Absolutely not impressed with this restaurant. Being in Hawaii on vacation, I ordered the Kahlua pork hoping to get a taste for the traditional meal I've had several times before. Instead I was given a cheeseburger with pork instead of beef. Kahlua pork is supposed to be prepared wrapped naked along with a more modest portion. Had I not been with family considering their opinion it'd be rude, I'd either have paid for half of the meal or asked for a refund. I was insulted.
Review Source:I was in Hawaii for my honeymoon and we decided to stop by the Kona Brewing Co. since our hotel was not too far from it and a lot of our friends love Kona beers.
We took the free tour and it was a lot of fun! The tour guide was not boring and I think she knew that we were all looking forward to the tasting portion of the tour :) She was pretty funny and you could tell she really loves where she works. The tour took about 30 minutes and the tasting portion was about 20. The tastings are free and we tried 4 beers (all of them were delicious!) The only downer is that we didn't get to keep the tasting glasses but you can buy them at the gift shop for pretty cheap (I think they were $5 each?).
After the tour and tasting we decided to grab lunch. Along with the great beers the pub has great food! There is also indoor and outdoor seating which I liked. Overall if you have a couple hours to spare for a tour, tasting and some lunch I would definitely recommend that you stop by this brewery!
Best place to visit!  The tour times are 10:30am and 3:00pm. It is best to  go early and sign up for the free tour. They only take 15ppl.
The tasting is amazing and they have seasonal beer.
The food is really good and the price is reasonable.
If you go on Sundays they have live music.
A bit disappointed that Kona Brewing Company only offers two tours, one at 10am and one at 3pm, during the day, limited to just 15 people (and you need to sign up only when you get there---no online reservations---so if 15 people got there before you, you're out of luck). We missed the first one and didn't want to wait around that long for the second. We also discovered that this brewery does not offer free tastings for those who just want to take a peek inside the brewery and not do the full tour. Of course, they don't have to, but most microbreweries do offer a limited number of free samples. Guess they feel they don't have to. Instead, we spent $9 at the bar to get a small flight of four beers. They get four stars for the good price and great range of beers. Good souvenir shop too; took home a hat and Kona beer glass.
Review Source:Kona brewing is a must stop for us everytime we visit the big island, which is fairly frequently. Â I think their beers here are all solid. Â None of the beers are extraordinary, Â but they are good for the most part. Â Their food is similar, most things are solid that I have had, particularly their fish tacos and sandwich. Â Most of their pizzas that I have tried have been pretty good, but I really love coming here even though I know how touristy it is. Â I think if you come here you would be happy if you are looking for casual, Â good, and reasonably priced food.
Review Source:After a long day of exploring the west coast, my hubby and I stopped here for dinner. We shared everything as the server let us know the portions were large. The strawberry spinach salad was fresh but the dressing had little flavor to it. Probably won't order this salad next time. The Hawaiian Lu'au pizza was delicious...the dough is light and so is the sauce. We ended our meal with a Kilauea Lava Flow dessert that was yummy, but our coffees never arrived. Overall, the service was good other than forgetting our coffee. Will go there again.
Review Source:I always love coming here when I come home. Â I grew up in Kona and have worked at a few restaurants here and so I understand tourists can be annoying, but they feed the economy. My last trip to Kona Brew was very disappointing. I brought 10 friends from Texas to Kona and had told them going to Kona Brew was a must.
Our food was fantastic and our beer was great too, but our server seemed to careless about her job. We told our server that we were going to have separate checks when we were first seated and she said that wasn't a problem, but when she brought the check to the tale it was all on one. We asked her to split the check up and she threw us a pen and told us to split up the check up. The tip was already added so I guess she already thought she was done with her job.
My friends were all going to buy t-shirts and other items from the gift shop, but decided not to after having bad service.
I spoke with the manger and said she was going to mail us a gift certificate. I'm not holding my breath on getting it.
We stopped here for dinner on our way from the airport to our condo and SO very glad we did! Â Delicious - eat outside if you can - inside is nice but no breeze. Â The pizza is delicious and the Kalua Pork Sandwich was delicious. Â Be patient when trying to find the parking lot - it's a bit hard to find...but again TOTALLY worth it.
