We initially went to Lakanuki during Happy Hour over the July 4 weekend. The specials were decent, Â and the food wasn't bad at all, especially the chicken wings. They have a good selection of beers, our server was friendly, and it wasn't crowded.
When we came back later that night for nightcap, however, we discovered it had changed into a sort of "nightclub", with live music, lots of young locals (mostly a sausage-fest), and NO TABLE SERVICE... meh.
We had 1 drink and left
$5 wings: Great!
$5 ribs and fries: Extremely tasty!
Decently priced pitchers: Hey, it's cheaper than the beer on the slopes!
I've never eaten an actual meal here, so take that into consideration.
MANAGER/OWNER PLEASE READ:
There was a chubby female server that worked on Saturday 3/2 that was wearing black and white striped beatlejuice pants. Â PLEASE FIRE HER! Â She was extremely rude, and was not even our main server. Â
-I asked her politely if we could have a pitcher of water, and she said NO, let me find your server. I watched as she proceeded to walk past our server several times without talking to her.
-Someone asked her for a Pilsnar, and she said it was tapped out and would take 30 minutes to reconfigure. Â Our server brought one over 10 minutes later. Â
-My fiance and I got engaged in Mammoth, and my friends were being silly and were practicing walking down the aisle. She yelled at us and told us we weren't at a wedding and to get out of her way! Â
I'm still giving this place five stars, because all the other servers were nice and I don't think they should be punished for one rude *****! I'll probably never eat a meal here, but will definitely come back for post snowboarding drinks.
We came here because the wait everywhere else was long and here was only a few minutes. We now know why.
Our waitress was high, she insisted she could memorize the order and of course screwed it up. The food was bad. And not that it's that important or anything, but the decorations are just inconsistent. It has a hawaiian name, pictures of southeast asian countries and a rhino head on the wall. Just unorganized in all aspects.
I have never left a full drink before but this place was disgusting! There was no caps on the sauces at the tables(which I actually work as a waitress at a restaurant and this is a health code violation) and service wasn't good and the food was gross and microwaved.. I almost walked out it was so bad!!
Review Source:Came here on a Saturday night for some dancing. Â They asked for $10 cover, which I thought was a bit much for a restaurant/dive-bar in Mammoth. Â The music was good at first, top hits and hip hop, then it mellowed out a bit. Â Overall it was fun, but we also didn't have many other options.
Review Source:We came here for dinner ONLY because everywhere else had an hour wait and this was only 10min. Now we know why...
Definitely not family/quiet dinner oriented. The bar area was already getting rowdy around 8PM with creepsters looking to prey. Anyways...
Ran out of scorpion bowls... the Mai Tais were strong but not that good for a $9 drink.
Terrible nachos: chips out of a bag, microwaved cheese and some salsa on top.
Terrible calamari: puny little pieces completely overwhelmed with the breading.
My chicken stir fry in green curry sauce: it was actually surprisingly spicy, almost to the point that I didn't want to eat too much of it. And I can usually take some spice... given that this place is so White, shouldn't they let people know that it's pretty spicy? But essentially this is a frozen bag of stir fry vegetables, chicken and some premade sauce over a big place of rice. $16? I will charge you $10 to make it at home and make a fortune.
No one else in my party seemed too impressed with their food either.
Lesson of the day: bad food, way overpriced. We should have waited an hour to eat elsewhere. Or maybe should have just gone into old town somewhere.
BUT if you're the creeping kind, hoping to find some drunk girls/middle aged women on your ski trip, this is the place to be.
We came here for happy hour, and I have to say they were not bad! Â $5 for some appetizers and $4 for drinks. Â We order coconut shrimp, buffalo chicken wings, fish tacos, and ribs. Â All were pretty tasty, but I wish the portions were a bit bigger especially we burned so many calories on the slope! Â It is located in the village. Â
Despite the yelp reviews, this place seems pretty popular. Â I am glad I gave it a try!
Wanted to go in and have a drink on a Saturday night and they asked us to wait for 15-20 minutes in the 30 degree weather so they could "clear the place out" . While this seemed odd, we went next door and had a cocktail. When we attempted to come back 30 minutes later the door man told us we had to wait for a few minutes since they were at 106 and their capacity was 147. Huh??? I know these guys aren't paid to do math, but they are the face of your establishment and the guy was an ass.
