Flamingo

Well, I think I heard this place closed down and I’m not surprised why. Went about a month ago as my parents wanted to try eating here again. There was very little staff working so the service was very slow. I ordered the chicken tofu and the chicken tasted very freezer burnt and the tofu was near spoiled (it was souring already).
My kids split the chocolate chip pancakes, which were good but how do you mess up pancakes anyway.
One star for ample parking and the fact that they serve breakfast all day.
The news was saying they were closing due to the slow business of the rail, but it seemed more than rail work. The food and server were not up to par.

Just tried to make the deposit to reserve the private room for a baby shower after being told that to just stop to make the deposit I find out that they will be closing within the next 10 days. Nothing was ever said that they will be closing at all when the phone call was made to reserve the room horrible business practice no wonder why they closing

Flamingo Restaurant located in the Pearl City Business Plaza on the second level. I’ve always wanted to check this restaurant out whenever I was in Pearl City. I have dined at the restaurant twice already with my mother joining me as a dinner companion.
First visit — we were greeted by a waitress, Chris, as soon as we stepped foot into the establishment. She says «Go ahead and sit anywhere you feel comfortable.» My mom chose the first booth next to the window. The waitress hands us the menu and we made our decision of what to order. Mom had the mahimahi plate and I had the oxtail soup. Mom says her dish was okay. My oxtail soup was «What the hell is that funky taste?» to «I had no idea they added long rice noodles to this» to «I need to add some shoyu sauce to this soup base because I really don’t like the taste of the soup.» (Sorry no pics from the first visit since I left my phone back at mom’s home to be charged up).
Second visit — we were greeted by a different waitress and the first waitress Chris was working the night shift again. We sat at the same booth as the first visit. This time my mom and I both order the beef stew. Only I had the mahimahi with my beef stew and rice while my mom had mashed potatoes with her beef stew. The beef stew was so delicious. I love it when the meat was very tender and soft… that’s good because my mom forgot her dentures at home. Since it was my mom’s 65^th birthday she received 2 slices of custard pie… I had no idea about this since I was using the restroom at the time. LOL
Customer service was excellent by our friendly waitress Chris. She always checked up on us to make sure that our drinks were filled or if we enjoyed our food. She even says to me «Don’t be a stranger. Come and dine with us whenever you are in Pearl City especially on Mondays when I’m working.»
The women restroom has two stalls. One stall the toilet seat showed a cracked line. The wash basin is all rusty around the edges.
The restaurant is mighty big. As you enter the restaurant you’ll see a display case of baked goods like pies and cornbread. There are shelves with different sizes and different colors of polo shirts of the Flamingo restaurant for sale. There’s counter space for individuals who want to enjoy their meal at the counter. There’s a small area for group dining. I also noticed a dark section near the restrooms where I think the bar is supposed to be but I believe it is now for storage use.
I know the Flamingo Restaurant has been around for a long time. I just wish that current owners could do some renovations on the place to attract more customers and also make improvements on the menu items.

I remember my parents taking me to Flamingo’s since I was a little girl. Been loving it ever since, crave for the hamburger steak. Went there a couple of days ago, and very disappointed. The hamburger steak recipe has changed entirely, the gravy is not as brown and tasty, and the hamburger itself must have been mixed with other ingredients they haven’t used before. But the toss salad still has the crunchy lettuce I have always enjoyed. Don’t think I will go there anymore with the change in chef.

This place was disappointing. We walked in and in there pie case was fly buzzing around and landing on them. Ewww… I ordered for breakfast their Hawaiian stew with rice. I was expecting a gravy style stew but I recieved a soup base instead. The rice was not fresh and was cold. Service is slow. I am so bummed right now. My boys ordered eggs and hashbrowns. The potatoes were deep fried and greasy. Gross! My husbands fried rice was greasy and rice was dry. However he said the coffee was good. So there is the single star they earned. Do yourself a favor eat across the street at safe bet. This place is not good.

Family had dinner there last night and the food like always was great. The dressings were tasty. All three entrees spot on in quality and portion size. It was good to visit a place where you are welcome like family. With Wisteria and Columbia Inn gone this is truly the last of the old style dinners.
For those of you who have not visited them for a while I suggest you give them a try you will not be disappointed.
Sad to hear their last day is Sunday. My first job was at the Flamingo Royal Lanai in Waikiki and I was blessed to spend 10+ years working for them. While I was employed there the Nagamines took good care of me. Any of you old Flamingo crew still in Hawaii we gotta meet there on Sunday.

I went there about a week ago to get breakfast with a coworker of mine before starting our shift. Didnt bother to check if the order was correct which was my fault, showed up to work and wanted to eat but didnt have surup so i called to complain. The lady answering the phone appologized, then said well what do you want me to do? I was angry so i said ugh well i wasnt able to eat my breakfast so i want my money back. Just her attitude pissed me off.