Review Source:It's like Bier Garten in Germany, when you sit outside.
It's nice. Service is very friendly, beers are good, even food was pretty tasty.
We each had samplers. I liked Wheat and Fire Rock.
Greek salad was well done, pizza was good.
Hot wings, I had better ones.
Overall a good relaxing place in Kona.
They have a lot of great specialty beer available that is not normally available or else seasonal (like Koko brown). They have gluten reduced beers, Omission (since they are both owned by Wydmer).
They have a lot of pizza on the menu.
They have a gluten free menu (no gluten free pizza sadly)
They have a wonderful spinach salad with a great flavorful chevre. A good chevre should be on more menus to replace boring feta.
The portion on the cajun style swordfish was a little small. It was also over cooked. I think it is normally served as fish tacos (and I guess they can't order real wheat free corn tortillas which fish tacos should be prepared with anyways.) Fish needs to be succulent and roasted to finish and not finished in the pan or grill (just my opinion on how to not make fish too chewy although salamander ovens are often good enough too).
They had good sides, but they lacked any real outstanding flavors
Beer and pizza...these are two of my very favorite things. And Kona Brewing Company has mastered both.
I'm currently lying in my hotel bed (still) recovering from the amazing lunch I had 3 hours ago. My husband and I split a pizza (half buffalo chicken and half Hawaiian) and we both absolutely loved both flavors (though we each favored different halves).
I am a huge fan of porters and was told before coming that their Pipeline Porter was one of the best. I went with the sampler and while the porter was good, the Koko Brown may have been the best beer I have ever had in my life. It had a coconut taste to it! How I wished I had room in my belly for more beer.
My only complaint was that it was so miserably hot sitting outside and eating a hot pizza. I was surprised they didn't have fans or anything circulating the air. Had we sat inside and been more comfortable, I may have gone for a full Koko Brown and stayed a little longer.
Friendly and quick bartenders...enjoyed trying all the beers that aren't in stores....loved the service...even though super packed...LavaMan Red and Bourbon Lavaman aged is delicious. I tried several others that aren't currently available in stores. The pizzas looked really good, but I was busy trying different beers.
Review Source:Overrated. After reading some of the reviews, and a long day in the sun, we thought we would give this place a try. It was busy, but even with at least 6 tables empty on the patio, we still had to wait 20 minutes. Our pager buzzed and we were brought to a table with the check and food scraps from the previous guest were still on the table. We had to ask for water multiple times, and the service (to be honest) was a little slow.
The imu pork sandwich was pretty good (with papaya slaw), but save your money on the (market priced at $16) ahi poke. The caprese salad (known as the Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil on the menu) was decent, but the bread was to die for.
All in all, due to service, speed, and comfort (bugs everywhere!) I give this place 3-stars. If you go, definitely have the beer.... it will make up for the lack of quality in their overpriced food.
Where else would you go on the Big Island to grab some Kona Beer? Straight from the source of course (reminds me of Barney Grumble drinking straight from Moe's tap). Â The days I went, they had some specialty beers which were pretty good.
Their Wailua wheat, Kona fire rock, Coconut porter, and Coffee stout are all good choices here. Â I also had a chance to try their pizzas ... but let's face it, it's just there to soak up all the booze you'll be ingesting. Â I mean, it was decent, but drunk food at best. Â
4 stars!
I think this place is overrated. We had to wait about an hour on a Saturday night. Â Food was OK, nothing to really rave or complain about. Â The beer selection was good. Â If you are looking for a good meal, then you will probably be disappointed. Â If you are looking for a place to kick back, relax, and have a few beers then it's not a bad place to stop by.
Review Source:After an adventurous day (i.e. driving) on the big island and illegally picking fruits with my family, we wanted a nice cold beer and some good ol' american food. Â We ended up here, mostly because of its size (thar she blows) and because we wanted to be cool. Â At 2:30 p.m. it was about 20 min wait.. felt forever and I was becoming hangry real quick. Â You DO NOT want to be around me when I am hangry, I may consistently knock you down emotionally for no reason, I am not proud of it. Not at all.