Review Source:Went here for my birthday after a long day of boarding. Sat at the bar area. Bartender and the rest of the staff was awesome. Hooked me up with my birthday drink! So that definitely was a big plus. The bartender also gave us a few tips on what's good on the menu. Another big plus, especially since that steak was super yummy. I would definitely come back again on my next trip to mammoth.
Review Source:How to begin; Oh, I should have read Yelp before going here.
The one star is for the bar side of the restaurant; fair selection of beer and large maitais.
The food was the worst. Cheap frozen food that has been flash fried and thrown on a plate. The only reason the ribs were not the worst I have ever been served in a restaurant is they were tender.
The service was not the worst but sketchy at best.
People pucking in the restroom at 6:00 pm??
If you want to get drunk with other drunks, this is your place.
If you want to eat or enjoy an evening without pucking people go anywhere else.
They should stop serving food and stick to being a crazy, druken bar.
SHOULD READ 3.5 stars!
After a long but lovely day of snowboarding (if you can call it that as I likely spent more time hitting the ground than hitting my board on the snow) we decided a celebratory drink that I didn't knock myself out was in order....and who doesn't love a tiki bar at happy hour time. Â
Having read the reviews I adjusted my expectations accordingly. I knew the place was going to be a little divey, the drinks super strong, the happy hour food ultra-cheap and the people-watching opportunity priceless. Â And it really was all of those things. Â
Here's why I think this place is better than just ok and I'm a semi-fan (3.5 stars):
***Happy hour: Wings with a plethora of celery for only $5 was exactly what we needed after a long day on the slopes. Â And pair that with a well-priced cold draft beer (I have to get my electrolytes from somewhere) and I was a happy camper.
***Ambiance: There was a lot to take in at this little bar. Â It's kind of an islands meets psychadelic art vibe and you can't beat the people-watching.
***Location, location, location: Lakanuki is right in the Village and just steps away from the gondola. Â (That was perfect for me b/c after taking tumble after tumble all day long, the chances of me carrying my board a long distance was not good.)
#Yelp 100 Challenge: Review #4/100 :)
I've never had a worse course of fish and chips. The "fish" was stale, yet chewy because they managed to cook most of the flatness out; then there was barely any breading on it; the "chips" were in fact french fries; and the service was rubbish: I ordered something to go and the bartender, being the only one outside the kitchen, completely ignored me while speaking with some local friends.
I'd also not like to eat in the restaurant because the ambience is discomforting. It wants to be a pub, but fails. If it's trying to be Hawaiian, it has nothing going for it. Overall, I had a terrible experience here.
Went here on my birthday. Didn't eat any food just had some drinks.
The drinks were awful. How do you screw up a vodka soda? HOW?! The atmosphere was also "meh."
But the people watching - MAN that's what made this place. When we walked in, there was a guy holding a bloody rag to his head -- obviously we just missed a crazy bar fight.
At the table next to us, there was a grown man literally sobbing with his 4 bros patting him on the back and comforting him. Not sure if that scenario and the bloody rag guy situation were related.
Also, the DJ had a collection to give to a girl who would give a lap dance to some random guy. The DJ wasn't very good but everyone was dancing so that made for some sweet robot moves and "old school hip hop" era dances.
It was also a sausage fest. Good for me, bad for my guy friends.
OMG! I'm going to suffocate! This place always smells like the bathroom that hasn't been cleaned in a hundred years!
$5 cover on Fri and Sat night AND you have to freeze your arse off to stand in line, so you can hang with gassy, underaged, intoxicated, falling over individuals.
Avoid!
After a night of partying, I left my jacket behind so I Â called the next morning to retrieve it. Â The guy on the phone didn't go looking for it (first red flag), but said I can swing by and check their lost-and-found area. Â cool. Â I get there at 11:30am, and the surly worker guy (different person than the one I talked with on the phone) refuses to let me in to look for my jacket. Â WTF? Â
He  "We open at 12p.  Come back then." Â
Me "I just want to check if you guys have my jacket. Â It'll prob take less than 2 minutes." Â
He "Come back at 12 when we open." Â No apology, no explanation. Â He refuses to let me in and starts walking away. Â I am furious. Â I can clearly see that there are staff people inside setting up. Â What's the big freakin deal?
Lakanuki, no matter how much fun I had with you the night before, the rudeness of your staff will ensure that me and all my mammoth season pass holding friends never ever visit your establishment again.
I give VERY few 1-star reviews. Â This place definitely deserved it.
The end.
I hate to do it.
