Pono Hawaiian Kitchen Tap - Santa Cruz

Everything ruled! Highly recommend eating here. The owners/workers are super cool people too.

Tried calling ahead and it just rang 3 times in a row.. went in and they weren't even that busy and the girl up front was like oh my bad.. pretty much and then I saw the other girl working starting to answer the phone after she talked to her. Asked and paid for extra sauce and ended up having to go back in for said extra sauce.. and again she was like oh my bad.. Sheesh lol

This place was so good I bookmarked it! Definitely worth coming back. The choices are island saavy and not a single one of them will disappoint you. After spending a full day playing beach volleyball, this was a perfect refueling spot. Parking in the back is limited, so carpool if you can. Expect a line. Favorites so far: loco moco, coconut shrimp, masubi (of course), kalua pork!

We keep trying Pono and sometimes it really hits the spot. We like their coconut shrimp plate. However, the food is super inconsistent! Last night the fish and chips was very disappointing...fish had the texture of fried chicken (way over cooked) and my tofu bowl had very soft, jiggly tofu instead of the usual firm tofu. We will be taking a break from Pono, again.

This restaurant did not accept my order or payment that I placed, where did my order and money go???? Don't order on Yelp!