4. Restaurants

Makino Chaya

98-150 Kaonohi St,Ste 218, Aiea, HI, 96701
  • (808) 486-5100
  • Store is closed

Makino Chaya Menu

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  • Marina M.

    I used to love this place but the taste went down. Sashimi used to be fresh and now it's dry... I only come here for the crab legs and the lobster which I have to keep getting up and go to the teppan to get a lob one at a time. Service is ok. Price is kinda high for the quality of food.... Not too clean either. Carpetting is sticky as hell.

    (2)

  • Jane L.

    When this location first opened, my family and I used to go on birthdays. The last time we went there a few years ago we all got sick and never went back. It started off as good but then turned to crap.

    (1)

  • Dave F.

    Went here for a birthday and I have to admit, it was horrible! The place looked like it was in dire need of a cleaning. The only thing really worth eating was the steak because it was freshly cooked. The crab was overdone and rubbery and the sushi was hard. The line can be deceiving, giving one the wrong impression as if the food inside is so great... Sorry, but I won't be back, I'll spend my money elsewhere...

    (1)

  • Jo S.

    I only stack crab legs and steak on my plate. NOM NOM. When you go to a buffet, it is up to YOU to eat your moneys worth.

    (5)

  • Jensen S.

    This place is terrible. Old untasty food, poor service, expensive. What more do you NOT want in a restaurant? I don't understand how people still go here... I'm sorry. Save your money and go to idk Teddy's Bigger Burger if you want to eat a lot or even JP Serato Pasta downstairs is a good choice. Even 7-11 is better.

    (1)

  • Ms Theo F.

    The food wasn't too bad, but it was difficult to enjoy because the place was very smoky from the teppanyaki grill that didn't have a smoke vent. There were lots of good, fresh vegies & fruit. The rolled sushi were not too large, good rice to filling ratio. I had to wash every piece of clothing that I wore today because it smelled like teppanyaki grease. Our waiter was very attentive and always brought me hot water replacements for my hot tea. Strange that they serve the tea in styro cups and they did not have coffee available. The place is very run down, our feet stuck to the carpet, fabric chairs were frayed, peeling paint on railings. At least the bathrooms were clean.

    (2)

  • Cynthia S.

    The place to go to indulge in japanese food and seafood! Way better than Todai! I love going to the Aiea location. They seem to have a better selection of sushi, seafood, and desert. I love the chocolate fountain! There are also other locations in McCully, and Mililani. It's about $25/per person but well worth it for the amount of crab that you will eat trying to make it worth $25.

    (4)

  • Alisha G.

    I usually do not review however in this case I felt it necessary. After reading other reviews, I started not to go because I thought that I would be disappointed. The truth was far from it so let em clear up some things: Food: Absolutely the best, it was well seasoned, fresh and a good assortment. My kids even went to the hibachi grill and got steak cooked. My brother enjoyed the sushi and I had crepes from the crepe bar. The dungeness crabs were ono. Great flavor. The only food that I did not enjoy was the lobster (too much sauce). I enjoyed my free refill coke and had a blast Service: Our server was really great, not too much, not too little. The chefs were also friendly as were the other workers there. There were a lot of people in the restaurant so yes it was a bit noisy but not unlike any other restaurant that I have been to. It was mostly the noise of laughter and good times so I am cool with that. Cleanliness: OK so it is not the most pristine white of places but I too am a germaphobe and it was no where near what I had read. I do get freaked out because it has carpet but I figured hey, I'm not eating off the floor so I am fine. The carpet is dark but does not have that dingy filth smell of some restaurants (Buca's, Anna Marie's, etc.). The tables were clean as well as the plates. As a matter of fact I was prepared to go through the plates and silverware but did not have to. I mostly ate with chopsticks but none the less it was average on the cleanliness, only because of the carpet. Overall: as the other reviewer stated, they did increase the price by $1 to 30 but it was well worth it! A great assortment of food. Lots of room, great service and even more affordable because I had the same free birthday plus 20% off coupon from the news paper!

    (4)

  • gabriel d.

    For the price, the food is excellent! My family and I go here maybe once a month and it never disappoints. "all u can eat crab for around 14.00 pp for lunch" cant beat that deal. If you're not expecting something fancy you'll be happy with the lunch buffett it's an excellent value and the service is always friendly and professional. We will definately be back.Thanks Makinos!

    (4)

  • Kara B.

    For a buffet its not bad but not great. This place is always packed and once you are seated they give your party a time limit. I think you have 2 hours to eat and leave. So with the time limit everyone in there feels rushed to eat. This makes everyone look desparate to grab the best looking sushi so you have to hold your ground and work fast otherwise someones grandma is gonna get the last of the ahi sashimi.

    (3)

  • Waynele Y.

    a lot of people say makino chaya is better than todai, but i beg to differ. i came here for lunch, and the food was pretty good, but i feel like you get better sushi at todai. the prepared foods are a little better here, but who wastes their time on the prepared foods.. you come to these buffets to eat sashimi and sushi. the chocolate fountain is cool too -- or actually was cool until you see all the little kids using it, and sticking their fingers in it. who knows where those have been.

    (3)

  • Albert F.

    Never having tried the Mililani location (its closed now) I heard this is the best of the 3 Makino Chaya's. Its pretty good, great for the price really, but its a buffet. Wish it was more consistant, sometimes they have the lobster tempura, sometimes the prime rib is ribeye, sometimes you get good fish, sometimes not.

    (3)

  • Kione E.

    Ok. First of all. Probably the 4 worst combination to have. All you can eat+Seafood+Buffet+in Hawaii. Normally I don't like buffets, because you never know how old anything is, but, this place is good. I found out that they open only at certain hours so nothing sit around and gets too old. I don't know how this company is gonna stay in business. Shit, if it's there after the first year, then they must have the monopoly on the whole fish market. Eh, and it good fresh seafood at that! And, to make matters worst, they offer part of their menu as the all you can eat. Lobster and Lamb not included. But what the hell order that stuff too, seeing as you're allowed to eat as much as humanly possible on the buffet lines. Yes about 3 different sections. The various sashimi/poki/sushi Section. The King Crab/ Crab from Maine/ Prime Rib/ and Various Meats(Japanese and Korean BBQ) Section. The Dessert Bar. Ridiculous! There were 5 Adult and 3 Children and we still spent less than 2 bills!! It's like there wasn't a mark up to the food cost. The decore is kinda cheezy for a Japanese establishment but the servers ar attentive and they hustle in this fast paced environment. I enjoyed it a lot (about 6 to 8 trips to the various sections) a lot!

    (3)

  • Bernadette A.

    If it were possible to write a review with NO STARS then that would be mine. The carpeting sucked at our shoe soles as we were led to our table. The plate (cafeteria style-sectioned) I picked up on the top of the stack was badly chipped. I tried to hand it to a busboy who just looked at me and tried to walk away. He finally took it from me after I continued to point at the jagged corner and said "broken." Language shouldn't matter when there is a VISUAL cue that something is wrong. The "silverware' was all wet in the bus trays and smelled of bleach. Nearly everything was labeled (helpful) on plain paper posted above each dish. Not every tray had a serving utensil. DO NOT EAT HERE if you have a seafood allergy as it would be impossible to guarantee against cross-contamination. Didn't use the facilities...the sticky carpeting scared me away from that. VERY PRICEY $28.95 per person. I would suggest getting the FAMILY FEAST at PANDA EXPRESS and getting some fresh crab legs to steam yourself. Eat at home: CLEAN. NOT WORTH THE MONEY, CROWD, PRICE, DRIVE, or FRUSTRATION TO PARK.

    (1)

  • Ken M.

    well this past sunday went to makino chaya and well i did not enjoy it too much this time had so much different types of crab that i really didn't care to eat...and i notice now they serve you dessert but than the line gets backup because there is no one there when people want to get the dessert they should have someone there all the time or someone to be there to fill up the sushi or salad when it goes low and that day it was not to bad but the sushi and salad had almost nothing left there and it was like only the start of the lunch crowd ......i hope they improve that area next time i go back there the food that was quite good was there fried rice it taste like they made it from a grill and that went down quite fast when i went to try it hardly had anything left and while i was waiting i did not see that get filled up or with a new batch of fried rice..... i also like there garlic ahi that was not bad and they had this new item i think it was called sushi tempura but i wonder if they used mochi rice because it kinda smell like it was spoil but i ate it and it seem to taste okay..... i wonder how come they don't make some kind of scallop type dish plate i'm sure the crab cost more than the scallops and never had too much veggie dish did not care for their noodles seems like not too many people ate that dish it seems there was quite alot of left also they made this some kind of crab shell dish with the back part of the crab now that did not look to appeling to eat i wonder why they made tha i hardly seen people eating that........but there crab legs was going like hotcakes but i'm glad i don't eat that ....but overall my experience this time at makino wasn't as good the last time i hope to see them improve on there dessert area and the sushi and salad section next time or i will not rate them as i did the last time i gave my eating experience at makino......thank you for the reading this.....aloha....kensan

    (3)

  • Dina V.

    It's alright, a definite step up from Todai. Went at lunch time, thought they opened at 11:30 only to find a gaggle of people sitting outside talking story. Found the door open and went inside to put our names down. Didn't heed the recommendations and get a reservation, even though my dad nagged and nagged me about it. So what! They finally opened at 12 and one by one servers came out to call on parties, no big deal we were seated within 5 minutes and there was only 2 other parties behind us. They seated us by the window, near a huge round table of AF folks. Kind of annoying as we had to squeeze past them everytime. The sushi was very fresh, my favorites being the tempura fried sushi, the shoyu ahi, and the mixed poke!!! Yum. Then it was off to the "hot" options. The whole time I was thinking of the "hot menu", but it's not an option at lunch time, or is it a secret and you have to ask? Anyhow the stuffed crab shell was so YUCK! Full of imitation crab meat. BLAH. All the veggies were UNDER done and hard and chewy. All the fish options were overcooked. My favorites had to be the veggie croquet and the shrimp tempura. But then what can I expect from food being kept warm/ hot by heaters right? I was just expecting more from the reviews here. Oh and a small warning here, the beverages other than water are NOT free. For some reason we thought the "sodas" were free, so we ordered them, when normally we're water with lemon drinking people. Eh, good thing for me I drank up my fruit punch. The dessert section was rather disappointing. Jello, frozen apple pie chunks, white cake, coconut cake, tiramisu cake (all the cakes were dry), random fruits (all of which were sour: pineapples and kiwi), and a crepes bar (but they had to dig someone else from the kitchen to be the crepe maker b/c the usual crepe person was sick). My parents are both senior citizens so their fare was $12.65 eachh, as opposed to my $12.99. The baby was free thankfully! Eh $50, drinks and tax, that would have been better spent getting a bowl of Saimin at Shiro's for $30 cheaper, but at least I know I've tried it and I won't be wondering if it's good or not... b/c it's not.