But, when the following factors in are in play, I've got to give a single star rating:
* 3 servers working
* Virtually empty restaurant (1 guy sitting at bar and 4 other tables with people eating and drinking)
* Us sitting at bar for longer than 4 minutes with NOBODY coming over to greet us and offer us a cocktail or anything
* 1 of the 3 servers sitting down to have a beer while we still had no greeting
Don't half step. If you do like us and go across the courtyard and have happy hour at Smoke Yard, you'll get great service.
For starters, I have had one or two super fun nights here, but Laka is the most unpredictably hit-or-miss club I've ever seen. There are some nights when you decide to give it a go, get inside, and are met with either crickets or a combination of awful music and even more awful dancing.
They do have some great happy hour specials, although I never made it over for one, and host poker Monday's.
3 stars out of sympathy.
I've been here twice now: Feb of 2010 and Feb of 2011.
The good: dancing appx after 1030pm. Decent DJ, Decent boogie space.
The bad: Service is slow, the food is bland and price is not spectacularly high, but definitely overpriced for the lack of quality.
The in-between: The Mai Tai's. Â Taste wise they are average. But watch out girls, this sucker is strong. Â I had two without realizing how strong they were and by the end of the night I was wasted!
Choices are limited in Mammoth. If you want a place to drink and perhaps shake your booty this is just about the best you're going to get. Â If you are just looking for a decent meal after a busy day of skiing/riding, look elsewhere.
CAVEAT EMPTOR: Mammoth Lakes is not a place known for its rousing nightlife, so when y'all head up there, don't expect much. In fact, don't expect anything. The only thing you can and should expect are killer runs on the mountain.
After a day of boarding, the BF and I were in the mood for a good, cheap food with good, strong drinks to wash it down with. After a quick once-over at the happy hour menu, we nodded our approval. It was busy for a Saturday, but not unbearably packed. The server, a tall cute blonde, was super efficient, friendly and got our drinks and food out before I could even shed my snow soaked jacket.
$3.50 beer (Mammoth Brewery), margs, and mai tais. $5 food. How can you complain about the happy hour here? You can't. It'd be effin' criminal to. The menu is surprisingly extensive for happy hour (mini BBQ chicken pizza, chili cheese fries, and about 10 other yummy items), but the standouts were the chicken wings. I'm going to be lusting after those little nuggets of poultry delight for a long time. They come in 4 varieties, but the buffalo wings will NOT let you down. Mai tais had a healthy rum to mix ratio. Which was great, cause nothing heals sore muscles like liquor.
WOW! Where do I even begin. I really don't like giving bad reviews. Overall if I had a good time and enjoyed myself I give a good review even if something small goes wrong. In this case everything went wrong!!!
Friday night the place was crowded....so we get sitted (hostess was super nice) we get a very small table until a bigger table becomes available. Waitress comes over stumbling and slurring her words and ask us what we wanted to drink...she leaves 10 mins later comes back and had forgotten what we had order and ask again. No biggie we tell her again. We asked if we can get the table that had become available and she yes and told us to go sit there without even cleaning it. I asked her to clean it and literally makes a disaster. Spill all of the salt all over the place. It was very obvious that she was WASTED! We though it was funny at first until things just kept getting worst.
We had to help her clean the table. We sit there and she leaves (us thinking she would bring our drinks). Comes back and takes our food order which took about 5mins to help her comprehend what we wanted and again asked what our drinks were. At this point I was really annoyed. This kept going a few more times. She literally came back a 5th time to ask for our drinks. That's when i got up and ripped her a new one and went to speak with the manager. Manager/owner confirmed that she was indeed drunk!!!
Manager takes over from there and becomes out waiter. The chick goes behind the counter and starts to CRY....literally freaking crying!! I couldn't help to giggle to the fact that she was drunk and crying at her job. The other waitress are there trying to make her feel better by consoling her.
The rest of the night the manger takes care of us free drinks while the cry baby waitress gives us dirty looks and her waitress friends too. I look back at the experience and can't help to laugh a bit. But will for sure not go there again especially since we prefer the Clocktower Cellar Pub (dive bar feel with great service).
The food was eh! Don't expect too much....
You're kidding me, right? A tiki bar in Mammoth Lakes? What's next? A man on the moon?!
Actually, I have to give this place more credit than many Yelpers are issuing. After a recent stroll through Mammoth Village, our large group decided to dine in the patio area at Lakanuki for lunch. Now, sure, this place is cheesy as heck, but so are Red Robin, TGI Friday's, Buca di Beppo, and a whole bunch more other places. Get over it already.
