Lees Hawaiian Islander

An excellent place to go if:
— you love sticky tables and dirty seats that feel like the backseat of a wrecked Studabaker
— you are feeling like potentially suffering from food poisoning
— the waiter tries to stick you with a 30% gratuity added into your bill and then when you question it says that «he can’t do math very well»
Karaōke so that gives them one star.
Seriously, spend your money singing in Koreatown.

Tacky, cheesy and an absolute delight. If you can imagine Elvis’s Hawaiian phase and transform that into a restaurant, it would be that.
The staff was very friendly to us and catered to us on every wish and whim that we had. My table ordered the PuPu Platter which was huge and amazing. It came with Spareribs, some kind of Satay, Shrimp Toast, Egg Rolls, Battered Shrimp and Chicken Wings. I was telling myself «Peter, think of your summer body» but the Shrimp Toast was saying «nah you’ll be fine».
I ordered the Shrimp Samoa and a Mai Tai as my main entrée. Now I have no clue what Shrimp Samoa was when I ordered it and I still have no clue now. It was some kind of shrimp smothered in a brown gravy of sorts with beef here and there. I don’t know what was happening but I loved every minute of it. The Mai Tai packed a punch though. The first few sips were a little tough, but I was feeling good after the 4^th.
Overall I loved this place! It was campy and cute and the food was divine. Definitely coming back here at some point.

From an archeology standpoint– this place is a small miracle. This is a vintage still– standing for 40 or 50 years real «Tiki /​Polynesian» restaurant !
From a dining standpoint this is regular old sh*tty Chinese take-​out –serving what should be $ 6.99 lunch specials for regular basic sit-​down dinner prices (which in this case– is a total rip-​off!)
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For younger Unilocalers — let me explain: in the 1950s and 1960s these were all over the country–
«exotic» far away themed restaurants that echoed the Hawaiian Islands (I guess back then it was super expensive to visit Hawaii –especially for an entire family). These places had big wooden carved Tiki heads and other colorful and strange décor. Lots of bamboo and wicker and colorful lights too. They also featured those tiki mugs and glasses with kooky exotic drinks called The Scorpion and The Head Hunter. Often there would be a small stage somewhere in the restaurant where an instructor would invite all the moms to come up and do the Hula dance with a free grass skirt on. This was a «special occasion» restaurant. Parents would often get a babysitter and indulge themselves. And oh – the food… I remember it being basic Chinese food with pineapple tossed in here and there? The Pu Pu Platter was always featured as well.
Fast Forward to the Disco Era late 1970s… These all died out. The novelty wore off. More and more Chinese Food restaurants popped up on every street corner. And Japanese food was just about to emerge as well. The Tiki restaurants were dead old dinosaurs.
Today the Tiki culture has become retro-​cool so now they are popping up again (Disney World & Land, and pretty much any major city in the USA has at least one or two to their name).
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In any case– this place still has some of that «1964» flavor — a few vintage relics hanging about– but time has been unkind to Lee’s Hawaiian and this place is the pits.
You get that gross unsanitary feeling when you sit down and the waiters almost seem in contempt of you. All drinks are served in tiny 4 oz. glasses with all the ice melted by the time they reach you.
Totally uncomfortable & dirty setting with food that makes you go «I hope I don’t get sick later».

No comparison to Chan’s which is the real deal. Egg rolls were over fried. Shrimp & garlic was nothing exciting. Chicken & Chinese veggies was tasteless.
Disappointing
Ribs pan fried wontons shrimp & lobster sauce with black bean sauce wonton/​egg drop mix Chan’s is next best to China Town. Lee’s is not even close.

Great drinks– absolutely worth the price and really good atmosphere. I will absolutely be back! Had egg rolls and some zombies. The best!

This review is going to be short and sweet.
The food is terrific. The drinks are terrific. If you enjoy 50s-​70s kitsch, the atmosphere is terrific.
The service is where the problems lie. As far as being attentive and fast, it’s fine. But the servers are rude, give you a bad attitude if you try to pay anyway other than with cash and openly complain to you about what a jerk the manager is to them.
So, if you can put up with the sketchy service, the cuisine, booze and nostalgic vibe are sure to please.

This place is top notch. Food is excellent, entertainment is unparalleled. It’s like a bizarro Hawaiian paradise. Mai Tais are better than when I was in Waikiki.

I gave two stars due to the extremely high price for drinks and «Chinese food.»
Minus feeling like I was on an acid tripped episode of love boat or something I thought it was a chill place. My husband didn’t, saying it was too dark, and the food was bad. I didn’t agree with this but I was surprised that the bill was so much for this type of restaurant. A $ 70 tab, dinner for two with each of us having one drink.
Oh well live and learn

I’ve been going to lees since the 80’s.the food is still great, brought back alot of childhood memories of my family

I never thought splitting a check would be so much of a headache. This review would be a 5 if it were for the rudest server I’ve ever had. From the moment we sat down we were greeted with the worst attitude. The food was good, overpriced, but good. The environment was fun, and people were seeming to have a good time, but management was not very polite or courteous.
It came time to pay, and the woman that checked us out was the same woman that served us, very rude. She made it seem as though we were doing her a huge disservice by asking her to split a check. I was there with friends, but none of us were looking to pay a $ 100+ check on our own. She even had the gull to say, «this will not happen again next time.» Hate to break it to you, but there will definitely not be a next time.
So if you’re deciding on whether or not to give this place a visit, be aware that you might be treated pretty poorly. Food is good, but it does not compensate for the unaccommodating staff.