    (1)

  • Margie N.

    Definitely has the problem that most buffets have - too much food sitting out for too long, so the food isn't as fresh as you'd hope. That said, the food was decent for the price. I love sushi, and the sushi had been sitting out for just a little bit too long, so the fish wasn't as fresh as it could be. I love buffets though, just having the ability to pick whatever you want and as much as you want is great. There was a ton of seafood, as well as a menu to order different items (udon, etc.) if you wanted something special. The staff was helpful, when you could grab them - they seemed to be running around a lot, not necessarily covering one area. Desserts, yum - crepes with ice cream anyone?

    (3)

  • Jhay B.

    Since i haven't been in this location before, me and my co-workers decided to come in today to have lunch! judging by the reviews on yelp, it honestly made this place a bad dining experience, but we will experience it to believe it. First of all, i called in and the girl which was the "hostess" had a friendly voice and was sorta helpful. i asked her if it was busy so i can make a reservation and she said "YES" so i go "OKAY" could i make a reservation or just walk-in. She told me oh yeah you can walk-in. She didnt ask if i wanted to make a reservation. We finally get there and she asked, do you guys have a reservation!!?? Right then i said "WAIT I CALLED, AND YOU GUYS DIDNT ASK IF WE WANTED TO MAKE A RESERVATION BUT HAVE SAID I COULD DO A WALK-IN" right then she wasnt good at CUSTOMER SERVICE RECOVERY and just made like she didnt care!! like hello dumbo customers are paying for your paycheck, you need to get retrained and work on your customer service. Next we were waiting for our seats outside, cause dumbo messed up. Then finally got seated at the top right side of the area, which is a good location cause its not crowded as the main dining area. Server came and asked for drinks, she came back with it and we asked if we order from the menu or just pick from the buffet cause we didnt know. In a bitchy tone she said "UGHH NO DINNER ONLY!!" and walked away. While we see her other co-worker/friend talking to customers and surprisingly calling them by their names. Fun part was grabbing food. Food looked tasty only problem was picking a plate was hard!! i had to go through 15 plates cause they dont wash it good!! so check your plates if you decide to eat here. LUNCH MENU: Grilled Steak, Rice, Fried Rice, Mixed Veggies, Crab Cake Cake, Snow Crab, Tempura Veggies, Tempura Shrimp, Tempura Ika, BBQ Chicken, Ribs, Noodles, Beef Broccoli, Dumplings, Assorted sushi, Salad, Assorted, Jello, Fruits, Chocolate Fondu, Crepe ETC. Then the Major NO-NO'S!! Line was too long because of indecisive customers, it will get backed up to the back. Cooks or Line that restocks, doesn't fill the food fast. I mean its busy, you should know you would need back-ups for lunch rush. Food was delicious except that pork shumai it tasted spoiled. Too many flies flying around, there was a bird that was nesting down by the tables and decided to fly around. Bathroom smelled and looked disgusting, the sink was clogged with someone's barf. Our first server did not even checked up on us, a different server had to come and refill our drinks...what a shame! BUT 5*****stars for the SERVER BRI!! SHE WORKED EXTRA HARD WITH GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE, YOU NEED TO HAVE HER AS A SERVER THAN THE OTHER PEOPLE, CAUSE THEY WERE RUDE! Overall food is great but some workers need to go!!! or need to be retrained to the max

    (2)

  • Mina T.

    I mean, it's a local style buffet, what can you expect? I don't hate it but don't love it. I would not pay for their dinner, but their lunch price is alright for their food. They do have large choice of different type of dishes, so I like that. I like their teppanyaki station too. Oh and did I mention their crepe station? I also like that :P I guess I like quite a lot of things from them! haha I would try it if you got a coupon or something for lunch, but not dinner~ It's always good to try it for yourself though!

    (3)

  • Cely H.

    If there is a special occasion, my family usually goes to Makino Chaya. There was one point in time that I was getting a little bit sick of this place... but my Dad wanted to eat lobster for his birthday so we went here. Must I tell you, I'm super impressed with the changes they've made! I went there today (Jan 2) so I'm guessing they did a lot of cleaning/feng shui'ing for the New Year. There's a completely new set up to the restaurant with extra seating in the back of the crepe station (instead of the desserts and sushi). The dessert and sushi are now lined up against the back wall of the restaurant. There was a new salad bar with mixed greens (not that bad iceberg crap), seafood salad, seaweed salad, fruits, jello, and macaroni salads. They had new sushi rolls (and a new sushi chef that was getting trained next to me). The deep fried tempura sushi was KILLER. There were all kinds of maki, and all kinds of nigiri, including the usual plain stuff they used to have before. The buffet had a lot of upgrades as well... soft shell crab, ebi fry, oyster fry, and killer teriyaki chicken that looks like it was hibachi'ed. Dessert was upgraded too! Lots of cute little cakes and tarts and cake rolls and blueberry muffins. And thank heavens they cleaned up the chocolate fountain and put out skewers. It peeved me that they never put out skewers for the fountain before and people had to use their hands... it was so disgusting! Skewers keeps it neat and sanitized...which I LOVE. Of course you can still order the crepes too. The only thing that I'm going to complain about is their lobster. Before they had already cooked lobster that they grilled for you to order. Today they had raw lobster (which is great), but in order to cook it fast, they need to steam it on the grill which totally defeats the purpose of having someone do teppan. Steamed lobster is not as good as one with grill marks on it. :( The servers were great too... our server, Brandon, kept checking on us to make sure we were okay. He saw my Dad was struggling with cracking his crab and gave him a tool to help him rip them apart. The hostess also asked us if we wanted our birthday cake held in the fridge! I've never had such attentive service at Makino Chaya before! I was pretty impressed with their new stuff and their service and I totally ate enough for 10 people. Might want to come back here to experience the new makino! :D

    (4)

  • Brittany K.

    Jamie our "waitress" was extremely HORRIBLE!! She takes half our tables order for the menu items, and decides that walking away without taking the other half of our tables order is acceptable. I guess since this is a buffet, this may seem acceptable to some; however, when you have items not on the buffet line that needs to be ordered maybe there should be more attention put into taking your customers orders!! On the plus side, the food is decent. Sashimi platter was of good quality. The sushi is good, for the quality. Credit to CAKE WORKS in Moilili for the AWESOME strawberry cake!!

    (1)

  • Michelle M.

    My cousins decided that it was time for a lunch date and put the plan to work...Let's go to Makino Chaya! Never really have been a fan of buffet all you can eat places because the food quality is usually borderline gross, but I didnt want to rock the boat. Why not check it out? The first thing I noticed about this place was the GIGANTIC line out front at 1130AM. We had reservations, but many people did not and there was an Occupy Wall Street sized crowd in front of the place! Most folks were ok, friendly, talking story...but then there were a few that were kinda irked by the folks that showed up one at a time to hold spots in line for their party of 52. Yeah, that was not a fun conversation. Anyway...on to the food Surveying the buffet line, I noticed that there was a TON of seafood. Tempura, Snow Crab, Clams, Steamed Basa...Noodles and tempura fried california rolls, fried rice and chicken were all presented. Too bad that most of the veggies were deep fried :( The Teppanyaki bar was a little sad. Steak and Calamari were the only representatives for this station. Couldnt get your steak seasoned with the teriyaki sauce, so it had to be poured on the side. The bean sprouts were steamed but had no flavor. Oh well...it isnt Benihana, right? The salads were kinda lacking as well. No flavor, and kind of skimpy in the ingredients. I guess there is a menu that one could order off of however that is not possible during the lunch seating. TOo bad! Heard that they have some good stuff on that menu. The crepe bar was a nice twist. Enjoyed having a sweet treat after all the seafood gluttony. The fresh fruits were perfect in the chocolate fountain. I would have liked to order the chocolate pyramid but there was no one at the cake station to help a girl out. Oh well... The price came to $23 a person, out the door. Tax, gratuity included. Not too bad for the amount that you can consume there. I dont think I got my money's worth but oh well. They have coupons and such but I dont have time to mess with all that. I guess it is a nice option if you do have the time (I should make that a separate Yelp list topic--Dining with Coupons). I kept hearing that Tsukiji's is better...Todai is better...Would I venture to see if that is true? Maybe...if I have a coupon and start my new Yelp List!

    (3)

  • Erica L.

    I went here for the first time with my bf and his relatives a few months ago. I was very wary of the place due to the yelp reviews and ..... my fears were proven right. The food was blah and I noticed that people on my table were filling up on the crab legs mostly. I'm not a big fan of crab so I opted for other items. The desserts were pretty but I didn't want to try it because I had spotted the fresh fruit section first. Not only did I see a lot of cut up fruit, I had also spotted those SMALL BLACK FLIES (fruit flies??) on them that were happily swirling around the fruit. I don't plan on ever coming back here but I will say that the Aloha Tower location wasn't as bad as this location. Aloha Tower location = 2 stars.

    (1)

  • Joy C.

    I am being honest.. This place is not good!! I tried both of the Makinos Chaya located here in Honolulu, The reason being because my first Makino was in Las Vegas and that place is the best and the comparison is way off.. NO WAY... People say its clean.. eweee.. really JUNK.. you will just waste your money and you might get sick too.. I would rather eat Aloha sushi or Ninja sushi..

    (1)

  • Ruben A.

