Champs Bistro

ok very sad! I just found out that champs closed!!! now they only cater!!! very very sad!!!

I’m sad that this little resturant is moving on August 8^th. I’m going to miss their Plantation Ice and Acai Cups! Love Love Love…
Their sandwiches were freshly made, and thier BBQ is awesome. Just got a tip though from the owner that they will deliver to us at Ohana if we make a big order. Cross my fingers. Well Good Luck to your company, it will be missed. :)

C hoices in West Oahu are limited, but there are some great gems
H ere’s a quality plate lunch spot in the Leeward YMCA campus
A small outdoor local-​style bistro run by a friendly staff
M enu is a small collection of grilled meats, poke and salads
P late lunches are decently priced under $ 10
S ervings are huge — you could split a plate with a friend
B est thing to try is the Champs Combo Plate
I t comes with kalbi, chicken and your choice of spicy ahi or poke
S eems rare to find a mix plate served with poke
T he dish components could be better, but it’s great as a whole
R ecommend the Pomegrenate Dressing for your side salad
O rder a tasty Plantation Iced Tea with your meal

Workers are real friendly. I got the Spicy Ahi Bowl. It was good while I was eating it but right when I was getting done… my tummy was hurting big time.
I heard a lot of good things about this place and many of them mentioned that the Spicy Ahi was not something to try… and I wanted to prove them wrong.
They make it where the sauce drenched the ahi… I heard they drench it because the Ahi is old.
That’s all. No further comments.

Love this place! Our Hawaii office is walking distance. Tasty plate lunches with some unique twists. Excellent and friendly service– this place is my favorite in Waipahu. Font miss the homemade papaya salad dressing.

Here is the review I promised them!
This place is excellent. It’s about 5 minutes from where I work and there is always ample parking. Seating under the umbrella tables can get tight around lunch time, but if you come a little before or a little after the lunch rush, there are usually seats. Otherwise, you can take your lunch onto the grassy area under the trees.
What is good here?
1. Plantation iced tea – hands down THE BEST in Hawaii. It’s the perfect balance of perfectly brewed tea and sweet-​tangy juice. Most times I taste more juice than tea, but the plantation tea here is awesome because you can taste BOTH. It’s always fresh and the taste is consistent.
2. Papaya seed dressing – Some of the plates come with salad and they have several varieties. I got the lilikoi which was very nice and light, but the favourite at our table was the papaya seed.
3. Poke – the regular poke and the spicy poke are both top notch. The brilliantly coloured cubes of beautiful ahi are so fresh. Sometimes the taste of the onion can be pungent and overwhelming, but not here. They have a great recipe!
4. Kalbi – Wow. The kalbi here is seriously broke da mout. The portions are generous, no cheap lean slivers here! Sweet, salty, smoky goodness… Oh, yes, baby! You gotta try the kalbi.
If you want a good mix, get the mixed plate and a plantation iced tea. The mixed plate has BBQ chicken, kalbi, your choice of regular poke or spicy ahi, on a bed of greens (get the papaya seed dressing) for $ 10.95. The iced tea is less than $ 2.00.
Everyone here is friendly, nice, and even though the food takes a little while because most of it is made to order, it’s well worth the wait. Come hungry and bring your local-​food loving friends. This place has yet to disappoint!

Every so often our office orders lunch out as a special treat. One day someone in the office saw a good review for Champ’s Bistro, which is nearby where our office is located and suggested it as our next take out lunch spot.
Everyone ordered something different. I got the teri chicken and it was very good. The chicken had a nice bbq taste (slight char on the edges which is winnahs to me), and the sauce was yummy. For only $ 6.50 I got a tossed salad, hapa rice, and 3 big pieces of chicken. Good price and great food!
Can’t wait to have another office take out from here. I overheard someone say that the kalbi was good, so maybe that will be my next choice!

I can’t believe Champs Bistro has been in Waipahu and so close to me for almost a year and I just found it. As soon as we got there, we were greeted and one of the owners asked us if it was our first time there. We said it was and he gave us their plantation iced tea and recommended the Champs Special and Champs Chicken Salad for us. The Special consists of kalbi, chicken, salad, Hapa rice and ahi poke. The chicken in the chicken salad was soooo good! They make their own dressings, too. I had the papaya and it was delicious. My BF had the lilikoi dressing which was also really good. The ahi was fresh and the kalbi was juicy.
Come here for really good food at an affordable price and awesome customer service. The family that runs the place is sooo nice and they make everyone feel welcome. Don’t forget to wash your meal down with their plantation iced tea!

