Makana Hawaiian & Japanese BBQ

From a Hawaiian perspective, it’s ok. I had the Kabi ribs which were ok. The Mac salad is cheesy and the lettuce salad (yes, only lettuce!), looks like it topped with a cheese dressing. Disappointing.

$ 14.10 for a loco moco. that’s just loco! won’t me going back for mo’.

Solid delivery place in the morningside heights /​south harlem area! Their $ 17 3 roll special for dinner is great, comes with miso soup & salad. The rolls are BIG and you will be very, very full after eating this. I like the dressing they use on their salad, but the soup was very flavorless and underwhelming. I tried the NY roll, eel avocado roll and salmon avocado roll. All were great. I saw that the same 3 roll special is offered for $ 13 during lunch. I am curious, does this lunch deal apply on weekends?

Don’t order from this restaurant! I waited for my food for an hour and didn’t receive the food. When I called the restaurant, they told me that they had already delivered the food. The delivery guy handed the food to a wrong address, even though the address I gave on Seamless was correct! When I demanded refund, they refused to admit their mistake and insisted that they would not give me a refund because they had already made a delivery! It was only after I complained to Seamless that I got my money back!
There are other Japanese restaurants in the neighborhood. I had ordered from Makana once before and the food there is mediocre, certainly not worth your time and money when the delivery goes wrong! More importantly, this is a restaurant that insists that you should pay for food that you have never received!

This is my first time trying out a Hawaiian restaurant, and, I must say … it was a good first experience. I ordered the Spam Musubi, Loaded Fries and Ahi Poke. The pull pork served on the loaded fries was superb! And the tuna from Ahi Poke was fresh and flavorful, although could use a hint of salt?

Its really upsetting I have to give this place one star, but the food just didn’t taste good. The ambiance is very chill they have some nice island Bob Marley music playing in the back, and the actual restaurant is very bright and colorful.
The staff was very sweet and nice. Service was excellent, the only issue was that the food was really not appetizing. I got the BBQ chicken which ended up having not a single strong note of bbq flavor, and the macaroni salad that it came with was just in-​edible. The salad was good and so was the white rice but the chicken was fatty and I ended up leaving food behind, which I hate to do.
The mango bubble tea tasted medicinal, I’m not sure how, but It was just bad. My friends coconut bubble tea tasted much better, but still not great.
I would definitley not return, probably one of the worst bbq chickens Ive ever had.

Rudest service ever. Owner called me an a@:-)#hole when I called to rectify a takeout miscommunication.

I usually order from the Makana on the East Side, but as I was recently on the West SIde, I ordered from this location instead. Their BBQ Beef Fried rice was fine (comparable to the East SIde location) – so no complaints there. I wound up ordering the Lychee Green Tea, which I had never ordered before but decided to give a try. I don’t know if it was a bad batch, but it has a soapy after taste and was basically undrinkable. I will probably have to go to the restaurant itself next time and see if I could try a sample before deciding to order it again. It was literally $ 3 down the drain.

We lived in a hawaii for 4 years and have had some of the best local food. I was a little underwhelmed by Makana. To be fair though, we only tried the kalua pork platter. The pork unfortunately didnt taste like traditional kalua pork but it was ok. The mac and cheese was pretty tasteless. We did enjoy the white rice and the salad with dressing. I definitely won’t be rushing back for the pork but I may be willing to try something else. In the meantime, if you want good hawaiian style kalua pork, come over… I make a mean pig!

Makana has a lot of stuff on their menu, but I just wanted typical fried Hawaiian food.
Loco Moco ($ 10.95) — beef patties topped with fried egg, caramelized onions, gravy, over rice, macaroni salad:
There isn’t one right way to make loco moco, as it is mainly beef patties, gravy, & fried eggs over rice. However, the only reason I say this wasn’t quite loco moco is because I’m pretty sure there was no gravy. The so-​called gravy tastes like the brown sauce over salisbury steak that comes with frozen meals. Also, I’ve never had caramelized onions with loco moco before. Everything else — the hamburger patties and macaroni salad was okay. The best part was the runny eggs.
Fried Mahi Mahi ($ 11.95) with tartar sauce, macaroni salad, garden salad, & rice:
There was a good amount of fish in there. Good balance of batter & fish. The only thing that wasn’t too enjoyable was the garden salad. It tastes and looks like airline salad, but topped with a sweet, tart dressing.
Most people get takeout or delivery, but there is a good amount of seating in the restaurant.