    We went on a Wednesday, in May about 5:30. We had reservations and got in quick with family of 8. Man, I don't know what kind of seafood/asian buffets some of these reviewers are used to, but this place was a wonderland. at the outset, ;et me agree with some reviewers that the carpet needs a good deep-cleaning. A little GET-TOE if you know what I mean. But the food when I was there, was very good. I had New Zealand mussels which were moist and flavorful, the clams which were small but tasty, butterfish collar was too OILY-YUCK!, the stuffed crabshells were so nice and sublte, the squid and calamari "poke" (for lack of a better word) was my favorite! I loved it. That's really all I ate. I just got more helpings of those. they were all very good It was fresh, replenished often, and very tasty. I skipped all the pre-made sushi (rice is a filler and I was there to eat the seafood) but did have some of the custom made sushi and that was good. the miso butterfish (also custom ordered) was so-so I have tasted better. They cooked it too long and it had a slightly burnt taste. deserts were simple but good. liked the cheese cakes. my wife got a crepe with choc/banana and she loved it

    (4)

  • Geoff K.

    I hadn't been to Makino Chaya since it first opened years ago. I was surprised to see such a large crowd waiting outside for the restaurant to open. It was the same as it ever was...pretty good. Pretaaay, pretaaay, pretaaay good. The shrimp tempura was excellent and plentiful. The crab legs were great and there was no portion control. I saw guys with their plate piled high like it was a crab leg party. There was a steak station. The steak wasn't the best in the world, but it was A-OK for an all you can eat buffet. The dessert was great. There was a crepe station. There was a chocolate fondue fountain with banana, strawberries, and melon. The dessert station contained a variety of those little finger cakes. Cheese cake, red velvet, haupia and more. Something I didn't like was there was two cake limit per station visit. Let the crab legs flow and limit the cake......meh. The worst thing about Makino Chaya was the sushi. If you come for the sushi you will be very disappointed. It was a 6-7 on the fresh scale. It was quite sloppily made which made it very unappealing. The sushi could be better if they cared while rolling it. Another minus was that it was dirty. They should close down for a few days and give this place a deep cleaning. Especially the steak station.

    (4)

  • Lesa G.

    I remember leaving full but the only reason I can't remember how good the food was, is because I only remember how much it reeked. 2 stars for prompt service and decent crab.

    (2)

  • Mark M.

    "Meh. I've experienced better." That line, straight from Yelp, sums up my dining experiences here. I've tried this place three times and I don't really know why I went back after the first time. The food quality is alright, the service is alright, and the parking blows at dinner time. If you're in Aiea, there are a lot of awesome places to eat at that serve similar food of a much higher quality. Have you ever eaten at Tadashi? You should.

    (2)

  • Sierra M.

    yes lobster and steak...sushi and crepes!!! it was very delish! but very crowded!

    (4)

  • Mac J.

    Typical Japanese buffett... Would've given a higher rating but customer service ruined my appetite. Hopefully they can improve.

    (1)

  • Mary D.

    I never recommend this place to my friends and family. I ate here a few times and each time was a nightmare. If you plan on going with a large group, i hope you get the farthest back tables deep in the restaurant. Sitting anywhere else is just inconvenient. It appears that the goal was to set up as many tables and chairs as possible so you can feed as many people as possible in the smallest amount of space possible. First off, while waiting to be seated it's easier to wait outside the entrance rather than cram the doorway. It sometimes smells out there. I believe their dumpster or something is out there to the right of the building. Good luck on humid/muggy days. It's usually crowded and beware of the ground and walkway to the entrance. The floor is sometimes very sticky. If it's not too busy, you'll hopefully get to sit on the metal folding chair along the wall for your comfort and convenience. Every time I've eaten here, all the chairs were taken. Once inside: The booths along the glass window where you get a great view of the now closed Circuit city building comfortable seats TWO! I'm not a big girl and neither is my mom or or friends and they put the four of us in there and I literally had one butt cheek hanging off and I would've had to sit with my knees out just to eat. It was pretty obvious we couldn't fit there but the server looked at us and kinda shrugged her shoulders and walked away thinking we were ok. We literally were sitting thigh to thigh with our purses in our lap, bag handles up to our chin. Finally, after about 10 minutes of waiting for her to come back or even WALK BY us we YELP out to her to move us. We get seated on a bigger round table near the crepe station. Much better! The food, not very good. Depending on what time of the day you go and how busy it is, it's a total crapshoot. One thing is for certain, the sushi looks old. Rice looks dried out and nori is soggy. Don't do it. Their only saving grace are the crab legs. I recall back in the day where you could order ANYTHING off their little menu and it was included in your buffet cost. I didn't see that menu anywhere. Boooo! They were making shrimp tempura at a snails pace. Literally, 50 pcs at a time so everytime I would try and get ONE PIECE, it would be gone just as fast as they brought it out. BOOO again! Our server in this new section we were sitting was ok. She showed her face once in a while and refilled our waters timely. She cleared our dirty plates efficiently too. I really enjoy their crepes. (Easy on the whipped cream and ice cream) They cook it fresh and fill it w/ frozen strawberries, fresh bananas or canned pineapples. It's your choice. There is a bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup for you to add if you'd like also. It was pretty good. I wasn't able to try that beef thing (wagyu?) everyone's talking about. The line was forever long and after standing in the long line just to dig into the buffet line, I wasn't in the mood to do it again. It did look good, though. One of my biggest gripes about this place is they do not split the bill if you are sitting in a large party. EVEN if you tell them in advance. We went with our entire family and each group wanted to pay separately. They said we couldn't because we were seated together. All of our husbands are in the military. They offer a military discount but only to the active member. What?! That ticked me off enough that I will not eat here again. That made me feel like the sacrifice and hard work my children and I endure in order to support my husband didn't count. And HE was paying! Wow! For the price you pay at this buffet, it's not worth the mediocre food, crowded and sometimes loud environment and crappy service. Go somewhere else. It's too bad I can't put negative stars, they truly deserve it.

    (1)

  • Dela N.

    Went there last night for dinner and I must say this will be our last. It was either Tsukiji's in Ala Moana or Makino Chaya Pearl City. Well Makino Chaya is close to Ewa and so we decided to go there. The hostess called our party and two others to follow her to be seated. No personality whatsover. I went to get a steak and lobster. Told cook I wanted mines medium well, which was well done. The sushi so called bar was not filled most of the time. Same goes for the main buffet area. Most of their main dishes were empty and not filled. As for the crepe station, there were two workers there. One who fried up the crepe, the other who filled up the crepe. The filler filled in the ice cream, not so sweet strawberries and not so fresh brown bananas. She couldn't even wrap nicely. I guess she was trying to work fast cause the line was long. And the desert station was a joke! Only two pieces of desert per serving. For a family of 5 with a bill of over $200...not worth it. The food not so good. The establishment not so nice. We should have drove to Ala Moana to have a way better dinner at Tsukiji's.

    (1)

  • Wesside D.

    No stars. I can't possibly be the only one who's ever been there that has scooped food onto a plate and saw beady little eyes and antennae?! I showed it to one of the guys on the bugget..er, buffet line, and not sure if he knew any English or not, but he just took the plate in the back. Nobody came and got the rest of the pan, nobody offerered me a free or half off or anything. Sad... And the platters were all kine ghetto with chips and things in every one of them.

    (1)

  • Darci N.

    I suppose if you're really hungry than this place should hit the spot. It was as great as it was when they first opened. I immediately experienced the sticky-ness of the carpet under my shoes/flat. If you love variety than this is the place. The food is filling, assorted sushi and tons of other asian dishes. I think people go here because of its location and the crab legs. Though I think my crab were on a diet. I love the custom crepes.

    (3)

  • Jessica d.

    Oh sweet baby Jesus in a golden diaper. I could eat my weight in crab legs. AND they have lobster! Sure, it's a buffet and the food is a little greasy and salty. But the service is good. And OK, they had me at crab legs.

    (5)

  • Shelby B.

    The rating is low because it was very crowded and loud when I went. Instead of using the whole space where there are quiet spots for smaller groups they put everyone close together. The food is alright for a buffet, and the service is alright. But its a good price for all you can eat and there is something for everyone. Id come again but I might look inside to see how crowded it is.

    (3)

  • Money G.

    I live in Los Angeles and visit home (Honolulu) often. So.. I'm used to high standards in restaurants, food, service. Makino Chaya's service is good, atmosphere cheery, food great. It's not Michelin rated (lol) but it's comfy and tastey. Love the steak, shrimp tempura, and sushi. Tastes as good as pricier restaurants!

    (5)

  • Wendell D.

    Went last night to celebrate my son's 29th Birthday. Party of 6 and my wife had an amazing coupon with her. I'll talk about that later. We were seated near the window and had ample room to move around and although were aligned with the dessert station and salad bar...no one was bumping into us. Service was good and the food was tastier than I remembered. Can't critique the food on the line other than the Snow Crab...which was ono. My son loves crab and probably at about 10# worth by himself. The ordering format was a little confusing but the server helped us navigate through it. I ordered the Sushi Mori and the Sashimi Mori. Well worth the price paid for the dinner. Both dishes would cost well over $40 at other restaurants. I enjoyed them both along with a double order of Teppanyaki Steak. Looked like it was flap meat instead of New York Strip but still tasty. With my refillable Coke..I was satisfied. Finished off my meal with a goodie from the Crepes station and just sat back and let the food flow down. The rest of the party also took part in ordering many of the special dishes, such as: - Shrimp Tempura - Pork Tonkatsu - King Crab - Assorted Sushi - Miso Butterfish (Very ONO) Now when It came time to pay we were able to use a coupon my wife had that gave the Birthday Boy a Free Meal and the rest of the party had a 30% discount. The total bill for the party of 6 was $122.00 not including the tip. Just a heads up...m wife received a call from Makino Chaya that day to alert her that the price just went up a dollar to $29.95. So the savings were substantial. Overall a very good dining experience.

    (4)

  • Katheryn H.

    Been craving crab for months now, and I mean months. Maybe it's been a year, but I finally got my fix! My boyfriend took me here, claiming they had good crab, he was right! The crab was so delicious! It's pretty much the only thing I ate there. I hate to say, though, the wait staff was pretty bad. The waitress we had helped everyone BUT us and I didn't get a chance to order any shrimp tempura. And they didn't have any crab utensils. But that was ok, I learned a new technique at cracking crab legs. Hahaha. I definitely love this place for the crab legs. Next time I'm craving, I will return. Yum yum.

