Steve & Dave’s Waikoloa Beach Grill

I’m so sad to find out this place is closed! We went in 2007 for our honeymoon, and Waikoloa Beach Grill is one of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to!
I forget what food we ate, but I remember that every dish was fabulous and tasted so amazingly flavorful!
I do remember the dessert — coconut ice cream over a grilled pineapple! I suppose it sounds relatively straight forward, but there was so much more flavor and dimension to it! There was this constant complementary opposition, cold and hot, smooth and firm, direct sweet and smooth sweet, mmmmm.
The tastes, textures, and presentation are absolutely amazing. I wish I (and you!) could go again!!! I’m so sad it’s closed. :(

LOVED LOVED LOVED this place. But it’s CLOSED CLOSED CLOSED, replaced by a pricey, very popular steak type place. Looks like a nice place…

Food is amazing.
Service is good, except our waitress was kind of overly friendly.
I got the clam chowder, which was great. Good chunks of clam and smokey bacon. I tried the Onion Tart, which was sweet and amazing.
I also got the Crab cake, which was delicious. I tried my boyfriend’s lamb chops and mac and cheese with truffle oil and lobster.
For dessert, we got the crème brûlée and strawberry shortcake.
All this food for under 100 bucks.
Great food, great portions, great prices.

I had dinner here last night and I really wasn’t expecting much. I love a tapas style restaurant, especially when the food is interesting. The food was not interesting. Everything seemed over salted — and I love salt. The desserts were fine, but not great. The only redeeming quality is the price. The only reason the price is redeeming is because this is Hawaii where all food is extremely overpriced. Also, the ambiance is boring. It would be a very easy fix to spice this place up, but they left it as a typical golf course restaurant.

Chef David Brown was the main Desert Chef at the nearby Hilton Waikoloa Village for 10+ years. He has cooked for the Clinton’s, won national (and world titles) in desert-​making. He even sculpted a 20 foot-​high statue of Zeus made completely of dark chocolate. Now that hes away from the Hilton, him and his culinary parter, Steve, are ready to captivate and amaze.
What I would recommend of their dinner menu:
Mediterranean French Onion Tart @ $ 5.25
Chef Brown cooks the onions down until they resemble a sweet, carmel-​ly tapenade. Super savory.
Lobster & Pancetta with Macaroni Cheese and Truffle Pecorino @ $ 18.95
Seafood and pancetta is a common combination in Southern Italian cuisine, and Chef Brown really sets the bar with the freshest local Lobster.
Double Lamb Chop with Dijonnaise Marinade & Mint Demi-​glacé @ $ 14.95
The deep flavor of the melt-​in-​your-​mouth lamb, combined with the complex flavors of the mint and dijionaise, truly blows Merriman’s briased lamb out the water.
Off the desert menu:
EVERYTHING is delicious. This is what Chef Brown specializes in. I particularly recommend the cobbler and the strawberry shortcake with a French press or some nice desert wine. Yummers.
Stop on by, and tell them Thomas M from Waikoloa sent you. Chances are that Chef David Brown will come to your table and shoot the breeze with you after your meal.

Sis & I actually came here twice in one day & hence the 3 Star Review
(Backstory is that David Brown was this famous executive pastry chef at the Waikoloa Hilton & he left to start this Golfhouse restaurant across the street — reported desserts that can’t be beat & a quality-​over-​quantity approach in the fare)
Picture Lunchtime — we walk in & are shouted at, to take a seat wherever — waiter takes our drink order & we see that a Grilled Cheese selection is not on the lunch menu but is a dinner-​menu item so we ask if we could possibly get the Grilled Cheese
The waiter says — NO — the chefs have not come in to prep for the dinner crowd & the cheese is not grated yet
I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING — this guy was not willing to go back & ask if the chef could grate some damn cheese & throw it on a piece of bread!
The Grilled Cheese was the main reason we even came to this restaurant & we’d be damned if we weren’t going to get it so we ordered the Steak Fries as a snack to hold us over for 3 more hours when the dinner-​menu would be served
PS the Steak Fries were under-​cooked & the Homemade Ranch Dressing they served with it was super-​bland
Picture Dinnertime — we walk in, are greeted warmly & shown to a table, the waitress comes out & explains how they serve Tapas-​style fare but the portions are a bit bigger, so we’ll want to order X number of dishes, how everything is local & sustainable & tells us all about each dish.
When sis & I tell her we are veggie, she immediately tells us which items are made w/​broth & when she didn’t know 1 for sure, she went back to ask… this is like night & day treatment from the Lunchtime experience
I finally had the Grilled Cheese — Fontina cheese melted on tiny slices of herby homemade Focaccia w/​Kalamata Olives & drizzled w/​Truffle Oil… Sis opted for the French Onion Tart & we shared Marinated Beets; Rosemary Redskin Potatoes; Roasted Tomato
By far the Beets were the surprise hit of the evening — I am not the biggest beet fan but these were the most scrumptious things I’d ever munched on — cooked perfectly & seasoned just so the flavor was standing out but not overpowering
For dessert we each had the Mango Cobbler & it was very good. Paired w/​this locally made Caramel-​Ginger Ice Cream, the crunchy, cinnamon-​fresh-​ginger cobbler topping was deeeelish w/​the warm mango. Kinda wished the mango was a bit more firm but I guess when you cook mango, it can’t help but get mushy
So overall tips I can tell ya… beware of the portions — Meal portions are nice & small & manageable but the Dessert portions are GINORMOUS. Not at all consistent w/​the meal portions (hint, hint guys!) & it’d be best to either go lite on the meal if you’re a big dessert fan or share a dessert. (It’s the next morning & I’ve been up for hours & still have a raging food-​hangover)
Also, do NOT get the wine pairing w/​the dinner — both sis & I were extremely disappointed w/​our pairings & they did not compliment the dish at all
Apparently, they will NOT make anything off-​menu
Lastly, be sure to go to Dinner — NOT Lunch — unless you like being treated like you’ve walked into a McDonalds but are paying $ 100 for 2 people