Fun Restaurants

[Pomai]

I was watching a show this afternoon on Food Network about the evolution of Pizza Hut and Domino's.

Two guys made a point about Pizza Hut's dine-in restaurants and their FUN factor. Cozy booths, a jukebox and Pac Man video games. I must say, they're right! I believe most Pizza Hut restaurants in Hawaii have converted into just take-out, right? The one in Kaneohe was certainly a fun place to go when I grew up. A place everyone said, "Alright! We're going to Pizza Hut!". It was an occasion in itself. The ambiance, along with the smell of those hot pizzas arriving at the table was such a great feeling.

I went to Chuck E. Cheese in Aina Haina once for a friend's kid's birthday, and you know what? That place rocks! I wish we had this when I grew up.

Dave & Busters is pretty cool. I don't go there often, but when I do, it's always a blast trying out the latest arcade games. The foods' good too.

We also had a fun experience at Musashi, a Teppanyaki restaurant in the Hyatt. Chef Kevin gave us his whole "Flying Knives" magic show.

Is Starbucks a fun place? Seems to be more of a "library" atmosphere.

For kids, the place definitely should have video games and other similar attractions.

For adults, liquor, sports on TV and/or live music are the usual protocol. Attractive staff helps too. Along with fun and attractive clientele.

Of course, there's more to fun than just that, depending on what you're into. Wherever and for whatever reason, a good vibe is a must.

Either for the whole family, or more for adults, what restaurants around town do you find fun and entertaining? What makes it fun?

[tutusue]

My 10 year old grandson loves Benihanas for the entertainment factor. I agree.

[cynsaligia]

wow...fun restaurants. we've been to so many, and they're all fun for different reasons.

liliha bakery...the old ladies there always manage to amuse, just by them being themselves.

sunrise cafe on kapahulu behind waioli tea house...not only are the pig's feet/nakami soup and champuru 'licious, but the owner sings and gets drunk with the customers as he expertly prepares the sushi.

gazen (http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2007/02/graze-craze/) is a great izakaya...less ostentatious than shokudo, where the food and service are nowhere near as good (try the hen with cheese sauce...sounds weird but you'll gobble it up greedily).

e lounge is a great neighborhood sports bar, and their tasty pork chops, steak, and chicken dynamite are often accompanied by the raucous vocal stylings of kalihi titas. beers are $2 and $3 at happy hour; only a dollar more outside of happy hour.

okonomiyaki kai is a great place to watch the chefs make your okonomiyaki right in front of you...and the crowd is often pretty, too.

speaking of pretty crowds, taco tuesdays at compadres is fun in that sense. the $2 tacos and $2.50 margaritas help.

the now-gone ocean club had great food and its patrons and staff provided great entertainment. it was the first place in town where you could eat garlic fries, down an artful gin martini, and watch the iona pear dancers perform right after cirque du soleil acrobats...and then later watch a couple gyrate on the bar counter in ways that some would prefer they'd only do at home.

the hanohano room is a great place to go if you think paying $200 bucks to dine on cold lamb chops and overdone steak while admiring an unbeatably gorgeous view is a fun time.

almost every filipino restaurant (juleez in kapolei, mabuhay on river street, thelma's, elena's, and max of manila (http://www.maxsofmanila.com/) in waipahu) is a fun time if you enjoy filipino food and find slow service and overhearing nana screaming, "sipaten ka!" at junior boy cause he mischievously moved the paria from one end of the kitchen to the other while she was trying to cook pinakbet.

india cafe (http://indiacafe.itgo.com/about.html) is adventurous fun for those who want to test the limit of their tolerance for spicy heat. go there and order the spicy eggplant. let me know if you had to drink the entire glass of lassi to cool your tongue after only one bite of the eggplant, or if you could power through the dish without breaking a sweat.

i could name more but we're about to meet a friend for dinner...at seoul garden. fun place to have korean yakiniku!

[sophielynette]

Last time I visited my cousin took me to a conveyour belt sushi restaurant. Maybe it's just the novelty of never seeing anything like that before, but I definitely consider that fun (and I'm mad that I didn't bring a camera in)! I actually kept the menu of the place, hold on -- it's called Genki Sushi.

[Pomai]

wow...fun restaurants. we've been to so many, and they're all fun for different reasons.

almost every filipino restaurant (juleez in kapolei, mabuhay on river street, thelma's, elena's, and max of manila (http://www.maxsofmanila.com/) in waipahu) is a fun time if you enjoy filipino food and find slow service and overhearing nana screaming, "sipaten ka!" at junior boy cause he mischievously moved the paria from one end of the kitchen to the other while she was trying to cook pinakbet.Oh man. Nothing like extreme accents to make an otherwise normal dining experience fun! Heavy Filipino accents always are a blast. My girlfriend's nana (grandmother) has a VERY heavy one.

I once told here about this one waitress at Kin Wah Chinese restaurant in Kaneohe. Spoken words either didn't have the ending syllable or consonant, or were just WAY out there.

In heavily-spoken Chinese accent:

Duck Egg - "Duh-Aye"
Water - "Wah"
Fried Rice - "Fie-Lie"
Egg Foo Yung - "Eh' Foo Yah"
Beef Broccoli - "Bee-Bali"
Sweet & Sour Shrimp - "Shee-show-shee"
Crispy Wonton - "Kee-pee One"

Funny enough, even with that, we could still understand what she was saying. lol

Leo Lakio should remember this story well. :D

As a kid, another fun thing about Chinese restaurants was spinning the lazy susan. Spinning it so many times unnecessarily, until finally my parents ended up scolding me. I think I spun it so hard once, the shoyu fell off the edge. lol