I think the service is great, the entire staff is always smiling and happy, but I don't think the place is great.  First of all you'll be perfecting your dance moves at this joint because you're constantly throwing your hands in the air in all direction because you're swatting all those flies!!! eww  if not the flies, then definitely the birds.  I kid you not, a bird actually flew so close to my face that it hit me in the freakin nose!  It was all fun and games when that birdie was perched up on my seat as I went to the bathroom, but my "oh hellz naw" came out when that stupid bird hit me in the face.  I was out for that bird.. I don't have a hate list, but if I did, that bird would be numero 1.
Even the food was not great.. no I am not biased from my horrifying bird bi&*!* slappin' incident. Â I had the naalehu nachos (by now you know my goal is to eat nachos at every place that offers it), and I hate shredded cheese! Â I've included a picture which makes it look amazing, but that's my camera, NOT the nachos.
naalehu nachos (yuck): <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kona-brewing-company-kailua-kona?select=4zORp_Ouq1LCm5V6RydvOw#fdcOLFYEj8N8EnhmPILtPw">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
One awesome thing about the place was they sell awesome bottle coozies and beer taps in the front. Â We left with some goodies! Â Anyways, awful food, but not a complete disaster as the service was great.
Delicious food & great beers! Lots of different types of food to choose from so husband decided on the sweet chili & pineapple pizza & I chose the fresh fish tacos, then we split them between us. Both choices were DELICIOUS. My server "auntie" was amazing and accomodated me and all of my pickiness (light cabbage, no cajun seasoning on the fish, corn salsa & aioli on the side, etc). Highly recommend this spot for a nice meal.
Review Source:Went for a late drink, and it was a laid back vibe, but it was pretty packed for a Saturday night. Â I do like Kona Brewing Company's Longboard Lager, so I did enjoy having that to drink. Â
We got there too late to order food and the kitchen was closed, but we did have a few beers. Â I wouldn't mind going back to try their pizza. Â Smelled delicious and with the open kitchen, the employees seemed to be having a good time. Â
Like most places in Kona, ample parking. Not a bad place to stop to chill for a beer.
A good choice for everyone!
I went on a fairly busy Monday night. We were greeted promptly and told it might be a 10-minute wait; it was just maybe 5 minutes.
There are many options here - mostly American-type food, pizzas, tacos, and the brew.
I ordered the garden salad with the house ranch. The salad had a variety of greens that were not just iceberg and included enough to share with two other people. The ranch had a delicious unique flavor. I wish I had asked for some to-go.
We ordered the pretzels and dip and the chicken spicy dip as appetizers (not sure of the name). The pretzels were as expected but delicious - large soft pretzels with two dips. I liked the cheese dip but didn't try the horseradish dip.
We ordered two pizzas - the special garden pizza of the week (sans chicken). It included spinach, cheese, and some other veggies. Â My sister's husband ordered a chicken something pizza. Â He really enjoyed it, but my mom noted that the chicken tasted a bit like the chicken in the fridge-pre-packaged. Â The veggie pizza was just OK - Â I would order another salad again though! Â
The ambience is a fun setting with pretty decent music. Like the guidebooks mentioned, the gnats are kind of annoying but not terrible.
Our server was nice but did not check on us for quite some time during the meal. We had been hiking all day and were a bit thirsty, so waited for refills for a while.
Solid 5 stars! Went back. Loved it again. One of their new seasonal beers is paradise IPA. Try it before its gone. Many flavors in this one and it is great for a hot day. Crisp gold goodness.
For food we did Hawaiian pizza but I requested the Canadian bacon to be replaced with kahlua pig. Heaven! Also had crab dip, but it pales against the pizza.
Service was impeccable as usual. I wish you opened a place in Reno NV.
Thank you
My husband and I came here for lunch one day on our honeymoon. It was very busy but they seated us relatively quickly. We both had the strawberry salads, mine with a slice of pepperoni ali'i and the hubby had his with chicken. Meals were moderate in size and pretty good.
We REALLY enjoyed the koko brown beer and were thrilled to find a very local package store back home that carries it.
