Insomnia - Honolulu

The coffee is amazing and at a great price. The food is super good and the couple running the shop are super nice and sweet. Highly recommend read more The coffee is amazing and at a great price. The food is super good and the couple running the shop are super nice and sweet. Highly recommend

Not loving my iced latte and they seem to do a brisk lunch takeout business so even an iced latte can take some time midday. The iced latte may be powdered and... read more Not loving my iced latte and they seem to do a brisk lunch takeout business so even an iced latte can take some time midday. The iced latte may be powdered and it’s definitely bitter—probably nice in Vietnamese coffee, but not my favorite coffee flavor in a regular latte. I’ll definitely come back for the food, that looked good and reasonably priced for the area. The owners who work the counter are very friendly. Update July 2023: Good beef pho, made quickly and custom to requests, with a generous serving and nicely flavored broth. Friendly proprietors, as always. They have smoothies and various flavors of tea with boba on the menu, so that’s probably the next thing I’ll try there.

[Location & Parking] Insomnia is located inside SALT, near Bevy Parking is located in the parking structure. read more [Location & Parking] Insomnia is located inside SALT, near Bevy Parking is located in the parking structure.

Strong Vietnamese coffee that will rev your engine and keep you up. Delicious lemon grass chicken bahn mi sandwich nicely seasoned, crisp toasted bread and with... read more Strong Vietnamese coffee that will rev your engine and keep you up. Delicious lemon grass chicken bahn mi sandwich nicely seasoned, crisp toasted bread and with crunchy pickled vegetables.Food: 5/5

While on the phone with our boss, one of my coworkers and I joked that since it was Employee Appreciation Day (for our organization , our boss should buy us lun... read more While on the phone with our boss, one of my coworkers and I joked that since it was Employee Appreciation Day (for our organization , our boss should buy us lunch. Not just any lunch either, but pho. This was said in complete jest as our boss had continued to ask us all if we had eaten pho for lunch since we had done so once without him and haven 't been able to catch a break since. So when our boss, much to our surprise, had actually said he would buy us pho for lunch, we were speechless. The next morning when all of us got situated at our cubicles, our boss stopped by to make sure we all knew that it would be a group lunch gathering (although less on the gathering since our organization was still observing social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures . One of my coworkers laughed because she thought our boss was joking but when it turned out to be the truth, I was quick to note down everyone 's order so we could phone it in for pick-up later that morning. Insomnia has always been a go-to for pho (and Vietnamese food for me in the Kaka 'ako area because of how close it is to my workplace and how affordable it is considering the area. The quality of the pho (broth, meat, noodles, etc. is superb and no matter what I order from here, I am never left disappointed. I do not go often but I do visit enough where the owners, a husband and wife team, recognize me when I stop by in-person. However, I was quite surprised when I called to put in our order and the wife immediately asked, Are you the tall girl who look like Miss Hawaii who always make big order? I could not help but laugh because I was about ready to let aunty know to just take my money and forget the food lol. After some more conversation and laughs, I placed the order and confirmed with aunty about pick-up time. When it came time to pick-up our order, our boss opted to walk with me to grab the food. I am not sure if it was because he was concerned that I would drop all of our lunches on the way back but off we went. By the time we got to Insomnia, aunty and uncle were quick to greet us and get us checked-out. Aunty was a bit curious at first who our boss was since I usually come by either solo or with one of my work moms, but when she asked about it, I explained that he was buying us lunch for Employee Appreciation Day. I also made sure to tip them well since I was not sure what kind of tipper my boss was but I guess my boss didn 't notice the cash I left and also tipped them via his card lol. Oh well, both aunty and uncle work really hard so they deserve it. Aunty also thanked us for our order and asked us to come by again soon to which I told her we would try. Overall, you can never go wrong with Insomnia. The owners are amazing, down-to-earth people who work really hard every day to consistently provide phenomenal dishes for their customers. Aunty always comes in with those amazing compliments and uncle is always so friendly to everyone that comes by. If I didn 't already love them so much, the compliment alone would have made me a fan lol. All jokes aside, Insomnia is a definite must if you 're in the area and want some Vietnamese food.