Not bad for Hawaiian food if you're out in the boonies of kualoa ranch. Kalua pork was a bit too salty, lau lau was mediocre and the portion of poi was stingy. However, the total amount of food was more than filling and you will leave sated. Pricing is a tad high for what you get but this place is definitely worth a try if you're already up here. No need to make a special trip out this way just for the food, though.
Review Source:As I'm driving to Waiahole, The Proclaimers' "500 miles" comes to mind.
"But I would walk 500 miles.
And I would walk 500 more.
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door."
Well, maybe not a thousand miles, and I certainly wouldn't walk it, but this intrepid voyager is willing to drive considerably out of his way for some fresh poi and good Hawaiian food. Â Twenty point seven (20.7) miles to be exact. Â That's "considerably" on Oahu.
Had the laulau/kalua pig combo plate. Â Comes with rice or poi, lomi salmon, and haupia for $10.50 + Â tax. Â Opted for poi.
-Fair sized laulau with fair proportion of pork/pork fat/butter fish to luau leaves.
-Fair portion of kalua pig but it was a bit dry.
-Poi thick, sweet, and fresh. Â But too little of it. Â Maybe 4 oz. served in a small plastic Dixie cup.
-Lomi salmon more a relish of tomatoes and green and white onions with just a few and small bits of salmon.
-Small block of haupia sweet end note to a mostly satisfying meal.
Not much different than what you get at the other places.
Ahh. Â But the luau leaves. Â Different. Â Natural sweet, and fresh taste. Â Really good. Â I would drive 21 miles to taste that again, and buy extra laulau's ($5 per) to bring home. Â I imagine the luau leaves direct from the backyard of the place. Â
Just as the main ingredients in the chicken long rice walking around unsuspectingly. Â Talk about locally-sourced, farm-to-fork food. Â Nice.
This little shack is the perfect example of "hidden in plain site." We passed this place on our way to Kauloa Ranch without even noticing it. It wasn't until we Yelped it that we found that there is food close by.
Try the poi; it is an acquired taste and it is sour. Still worth a try! Try it with any of the Lua'us!
Place is on the highway so lots of cars pass by, but there is a good view of the sacred mountains and Kualoa Park/Chinaman's Hat Beach.
OK, I almost don't want to leave a review here because I really wish I could keep this place to my selfish self. Â But in all fairness to the Auntie and Uncle who own the place ...
This is the dreamy hole-in-the-wall, authentic, incredibly delicious Hawaiian food experience that people dream of finding. Â It is incredibly good. Â The Polynesian Cultural Center bus drivers drop the tourists off at PCC, and then come back to have lunch here.
I took a picture of my plate from Waiahole, and it is my screensaver for when I've been away from home too long.
Off the beaten path you can find a small little factory that serves up some onolicious hawaiian food. You can easily miss it on the corner of waiahole road so keep your eyes peeled for the brown sign. We ordered a mini squid luau which comes with rice and lomi salmon. We couldn't be there and not order a side of poi as well. The two of us shared the hapa rice, onolicious squid luau and lomi. All done very well that I would make this a regular stop in that area. The lomi has a good amount of salmon not like some other places that probably just add salt to their lomi. The poi was interesting and delicious. They don't water down the poi like you'd get in the store or other restaurants. It's straight off the pounding block, thick and gooey. It's so fresh that it doesn't have the sour taste of a few days old. Â Have a little with your lomi and you're in heaven!
I had to get a side of haupia as well. That was some good haupia. Thick and rich and so refreshing.
The staff is terrific and super friendly. They really seem to enjoy working here. They even took the time to come outside and ask the tourists how their meal was going. That's aloha for you.
If you haven't come here before, it's definitely worth a stop for a mini plate if you're on your way to the north shore. You can take a break and sit by the side of the highway to have a snack. You never know who you'll see there too. We had some native entertainment as a kupuna took the time to teach some kids to play the nose flute and ipu.
I personally did not like the food AT ALL, but I'm giving 4 stars because I think the food is probably good if you like this sort of stuff (i.e., you're not a tourist).
It was my first time eating poi and kalua pig and I thought the poi tasted like glue and the kalua pig was way too fatty and also kind of tasteless.
Wife and I had lunch there after a hike at Kualoa Ranch. Â I had the laulau plate and she had the kalua pork. Â Reasonable prices, good portions, and very good quality. Â The laulau was filled with pork, and fish. Â Poi was good but just a taste (I guess that's the way to keep prices down). Â Lomi salmon was real good. Â And they had chili pepper water!
Her pork was plenty, we took most of it home! Â It was a little moist for me, but she liked it like that.
The only negative is the place is a little run down and the table outside are basic. Â But, for local Hawaiian food, we'll come back soon.