    (4)

  • Chrysantha C.

    I FELL IN LOVE WITH MAKINO CHAYA ON SOUTH KING STREET BACK IN 2004... so imagine my disappointment when they opened a chain of restaurants and changed the menu! I dined here in March of 2008 with my parents expecting the OLD MAKINO CHAYA I first dined in. Food was NOT GOOD and there were little grey mice running around under the buffet tables... we also let the waiter know and pointed out the little creatures, he nodded and his face looked like he already knew. GROSS... WILL NOT RETURN! PS I just tried to remove the star.. but I guess I CANT!

    (1)

  • Monica L.

    It's not too bad but I'm not crazy about it either. The one thing that's great about this place is Wagyu beef. I've never had Kobe or Wagyu in my life.. and trying it just opened my eyes and tastebuds to the world of tender, tasty, favorful red meat. (I tried to become a vegetarian years ago..but I'm actually glad it didn't work out.. I mean, I'd be missing out on so much good food!) They also had Wagyu fried rice.. which was ok.. but it reminded me of the saying, "Too much of a good thing..."

    (3)

  • Consuela P.

    My first time eating here was last year with R and his family. We had dinner reservations at this new type Japanese food "buffet". There's the "all-you-can eat" part and there's a selection of food that is cooked/made that you can order of the menu; which you can order any 2 items of the menu at a given time; and keep ordering to your heart's (or stomach's) content and these items are not available on the buffet lines. It was good but it can get overwhelming with all the choices of food! There was an assortment of sashimi, poke, sushi, cold noodles, various meats and seafood and desserts ~ tiramisu (my fav!), cheesecake, pies, fresh fruits and a chocolate fountain! It's like Todai's but bigger and better. I don't think I've ever eaten as much as I did that night! I could barely move and felt totally grossed out when I got home... This year on Valentine's Day, my boss treated us "small but very important people" from the office to chow down some great grubs during lunch time. The venue ~ Makino Chaya; the newly open franchise at Aloha Tower. There are two other locations; Pearlridge and Mililani. I think I had 5 plates total since it's buffet ~ an assortments of sushi, salad, OYSTERS, mussels, crab legs, tempura, and more. It was okay...less selections compared to the one at Pearlridge (but then again I ate there last year so maybe there's been some changes from then until now) and the desserts did not appeal to me. Ohh well...this one I give 3 stars :) Thank godness, R and I weren't planning on eating out that night! Otherwise...I'd would have to be carried home because I'd be too lazy to walk! *grins*

    (4)

  • Wendy K.

    If I could rate it at a negative I would. The customer service here is unbelievably ridiculous. 5 out of 5 times I get rude employees who act as if they don't want to be here. I don't recommend this place to anyone. The food is ok. Not the best but I wouldn't expect much from here. The cooks are probably rude too.

    (1)

  • Troy T.

    One fly flew in my wife's tea, another flew on my sister's cup, and I saw a swarm at the crepe stand... Other than that it was good. :P

    (1)

  • Toshi I.

    A friend treated me to dinner here and it's a great family friendly place. As far as a buffet goes, the quality was good and for the price, you get a lot. As far as service goes, it's a buffet so you serve yourself!

    (3)

  • Kimberly H.

    This place is just too much, they focus on quantity and variety instead of the quality of the food. It wasn't too bad but way to expensive for the quality of the food. This is place reminded me of a scene in Natl Lampoons Vegas Vacation, where Griswald is with his brother in law at a buffet eating what ever slop was thrown together for the sake of eating.

    (2)

  • Derek H.

    Bento phone orders required not recommended as in flyer. They will not serve walk-ins nor is there any signs stating this. The new flyer says you need to order one day in advance.

    (1)

  • Topazskye L.

    Yucks. I will never return to Makino Chaya. Just all you can eat low grade food. Greasy, tasteless, boring. Well you pay for what you get. If I am ever dragged back here, I'll be kickin, screaming and wailing!

    (1)

  • Shayna R.

    Lots of variety, but I just don't love buffets as much as I used to. Here are my thoughts on what I tried: ordered off menu items: seafood shabu shabu: very impressive when it came to the table - it had a whole lobster, split in two; crab; mussels; clams; won bok; shrimp with heads (but not fresh enough for me to enjoy the heads, though I usually love that); udon; tofu. there were two broths, miso and shoyu. the crab was really hard to eat as it wasn't cracked and very hot and spiky when it came out of the hot pot. pretty tasty seafood, but it kind of slowed me and my husband down from ordering and eating. maybe that was the point! uni and ikura: yummy, not the freshest uni, but for the price of the buffet, it's pretty good quality. however, they ran out of uni and ikura after my first order. i definitely could've eaten more!! sushi mori: they were out of most of the sushi that were pictured on the menu, and it came with smoked salmon instead of fresh salmon. if I knew they were out of the sashimi that i wanted, i wouldn't have ordered it. generally, the fish was ok, but the rice was cold and refrigerated, not freshly made, which made it not match the fish that well. soft shell crab: very crispy, light, and tasty. would definitely order this again! zaru udon: enjoyable and refreshing, but I thought the cold sauce was a little tasteless, so i just ate the udon with miso soup - that was yummy! fresh lobster: i thought it was going to be steamed, which i'd have preferred, but instead it was covered with a mayo cream type of sauce. i just scraped the top sauce off and enjoyed the lobster! i did like the lobster in the shabu shabu more though... at the buffet line, i enjoyed: gyoza, shrimp shumai, and the steak teppanyaki. overall, lots of petty tasty options, and a good deal if they had more uni available - and if you have a coupon, which we did! they've had a lot of different types of buffets - at aloha tower, at this location, at the first one on king street. my favorite was the one on king street, but this style is pretty good too. the sushi seems fresher than the aloha tower location, and the fried foods come out pretty crisp and tasty.

    (3)

  • Ele G.

    sorry, but this place has gone downhill since i last dined here... about 5 years ago or so.... cold foods.. not much selection. really disappointing. glad i wasn't paying....

    (1)

  • Ana T.

    I used to like Makino Chaya, in fact we always go here everytime we have a birthday since they have pretty good deal and a good food. But today I'm kind of disappointed. Food are not as good as before. The teppanyaki beef use to be one of my favorite but not this time. Steak were too salty and beef was kind of hard. Shrimp and vegetable tempura used to be in the buffet table but this time you need to order if to the waiter. They have more selection of dessert before but today only few are available.. Oh well!!!!

    (2)

  • Jeff K.

    Food was really good, service was great. only thing is sometimes the fish sits out for a while, so watch out for that.

    (5)

  • Jenny C.

    You ever been to a place a few times...and realized, they just stopped trying? Well, that's how I felt last night when I came here for dinner. I think this will be my last visit here because it was such a disappointment. While these buffet places have never been 5 star dining, I remember a time when Makino was actually okay. I looked forward to going there because of the good hot choices, cool sushi/sashimi ordering system, desserts (chocolate fountain), steak/lobster station, etc. These things still exist but it all feels...just so dirty now. The hot foods, gosh, it was just greasy stuff thrown into the pans. No care in the taste or presentation of it...and the actual items? I just feel like they try to find the easiest way to make it cheap and fast. The sushi bar, I guess it's still okay. They cut down the portion of what they give and I can't say it's that fresh. I didn't even eat the steak or lobster...or have dessert. I think the thing that bothered me the most was how dirty it felt...and how much it smelled like cleaning liquids in there. The decor is getting old...but nothing is being done. I came on a Friday night and in the past, it used to be huge groups of people waiting to get in. I had no wait time. It's really too bad to see a place fall so much....one of the few bright spots was my waiter. He was very nice, fast moving and attentive - need more of him in other places.

    (1)

  • Tom S.

    Other than the place being filthy, the waitress being grumpy and slow, and the food being junk, this place rocks! Oh yeah, its also expensive. Would have been expecting a lot less if it was $15 a person - thats all this place is worth. NEVER AGAIN MAKINO CHAYA!

    (1)

  • Joyce J.

    Great selection of different foods available. The fresh oysters, snow crab legs and soft shell crabs are FABULOUS! Also, you can't beat the fresh sushi and sashimi. Discounts are offered for seniors and military personnel, plus an additional discount is given on your receipt for your next visit. I found it a good value for what you get.

    (5)

  • elisa o.

    Sorry, I did not care much for this location. I went during a weekday lunch. Food temperature was luke warm. We had to wait (8 minutes) for a seat, but the place was obviously "slow". If you must go to Makino Chaya...I would HAVE (just got note that this location is no longer there) recommend the McCully location on KING. So much better service and quality of food!!! I may check out the other locations...but for now....I just won't recommend this place. Sorry. :( I know how much the locals love this place! I DO like this place better than Todai though!

    (2)

  • Gabby V.

    Mmmm...the food is so delicious, but I wish they would re-stock more often! I love their fresh sushi and seafood. I also love that they make crepes, japanese dessert delicacies and kobe beef! Parking can get pretty bad so make reservations and come a little early to find parking. If you want sushi, order it from your waiter, that way you know it's fresh. DON'T grab from the platter line because you don't know how long it's been out and it tastes stale if left out for too long. Other than that, you should definitely come here if you're a seafood lover!

    (5)

  • Davlynne B.

    love the all you can eat buffet at a great price!!! especially the king crab legs and the chocolate fountain!

    (3)

  • Lofa L.