I have to say that I encountered no problems during our meal. Service was very good, considering our large party. Our food was good as well. Overall, no major complaints from me. My burger was fresh, cooked exactly the way I ordered it, and my salad was satisfactory (except for two mushy cherry tomatoes). But, that was it. Everything else? Fine. It sure doesn't hurt to have a FREE pool table in the patio area. It's a great way to kill some time while you wait for your food to arrive.
Lakanuki Tiki Bar, you're a-okay in my book!
Going for late night drinks, legit.
Going for dinner, STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS!!!!
This restraunt would be wise to bulldoze the kitchen and just go full out bar. Â
We get there at 8 and it's the only restaurant in the area that doesn't have an hour wait for a table (this should have been our first clue). Â
Problem #1: Hostess - straight rude
Hey, sometimes we all get mad, no reason to hate the place.....
Problem #2: Service - what service
We only had to ask 3 times during our first 20 minutes at the table for menus and place settings.
Problem #3: Early bar crowd - bouncers were asleep at the wheel
Before we order food the place is severely over crowded with people who just came in for a cheap drink (it's only 8:30 mind you). Â Not a problem, except the restaurant told us (by virtue of seating us in the middle of the restaurant) that they could serve us a pleasant dinner. Â Not true when the crowd starts reaching over us to put their beer on our table because, and they were right, our table was empty...
Problem #4: Mind loss - we're still here, see, still here
You guessed it, in the mob we have to wait another 20 minutes for food which of course, arrives incomplete or incorrect.
Problem #5: Perfect storm - the manager
Generally I would bet that this manager is a nice man. Â But he clearly thought that it was our fault that: A) we were yelled at for asking for a table, B) we had to insist on napkins, forks, & knives, C) the waitress forgot our food, D) upon reminding her she forgot again, E) he couldn't control the crowd which was making our eating situation miserable, F) I would have the gall to ask that our meal be comped because it was only 75% delivered to our table after 1 miserable hour in the establishment. Â
The best part, when he clearly looked mad at me, I asked him, "Excuse me, what did we do wrong?" Â And he walked away.
Sum up: great crowd if you want a drink after 9pm. Â Absolutely top 5 worst ideas of your life to try to order food there.
Lakanuki SUCKS. Â Plain and simple.
Hubby and I came to Mammoth for a weekend getaway. Â We couldn't believe how completely nice everyone is up here, but that opinion totally changed after we came to this pile of crap.
We walked around the village because there is nothing else to do at night in Mammoth Lakes. Â We couldn't decide where to eat dinner, and we just settled on Lakanuki, which is a poor man's version of Islands. Â No, actually, it's not even that...it's in a whole sh**ty category all its own.
I should've known we should have left when the rude bastard at the front who was responsible for seating groups was rude to everyone who came through. Â He had this attitude about him, like he was too good to be doing what he did for a living. Â Well guess what, buddy, you're not! Â Ugh!
As soon as we walked in, I regretted the feeling right away. Â Everyone is packed in like sardines and it is actually pretty uncomfortable to sit on their high bar stool type of chairs. Â The waitress who came over to take our order was super bland and unfriendly right off the bat. Â She brought hubby water and me an iced tea, and it tasted like dirty water, seriously. Â We ordered the following:
Calamari - hubby ordered this, said it was okay and nothing to write home about
Cheese Fries - EWWWWWWW. Â They take a bunch of their fries and cover it with cheese that they melt in the microwave. Â Then, they sprinkled parmesan cheese or something on there and it just tasted awful.
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich - TERRIBLE. Â This was hubby's main dish. Â He said there was no taste and that it was pretty bland. Â His plate came with fries, which tasted okay, especially since they didn't have any cheese on them.
Island BBQ Burger - This was my burger. Â The burger itself actually wasn't that bad, if you like gray, practically charred meat covered with a greasy slice of cheese and burnt bacon. Â If that's your forte', then this is the burger for you!! Â You get a choice of fries, soup, or salad and so I went with the soup of the day, which was chicken enchilada. Â Dude, it tasted like they put enchiladas in a blender and poured it into my bowl - it was like eating someone's barf and I didn't eat it.
Hubby ate about 1/3rd of his sandwich and I didn't even eat more than a bite of my burger. Â The food is terrible!! Â But why is it so terrible? Â Probably because the service is even worse. Â For a Friday night at around 8pm, it wasn't too busy, but it wasn't too light either, and yet she somehow managed to avoid our table and all the others under her care. Â She never smiled, she never asked us how our food was, and she never came around without us waving her down. Â What a crock of sh*t. Â We should've stiffed her on her tip, but whatever, we just wanted to get out of there without a hassle.
