Cons: Slightly on the pricy side, no parking (park in shopping plaza for $ 7 flat rate after 6pm), THEY DON’T HAVE THE PESTO CHICKEN ANYMORE.
My bf and I both got the garlic steak (I got mine with rice and he got his with rice, salad, and potato salad). Our total came out to a little under $ 30, which is a bit pricey for a plate lunch type restaurant. However, the steak was cooked perfectly and if you are a garlic lover, you will love the garlic to steak ratio (bring breath mints is all I have to say). My boyfriend ate his salad in one bite so unless you’re dying for your single serving of greens, you can probably skip the salad option.
I asked about the pesto chicken and was told that only Sam knows how to make it and he’s not around as much anymore. BUMMER. That pesto chicken was hands down the best chicken I’ve ever had. SAM PLEASE COME BACK AND MAKE PESTO CHICKEN OR TEACH SOMEONE HOW TO MAKE IT. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I BEG.
Overall it’s a cute little place with good service and friendly people. Oh and get the plantation iced tea!

It’s rad. Although from an existential standpoint it did not give me meaning to my life, I really enjoyed it. Like atlas shrugged, the counter to Robin Hood, this place offers an alternative to conventional «dining out».
PS. The spicy garlic shrimp is soooo bomb!!! Order it!!!

Delicious food for an affordable price ! Me and my husband spent a week in Honolulu. Out of that week we ate here at least 3 times!
We tried almost everything on the menu but our favorites have to be the garlic shrimp and steak !
The pineapple ice tea is a must try also ^_^

Where is the food in this town so disappointing. But this place takes the cake for rudeness. The man here that works the door is a little bit of meany, I would never come back here and by judging the number of open tables other people agree. Why is it to so hard to find food here?

We went to this Hawaiian joint on our last day in Waikiki wanting to experiment on some local hawaiian cuisine. Obviously we didn’t expect much hawaiian authenticity in Waikiki, a highly touristy area itself. However, to our surprise, Sam’s Kitchen offerings just hit the spot!
Plus, they were super accommodating to one in our party with vegetarian exclamations!
Great place, simple, tasty food, super friendly service and über yummy pineapple iced tea!!!

Very good shrimp I had the spicy and very nice spice, the price awesome friendly staff

The food here is not bad for the price.
You get a whole combo for around $ 10 each.
Check in on Unilocal for a free Pineapple Tea.
The pineapple tea was pretty good, i especially loved that it came with an actual pineapple slice in the cup which gave it more flavor.
The restaurant itself is very small and narrow.
Limited seatings available.
The owner of the restaurant took his time in greeting everyone and was a very happy man. He looked like he loved his job which was great.
The Garlic Shrimp Plate
The shrimp was actually very flavorful. I would recommend it.
The Ahi Tuna Poke Plate
The fish was fresh but I prefer mines flavored with spicy mayo.
I think that the salads on the plates were very scarce. You can basically eat the provided salad in like one or two bites.
Overall, food is okay for what it is.

The spicy garlic shrimp were amazing! Don’t bother finding any famed food truck, just come here. Food came out quick, service was friendly and warm, prices were reasonable too. Recommend a guava juice pairing to balance out the spice. One word: YUM!

Nice local restaurant, If you want to make a quick stop to eat seafood. Food came out really fast. Shrimp were not huge size but the flavor was delicious. Price is not over priced for how many shrimp you get per order. Glad Unilocal led us here. Also you get a pineapple ice tea which is good for free when you check in.

Ok, I wouldn’t recommend coming here if your vegetarian and like options. I myself only got the rice, salad, and kona coffee icecream while here. But it was still so good. And very reasonably priced for everything. Definitely try the coffee icecream (it’s vegan!!!)

Hands down, the freshest ahi poke I’ve ever had. Super Ono!
Their garlic steak and shrimp are also excellent. No need to drive out to the north shore! Yeah!
Although the location is convenient, just across DFS, it’s super easy to walk by without noticing as there are no signs out front. A true hole in the wall.
In addition to good food, I’ve heard that this is also a great spot for spotting vacationing Japanese musicians and TV stars.
Use your Unilocal check in for a free plantation iced tea. It really hits the spot.

Sam’s Kitchen is a great place real close to Waikiki hotels and the beach. The food is amazing! Tried the Ahi Poke and the Spicy Garlic Shrimp and both were great. They don’t serve alcohol but you can BYOA and spike the drinks they have :) Sam and his friends are a fun to be around and really enjoy what they do!

Wasn’t impressed with the garlic shrimp or the pineapple iced tea. Best part was the chunk of pineapple

Garlic steak was delicious over rice. Juicy, tender and flavorful. The garlic shrimp was peeled with tail on.

Sam’s was a nice experience. It didn’t blow my mind nor was it disappointing. Food was good. Portions were a lot smaller than expected, but not too expensive either.