We were told to have a seat and I don’t know what the deal was, but the four of us sat down and no one came to our table to take a drink order or anything. They looked at us and knew we were there but no service. We walked out and went to zippy’s. We got actual food and service there.

Pi = 3.1415 = 3÷14÷15 = March 14, 2015!
Happy Pi Day!
5 Stars for their Custard Pie. I’ve tried the recipes of numerous bakeries. Flamingo’s reigns true, my palate is forever infatuated. The custard is creamy and has a hint of Vanilla. The crust is moist and doesn’t leave much of a flaky mess. Whenever my family and I dine at the restaurant, I make sure to leave enough space for a slice of my favorite Custard Pie: D
Specially for today, I stopped by the bakery and ordered a whole pie: D
Parking: Free Lot

I like this local place. Great variety of food choices. Their banana and apple homemade pies are «ONO» they have local favorites. I like the teriyaki salmon salàd. The salmon is always cooked just right tasty and moist. Their staff are always friendly

Warning: I wrote this review on a Saturday, so I’m continuing my late post procrastination lol
I seriously need to get on track by eating healthy & hitting the gym especially with this weight gain from the holidays, but who starts any diet or clean eating on a weekend?
So as I was telling myself that, I was complaining to my wife on how hungry I was, and how she lacked on taking me anywhere «new» to eat, and she retorted saying due to my «closed minded taste» lately, she has not been adventurous taking me to any new restaurant or eatery place (what a way to start off a new year huh?) so I decided to stop acting like «Lady Hulk» & agreed to be adventurous.
«Next place we see, we will eat there», exact words my wife told me as we were driving around in circles in Pearl City due to my indecisiveness of food choice. I agreed and 2 seconds later, Flamingo’s was what caught our eye…
Parking was okay, not too much space but we had no problem finding a parking which was a plus. I admit I didn’t feel impressed by just the looks of it, but my wife said «well they’ve been here for years, so they must be doing something right to be in business» — which I could not less agree with.
Pros:
— Dim atmosphere when entering
— Loads of seating area
— Ordered the chicken cutlet and its like having dinner at Aunties house, very home cooked meal style
–Food portion was huge! & satisfying
–Ordering a dinner menu gets you a soup or salad and a dessert, something like Zippys just not as costly
–Wife got the pork and gravy and said it was awesome so it deserves a plus, I thought my gravy for my cutlet was OK, nothing special
–Service was good, our server always checked up on us to make sure if everything was okay and refilled our drinks constantly, which of course makes me a happy camper when trying a place for the first time
Cons:
— The interior of the place definitely needs an upgrade, the topper wear was very miss match for my sort of place to dine in (very «high make maka» of me yeah?)
— The floors were a bit dirty, it was kind of a turn off… but then again I am not a big fan of carpet when it comes to dining in someplace
–The vegetables they serve was bit cold, very «open» the frozen veggies and steam it and then throw it on the plate.eek.
–Fries were NOT fresh (I ordered my chicken cutlet with fries) but it seemed like old fries, and I am not a big fan about that
Overall, I rated this place a 3 star, its A-​OK and I would probably come again just to try they’re breakfast, since I have heard it was a good place to eat.
So here is my very late review on Flamingo’s! if anything I suggest everyone should try them out! they have been here forever right? (=
Happy Eats Unilocalers!

I got CIGUATERIA FOOD POISONING from eating Miso Butterfish for breakfast their in November 2014. My Vision was Distorted, I was Dizzy, Diarrhea, I had a Stomachache in Less Than One Hour After Eating at Pearl City Flamingo… I’m a Paramedic and I know Emergency Medicine for 31+ Years. I Will Never Go Back There Ever. Don’t Eat at Flamingo.

My favorite place for a quiet breakfast with the family. Friendly staff and a clean environment to enjoy your meal.

I’ve only known of Flamingos for its double crust banana pie. I wasn’t a huge fan, but one of my grandpas loved the stuff (God rest his soul). I never sat down for a meal but thought I’d have breakfast while I waited for the oil change place opened.
So, I had the Japanese breakfast. Eggs, rice, butterfish were fine. Miso soup was cold and tofu sour, and I usually love miso soup. I’m sure other offerings are better.
Now, why I’m really writing is because service was first rate. The wait staff was warm, friendly and welcoming. Concerned that the visit was good. Five stars for service; two stars for food — split the difference.
Customer service is a big deal. Especially in a service economy. Your livelihood depends on it, and my encounter here was excellent.

Update! The food continues to be mediocre at best, but I love the frozen-​in-​time feel it has. I always directs the conversation to fond memories of days gone, such as Dobash cakes & eclairs from Kapiolani bakery… yummy memories… k, nuff dating myself.
Anyway, the reason why I decided to even bother give an update is for 2 reasons.
Number 1: I like try da kimchee soup. I hear only the owner can make it but he barely come. Can someone get a message to him? Thanks.
Number 2: Me & the bf continue to come here periodically to support the place so it remains open and have always been on the lookout for a favorite. We ain’t there yet, but we found some pretty good stuff tonight. I had the teri-​stake burger with fries and the bf had the chicken cutlet with mash & corn. Winner, winner! I especially loved the double fried fries that reminded me of my childhood. Out of all the cutlets, bf liked this chicken on the best.
The orange soda that came as a part of his full-​meal always helps to keep the option of Flamingo open for us.