    I was happy when I was told we were going to Makino Chaya (i kinda like the Aloha Tower one, not the greatest but not that bad either) but when I got to the Aiea one man was it weird. I couldn't stop noticing my shoes were stuck to the floor. I mean the chairs even stuck to the floor. This was worse than any movie theater floor I've ever encountered. Now I know Makino Chaya gets bad yelp reviews at the other location that I like, so I thought maybe it could be a matter of opinion and I could give this location high marks to beat the trend. Unfortunately this review joins the other low scores. Overall the food was good. Not great, good. The sushi and hot items I liked. But my fried noodles tasted like cigarettes. The party of nine also thought it tasted like cigarettes. I couldn't get over it because I like to eat noodles. The crab legs was good, and the steak and lobster and crepes I enjoyed. Most of the staff was friendly too like the steak cook and our table waiter, but the hostess was a grump. We had reservations for nine and she gave us a table for six because the others were running late. I told her about our party reservation and that we needed a bigger table. She got grumpy and left us only to reseat us in a corner and pushed an extra table together. This was on a Thursday night, I wonder how bad she stresses out on a busy night. Makino Chaya has enough influence to convince Sanrio they can run a collab restaurant yet this location is a joke. If you gotta go Makino Chaya go to Aloha Tower or don't go at all. Maybe just eat a lunch bento.

    (2)

  • Kristen C.

    214/365 I've never really liked Makinos for their high price yet low quality food but my bf wanted to come here because he was craving for some crab legs. We came around 6:30 or so and we had to wait about 10 minutes because we didnt make a reservation, which I didnt understand why because there was clearly a lot of open tables. However, upon being seated, we noticed that there was literally only 1 waiter taking orders while another guy came from the kitchen to deliver those orders. The sushi didnt look too appealing and it actually tasted a bit old as the rice didnt taste fresh and the ocean salad I had was a bit hard/dry. From their hot dish side I got the chow fun, garlic ahi, choi sum, beef broccoli, and of course crab legs, they were all alright, and good enough to satisfy my palette. I also tried their pork gyoza and that wasnt bad. For their fresh menu, we got the lobster and miso butterfish. The lobster was tasty, flavor wise but it was a tad bit overcooked and chewy. It was also tiny and came roasted with a creamy mushroom topping. The miso butterfish was the highlight of the dishes that I got, and I think I should have ordered that from the beginning and more of it. It was very moist and flavorful. For dessert they had tiramisu, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, guava cake, pineapple cake and coconut cake along with jello, the japanese mochi and azuki bean soup and the doriyaki stuffed with azuki. The cakes that I tried were dry, except for the pineapple cake which was fairly moist and I liked the topping. I like their fresh fruit selection, especially the halved kiwis. I also got myself an ice cream crepe with strawberries, bananas and chocolate chips and that was good. Overall, dinner was $30+ and drinks are NOT included so I dont think it was worth it as the food was just eh, okay, definitely had better.

    (2)

  • Ashley Anne B.

    Alright I was very reluctant to eat here (I had read the horrible reviews) but my parents are total Cheapies! They received a coupon that got 20% off the entire meal and a free meal if you eat there on the date of your birthday. It was my little brothers birthday and my family loves buffets so naturally this coupon was a sign from the heavens to eat here. I've read the reviews and begged my dad to go elsewhere but "we got a coupon, does the other place you want to eat got a coupon? well then we eating here". We made reservations 1 week in advance for a Saturday at 6:00pm. When we got there it was packed with people waiting outside! when I told the hostess we had reservations at 6pm (we arrived at 5:55Pm) she said to wait outside and she will call the names at 6pm. Our names were called first and we were the first to start eating at all the buffet tables. The food was okay nothing spectacular but the fact that we got their early and didn't have to wait in the long line that formed after we got our food made it enjoyable! So the rule of thumb to eat here is 1. Make reservations early, because we made it so early we were the first people called into be seated even though other people had made the same time reservations. 2. The first line you should get into is the line for the wagyu beef, then quickly to the main course buffet line. 3. Because you got a head start on everyone else you will be the only people at the dessert tables :-) All in all just because we didn't have to stand in line and we got their early the food was fresh and this made a decently enjoyable experience.

    (3)

  • Kai R.

    Ayce wagyu, uni, king crab, lobster and now tonkotsu ramen!

    (5)

  • Kat A.

    Their crepes are good! Do not try their lobster, its too chewy..

    (3)

  • John B.

    Expensive, smelly carpets, and plain food with no taste. I'm steering away from here next time my wife's birthday comes along.

    (2)

  • Justin Y.

    Oh how I didn't want to write a terrible 1-star review, but my oh my has this place earned it. The only thing the star is good for is to jam in the front door to hopefully keep people out. Now lets see...I ended up here for a family dinner for whatever occasion it happened to be, and even while waiting outside this place just reeked of awful. The waiting seating outside consists of folding metal chairs up against the facade wall...not a great first impression...but at least it was an honest one. The tables and chairs are generic and cheap...the plates, cups, and silverware were dirty...dirty enough that I actually went back to my car to get my bottle of water. The service was entertaining, but not on purpose. The "chef" that was at the teppanyaki station was actually wearing shorts behind his station, as if his back wasn't to the entire restaurant. Classy! The food was greasy & nasty at best. I took a small amount of almost everything JUST to try it so I don't complain w/o good reason, and whew...I left my FIRST plate mostly uneaten after the initial nibble to taste things. The teppanyaki station was pretty funny because the "lobster" was so obviously bad a lot of people were saying they didn't want it, but Mr. shorts-chef MADE people take it if they wanted the steak. So all in all, the only person I'd recommend this place to is the health inspector.

    (1)

  • Lili A.

    Visited Makino Chaya reluctantly for the second time for a birthday. After my first experience, I was not very impressed with the food, facility or service. But because it has been years since that time, I chose to give it another shot. First, mix-up with the reservation time had our party of 5 waiting behind a party of 27. FAIL. We were called in and taken to our table in the back left corner. The setup was different from what I remembered and was impressed with the new layout. PASS! Walking to our table felt like walking in a theater where soda and candy were spilt and left for days. My slippers were making those peel-away noises with each step. FAIL. Our server Joe approached our table and was very friendly. He acknowledged the birthday girl and gave us the run down on the buffets and suggested the crepe station. Got our drink orders and went on his way. He checked back on us frequently and took sushi orders here and there. PASS! I am a huge unsweetened-iced-tea fan (no lemon!). Took a couple sips and was set back by the bitterness. It tasted like the machine needed a good scrubbing and a new fresh brew. Ended up ordering Raspberry iced tea. FAIL. Made a sushi plate to share, filled the plate with California Rolls, Spicy Ahi and tempura sushi. All very good! What was entertaining was all the rice balls left over from people just grabbing the ebi (shrimp) off of the sushi. Overall sushi...PASS! The hotline offered local-Asian style dishes. Filled my plate with choy sum, stuffed crab, two types of shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, steak and lobster. Most items were warm (expected for a buffet) except the steak and lobster which were made to order. The lobster was initially raw, then poached on the grill in a pan of butter, then grilled to order. This whole process made the lobster tough and very over-cooked. The steak was good and the added bean sprouts were a nice touch. There was a poke bar at the very end of the hotline. Not the freshest quality, so I dodged an instant stomach ache. Sorry, neither PASS nor FAIL on this. Finished off with a trip to the crepe station. There were fresh fruit selections and rainbow sherbert (they ran out of vanilla ice cream). I chose to go with the bananas only and topped it off with a chocolate drizzle and mini cream puffs from the dessert station. It was the best part of dinner! PASS! It was an overall so-so experience. Joe's friendly and attentive service kind of made up for the ok food and unclean facility. I would return only for someone's birthday if that's what they had their heart set on.

    (2)

  • Gabriella M.

    No star from me, horrible, dirty, and nauseating experience. Unfortunately, yelp does not allow a zero star rating, hence the one.

    (1)

  • Corrina D.

    I definitely came hereto eat crab, and that's what I did. The beef broccoli was hard, crab cakes idk what that was sure wasn't crab, it's definitely not worth 32 dollars a person

    (2)

  • Keoni D.

    Went to makino chaya after a recommend......did not care for much they offered but the crab leggs and lobster tail was delish......

    (2)

  • Niki T.

    My parents took me here for my birthday and I loved it! I ended up returning in a month to take my boyfriend for his birthday. I love Japanese food and this place has a great variety of everything The ENDLESS crab legs are to die for!

    (4)

  • Jenna F.

    How can anyone eat let alone have an appetite in all the filth. As soon as I entered I could smell the bathrooms located to the right of the entrance. There was a wait outside for this dirty pit-hole buffet? My friends only wanted to try Makino Chaya because they had some coupon. Did no one see the crud all over the floors and buffet stations? I won't comment on the food because I refused to eat here but for some reason others in my party did and boy did they pay for their feast later as all of them got sick in their own way and had to re-enjoy their meals twice through reverse peristalsis. I understand that a lot of restaurants never get inspected annually due to budget cuts, so when dining out look around people! If you see some black tar looking substance on the walls that is a clue to leave asap!

    (1)

  • Maile T.

    We are regulars, and love this place. Noticed the added live music!! Typical Hawaiians!!! I love it.

    (5)

  • Jenn Y.

    This places sucks. It's so ghetto not worth it. This use to be a great buffet place but the food is not even good. The food is not hot some were empty and the food entree were hand written. I remember there use to be a chocolate fondue with fruits but that is gone. At least the tepanyaki there but the guy was just wearing a tshift how do you know it's staff and not a random person. The lobster was so dry and he did not really cook the meat well so no tip for him. They have soft shel crab but didn't even look like it. The tables were not clean with bug crawling. Drink containers were lying all over the place. Plates were dirty sometimes no forks or enough plates on some food bar. Not professional at all.

    (1)

  • Dave E.

    Not good at all. Dirty. slow service. Not worth going.

    (1)

  • A G.

    Expensive Buffet. Food quality not that great. The hibachi grill was good. $3 extra for a soda. Not sure I'm coming back. At least I didn't leave hungry.

    (2)

  • Lorna M.

    The place was not bad.(Aiea) You must come here hungry though. So far this place is the cheapest we've found for having to eat the sushi, tepanyaki and seafood. I'm sure we will comeback here for dinner.

    (4)

  • Todd D.