Not sure what typical Hawaiian food should look like, but this place is definitely a good choice for people who live nearby to order delivery. I have went to the store to pick up for one time. The restaurant is not too big and I assume most orders are from take out and deliveries.
The dinner box is very delicious and is a large portion. A dinner box and 1 appetizer would be enough for two people. I’ve also tried the crispy coconut shrimp and loaded fries. Much more worth than how much they cost and strongly recommend. The rolls and tacos are very good as well. Just try out every flavor and you will find out your favorite!!!

The food is good but was cold after delivery took 90 minutes (they told me it would be 45.)
I understand food delivery can take awhile but be honest about it especially if a customer calls to ask.
Would have to think twice before ordering again.

Ate at Makana several times, love their Hawaiian BBQ mixed platter, stir fried noodles, Loco moco and specialty rolls.
Service was good considering they were pretty busy. Food Portion & price was great.

My husband and I ordered take out. The BBQ spare ribs, that were extremely burned. We called and were given 2 options
1. Wait 1.5 hours for another order to make it to us
2. Return– void the transaction and have our $ credited back on our card.
After given the 2 options we were told that option 1 wasn’t an option anymore. Aaaaand that a delivery man would come to our apartment to pick up the food.
:(you mean I can’t even eat the rice :(
Order at your own risk and hope that they serve you edible food.
The three stars come from past experience that were no where near this experience

Omg the loco moco still on fleek! AND their house special fried rice is straight up delicious omg! However there is one problem. I have a huge butt and their chairs are a little to small for my liking. Overall delicious food and such friendly workers.

I don’t typically do review updates, but Makana definitely deserved an update. My initial complaint with this place was the timeliness of their service.
I’m glad to report that they’ve cleaned up their operations and as a result service is much faster here. They were able to churn out orders with ease and I was duly impressed. All in all, Makana is a solid Hawaiian option in the UWS. You should check it out if you’re in the mood for some Loco Moco!

There are definitely not enough Hawaiian places to eat in NYC so Makana is a sight for sore eyes.
Portion sizes are huge (albeit, NYC prices so. you know 5 bucks for a spam musubi) and you’ll definitely feel full and satisfied.
Get the Chicken Katsu or Karage and if you’ve never had spam musubi before it’s worth it — I promise.

I stopped in for lunch after a friend recommended it (and checking Unilocal). There was a pretty good selection of food and it was reasonably priced. I decided to go with the chicken and short rib plate for $ 10.95. It only took about 5 mins for me to be in and out, which is a plus during lunch hour. The food was good but nothing spectacular, exactly what you expect it to be. I’ll probably stop by for lunch again and try something else.

I was around the area and needed a hardy lunch before heading to work, of course Unilocal found me the best place!
The place has a bright orange interior and very lively with high seating for people to dine in. Didn’t feel like I was in NYC bring in here.
Must have:
Loco moco:
–Had this in Hawaii and must say that this place is on point with this dish! The patty was juicy and smothered with delicious mushroom sauce that was made perfect. Portions were pretty decent, filled me up and prepped for work. They also gave a side of macaroni salad, which was ok.
Service: for take out, they were pretty fast, didn’t wait for too long. I did notice that during lunch, they have a lot of orders togo.
Price wise, it’s not too bad… lunch is a great deal and about $ 2 more for dinner.
Overall: will go back if around the area, just wish there was another closer to lower Manhattan.

So far, so good.
Have only tried a few dishes as of now but I’m interested in returning from what I have encountered so far. Pretty, minimalist décor with an immaculate and spacious bathroom.
When entering you place your order at the counter and seat yourself. Not crazy about that but I do like that they offer self serve water and a no pressure dining experience. Dining room is small so not too hard to mess up with delivering orders.
Not where I’d take anyone for a special event but good for a daily meal. Flavors are spot on and presentation of dishes is adequate. While there it seems a lot of their business comes from delivery, as opposed to dining in, service.