Off the Hook

I give it up to the poor bartenders that have to put up with such needy, inebriated tourists with a smile on their face. The gentleman that served me was named Alben and is a real class act, very polite, attentive and patient.

Located right before ‘Ama’Ama. It’s a bar with seating. The menu has appetizers, entrees and a keiki menu. In regards to variety there isn’t much here. The drink menu (aside from beer/​wine) is. I’d say less than 12 options.
I ordered a Pau Hana Hawaiian Punch. It was OK. I don’t like cucumber, so if you love cucumber. It just might be the best thing ever.
What I didn’t like about this place is the service. Typically when I dine at any sit-​down Disney establishment service is on point. This place… Well, it missed the mark completely. It took forever to receive drinks, even our round of water. Once we did receive our drinks + water it took forever to get a refill. Just how long is forever? It wasn’t until we finished our food that we were offered a refill. And after that our waitress took forever to come back to us for us to order more drinks.
My patience was low that night so I didn’t even bother ordering another drink since it would have came out much much later.
If you want a drink, I’d say wait for a table or chair to open up at the ‘Olelo room. For the price we paid of food + 2 drinks… We should have just went to Makahiki and get our money’s worth in food at least.

Been here lately. Horrible from food to service! They changed the menu to very bland cheap food. Food is still expensive service went down hill. An older lady named Jessica was rude to other employees in front of guest. 400 $ a night at this hotel is NOT wroth it.

It is right next to pool area. They offer poolside service. Menu is very simple, sandwiches and beverage. A little bit pricey but convenient.
In the evening, there is live music, beautiful Hawaiian songs. Perfect adult private time.

I was very impressed! I didn’t expect much because a friend told me the food at aulani was okay. We ordered the mango sangria, tropical mai tai, and blue hawaii. All very good! My friend and i split the kalbi tacos and aulani rolls. The tacos were yummy, but nothing too fancy; however, the sushi was «off the hook!» Wow! That was so ono! I would definitely order those again. We also ordered the hamburger macaroon, which i wasn’t sure exactly what we ordered. All i knew was it was dessert. :P Little did we know, was that the entire presentation looked like a hamburger, fries, ketchup, and smoothie… but it was all dessert! This is also a must! We also got to listen to live hawaiian music by Theresa Bright and Steve Jones. Great music too! It was a perfect night!

The menu is relatively simple and very hospitable price wise, considering most poolside dining menus. Portions are great, and though I love the Asian steamer baskets that the food is served in, I don’t quite draw the correlation. Either way, a great place to come with the kids. Great food. Service sometimes may take a little bit, but the servers are normally very nice and make the wait bearable.

Great place to grab drinks while waiting for dinner at Ama’Ama. Haupia mojito is grand! My hubby loved the wailua wheat beer on tap. Live music entertainment. Outdoor poolside romantic setting.

Yummmm food was delish and the waitress Kawena was awesome and knowledgeable. I took her suggestions for a pau Hana drink and I loved it and it came in a pineapple! Love this beach pool bar

I did not want to eat snack foods for lunch as I am a monster that needs FOOD. so in an attempt to find a real lunch I found myself at Off The Hook which was right by the pool.
There I was eating my $ 14 burger in a bikini regretting that I got fruit instead of fries. It was worth it since it came with bacon and cheese
~1 star for inattentive waitress I felt like a mime trying to catch her. I’m not a very good mime

Unfortunate their kitchen is very slow. Try as Disney might it shouldn’t take over 30 minutes for a small lunch order. Server said the kitchen forgot to turn on they fryer. This is Disney they have this down to a science.
28 dollars for a personal pizza and chicken strips and they can’t deliver in a reasonable time?

This is a pretty well placed Bar in the middle of the Disney resort. They actually have a nice selection of spirits and the beer list isn’t huge but does showcase some local Hawaiian favorites from Kona and Maui Brewing Companies.
They have an alright food menu and for it being a «Pool Bar» it’s really easy and convenient. Others mentioned no «Hawaiian» food, well duh, it’s supposed to be the less expensive and convenient option for dining, Burgers, Fries and Pizza are safe bets. The prices are not surprising, around $ 11 for a mixed cocktail like a Mai Tai, Blue Hawaiian or other tropical flavor and anywhere from $ 4.50 to $ 7 for beers, domestics like Bud Light and Coors being the lower end. You can get your top shelf whiskey like Macallan, Oban or Laguvlin as well but it will cost ya, I got a Macallan 18 year one time and it was about $ 40.
There are TV’s and for special events like the Super Bowl they bring out additional Big Screens for easy viewing. There is usually seating available however it does get busy for the more popular sporting events, but grabbing some pool chairs and sliding them into an open space is allowed. With it being Disney of course there are kids every square foot of the resort, but parents do a decent job of keeping them out of the «Bar» area. It helps that the characters won’t get within 100 feet of alcohol, Mickey and a Mai Tai is not the experience they want to portray :) I think they just eat then get directed to the pool because it may be a little boring for kids to just sit and wait, no complaints here.