    I wasn't going to review this place until I read some of these complete idiots reviews of the restaurant. First, the person that said they aren't big women and couldn't fit in the booths....I'm sorry but I've sat with people in the booths, if you couldn't fit.....you're big women, so stop complaining about a normal size booth. Second, its a buffet!!! Stop expecting it to be presented like it was prepared by fricken Iron Chef Morimoto. Its about quantity!!! If you want top quality japanese food, go to Doraku or Nobu!! Stop bitching about paying less than 50 bucks for ALL YOU CAN EAT. That's like going to McDonalds and complaining that its not the best tasting burger you've ever had. Is this one of the better japanese restaurants? No. Do you get your money's worth eating here? Yes! One plate of crab legs or lobster is going to make it worth going. Try eating sashimi until your full at Shokudos and see how much it costs you. "Oh, Todai's food is much better quality." Umm...yeah, they have the same owners and get their food from exactly the same places. If you're looking for decent (not great) japanese food, this is a good place to go. You'll actually be surprised by some of their food. In particular the steak and lobster. The desserts are also definitely above average for a buffet-style restaurant. Try it! Just don't walk in expecting everything on par with an expensive sushi restaurant and you'll enjoy yourself.

    (3)

  • Crystal S.

    I'm sad to give Makino's a 2 star review because they used to be SO much better (with quality buffet-included menu-order food items). However now, it seems like they have lowered the quality of the food for more quantity. Now I love my buffets...but I was disappointed with this one. Some dishes were decent to good. There was 1 supurb dish though...the made-to-order wagyu beef and scallops. YUM. Beef was like butter and scallops were sweet and juicy. If you do go, you must devour this section first. They also have good bentos with a main dish and a bunch of sides for $5.50. Eat here if you just like eating a lot.

    (2)

  • David B.

    This place keeps getting worse and worse each time I go here. I've learned from the first time I've been here years ago, but still go back because out of town guests and my grandparents love this place. List of issues for this visit: -Opening was displayed as 5:30pm, but they didn't let in people until a quarter to 6. -Restrooms were open before the restaurant opened, but my mom said it was still disgusting inside. -I decided to hit up the teppanyaki station right away when the line was still short. The four people in front of me got a lobster tail per plate. Before it was a whole tail, but now they are even smaller and you only get half a piece. I brought up two plates and had to wait for the next wave of cooking batch for the 2nd one. Cook decides to put up the 1 lobster tail per person sign now. -Forks getting more crooked and crooked. The owner is too cheap to buy new ones. -After getting my steak, I go to my seat for the first time. I look over the menu to see what sushi I want. Remember when they first opened they had a variety of items other than sushi? Then after that they set limits. Now it's just sushi. So a waiter (Japanese guy in his 20's) comes back with the order of the party with me. They were off in the buffet line. I told him I wanted to order the hamachi and the sashimi platter. With a puzzled look he goes, "Uhhhh, we're running out." WHAT? The place just opened! He probably thought I was being greedy, but the fact was the sashimi platter was my parent's order. So I just asked for the hamachi. At this point, I knew already I ain't getting it cuz the guy is a liar. He leaves without asking what I wanted to drink. So my mom comes back and asks if I ordered anything. I said yeah, but I doubt I'm getting it and the guy said they were out. She says she ordered from a girl server. So if that guy wasn't our waiter, he should've at least told me straight up that he was there to deliver only. The girl was actually nice, but at this point I didn't bother to order sushi already. -Crepe station was "Out of order"

    (1)

  • Tina F.

    I went for lunch on a Sunday with my husband. The restaurant was about 3/4 full and we didn't have to wait for a table. We arrived around 12:30. I have to say, for a place as big as this was, there wasn't too much to choose from, kind of dissappointing. Bowls for soup were gone, and I couldn't even find any small ones to put dipping sauces or even soy sauce in. They did have a great assortment of sushi, however, if you're like me, I loooove lots of wasabi and ginger with mine... But NO SUCH LUCK- There was none to be found anywhere. We went for the crab legs anyway, which I have to say, we ate BEYOND the price we paid for lunch.. almost 3 hours later, our bellies were full and we left content! Not too shabby.

    (3)

  • E Po'u L.

    Its the best place to go if you don't want good service, don't mind mediocre food, and love waiting around for a refill, another drink, or your check. We were done 15 mins ago and still waiting. I'm writing this review as we are still sitting in the restaurant. Still have yet to see anyone come by. Worst dining experience I've ever had!!!!!!!

    (1)

  • Calvin L.

    I love dis place!... Cheehee!

    (4)

  • Amanda S.

    I'm not a very big seafood person but I like this place. I especially like the pui pui shrimp. If anyone knows the recipe let me know! The service could be better and the food is halfway decent so I give it 3 stars.

    (3)

  • Shaz Z.

    Nasty. The people who run this place are restaurant slumlords. Shame on you, Mr. Makino. I felt like I needed a shower and a cleanse after NYE's dinner here. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the gross smell, and if that's not enough to ruin your meal, the sticky carpet surely will (not just around the buffet, but in the dining area as well). The seating booths are falling apart at the seams, the dishes are cheap and dirty. And I haven't even gotten to the food yet. I could not bring myself to try the "sushi" that was being served (it all looked nasty), and each and every item I tried from the hot buffet was disgusting. I would have walked out, but two of my dear aunties had invited us and were paying, so I couldn't be rude. I am NEVER returning here.

    (1)

  • Anjelika J.

    In land of buffet, this place is not worth the $26.98 + tax + drink + crazy hungry peoples fighting for utensils and rice. Nope. I know buffet and this is like the McDonald's of buffet. I mean compared to Todai, at least this place didn't make me wanna vomit. But we did it again... we ate here... again. The food, so plentiful and oh so plenty of blah too. Ya know, when i see crab and lobster advertised for $26.98 + tax, i don't want it soakin' in some mystery broth with herbs all over it. NO! I want crab, lobster and drawn buttah. How obsurd is that request? Apparently it's taboo here at Makino Chaya. Yeah and they have this banana dessert. The sad thing is that THIS is what i look forward to eating here... all for $26.98 + tax. And yes, I do know that i can make this at home for a dollah, but NO... I wanna pay $26.98 + tax for this! So, it was the same ol' same ol' ... until... we saw... ... ... ... the wagyu beef! *dun*dun*duuuuun*! Ok... so there we were standing in a hella long line of crazy peoples with empty plates just *staring* at the chef cooking this meat of the gods. H and I, who are very meat eating peoples, were like, " How do you order this? Why do I see people getting it with sprouts? Who the eff needs sprouts? WHY the eff would you eat it with sprouts? Do you HAVE to take the sprouts? I just want meat. Will they kick us out if we just ask for meat? Can we stand in line again? Cuz that portion looks too small." Yeup, us lil' piggies... oh effing well! We got up to the front and we were so sked to ask for no sprouts cuz everyone else was getting the sprouts, so we took the damn sprouts. K den, so we went back to have taste... and then that was it. Screw the crab, screw the lobster, screw the bananas... oh hells yea, it's all about the wagyu beef for $26.98 + tax. BUT, we still had to conjure up the cojones to ask for "no sprouts". SO STUPID! Oh, and then we still didn't know if we were missing a sign that said, " ONE TRIP TO THE WAGYU BEEF STATION ONLY! " hehe... but i nevah saw one so too bad! We ate more, this time were brave enough to ask da guy to "hold the sprouts" ( i hate sprouts, just a waste of time and taste). So, the basic short story was: Crab and lobster (with crappolas instead of buttah) ... $26.98+tax Fighting hungry peoples for a fork & rice ... $26.98 + tax Banana dessert that u can make at home ... $26.98 + tax Wagyu beef w/o sprouts ... $26.98 + tax not being chicken schett to go up for seconds and thirds AND ask for no sprouts at the wagyu beef station... effing priceless. ^o^ *2 stars for the wagyu beef which is actually equal to 20 stars (10 stars for each yellow star)... but no stars for the freekin' price for the blah food. got it? k den.

    (2)

  • Keane L.

    Oh, God this is great! Having grown up in a small family, and sans the slew of les relations communes, it's always an experience when a long overdue family-friend gathering occurs. Oh, joy! Endless questions about my job, the length of my hair, my band ("I love the Beach Boys! Do you sound like them?"), etc. What could make this marvelous experience more American-kitsch? A buffet! I loved the South King Makino Chaya (now closed) when it was a lesser-known joint. They offered some superb items, like chicken slowly cooking over a tiny charcoal grill. But times change, and things get crappy with expansion and location changes. Alas, Makino ain't quite the same no more. The special menu consists mostly of nigiri and sashimi platters (still not bad), no longer offering the elaborate dishes and prepared desserts. Also, there was a rat. Happy New Year! Let's drink cheap domestics and blow shit up.

    (3)

  • Joy W.

    My parents like going here for celebrations as it's good for groups. I really loved how at their old King Street location you could order off a menu as well as partake in the buffet so was sad that this Aiea location and the one in Aloha Tower were buffet only. So imagine how happy I was to find that the Aiea location has brought back the menu! The buffet is still the same size, with lots of hot entrees to choose from, plus the wagyu beef and sushi station, but there is also a two-page menu of sushi, noodles and seafood to choose from. Overall, the food isn't the greatest here but you get a lot for the money plus the addition of the menu offers the illusion that those dishes are fresher. Service is always good, too.

    (3)

  • Robyn R.

    What happened to Makino Chaya? I liked it better back in the day.

    (2)

  • Bradley H.

    If you've never eaten at Todai, you never will. We went during the main dinner time and even though they were full, we got seated within about 5 minutes. I'm not sure if that's usual or we just got darn lucky, because there were people out the door waiting when we got there. Certain items are located in the buffet line, while the better items are located in the buffet menu. Both are all you can eat, but the menu prevents the good stuff from siting out too long. The sushi was very fresh and they had three kinds of hamachi sushi/sashimi out in the buffet line along with all the great usual suspects...salmon, maguro, etc... The buffet menu (you can order two things at a time, but you can order as many times as you want) includes soft shell crab, king crab legs, tempura, toro, blue fin tuna, and much more. I was actually impressed with the quality of the food just relative to other restaurants (not even taking into consideration the fact that buffet places tend to have lower quality food standards--which this place did NOT). I've been to the one in town too, and was more impressed with this one. As usual, if you're going to the buffet to eat fried rice, you're wasting your money. But if you're going there to eat seafood, sushi, sashimi, etc... you're going to the right place...enjoy it and come back and write a review!

    (5)

  • Marlene F.