I saw Champs Bistro on a Star Advertiser and thought I got to check it out. I ordered the Famous mixed plate. One advice two can share this plate because this plate was HUGE. 3 pieces of Kal-​Bi 2 large pieces of BBQ Chicken and huge scoops of Poke. I choose the Lilikoi dressing and if you like the tarty taste great if not choose another dressing. Next time I’ll order the other seafood dishes because I kept eyeing the lady plate. The only down side is I had to wait 20 minutes for my plate because three other guys ordered the same plate. So be prepared to WAIT.

Champs Bistro is the best. Their food is so awesome. There hasn’t been a time that I went that I was not satisfied. I have tried almost everything, from there Plantation Ice Tea to their Shrimp Scampi. So Onolicious. I have to check them out. There are hardly any food place near by so I always head to Champs. The people that serve you are just awesome. You Rock!

There were a couple of people who were living in Waipahu and told there was a little hole in the wall eating place right next to the Waipahu YMCA called Champ’s Bistro that served up some really good food, so after working out at the 24 Hour Fitness Center in Mililani, instead of me drinking my protein shake, i decided what the hell, i’ll take a drive out to Little Manila and give this place a visit…
PARKING: There is quite a bit of patking here as it shares the same parking as the YMCA. Oh by the way, The YMCA looks really nice from the outside.
AMBIENCE: Other than hearing the chickens crowing in the background or looking out at the church which was once a Porno theater, it is just a casual place with about 3 to 4 tables with Umbrellas.
FOOD: I have only been here once, but the special of the day was a Macadamia Nut Crusted Catch with can be served with White or Hapa Rice and a salad. But i wasn’t really in the mood for just fish, so i asked the very charming lady who took my order if i could have a Grilled Steak and Ahi Poke Combo and she obliged which made me very happy =). The Steak was cooked to perfection and the Ahi Poke was very tasty as well. What really caught my eye was the Pomegranate or Raspberry Vinaigrette, which they put on the salad which came with my meal. The dressing was really, really good and i was gonna ask them if they sold that dressing in a bottle. They even gave me a free plantation tea because it was my first time there. NICE TOUCH. And what was really nice was that the owner came to my table and asked me how the food was. I was assuming that was the owner, he look liked he would put me out of my misery if i had told him the food was horrible because he looked like an MMA fighter with all his tattoos. But i like someone who comes out of his domain to ask me how the food was.
I have to go back on a Friday because i overheard him say to a customer dining next to me how his Shrimp Scampi would blow away Giovanni’s Shrimp on any given day. So he’s got me all worked up to visit him another time.
OVERALL: What i really like about this place is that it’s not fancy and i think anyone from all walks of life in the eating world could easily get attached to eating here more than once a week. I’ll tell you this, if this place would be somewhere near the downtown aream this place would be humping. But i like the fact that this place is a HOP, SKIP, and a JUMP from my stomping ground in the 96 789 region. With service like this, i can see Champ’s Bistro thriving with business which i hear is already happening as we speak. I will be back, you can count on it…

I enjoy eating and «cruising» at Champs Bistro. Conveniently located for me at the Leeward YMCA, it is growing in popularity amongst Y members and non– Y members alike, who heard about the healthy selection at Champs.
The business is family ran and upon ordering at the service window you are greeted with a smile and with aloha. As of this review, I had a number of savory selections: (of course not at one sitting) The ahi katsu, the garlic pepper steak, and the grilled Teri chicken all of which were very delicious and served with 2 scoops of hapa blend rice and a side of tossed greens. Reasonably priced and cooked on the outdoor grill, the aroma of the grilled entrée while they are cooking it makes your mouth water! However, by far, my personal favorite (when avaialble) is the seafood combination casserole… IT is «good night» food for me, as if I eat that plate, I end up sleeping after (kanak attack).
If you find yourself in Waipahu pondering where to eat stop by at Champs Bistro for lunch or an early dinner… support our local businesses…
~Cliff