Cheeseburgers, turkey wraps, pizza etc are offered at this little outside dining area near a water slide. The food was ok– nothing special or fancy. The menu is very small. The drinks menu is huge. What was Disney thinking? Get the parents buzzed and they’ll spend a bit more here? Sounds good to me! Service was so friendly and down to earth. It’s a relaxing spot.

Blah.
Not a single Hawaiian entrée on the entire menu. This place is for people who love fried and greasy food. For the rest of us, the food is extremely bland and the servings are small for the price paid. Typical Disney garbage. Go off-​site or hit Safeway down the road and make your own lunch.

Look, when you come to Aulani you have pretty much already acknowledged that you are «here for the kids.» Regardless, it’s nice to find those moments during the family vacation to get away and feel like an adult. The bride and I found ourselves getting into a rhythm every evening of dropping the kids off at Auntie’s and sneaking over for a drink and some quiet time. In fact, it really ended up being the only time we didn’t spend with the kiddos because we were having so much fun otherwise.
I will always have a place in my heart for 5pm, my lava flow and my wife…

Aulani has parking fees for daytime visitors which are as follows: valet parking is $ 35 per day; Self parking is $ 10 for the first hour and $ 5 for every half hour after that, with a maximum day rate of $ 35.* When you spend $ 35* or more at Aulani dining venues or at Laniwai Spa during a single visit, you’ll get validated valet or self parking for up to 4 hours. Which means if you are taking visiting friends to get character pictures, you gotta find someplace to eat on the property to keep bellies happy close to the $ 35 minimum.
Off The Hook is the poolside restaurant serving sandwiches & burgers at lunchtime. My friends ordered the bacon cheeseburger with fries for $ 14 and I got the turkey wrap with fries for $ 12.50. Both were very good. See my pictures.
TIP: Try to arrive around 11 am to get character pictures then have lunch at Off The Hook to fulfill the minimum $ 35 spending at Aulani dining venues requirement so your parking will be free.

I guess I have mixed reviews of this place. It’s bar food and you cannot expect too much. After a long day of fun, we were told we can get food at Ama’Ama’ or One paddle two paddle. The fine dining Ama’Ama’ did not do take out as we wanted to eat on the beach. One paddle, two paddle just closed for the day due to some inspections or evaluation.
There’s people everywhere and locating the sinage for food was a bit tricky. We finally had some helfpul workers running around and showed us where to order at Off the Hook.
The 30 minute wait was considered reasonable for the amount of people. Everything was packaged up nicely, but the tastiness of the food was just so so. My husband had the fish tacos and I had grilled chicken pieces and tried some of the chicken lettuce wrap. Averaging $ 13 a dish, it really wasn’t too overpriced.

What I love about the Aulani is that you can drink by the pool and even while floating in the water if you’d like! Hooray!!!
(Swirls pointer over her head) A round of drinks for everyone! Wooooo hoo!
My Samoan Nanny (aka my Mom) really needed a cocktail to let loose and I decided to grab her one from Off The Hook. I was pleasantly surprised to see an old co-​worker from back in my clubbing days working as a bartender there. I ordered her a Lilikoi Mojito which ran $ 9 and I literally had to force her to enjoy herself.
Throughout the day my boyfriend order us a few more rounds of drinks and each time they brought everything quickly and with a smile. The adult lunch menu runs at about $ 14 and the kids menu is $ 6.95. We got the pulled pork slider with kim chee which was a-​okay but nothing I couldn’t make at home. The Angus burger I ordered for my son was a bit overcooked, but luckily he’s only seven and as long as it’s a burger that’s cooked, he really doesn’t care. The honeydew melon in our fruit cup had gone bad so that was disappointing. But other than that, our sweet potato french fries were very yummy!
You will spend a TON of money eating and drinking at Off The Hook! Just accept it, life is short and you’re going to enjoy soaking up the sun while you’re a little intoxicated on the lazy river. You’re staying at a resort so you’re going to rack up that bill, but it’s no worse than other hotels in Waikiki.
Unilocal 365 Challenge: #178/​365 (The Poolside Bar)

Off the Hook is a poolside bar/​restaurant at Aulani. It is located next to ‘Ama ‘Ama, Aunty’s Beach House, and the exit of the Volcano Vertical tube slide. The menu here is pretty much the same as One Paddle, Two Paddle, but with drinks. Prices at Off the Hook are a little higher than those at One Paddle, Two Paddle, but at the same time, the food is a little bit different too. Today I decided to get the Angus cheeseburger with taro chips, while the fiancée got the kalua pulled pork sandwich with kimchee and sweet potato fries. Both were good, though, I didn’t care for the fact that it was well done and wasn’t allowed to rest. The burger at Off the Hook is $ 1 more than the equivalent burger at One Paddle, Two Paddle, but had two strips of crispy, salty, who doesn’t love bacon! Didn’t try the fiancée’s sandwich, but she liked it.
So how was service? Service was great! Very friendly and personable. Prices, though, are high as expected from a resort and parking is validated only with a purchase of $ 35 or more. Fortunately, we had parking validation from the Disney Vacation Club office.
We have now tried all the restaurants at Aulani!