    We went to dinner on Friday for my brother's birthday and Father's Day. I was not impressed this time around. The food was ok. The service was meh. Our plates were stacked 3 plates high and were not taken away until after we paid the bill. I noticed the prices got more expensive. Now, it's $29.98 for adults. Yikes! Most of my family seemed ok with everything tho. I'm not sure if I'm coming back.

    (2)

  • Bifyu J.

    The only culinary highlight was the wagyu beef teppanyaki station, but even there there was a good chance you'd get a cut of beef that was at least 30% fat. We're not talking marbling here, just fat... The sushi selection and quality was poor to mediocre, as was the rest of the hot food buffet. Dessert-wise, stick to the jello (hard to screw up), or the fresh fruit since it keeps the preparation to a minimum. They wanted to squeeze nine adults and a child onto two tables that would have only held eight adults comfortably. A leg actually fell off the table they tried to relocate us to next. Service was mediocre: they were relatively slow clearing away dishes, and they did not refill our water glasses once. The carpet was sticky - nothing like having your slippers adhere to the floor if you stand in one place to long. Water dripped copiously from the ceiling near their fruit station. On the other hand, I probably saw as many different varieties of fly inside as they had different types of fresh fruit available. The interior was also too warm, and as a bonus you will leave smelling greasy. They do not accept American Express, only VISA and Mastercard, and they will claim that requiring a photo id to use your credit card is not a violation of the credit card merchant agreements (false).

    (1)

  • Carol W.

    I don't think this place need another stab in the back, but perhaps with just 1 more bad review that they'll actually do something about it? Wow...it was bad. I haven't been to Makino for at least a year or 2 but I can't believe just how run-down they become. Like another reviewer had mentioned, the carpet is sticky. Not just your regular little-traction-type-of-sticky, but stepping on glue type of sticky. The dishes are dirty, the utensil racks are dirty, even the napkin holders are dirty! I honestly was too grossed out to eat. The cleanest part of the restaurant was the bathroom.

    (1)

  • Mr Blix E.

    My wife and I decided to go to Makino Chaya this evening. Well, it was a toss up between there and Tony Roma's. It's just the wait time was way less at Makino Chaya so we ended up there. Well, it wasn't just the wait time, it was the fact that when we walked into Makino Chaya the first thing we saw were the huge crab legs and the ginormous Wagyu beef stand behind the hostess...The short story on the Wagyu, it's basically Kobe beef, here's the shorter story, every slice is like a slice of filet mignon...Anywho. Are you serious? Wagyu beef for $27!? The beef is EXCELLENT! Melts in your mouth like butter baby! The cook they had on hand was great, personable, and made sure our every serving was medium rare. I've seen places selling this stuff in excess of $80 a person, and that's a single serving. The fact that you can just keep going up to get it is crazy. The food here is generally O-K, but I highly recommend going just for the beef, I think even Makino Chaya makes that statement relatively clear when you walk in and the first thing you see is the grill stand for the Wagyu beef.

    (3)

  • Girleegurl n.

    Somehow this restaurant has gone down hill in the last few years. Many items that used to on the line you now have to order off the menu. I guess it's more fresh but...they take soooo long to get the food to you. You're practically done eating by the time your ordered items arrive. The lines are also slow moving for teppan items (Steak, lobster) since they only have one chef working the line. The desserts are are disappointing too now. Too bad.

    (3)

  • Ray G.

    I was disappointed with some things on my last visit and after reading the earlier reviews I guess that this formerly very good buffet is in a downward spiral. Right now I'd give it 2.5 for "OK". Lunch is still a good value. It's less crowded and less expensive. Arrive at the starting time or before because when something runs out the replacement may often be something less desirable. I eat a lot of food in one visit at places like this and have never been told that I couldn't get more of something or that I had a time limit. Senior and military discounts are available if you ask. I personally haven't seen any rodents but if I did I'd have to get some news of big changes before I'd ever go back.

    (2)

  • Soo H.

    My brother & I had some free time and just randomly stopped by for lunch. It wasn't even open and there was a grip of people waiting so I thought it must be freaking delicious! Well, if you like lots of overcooked fried food, this place is your heaven. And hey I love fried chicken, fried tempura, etc...but I also appreciate some things not soaked in oil. It got old really fast for me. Sushi...maybe it was just the day I was there...but it was inedible in my opinion. The crab legs were okay, but it was just too much damn work to get to the meat. Dessert was okay. yeah, that's all I got. It was cheap for a buffet, I'll give them that. And the staff was nice. But I don't think that is worth $27.

    (1)

  • Alexander S.

    Only go here for the wagyu beef and crab. Not great quality, but decent for a buffet.

    (2)

  • P L.

    ZERO STARS. This place is a disgusting ripoff. Overcooked "lobster", stale sushi, filthy, sticky floors, lousy desserts. Overpriced, for sure.

    (1)

  • Val R.

    We went there because my mom wanted to eat there for her birthday. Horrible...the service was terrible. The food quality was not good either. First of all they have a sign outside saying all you can eat showing a variety of sushi, tempura, and noodles. We get seated and the waitress takes the drink order not even mentioning that all the good food has to be ordered from the menu. We go through the buffet line looking for all the food and can't find it. When we finally realize we had to order it, I finally get a waiters attention and he says "you didn't get a chance to order yet?" Very rudely. Then when I start ordering food he says "I have to tell you I think we may be out of that"....are you kidding me? All you can eat and you ran out of food already? Did I mention we got there at 5:30pm when they first opened? The restaurant wasn't even completely seated and you're out of food? The plates in the sushi line were dirty and greasy. Just gross. Dont waste your money or your time. The amount we paid we could have gone to a sushi restaurant and gotten better quality.

    (1)

  • Brandon G.

    a few years ago this place was awesome to come to but since ive joined the military and fly back every year for 10 days . this place has lost its sparkle , our order was wrong , the lobster tail comes with a cream mushroom sauce on it and its not tasty. id rather spend the same money and put a nicer shirt on and go to WILLOWS

    (2)

  • Polina T.

    Walked in and checked the price of the buffet...$28.95, ok. The place did not appear clean, dirty carpets and filthy bathroom. I left!

    (2)

  • Lorilynn L.

    Hmm, this place was ok at best. The buffet food were not the most healthy selections; however, a lot of it. I ordered butterfish off the menu and it was soaked in oil. They also failed to mention we hadonly a short amt pf time to get food, after paying full price, smh. A second visit is highly unlikely.

    (2)

  • Crista P.

    I read all the reviews before coming to try this restaurant, and I honestly hesitated but I couldn't say no because it was my grandmas birthday dinner and my family set up reservations so I couldn't get out of it lol. Food: Everything LOOKS hot and fresh, but once you take it off the buffet you go sit down, you dig in to eat and your food is already cold. It wasn't tasty it wasn't anything it was just BLAH. I also ordered 2 udons one for my husband the other for me, and no joke it took about 45min to come out. The waitress didn't apologize or anything, by the time it arrived at the table I didn't feel like eating it. Oh I also forgot to mention that the "DONBURI" is a absolute joke! Lol I wish I took a picture. It was literally 2 pieces of poke on about 1 tsp of rice lmao! The dessert, I originally wanted to try the guava cake, but of course they didn't have any. The only thing they had left was chocolate & red velvet. I did end up having a crepe which was probably the best tasting thing all night. Not much to go on place is a little run down looking, I saw a few cockroaches on the floor and yeah it kinda grossed me out. Don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon.

    (1)

  • Mark P.

    Crab Legs! On the way here, I bought a cheap pair of pliers. Now I'm ready for next time.

    (4)

  • Keith K.

    This place used to be a great deal about 6 years ago for the customer but guessing that the owner was taking it in the shorts.... now? Most of getting seafood is either coated in tempura or smothered in some sort of sauce. They don't offer fresh fruit anymore and no more cocktail shrimp. Snow crab legs and white fish are still pretty good. I also liked the raspberry frozen yogurt.

    (3)

  • Huong N.

    The food never had no taste. Was mostly all warm. Wouldn't come back here again unless they hired better cooks

    (1)

  • Megan S.

    Pretty cool concept for a buffet! My grandparents and uncle took us here for a Sunday evening dinner. There were several sections of food-main buffet line with main dishes, sides, etc; steak cooking section which was cooked fresh when you order; the ramen station which no one went to because it's been so damn hot, a sushi bar and lastly the desert station with delicious cakes, frozen yogurt and fresh crepes were made. This was nice as it helped with the circulation and flow of all the dining guests...it got pretty crowded but I didn't have to wait too long in any one line. There was also a menu at the table that could order other desirable foods like oysters, lobster, mussels, etc. My favs were the shrimp tempura, freshly cooked steak, crab legs, sashimi, fried oysters and raw oysters...the crepes were pretty yum-licious. The "meh" foods were the lobster tails (sat out too long or just overlooked), sushi rolls (pretty dry), the salmon (weren't deboned)... It was nice to check out and have a family dinner while on Oahu For place where you serve yourself the service was quite good. If I lived here, I could only come back to fill up on steak, tempura and crab legs.

    (3)

  • Joelynn Y.

    I have mixed reviews about this place. To be honest I only eat the Kobe Steak, rice, crab legs and crepes. Everything else on the buffet line doesn't taste that great. Last year when we came for my bfs bday, his meal was free. However we went tonight and they didn't give any discount or free meal for his bday. They said if we get the early bird special then there isnt a bday discount. If we got the full menu then he would get 50% off. Ummmm, when I made the reservation I told them it was for a bday and the girl on the phone said I would get a bday discount. They need to be clear with customers about their discounts and policies. There is a awesome waiter name Brandon. He is super nice, polite, and just a awesome waiter. He attends to his tables always asking if everything is ok, refill drinks, and clears the tables. If I could afford to give him $100 tip I would beacuse he deserved it. I really hope he takes his customer service and waiter skills to a place where he could make more money. This place needs to give him a raise asap.

    (3)

  • Diana G.

    Before going to dinner at this restaurant, I read many many reviews. I still wanted to take my son for his birthday dinner however my expectations were low. I am happy to report that our dining experience was very pleasant. The food was really tasty and hot; our server (Britta) was superb. Didn't have to ask her for anything. The steak/swordfish station was great. Yes- it's not the best restaurant we've ever eaten at but for that price - we were satisfied. We will return!