I was really excited to try it.
Cute little spot, touristy.
Unfortunately, I never got to try it.
I’m waiting on this line forever and this crowd of people are coming up to the front of the line. At first I’m a little peeved, then I realize something ran out and they are changing their order.
They ran out of chicken, which was really the only thing my husband could eat. But it wasn’t that they ran out that bothered me, is that the guy didn’t think to announce to the line ‘hey out of chicken guys’. Okay fine, so I asked myself since there seemed to be that ordeal with people reordering.
Fine let’s try something else I think. Then I see him struggling with his computer, trying to swipe someone’s card… He restarts his router I’m assuming and proceeds to check the people in front of me out, with cash. Maybe they were just paying cash? I mean really the guy didn’t say anything.
So it’s finally our turn. I ask, «are the cards working?», «no sorry only cash.» so I waited 45 minutes, to walk away.
Maybe they are better on most days. But as frazzled as a restaurant gets you gotta let your customers know what’s going on. I hope I can get back in the area to change my review but for now I’m overly disappointed.

I’ve been coming to this place for a few years now and I’m surprised I haven’t written anything about them. A companion’s interest sparked when he noticed «BYOB?!» From my very first memory, I was drawn here from the wonderful smell of garlic shrimp on my journey to another dining place. Surely, I detoured to Sams Kitchen instead.
Sam’s Kitchen have grown from their walk up window ordering service to now their own sit down area off of Royal Hawaiian Avenue, which was a couple doors down from their old space. This sit down place has ample tables for medium size parties and no waiter service. I enjoyed the outdoor al fresco feeling with my companion (bring an umbrella just in case). One simply approaches the register for order (they now take credit cards/​no minimums) taking and you hold on to your number, grab a seat/​table and they will simply bring your order out to you. The menu consists of chicken, steak, ahi and shrimp plates. I’ve always enjoyed their garlic butterflied shrimp ($ 11), make it a full plate for an extra $ 3. The shrimp is tasty! Don’t forget to quench your thirst! As I mentioned before, this is a BYOB kind of place. So bring one not only for you but your pals too.
Don’t forget to check in via Unilocal and get a free drink (Pineapple Plantation Ice Tea). The hard part is parking. It’s either street or park at Ross and buy something inexpensive and validate for a couple of hours.

LOVE!!! So much that I felt compelled to write this review now, while I am still sitting in this heavenly hole in the wall eatery.
Amazing service, amazing food (the garlic steak is YUMS!). I can’t wait to come back. and I haven’t even left yet. It’s THAT good.

This place is great. Garlic spicy shrimp is awesome. Long wait for your food to come but its totally worth it. Prices are super reasonable especially compared to other places around. The pineapple ice tea is a must! Small place but its great.

So we stumbled by Sams kitchen on our last day of Hawaii. This is literally a hole in the wall place but its Japanese street food at its best. We had came here specifically for the Tuna Poke and boy was it amazin! We got the double meat order as we shared. It was so fresh and perfectly satisfying. We also ordered garlic shrimp on rice. Amazing. All food was cooked on the spot. The host was a white guy (mid 50’s) who lived in Japan for a while teaching English (dont they all hahaha). The other staff and customers were Japanese/​Asian. Its a bit hard to find but if you look its beside a motor bike store. There are only 4 – 5 tables if that buts a place worth checking out. Giving it 4 Stars as the shrimp took a while to come out but honestly it was soo delicous.
The Ginger lemonade is a thumbs down, I would reccomend the Guava juice! sooo sweet and delicious :)

Pineapple ice tea was so great!!! Best I’ve ever had. And the spicy garlic shrimp is great if you can handle spice. The employees were very nice also. Will come back when ever I’m on vacations over here again.

Sam’s garlic shrimp and garlic steak was great after long day at the beach. Just off Royal Hawaiian Ave and adjacent an abc store. Tiny hole in the wall off the beaten path, but they have some tender tasty garlic steak. According to my wife the garlic shrimp has good garlicky flavor and was just ok. The garlic steak was super good, but I dropped a star because there were only 8 pieces of steak with like 3 small pieces.
Meals come with rice and green salad. Poke bowls got great reviews and we’ll have to try that next time. 1 free plantation pineapple ice tea with check in.

Everything we smelled and saw here looked great, but the only item we ordered was the Ahi Poke. We had it twice one night and one time the next night on our three day trip to Hawaii. Yeah, it was that good. A good portion of fish and only $ 7. They get their fresh fish shipments at night — and we happened to arrive right after delivery. It was outstanding!
Service was really friendly during every visit and the food came out fast. You can check in on your mobile Unilocal app for a free plantation iced tea — a little on the sweet side! Also, you can add rice or salad to your ahi for just $ 1. There isn’t a lot of seating and it’s all outdoors, there isn’t even much room to stand and wait after you’ve ordered — but it’s definitely worth grabbing some of their fresh fish — even if you have to take it to go.