I love anything and everything Disney so when we came to Oahu we had to see the new Aulani. Parking is free with a $ 35 purchase so we decided to eat there. Off the hook was the only place that was open, semi affordable, and you don’t need a reservation.
I ordered the fish tacos and a soda, my husband got the cheeseburger and a soda. The total came out to $ 35.60. Which is great for validation, but was way over priced for the food. My fish tacos were pretty good. Fresh fish and sweet potato fries. My husbands burger was over cooked and came with fries instead of the taro chips he ordered.
The waitress for some reason kept looking everywhere but at me while I’m waving my hand for some service.
The view was nice, right next to the water park and there’s a few tv’s. Theres lots of tables and we didn’t have to wait, although I’m sure it can get busy.

We got to Off The Hook last night at approximately 7:45 PM. Despite the host/​hostess stand, there was no one there to greet or seat us. One waitress was wiping down tables and she failed to acknowledge us. Since this was our first time there, we circled the bar and lounge area and I actually walked up to the waitress (who had ignored us) to inquire if we could sit anywhere. She said yes, so my bf and I sat ourselves at one of the tables facing the pool.
A couple of minutes later, I made eye contact with another waitress and she came over to take our order. Rochelle, our waitress, was fairly polite. I asked Rochelle for the food menu and she explained to me that this was a «lounge» so all the food offerings were listed on the menu along with the drinks. Blah, I’ve been to plenty of dive bars which have better selection of bar bites. I decided to just stick with water. My bf ordered a lilikoi-​lada and the duck flatbread.
About 10 minutes later, we finally got a glass of water and the duck flatbread (which looked like nothing special). A minute later-​the lilko-​lada was finally delivered to us. According to Rochelle, the delay in the drink had been a result of the bartender, who had been busy talking to somebody.
I think Rochelle should have also brought my bf a glass of water or perhaps brought the water out at the 5 minute mark? *shakes head in utter disappointment* Note: there are no nuts to munch on while you’re waiting for your drinks… we were basically sitting there foolishly at an empty table.
I was so over our «Disney» experience that I didn’t bother try the duck flatbread. My bf seemed to enjoy his food and drink. However, we had to order more food to hit the $ 35 minimum to get our parking validated so he ordered a Hibiscus Kiss and the Kobe sliders (which Rochelle recommended).
When he tried the second round of food and drink he had this look on his face which prompted me to try them. The Hibiscus Kiss reminded me of grape medicine and the Kobe burgers were a little rubbery and greasy.
While Rochelle did check on us a few times, my bf was too nice to tell her how much the sliders and the Hibiscus Kiss sucked or even how much the service really sucked. I sat there and literally took a count of how many patrons there were in order to figure out the slow service mystery. According to my count, there were two guys & one couple at the bar. One couple and a party of three (other than us) sitting in the chairs/​lounges. Two servers and two bartenders.
I know that perhaps my expectations are high. But why shouldn’t they be? Growing up in Southern California, I’ve had plenty of Disney experiences and friends who have been cast members. I know for a fact that Disney prides itself on its unique service and guest experience. This entire visit was an epic fail.
Furthermore, I was really taken a back when after taking our initial order Rochelle asked if we were going to charge it to a room or to a credit card. When my bf said a credit card, Rochelle asked for our credit card and said she would return it right away… we didn’t get the credit card back until a little before we left. The fact that they don’t trust you to pay your bill AFTER you eat is just really irksome and pretty tacky in my opinion!
The lounge is lacking in terms of ambiance. The furnishings scream frumpy to me-​not sexy new Disney resort. It is way too dark and the mounted flat screen felt a bit tacky to me because this is Disney-​not some sports bar. Besides the TV, you hear loud kids screaming from horseplay in the pool.
Off the Hook reminds me of those painful tourist traps which I try my best to avoid. I’m pretty sure we were the only locals there. I didn’t write this to give the Aulani bad PR. Honestly, I want it to do well. I hope they get their act together. I really want to like this resort!
Sure, it was a Sunday evening-​but that doesn’t mean that things like service and quality should go out the window. When we left, no one said goodbye to us. As we passed the valet-​they were too busy chitchatting about their personal lives to say goodnight. Again, if they were busy-I’d be more understanding. But perhaps the management and staff should re-​evaluate why they’re so empty on a Sunday night.
One last thing, I don’t understand why the drink prices are not listed on the menu. Does that make it more classy of a place? Serious question…