Pounders Restaurant

The heart & warmth of the staff made this meal perfect! Every dish was literally amazingly — from the mango guava nonalcoholic cocktails to the crispy fried sunfish to the classic pepperoni pizza and the cheesecake dessert — all were beautifully plated & tasted fresh and delicious. The food servers were swamped but did a great job at working together to provide excellent service. This is an elegant restaurant with warm wood surroundings. Super clean restrooms. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to celebrate a special occasion. We had an amazing meal that we’ll remember fondly for a long long time!

I love going to Pounders! The atmosphere is always pleasant and happy. Sitting outside before a performance, you get to enjoy people walking around while eating as well. The Macadamia Crusted Fresh Fish entree is a MUST…literally the best plate I have eaten ever for fish. The fish was the blue marlin (caught in the AM) that had an incredible crusted outer. The mashed potato-like portion blended even better with the sauce and fish together; 11 out of 10 hands down! Ahi Poke Nachos where fresh and equally delicious with the Taro chips and mild sauce. I don’t think there is much you can go wrong with here on the menu. Give Pounders a chance and you will be happily serviced I promise. Staff is always super friendly and catering to your needs/requests.

First thing to notice, this restaurant serves no alcohol. The reason, you suddenly realize is its association with the enormous LDS Church hub of Laie. The servers seem to be outsourced from all over the world, unusual to say the least. Ok fine. The overall feel is like a restaurant at a Polynesian theme park and the exploitative corporate vibe feels like cultural appropriation at such a daring level that it is shocking. Someone needs a serious rethink about how this fits in the modern world. The food was not inexpensive, but it was miserable. Nothing seemed fresh or locally sourced or whatever they claim. Drab Ahi Tuna salads over wilted mixed greens were par for the course. Kids couldn't stomach the pizza (pizza for crying out loud!) I couldn't have gotten out of this overall creepy and gross restaurant any faster. All the reviews on Google making it seem a reasonable choice are shocking considering what I received there. I think the server could tell as they asked if we wanted to provide a feedback form. No thank you. Not giving you any more of my time or energy. Demoralizing meal.

Loved eating here after our wedding. Our waitress was so nice. We decided to try 4 meals that looked interesting. The other two were ok but the pesto and macadamia crusted marlin and the fresh fish nuggets and sauce were INCREDIBLE. The marlin just fell apart in your mouth and if you got a bite with a little of the mash and a piece of mango, it was an explosion of amazingness. I had no idea I would like that combination but if I lived in Hawaii, I would eat this forever. We came back a couple days later. That dish is a must try for sure. They were so sweet and brought us a congratulations piece of cake to share too. Love this place. Expensive but worth it.