Amina Pizzeria

This place is definitely awesome. I’m pretty sure they moved locations (a crappier one though) in town. I’m sure it’s the same owners too because I remember the very nice and friendly woman that works there who always smiles at me and my boyfriend. The pizza and pastas are fabulous and cheap, especially compared to other places to eat in town. Definitely a good place to go if you want Italian food for little money.

They are no longer here.

Ok, it is hard to get really authentic Italian in Hawaii. I accept that and consider it a fair trade for Hawaiian food, both local and ethnic.
That being said, Amina’s is pretty decent. If you are from a largely Italian area or are used to Nana or Nanu’s sauce, then you will be disappointed. But, hey, for Hawaii it’s pretty darn good.
The sandwiches are good. Pizza is ok. The pasta… eh, but then I’m used to a real Sicilian ragu, so what could really live up to that. I’m just grateful to get some decent semi-​Italian when I’m jonzing for a taste of home.
Here is the breakdown:
* Wait staff: Good, but like most places in Hawaii– s l o w
* Drink Menu: Soda, juice
* Menu: Italian, pizza sandwiches
* Parking: A lot in back
* Dress: Casual

Hands down, the worst pizza my family has ever had. I mean, it’s worse than any frozen pizza you could buy for $ 2. We were starving and we still could not eat this stuff. My brother, who is local, swore by this place based on their other entrees but had never had the pizza. I’ll never trust him again.

This is another one of those «I would never have visited had this not been Unilocaled about» places. I passed by this place for years, wrongly assuming it to be some cheesy tourist pizza trap. A few weeks ago I stopped in to get garlic chicken at Fat Boys (right next door to Amina
). Something prompted me to wonder if this pizzeria was any good (I suppose I’m always on a quest to find truly delicious pizza). The weird thing was that very night someone posted a review of the place. Not one to mess with fate I vowed to stop in when next in Kailua.
It is at this point that I wonder «Do I Unilocal because I do things or do I do things so I can Unilocal about them?»
***pause for reflection***
So on my next venture to the Kailua (after taking a picture of the building and grabbing a side order of Garlic Chicken) I stopped in for an 8″ Cheese and Mushroom Pizza (
)
It tasted as delicious as it looked. Nice thin crust, perfect amount of cheese, and a just right tasty tomato sauce. With good pizza like this it’s puzzling why so many people are satisfied with the less than stellar stuff produced by the hut, the father, and the ghetto game. Remember I said good… and for Hawaii it really is… great and phenomenal are words I don’t use lightly or very often when it comes to describing pizza.
I do recommend eating it fresh without waiting too long. Like most food there’s a window for peak enjoyment and this one closes fairly quickly.
Now that I know the truth about this place, I’ll have to go back and try the rest of this deep menu. Can’t wait to dig into a Calzone.
Thanks Hawaii Unilocalers!

3÷30÷08: Middle of the row pizza joint. We ate outside using their metal picnic tables but as expected got showered with a few rain drops. Food was brought out to us with paper plates (use caution, the windward side is windy and paper will easily blow over). Salad was good, dressing alittle too watery and lacked falvor. Pizza was good, not spectacular or really disappointing. Good place to pickup cheap food.

What a great little spot. I wish they had pizza by the slice but other than that… Y U M M Y.
Got the hawaiiana pizza and avocado salad to go one night while we were staying in Lanikai.
The salad was ok, but the pizza was fabulous. Relatively inexpensive too.

One of my favorite pizzerias on the island.
I have always loved to come to this little spot every since I would come to Kailua to spend the weekends with friends. Much has changes in Kailua over the years, less of a neighborhood feeling and a more «yuppified» environment, but the pizza here has remained the same. Back then their only real competition was Bostons. The food here is so good. Everything from the pizza, to their pastas, to their calzone.
Unfortunately, I heard that the neighboring Formaggio Grill wants to take over their location for an expansion. I feel so conflicted. This good old neighborhood pizzeria will be taken over by the new modern bistro. I love both places, but I hope that Amina’s will stay; and keep some of the personality in Kailua.
Amina’s has and always will be a wonderfully tasty secret of Kailua.

For some reason, even people who live in Kailua don’t seem to know about this place, but I eat lunch here on a weekly basis. The calzones are awesome, the pizza is yummy (crust is thin but not really crunchy), the ravioli is good, the hot sandwiches are the bomb (and for the money, way better than anything you can get at Subway or Quiznos– try the eggplant parmesan sandwich). The lady who owns the place is super nice and she makes all the pasta sauces and salad dressings and everything.
Horrible update!: Amina’s is closing this summer (June or July) because their landlord is a prick, and won’t renew their lease after 10 years of making some of the best food in Kailua! They are looking for a new place, possibly in Kaneohe or in town. I will follow them wherever they go! In the meantime– go get a calzone while you can!
Happy update!: So Amina’s found a new spot– walking distance from my house! Yippeee! They’re gonna open around the end of August on Kalakaua Ave. across the street from that bar Slammers, kind of by Daiei, oh excuse me, Don Quixote. (Hey, remember when it was Holiday Mart? Someone just said that name recently and I was like, holy crap, that’s right!) So if you’re in the Ala Moana area at the end of August and you’re craving a bomb-​ass calzone, you know where to go.

I’m surprised there is no review for this wonderful little place! Delicious sandwiches with an unmatched sauce, pastas, calzones, lasagna and all the rest of those Italian treat can be found here.
The local Kailuans know this place, now the rest of Hawaii will too… come and try it!