I wish I read about this place before we went, and I wish i could give it negative 5 stars. Â Lakanuki is HORRIBLE!! Â DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY! Â STAY FARRRRRR AWAY FROM HERE!!
This place is what it is; a purposely cheesy Tiki Bar, and it's fun! Â I've been here twice. Â The food I've had was good and when it turns into a club, it's fun. Â
It's a notch or two better than the Whiskey Creek but similar. Â It's not overstocked with people posing like Zoolander, it's just more of a casual vibe where people actually smile and have some fun... and not a dudefest, unlike Hyde, this place is more like 3:1 (guys to girls). Â Â
The bartenders have always been great, right on it and getting the drinks right. Â
If you wanna let loose and meet a 'friend' for the weekend, this would be the place.
I think I visited on an off night. Â i got the vibe that it was someone trying to create an Islands restaurant chain but with more of a bar type feel. Â I went in looking for a place with a solid burger and beer and that's exactly what I got. Â It was a Friday night, but it wasn't too crowded, though this may be because it was nearing the end of the snow season.
The club atmosphere they set up after 9 or 10 o clock was pretty cheesy but it reminded me of the IE, so i can't complain.
Overall, I would recommend it to a friend, though I wouldn't recommend drinking too much unless you know how the altitude/long day of snowboarding/beer will all mix together.
I don't normally give 4 stars for this kind of restaurant, but their service to us compared to the next door, Lulu's is mucho buetter! Majority white folks, I totally agree but you can still see Asians there and some drunken people which I dunno which side they belong to :P
My friends ordered the steak and they said that it's the best juiciest steak and for 13.99 is really worth it. I ordered the Battered Fish and Chips, that I don't recommend, it's not Fresh. You can scream and laugh like hyena in here, nobody will pay attention. We had a woman just came to our table playing with the camera taking pictures of us in a weird way. But hey, after one whole day of skiing, I think this place provides relief :) great choices of beer and crazy peoples. :)
Lots of things going on each day, so better see the calendar that they put on each table!!!
If I could give this place zero stars, it would be too high of a rating. I can deal with the line, the bouncer was letting in the same number of people in as the number of people leaving. Fine I can live with that, but thanks to the douche bag group in front of us who was giving the bouncer attitude, he holds the line up a bit. One of the genius calls a friend and tries to get a name so they can name drop to the bouncer they just pissed off, and try to get in faster *shakes head*.Thanks f'ers. He finally lets them in, and he lets us in right away, no waiting for people to leave. At least he knows who to be a dick to.
Taking a peek inside and from the looks of the people in line, we should have left. It was crowed, too crowded, fighting through the crowd to order a drink makes the drink lose its appeal real fast. If you ever hate the pompous Hollywood crowd, then spend a night here. After a night here, Hollywood isnt so bad after all.
Stay as far away from this place as possible.
Let's face it. Â One must re-align one's standards when it comes to dining or entertainment in Mammoth. Â You're either going to fight mass crowds for good service or the place will be so dead that your farts will echo high up to the minarets.
I came here on a weekend that extended into Monday and on Sunday night, the bf and I were looking for some action in the village. Â We ended up here where, the staff seemed like they were performing a fire drill, operating at almost full staff. Â There were 2 bouncers, a dj, one bartender, and about 12 patrons total. Â The dj was spinning 80s music, digging deep for the one-hit wonders and guilty pleasures.
It has been my experience that with high altitude comes high attitude so what I do is apply the ol' kill 'em with kindness routine and I usually get the niceness right back (remember what I said earlier about re-alignment?). which is what I got from both the bouncer and bartender.
The decor is as hokey as it gets, fodder really for some fraternity if one were so inclined to be so cruel as to send their pledges here during rush week to steal some funky-ass tiki painting or the rhino head off of the wall atop the middle of the bar.
I imagine that this place gets packed to the gills during peak snow season because of the lack of anything closely resembling a club. Â But I think I will be satisfied to leave my imagination up to the mental visits in the future. Â I can probably get the same results w/ a 12er and a little DDR at the condo.
I wanted to like this place a lot more than I actually did. It has a tiki theme, but really it's just your typical bar scene and there was nothing about it that really impressed me and my friend when we came here.
We did get hit on though, a number of times, so if that's your goal then live it up! And the dancing was okay, once we got drunk enough.