Helena's was closed for the holidays and Hanalei (island of Kauai) is too far to drive for some poi so we sought out the Waiahole Poi Factory on the way back from the North Shore. I have probably driven by this place hundreds of times but it was usually  closed and is a non-descript roadside stand so doesn't call attention to itself.
We ordered laulau's, lots of poi, chicken long rice, fresh squeezed lime-aid and haupia. WOW - authentic Hawaiian food served by locals in da country. What could be better? Everything was awesome; much closer to homemade than the stuff you would find at the spots in town or at a tourist luau. Poi was thick and rich and smooth. Haupia was creamy and not too sweet, less sugar and gelatin than most. Laulau and long rice were excellent.
It did look like the hours have expanded as others have stated; I hope so because we plan on dropping by here a lot. Finding real Hawaiian poi is a major score, Waiahole Poi Factory is a treasure that surely rates a 5 star review. Chance um!
This place rocks. Â The squid luau might be the best I have ever had from someone other than my grandma. Â Not too sweet and the perfect coconut milk ratio--someone back there has it down to a savory science. Â Gotta be an aunty...Kalua pig is the real imu kind flavor and not that liquid smoke garbage everyone is used to and passing it off as the real deal--this place has imu cooked kalua. Â Laulau here, I have had better. Â Stick to the Kalua pig and squid luau and you will not be disappointed. Â Trust. Â I order an extra squid on the side cause its that good....plus, its waiahole, land of taro farmers and that means------Fresh poi!!!!! Â Onolicious!
Review Source:My wife and I stopped by here for dinner after spending the day at Kailua Beach. Â Very simple menu and the food was delicious. Â My wife enjoyed the Laulau Plate, while I devoured the Kalua Pig & Laulau combo which included Lomi Salmon, Haupia and Poi. Â The portions were plentiful and the taste was excellent. Â Service was quick and friendly. Â They're open later each day, so no need to rush. Â However, the later you go you take a risk of them being out of your favorites. Â We went during a weekday and had no issues at all. Â I'll definitely be back.
Review Source:Outstanding fresh poi!!!
Decent everything else. Â I thought the squid luau was a little watery and could be a little more coconutty. Â The kalua pig was too smokey. Â But mixed with the poi was awesomeness!
The haupia was nice and creamy and the lomilomi was good with the poi also.
Would totally make the trip just for the fresh poi alone!
Warning: they sell out fast. probably because the are rarely open. and they are so yummy.
We have driven by it so many times and they are never open, but we needed poi to send with a friend, and miraculously, they were open and we were able to get the last 8 oz container of poi.
Got to love good old school hawaiian food. And thank Timothy P for his calculations of "There are 168 hours in a week. Â Meaning cumulatively these guys are open for 9 days a year. Â Being that there are 365 days in a year, there is a 2.4% chance of driving by when they are open to serve their delicious and most legit Hawaiian food in one year"
Hand-pounded poi....not many places that you can still find that in Hawaii. It is worth the risk of driving by.
22 of 31 Yelps (31 Yelps Challenge)
I believe they have expanded their hours and days of operation but I would suggest calling the day before to confirm they will be open when you plan to go since it's a little out of the way. Â With that said, as soon as I read about the hand pounded poi and squid luau, I knew I needed to stop here on the way to North Shore. Â Luckily Giovanni's Shrimp Truck was at the Waikiki Hoolaulea the night before for me to get my fill of shrimp so I could get the full plate of the squid luau for lunch and not have to save room for anything else. Â
Got here 45 min before they open at 11AM so we drove a little down the road and came back right in time for them to remove the "window" and I was customer #1 for the day!! Â Unfortunately customer #1 meant, the fresh hand pounded poi wasn't ready for the day and wasn't anticipated to be ready until 1 so no fresh poi for me. Â But the squid luau plate lunch was so ono that it was worth the wait and the stop. Â If I had a microwave and more than 48 hours in Oahu, I would've gotten a side to go too as it was that good!!
Best Hawaiian Food ever. I am such a fan of their kalua pig, laulau, poi, and chicken long rice. Great service & awesome food. Lesbihonest, i probably wouldn't make it out here if it wasn't on my way to my parent's house in Ka'a'awa on the weekends  but I'm so glad it is. Fresh local fruit here as well!
Review Source:open everyday now... Squid luau is one of the best that I've had.. everything else is just as good! combo plates $10.50 and is worth it! Sit roadside and enjoy the country scene is so beautiful.. even the tourist are beginning to stop by.. check it out and don't forget to walk into the room next door to see the collection of photos and memorabilia that they have on display..
Review Source:Waiahole Poi Factory serves their grub between 10am and 2pm on Fridays. That is 4 hours. There are 52 Fridays in a year. Meaning they are open 208 hours a year.