The service wasn't bad, but we didn't really see much of our server for refills or check-ins, which is why I dropped it a star.
Beer great, outdoor setting very nice.
Food, bla. Mind you this is coming from a vegetarian perspective. They have maybe 3 options (not including no meat pizza), a tofu wrap, a hummus plate and an eggplant parmesan something. They were out of tofu, and am not into the cheesy dishes. So went with the hummus plate. Ick. On one hand the plate was enormous but the hummus literally had NO flavor. It was bizarre. I didn't know it was possible to make hummus so bland.
But I would return for a beer outside. Coming from Seattle where outdoor seating is a rarity, that was a treat. And it is kid friendly. The kids could be loud and silly without a second glance.
And be prepared for the occasional gecko crawling on your leg.
I have a soft spot for the Kona Brew Pub. It can get pretty crowded and service suffers a bit when they're slammed. Their pizza is good but a little pricey. Some of the food specials have been hit and miss in my book. If my review were based solely on their food, I would give them a 3. Their brews, though, are worth an extra point. I'm a huge fan. I love their Pipeline Porter and Wailua Wheat. The pub is the only place you can get these brews on tap, off-season. They also offer special brews you won't find except in the pub. I wish I lived closer so I could take advantage of Firkin Fridays. The pub offers free tours with, hello, free draft beer tastings...FREE. Sometimes they have special brews not listed....you have to ask. Had a chance to try the barley wine - expensive but good. The Bourbon Barrel Aged Da Grind Buzz Kona Coffee Imperial Stout...also very good.
Review Source:Back after 8 years. Not what I remembered. Flies in the patio. Plural, flies. We moved inside ..........to dirty booth. Nice.
Welted salad for 12 bucks.
Service good. Â
Beer good as expected. No TV's, good thing.
Note to management. Pressure wash concrete patio every week. Help with the fly problem.
Visited Apr 9, 2013 6:00 pm, party of 2
This location has grown significantly from the first-time we stopped in 5+ years ago...its decor is a hodgepodge of old Hawaii tropical theme...in the evenings parking can be tight and the place gets crowded. Keep in mind, this restaurant is located in an industrial type area, rather than a retail shopping complex. They actually brew the beer on-site.
The beer is the main attraction here (it gets 5-star) and not the food. If your a  non-beer drinker, than you may be a little disappointed in the food, which mainly consists of Pizzas and Burgers. In my opinion, the greatest feature here is the Growler Shack outside, where you can pick-up "Growlers" (64 oz) of your favorite brew on tap  for consumption back at home or your hotel/condo. When empty, go back and refill...look at it as going green to the next level, without recycling.
So nice we went there twice! Â ( in one week)
Went her last month while on the Big Island. Â First time we went with Mom & Dad & each got something a little different. Â Hubby got the awesome hot teriyaki wings and a nice fresh greek salad. Â Mom got the Kalua pork sandwich with a pile of great salt & pepper chips. Â Dad had the Cuban sandwich made with Kalua pork on flatbread. Â Yum!! Â I had the kalua pork tacos. Â Supposed to come with rice but I subbed tortilla chips. Â Great pineapple salsa that I could eat a gallon of.
Second time hubby & I went alone & split a small greek salad and a pizza. Â We did a half and half of Captain Cook and Ka'u Pesto. Â Amazing!!
Eating on the patio if the weather is nice is the way to go but if you walk inside it smells out of this world good!
I've visited family on the Big Island several times, and this is usually the first stop from arriving at KOA.
Food and service are good and beer is great. Today was no exception. I had the fish tacos with side salad and asked for pineapple salsa to go with it. Ono! Usually, I get a beer sampler. But after falling in LOVE with the Koko Brown, I didn't even mess around. Love the hint of coconut!! It always tastes better on tap here than out of a bottle on the mainland too. Everyone else enjoyed their food and beer too. Even my picky keiki ate all her pizza.
We arrived just as they opened at 11am, and looking at how it filled up as we left, we got there just in time. My little one LOVES to explore the garden area for geckos while we wait for the food to come. Today, we had a rare mongoose sighting right next to our outdoor table!
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