Love Lee’s! I’ve been eating here since I was a kid. The same people have been working here since the 80’s. The food is excellent, the staff is super friendly and charismatic, and the prices are reasonable. The décor transports you to another dimension. A perfect blend of cheesy and mystical. Reminds me of something you’d see on a Vegas strip. You must check it out — it is truly unlike any other place in North Jersey!

Saturday night and it was busy. Honey and I got a table for 2. Anson was our waiter and he was on top of it. Lots of people doing karaōke, drinking, eating, and carrying on. Food is good Polynesian and the drinks are good. Come and enjoy.

Personally not a fan. Came here once and will not come again. The service was poor, waitress was rude, atmosphere was strange and I felt rushed through the entire meal.
Food quality was average at best and was overpriced for what it was. Not coming back.

We came here for lunch on a weekend and place was pretty quiet. Servings were decent but it just seemed like regular Americanized Chinese food, though very overpriced for the taste. I got the rainbow har kew which tasted like shrimp with vegetables and that starchy, savory sauce they always use.
Service was pleasant; the manager was a friendly man and wanted to get me to bartend for his karaōke nights which were apparently lively around here. Décor was AMAZING: lots of Hawaiian themed flowers, trees, and mood lighting. We also got leis (even my grandmother!)
So: food was 3/​5, service and décor were like ¹⁰⁄₅. Come here at night for drinks or for karaōke, not lunch.

I love the atmosphere its the best place for a birthday party.
Also like the zombie and piña colada

I ordered for take out, and looked at the menu from online:
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I ordered the Mongolian Steak, Flambie; Chicken Mauna Loa; beef and shrimp fried rice.
Both the Mongolian Steak and Chicken Mauna Loa claimed that the dish came with pineapple. well it didn’t and when we got it it was more on the colder side, not enjoyable.
The fried rice wasn’t that bad, not hot either.
Im not sure if it is because I ordered to go why the dishes were altered and cold or what. but this was not a good experience.

Ok so I came here to a small 30^th bday party with about 10 friends, and from the start it was a bit annoying. We had reserved a table in advance and when I had arrived on time, the table wasn’t ready. For a good 30 minutes we waited. I could see if the place was packed but it was not. They had Kareokee going on that night and I was super excited for that. The lady doing it was nice but kind of older. I wouldn’t pick her for my first choice to host Kareokee sorry to say. We seemed to wait a little while for our server to come and take our food orders was a bit of a pain because our reservation was late to begin with and the of course the additional 30 minute wait on top of that. When we did get our food, which was appetizers, some of was good but some wasn’t. We had a bunch of poo poo platters lit up like a volcano on the table. Some of the stuff was a tad too greasy and lacked flavor. We were all planning to dinner there but after we had that literally no one at the table decided to get anything but drinks. We conversed and drank and sang some Kareokee and then was wondering where the waiter was so that we could eat bday cake. We literally asked him 5 times to get it. Mind you the cake was in a box on the table right next to us, so one of my friends got up brought it over and lit the candles. I felt like our party didn’t matter to them because we didn’t order more food. It could have been a much better experience in my opinion. I thought it was gonna be my new spot for some Kareokee. Negative.

I came for my friend’s party one Friday night, we had 3 huge tables.
We sit down and ask if we can split the bill and open our own tab at the table as there will be a bunch of us (many of whom we don’t know closely enough really and we were only getting drinks). The waiter told us they don’t split checks. He brought the manager over who again told us we can’t split checks because she doesn’t want to deal with putting it on like 5 different cards were her words.
Fine, so we say we’ll go to the bar, when we said that, they then went, «If you get drinks at bar, you cannot sit here!!!» Fine.
So, guess what? That table sat … empty all night and it wasn’t like a full restaurant.
The drinks are a bit pricey at like $ 7 – 10 each and I had about 6 – 7 (yup) … so let me just say those drinks sneak up on you HARD. I was out all night and the next day trying to rid my body of the booze. HAHA
So, yeah, they’re pricey but they are strong and do not taste strong (even though many of them tasted alike).
At the bar, the bartenders were MUCH nicer than the wait staff. They started a tab for us and even with their limited english, tried their best. Eventually I began just speaking Chinese to them and even got a free drink from the bartender after last call (THANK YOU!!!). So that brought the stars back up after my terrible experience earlier in the night.
Also, bathrooms are quite clean and the décor (though old and dusty) was interesting. Also, we were definitely the drunkest loudest people there I think. Haha. And karaōke is always funny to watch and cheer your friends on!

A trip and a half. Actually, if I’d been tripping I’d give it 5 stars. A throwback to the sixties Tiki culture and early Polynesian/​American food. Really sweet South Sea cocktails, amusing but bordering on seedy Tiki bar décor, and wait staff in threadbare Hawaiian shirts that have seen it all-​it really is a must visit place, even if the food is ‘meh’. I can’t imagine how much fun it would be on karaōke nights.

I haven’t been here since the 70’s and it looks exactly the same. As my friends said, «we feel like we’re in an episode of the Brady Bunch». Tacky tacky, but I loved it! I knew what to expect and that’s exactly what I got.
Friday night and it was a little quiet Would have felt better if there were more people, but honestly the food was great!
I had to order a zombie and another and another. For an appetizer we had the pu pu platter because you just have to! And it was the same food that was in it 30 years ago. Also tried the steamed dumplings and honestly wasn’t a fan. The dough was too thick and they tasted like the kind I get from Costco in a bag.
My dinner included vegetables which all tasted very fresh. 8 different meals ordered around the table and everyone seemed happy with their food.
The waiters were attentive and friendly, and it was karaōke night so the regulars were there, but again — that’s what I went there for. To have some laughs and have some fun. Great night and I can’t wait to go back again.