There are 168 hours in a week. Â Meaning cumulatively these guys are open for 9 days a year. Â Being that there are 365 days in a year, there is a 2.4% chance of driving by when they are open to serve their delicious and most legit Hawaiian food in one year.
I'm still running off the nerdy fuels of UYE Pi Day, forgive me!
I grew up in Kaneohe, this should have been a no brainer! Of course I ate here, right? WRONG. C'mon, I had to go to school and whatnot. So it really wasn't until just last week, that the slots of free time and location aligned itself upon that magical 2.4% probability.
Of course I had some family friends always giving us their Poi during the holidays. Always handmade, always ono. Garans Ballbarans!
But now was the first time I had the opportunity to try their Laulau which I had been jonesing for a while. I gotta tell you in a soft exhale in the manner of Natalie Portman in Black Swan, "it... was perfect." Pretty hefty portions of pork of equal proportion to the taro leaf. Okay, some of you out there are big butterfish fiends and this laulau don't have any.
Fuck dat shit anyway! Butterfish ain't Hawaiian.
The downside of all of this is that now I gotta find ways to escape all town side obligations on Fridays to make it out there in time!
If you're lucky enough to be in the area when they're open, make sure to order the poi & Hawaiian plate. Â The squid luau was exceptionally good-not overly sweet. Â
Very limited hours (Yelp has their hours listed accurately). Â They had JUST finished hand pounding the poi an hour before we got there. Â Made us feel lucky just to get it!
"Woohoo! Â As good as it gets!" Â 5-star review!
From what I had heard, that would have been my reaction after having some lau lau from here. Â As we were driving south back to the Honolulu side, I kept an eye out on the road because I heard that if you blink, you might miss the Waiahole Poi Factory.
This is one place I was really looking forward to. Â I LOVE lau lau!
Me: Â "U-turn! Â U-turn! Â There it is!"
Him: Â "Oh noooooooooo.........."
This is what we found-  <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/X4JYop49R_HS6PdCnC8d5A?select=hnHb0mp2xncf1M2VZbC3mQ#hnHb0mp2xncf1M2VZbC3mQ">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>  Closed for the day.
My bottom lip started quivering.
I was sad.
So sad that my husband laughed & pointed out this sign across the road-  <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/X4JYop49R_HS6PdCnC8d5A?select=qP-qhN-EifX0yA_TOvn97Q#qP-qhN-EifX0yA_TOvn97Q">http://www.yelp.com/biz_…</a>
Aw, what might have been...........
Could have been my most epic Yelp review on our quest to eat at the best mom 'n pop stops in Hawaii...........
*sobbing at my keyboard*
Wow! The food here is excellent - I had the pork laulau, lomi salmon, kalua pig n of course fresh poi. It was kinda like heaven in my mouth. ;) Now only if I could get some pipikaula like they have at Helena's on School St. to go with this......omg it would be amazing!!!!
I ran into some people from the Travel Channel who were here filming for food and parks. I highly recommended this place so I hope they had a chance to stop by!!
LOVE IT!!! Everything we had was perfect. I had the combo plate with pork lau lau, kalua pork, salmon lomi lomi, poi, and haupia. My mouth is watering just writing about it! I like my poi fresh, and it was...the lau lau was hot and delicious, and the haupia was perfect...not overly sweet. My friend had the squid luau and it was also delicious. The staff was awesome...lots of aloha. Can't wait to go back!
Review Source:I spotted this little poi factory with it's door open on our way to camp at Malaekahana this past Friday and asked my boyfriend if it was good. He said it was famous, tasty, and hardly ever open as he drove past it in his quest to reach the campsite. I was a bit disappointed because I am always hungry for poi and wanted to stop and investigate, but he seemed bent on getting to Malaekahana as fast as possible, so I didn't say anything.
I didn't expect it to be open again driving back today because it's a Sunday, but as soon as we drove past and I saw the open door again, I turned to my boyfriend and made really big, sad puppy-dog eyes at him until he turned the car around and parked in the driveway (while saying "Geez. Are you hungry again already?").
We shared a combo plate (only $10.50!) with pork laulau, kalua pig, lomilomi salmon, poi, and haupia. The food was very good and not too salty. I loved that the laulau had pork only and no butterfish, although the pork was really fatty. The portion size was generous except for the poi. It was only a takeout ramekin so we had to order another one for $2.
The best part was that there was a man outside pounding the poi the traditional way into pa'i'ai. He was really friendly--a lot of passing cars honked their horns and waved at him, which reminded me of old Hawaii--and he explained what he was doing to my boyfriend's young son and even gave him a sample. The thick paste was so delicious: fresh, sweet and so chewy. I wanted to eat all of it! We need to legalize pa'i'ai . . . so I can eat it!
Found this place completely by accident driving around the island with no direction in mind. I saw the words "poi factory" and the sign stating they were open only two days a week - one of which was that day - and had to stop for an early lunch.
