Pono Hawaiian Kitchen & Tap, Santa Cruz CA

Overall their food is okay to mid-tier, sadly they will often serve less than the portion listed on the menu, for example: missing sides, also no meat in 1/2 island quesadilla.staff is consistently very rude, ive been here 6-8 times and every time has been severely displeasurable

edit: for months it seems the owner has met reviews discussing inconsistent food quality with consistent defensiveness,

he also seems to imply that i am stating some kind of falsehood here, when i simply relayed my honest experience on a platform intended to host honest reviews.also timmy if you read this i did directly call the restaurant each time we had an issue, and i am only leaving this review after multiple occurrences of the same problem, have a great day

Love this place everything is amazing on the menu and the servers should be treated like real servers though is the only thing I find to be strange in there! As a server, they're amazing servers and deserve to not give out #'s like a cafeteria, but to actually take orders at tables, this is my only complaint about this place! As a fellow server!

The food at Pono Hawaiian Kitchen & Tap is amazing and the atmosphere is lively and inviting.

I want to like this place more, but honestly, anyone who can't manage to cook LocoMoco at least as good as L&L (not a very high bar) needs help. The burger patties were well done after I requested medium rare, and both fried eggs over easy were also well done, and the yokes were completely cooked.

Come on, this isn't a hard dish to make. It's a Hawaiian staple.

Pono Hawaiian Kitchen & Tap offers a delicious and authentic taste of Hawaii in a welcoming and lively atmosphere.

Island Quesadilla was great: little messy, but the taste more than made up for it. On the other hand, Musubi was terrible. No sauce inbetween the rice and the meat, and there was only a single layer of seaweed, which meant the thing fell apart before I could finish. All three of the musubis I ordered came with overcooked meat as well.

Beachy feel deco with walk up ordering and food served in take out boxes. Good tap selection.

We both ordered poke bowls and neither matched the menu description. Seemed weird; we both enjoyed what we got with the substitutions.

Average food for the price, staged photos misrepresent the actual dish. Served in a togo bowl for dining in. Limited veggie options

Our group got food poisoning. Unforch the food doesn't really have anything to recommend it either—not worth risking a very sad next day!

Very impressed with my visit today! The decor and layout was inviting and very aesthetically pleasing. I ordered the Loco Moco as well as Teriyaki Chicken. The beef patties were full of flavor and the gravy really took it to another level. I loved the smoky taste of the teriyaki chicken as well! It was extremely tender. I genuinely expect to visit this place more in the future!

My husband always has “Loco Moco”, and is was excellent as usual. All items we have had have been excellent. Atmosphere could use more plants and decor for s’more tropical atmosphere.

I had never heard and been to Pono Hawaiian Kitchen and Tap before. But I was asked to try it out during a Business Lunch. I was very surprised with how delicious the food was. The Da Kine Poke Bowl is a must!

Super yummy food I had the grilled mahi tacos fantastic their whole staff and crew and cooks are excellent Marley
was our waitress and she was adorable

Got the traditional Ahi bowl. Barely had any salt in it so the fish was bland. Too much chili and sesame oil. Would go for the shoyo instead.

Delicious poke and a great selection of beer. I didn't try the cocktails but they looked good. Very pleasant dining on the patio. Dogs are welcome too.

Super cute place with a very friendly vibe. Great selection of beer, ipas on tap, excellent food!

We love that they do live music! We really enjoy the ambiance along with the awesome food and drinks!

Yummy Hawaiian food and a fun unique atmosphere. Stone troubles with order but servers made up for it.