Best BLT on a buttery bun ever! They cook the bacon to crispy perfection and its just the best ever
Their hamburger royal is really good too, also they have an awesome breakfast menu.
But If you’re craving a burger instead of going to McDonald’s spend a few extra bucks for a real burger! They give you an option of fries, mac salad or toss salad to go with it. Awesome!
Their banana cream pie is delicious and they bake fresh short bread cookies and other baked goods that are sooo good!

I gave this place 2 stars because the service was poor and the food was mediocre. They were clearly understaffed. They had about 2 waitresses for the entire restaurant, so service was extremely slow.
As for the menu, a lot of items were unavailable, including the Hawaiian stew, everything with turkey and many of their drinks. I ended up going with the French Dip, since the stew was not available. The au jus tasted good, but the roast beef was sliced way too thick and the French fries were not seasoned at all.
It was cool to try this place once, but I don’t think I’ll be returning anytime soon. I’d rather go to Zippys.

I was so sad when I visited Flamingo’s two weeks ago. Granted it was busy but service really blowed! Things I noted: order taking took forever (at least 15 mins), water came very late too– I had to get up to get my daughter a glass of water at the counter area and the waitress had a pitcher of ice water in her hand but gave her water from the tap (why?!), and last our order got messed up so everyone (5 adults) got their food while my daughter waited an extra 5 minutes for her blueberry pancakes (thank goodness for the iPhone to keep her distracted)!
I ate a breakfast with bacon, fried rice and scrambled egg. I must say the fried rice was yummy! The bacon was very crispy and had no oil on it. The scrambled egg was strange. It was like a yellow frisbee. I did not like the texture one bit. My daughter got a short stack blueberry pancake and the portion was big. She enjoyed it and scarfed as soon as it got to the table. My friend ordered Portuguese sausage, eggs and rice and said it was good.
I probably won’t return but rather just visit the Flamingo Express in Mapunapuna since it’s much more convenient to my home.

Diner establishments have been dying out since they can’t keep up with newer restaurants, changing dining habits and tastes. Pearl City is still a neighborhood that can support diner-​style or family oriented food. We suddenly got the urge to eat «old-​fashioned» soup-​to-​nuts meals. Whaat’s that? Yep, for a set price, your meal is served with your choice of soup or salad, rice, mashed potatoes, or French fries, beverage (hot or cold) and dessert (ice cream, sherbet or pudding). If you want a slice of Flamingo’s famous pie, it’s $ 1.95 extra… worth every cent for the signature double-​crust banana pie! We ordered the breaded beef cutlet, which was ACTUALLY a slice of beef not ground or shaped and breaded chicken cutlet. The food didn’t seem to be fresh because the breading was so hard it was difficult to cut through; it was as if the cutlets had been refried or re-​grilled. Even the gravy didn’t moisten or «soften» parts of the breading so we scraped it off. Well, at least, the food came out «hot» from the kitchen but looks were deceiving.
After we were seated, our waitress had passed us by twice while saying she’d be with us shortly. Each time she passed, she had stopped to clear a table. There were only 4 other tables that were full at the time. Then, when she came to take our order, she seemed to complain about how tired she was. She promptly brought our salads, dinner rolls and meals but passed by our table two more times muttering a apology about forgetting our beverages. She buzzed around other tables and engaged in conversation with, we guess, «regulars».
Sorry to say, we were disappointed with both the quality/​flavor of food and service. We reminisced about the good ol’ days of the Flamingo Chuckwagon restaurants, Columbia Inns and SpenceCliff restaurants and could only say that these diners can only be found in our memories.

7.17.13.
Flamingo’s is now under new management! Things are still pretty much the same… only big difference is the menus are now laminated and spiral bound.
As for menu items, they are still mostly the same. One thing to note, old timers or regulars might notice that the full meals aren’t listed to come with a drink – don’t worry you still get your choice of soup/​salad, starch, & dessert (ice cream, pudding, sherbert) – but even though it’s not written on the menu, we weren’t charged for the drinks that we ordered; perhaps that was just the waitress providing us with good customer service :) Our family loves coming here for the orange soda! ;)
My usual here is the Pork Cutlet. I noticed that the gravy/​sauce no longer includes mushrooms… which I felt took away from the taste a bit, however still yummy (~$ 12). The teriyaki steak here is also usually pretty good – very tender! Portion sizes are always enormous – expect to leave with leftovers in hand. I know I left with an entire pork cutlet for a next day meal… I had to leave room for dessert!
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #198/​365