Ever since I was little, I've been fascinated by poi. Probably not surprising since I've been eating natto for just as long. Both have incredibly off-putting textures to many. I can't get enough of either.
Wife and I split a kalua pork plate (good thing, too, since the serving was GIGANTIC!) with rice, mac, lomi lomi, and a side of poi. She didn't touch the poi. Â The pork was fresh and not too dry or fatty. The lomi lomi was also so fresh that my wife ate half -- and she absolutely abhors salmon. Impressive.
But enough about that. Let's talk about the poi. Could I be wrong in saying this is the best poi in Hawaii? Possibly...but if I am, I don't want to be right. It was delicious and I licked the bowl clean. Just the right temperature (slightly cooled), texture (smooth paste, but not gooey, gummy, or runny), and taste.
Even if you're not a poi fan, definitely worth stopping by for mixed plate if you pass by when they're open. There's no other plate lunch worthy of a Yelper for half an hour either way.
My mom has been dying to go here forever but they're only open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10am-2pm so it took us until a couple of weeks ago to finally make it out there. Â Oh my gosh was it worth it!
I'm sure lots of people have driven by on the way to or from the north shore and didn't even notice the unassuming wooden building that probably looked abandoned  because it wasn't open.  If you're lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, you'll feel like you've taken a step back into old Hawaii as you sit across from the ocean, eating some of the tastiest Hawaiian food. Â
I had the kalua pig which is the juiciest, tastiest one I've had outside a luau and the lomi lomi salmon was quite good too.  The lau lau was chicken so while the meat was a little dry, the leaves were tasty.  The poi was fresh and you could really taste the flavor of their taro which we both loved.  My mom really enjoyed her squid luau and beef luau along with the lomi lomi salmon but I thought that it seemed a little weird that they served hapa rice even though it was soft and mushy.  The haupia tasted okay but it was a little too firm.  If they have it on the day you're there, you must try their limeade!  I don't know if it's the taste or the atmosphere out  there but I could totally imagine being a little kid and sipping it on my grandma's porch.  Such happiness!
K...
This is thee place for the 'bestest' Hawaiian Food evah! Â They serve it every Fridays from 10am-2pm only! (Make a note of it) Â But you better get there early because once they run out, that is it, and you'll have to WAIT till next Friday again to try this "oh so ono" Hawaiian Food Plate Lunch.
-Squid Luau is to die for man!! Â Very nicely sweetened from the coconut milk creme mixture with big pieces of tako! Â so good!
-Kalua pig(pork) - Ono! Â not to dry and not too too wet, but just right!
-Tripe Stew! Â You might as well get this while you're there because its gonna be well worth it. Â Not too many places have this at all, but WOW, this stew is super good!
-LauLau - HUGE, meaty so good lau lau's
Top all of the above with Huge scoops of rice, ono mac-salad, and a good size piece of haupia and you are good to go for the rest of the day!
So if you're are ever in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, and just cruising the Kaneohe side on a Friday and its between 10am and 2pm, better get your okole(butt) on over to Waiahole Poi Factory for some A+ Hawaiian FOOD!
Tams, Kane'ala, Kawiks, and to the rest of the Ohana at the Poi Factory, you guys rock and can't wait to come eat again!
They sell plate lunch for take-out only on Fridays, 10am - 2pm. Â We had their Kalua pig lunch and Pork Lau Lau lunch. Â Both of them were very delicious. Â Portions are pretty big. Â If you are in the area, I highly recommend getting these lunches and take them to the beach. Â $10 each.
Review Source:Ono Loa serves authentic takeout Hawaiian food in the Waiahole Poi factory building. Â I believe they are only open friday and saturday. You might want to call ahead or take a chance if you're out in kahalu'u. The poi is freshly made. The best poi on the island straight from their taro patch. They serve all the typical authentic Hawaiian food. Tripe Stew, Lau Lau, Squid Luau, Kalua pig, chicken long rice etc. The menu is simplistic and easy to order. All plates are served with a pineapple slice, sweet potato, lomi salmon and chili pepper water. They also serve haupia, chocolate haupia and kulolo. Everything is fresh, homemade, inexpensive and yummy!
There's a couple benches to sit at outside but I always pick my food up on my way to the beach.
This is a perfect place for tourists who want to get off the beaten path, or experience a lil old Hawaii. Â I go there because it reminds me of my TuTu(grandma).
I would dock it a star & rate it 4 stars because of the many times I drove out there and they were closed but I bumped it up a star because the proceeds from the food go to a local charity that helps native Hawaiian programs.
I called earlier today and they're open tomorrow so guess where I'm eating?
*continue driving on Kamehameha hwy towards Kualoa, when you hit Waiahole Rd. turn left, you can't miss it
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