    (3)

  • Brian F.

    Wow, how the mighty have fallen. The only good thing I had there was the teppan steak which was prepared right in front of me. Everything on the "hot" buffet line was luke warm at best, plus they were 75% empty the whole time we were there. The sushi platters were also empty. I ordered the soft shell crab off the menu and that was horrible. The restaurant has a greasy smell when you walk in, not a good first impression. The entrance looks so tacky with all the signs taped to the glass. Save your money. p.s. check your plates that you pick up at the teppan station and the buffet lines as alot of them were dirty!!

    (1)

  • Kira C.

    So my family came here for my grandmother's birthday party this past weekend, and this experience changed my view and rating of this place. With my extensive experience here, I knew exactly how to hit the buffet line. I made sure that I skipped the big starches and chicken and headed straight for the seafood. I loaded up on clams, veggie and shrimp tempura, shrimp roll, spicy tuna bowls, and tons of ahi sashimi. I also got the steak and scallops with some assorted sushi on the side. I made sure that since we were paying full price, that we ordered off the menu and got some lobster, miso butterfish, and Oysters Rockefeller. Pretty much everything that I got I thought was good, except for the shrimp roll. I thought it tasted weird but everyone else liked it. The oysters weren't as amazing as I had imagined them to be and everyone agreed that the lobster was tough and chewy. I loaded up and ate about 2 plates of crab, which never disappoints, with some butter and rice on the side of course! My husband and I agreed that nothing really was that great, that everything seemed to have lost it's excitement as time had passed, and in the end majority of the food wasn't that good... especially for the menu full price. We had reservation for 19, but 2 didn't show. I called beforehand to try and figure out the financial side of this visit as we were using a 20% coupon and had a birthday and kids and everything. When we got the bill, it only had 15% off the meals and a whopping 20% for gratuity. I was irritated with the fact that now we would have to change how much everyone owed with these new numbers so I tried to speak with the floor manager but she informed me that even though it was my grandmother's birthday and she was well over 65, we couldn't use her free birthday meal AND 20% kama'aina coupon. We could only get 15% off. I explained to her that I called and explicitly asked that same question 2 days ago and I was told that it would be okay, and that we could choose how much to tip our server. I'm glad we could choose how much to give her, because let me tell you, she would have never gotten 20% from us. After taking our drink order, we had to track her down to get a refill on our drinks and had to track her down to order off the menu. She didn't serve us our food, and it wasn't her that was clearing off our tables.... So where in there did she earn her 20%? Even after being able to tip whatever we wanted, the total was still coming up more than what I thought it should be but after being there for 2.5 hours and everyone trying to leave and my son screaming because he was tired I just paid the bill and left. Once I got home and put my son to bed, I finally realized that I was overcharged. Our server charged us for the 2 people who did not show up and an extra drink. The next day, I tried to call before lunch and was not able to get in touch with anyone. After about 2.5 hours of on and off calling, I finally got the GM on the phone and explained I was overcharged. He understood and told me I had to go down to get a refund so they could run the card again. A hassle for sure, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get your money back. The return was relatively simple and quick. I think moving forward, I think I would return BUT ONLY for the early bird special. The extra $8-11 (depending on which day you go) is not worth it. The extra money to order off the menu isn't worth it in my opinion, especially since the oysters and lobster were chewy and tasteless. $19.50 early bird buffet price is where it's at. Load up on the crab, sashimi, and other seafood items and you got yourself and awesome deal.

    (3)

  • Paul C.

    I recall when Makino Chaya first opened and they flourished at the Aloha Tower location. I was still working for a major Japanese tour agency and this was such an easy sell to our guests. We were invited for a FAM tour and had VIP treatment. The food was incredible - - great selection, good quality and service was above-par. I'd even recommend this place for family dinners, business functions and lunch with my peers. Many great meals at this Makino Chaya but those are now great memories of the past. I don't like to travel far but for food, I'll make it an exception. My sister kept on "baiting" me to come here for dinner and declined several times before I finally accepted. What a mistake that was, I should have waited longer. To be fair, I came here to this location twice before writing this review. And the consensus: rating between 1.5 to 2 stars. Food Selection (5/5) Definitely a large selection to choose from. They have a teppanyaki grill where the chef cooks in front of you steak, scallops and veggies. There is also a noodle station where the chef makes ramen and udon noodles. Next to it there was a sashimi and sushi station all pre-made. The most impressive is their buffet line - - several starches, veggies, chicken, fish, seafood, shrimp tempura, crab legs, poke and salad. Once you've had enough you can head over to the dessert station for "ice milk", miniature cakes and made-to-order crepes. Quality (2/5) Don't expect fine dining. Expect dorm cafeteria quality. The beef was not tender. Low grade cuts. Sushi and poke bowls were edible but not my cup of tea. The ramen was undercooked, it was still starchy and could taste raw flour. I walked it back to the cook who made my bowl and advised him he needs to cook the noodles longer. He just stared at me. Not sure if he understood what I said. The shrimp tempura has a heavy batter coating. Waste of stomach space for AYCE. They also had butterfish but it was the tips and ends - - mostly bones. The snow crab legs were decent but some were waaaaaaay too salty. Service (2/5) This is a very spacious restaurant and it was hard to flag down a waitstaff. To get more water, refills on drinks, napkins......or even to have our dirty plates cleared. The second time we went there the hostess took our name and advised a 15-min wait. 30 mins passed and we noticed people who arrived after us were being seated before us. When a large party was escorted to a table and we still hadn't been called, I walked up and asked about how much longer it would take. She looked at her list and had a lost look. Come to find out, the hostess forgot to write our name down!!!!!!!! AUWE!!! I then walked to the tall Caucasian manager (he's the same one who used to work at the Aloha Tower location) to voice my dissatisfaction of what happened and I sure didn't expect him to YELL at his employee in front of us. Very unprofessional. I feel like this is the diner's last meal as you see people RUSHING to get food, especially when there is a new batch of crab. Both times we were seated near the hot station, just next to the crab legs and it was so embarrassing to see people RUN when new crab was brought out. There is also an early-bird special if you are seated before 630pm on Fridays. The second time we dined there the waiter charged us FULL PRICE in error. When confronted him of this error, it took FOREVER to have the bill adjusted. It was more than 15 mins and I started to get a little irritated but kept my mouth shut as I was invited as a guest. Had I been paying? It would have been a different story. As a townie, not worth the drive here from town area. You can get much better food and service with many places to choose from.

    (2)

  • Nelson Q.

    I should've read the reviews but instead, based it on our families' visit a VERY long time ago at their other location which was good, but that was years ago. Just about everything was mediocre to bad. The only good things were the Miso Butterfish and Ikura Nigiri, which were on their AYCE menu which was $10 more on top of the buffet price of $18. The hot items were a mess and poorly maintained. Sushi station and desserts were a joke and employees were working in ordinary street clothes!?!? Cooks don't seem to know what they are serving either. How are you gonna serve AJI nigiri, cover it with eel sauce and call it UNAGI!?!? Lobster was the cheap frozen type, and our experience here was not worth what we paid for (about $28 per person ) Low quality food, very messy atmosphere, and lack of professionalism in the kitchen makes this place one of the worse places, if not THE WORST place to dine in Oahu. AVOID!!! Shaka Meter: None!!! Not worth it....

    (1)

  • Bobby A.

    For the price, you get a great deal. We got here 30 minutes early for our reservation and we got sat in 5 minutes. Large selection of items sashimi, sushi, noodles, miso butterfish, steamed fish, clams and what I came for...CRAB LEGS! Then they have a dessert bar where you can get crepes made to order with your choice of filling. Print out your coupon online and get 20%off. Come in on your birthday and you eat free. How awesome is that. Thanks to our super cool waiter. I'm coming back for more crab legs

    (5)

  • Shannon G.

    Better off going elsewhere to eat. Quality of food here has dropped drastically. Someone needs to revamp their menu!!!!! Don't recommend this place at all.

    (1)

  • Kalatiola Mo Viliami P.

    This rating is strictly for service because I'm a stickler for service. Our server tonight was Branden and for the many times I come here, tonight stood out tremendously. Within a minute we were seated, Branden had already came and took our drink orders. When we came back with our food, he was there to take food orders from the menu. Needless to say, my drink never was empty because Branden was there with another to replace or refill. He constantly came to check on us even though he had many other tables he was taking care of. Thanks Branden for treating us like VIP's!

    (5)

  • Ray A.

    I love buffets but here the food just had a odd generic taste to it. The only thing I actually got extra helpings of was the tempura as it tasted decent to me. I found myself dissapointed also with the lack of variety of food items though at first glance you would think it has a extensive selection. The worst for me was the ice cream at the dessert station. I took a bite of it and I was done. TOO SWEET! The grimace on my face from that first and only bite. Definitely not friendly for those who are diabetic.

    (2)

  • Lance W.

    Buffet, what do you expect. Mostly went there to fill my belly. As always the food was kind of bland and lack of flavor. Miso butter fish was good, so was the teriyaki chicken. Drowning the crab in what I think was the melted butter, seems watery. At least they stopped putting what ever that mayonnaise sauce on the lobster. But it still lacked flavor. Mark our waiter, did an excellent job in keeping the ikura and unagi comming. Like I said, it wasn't the best of dining, but I did eat my fill.

    (3)

  • Traci R.

    Makino Chaya. You hear this restaurant name being thrown around and everyone seems to say how horrible it is. Yet after all these years, it's still in business. Something must be going right for them? A lunch buffet for $13.95? (If you're a senior citizen with a newspaper coupon, it's $9.95.) I'm pretty sure some plate lunches cost that much! My aunty and uncle wanted to dine here for lunch on a Friday (observed holiday for July 4th). I mentally prepared myself for some awful food. It's been at least 5 years since the last time I came here (and at that time, I told myself I'd never come back). We arrived just before 11:00am when they opened and people were already waiting for seats. Parking wasn't a hassle at the time, but I know how crowded it can get. FOOD: My expectations weren't high. You shouldn't expect very much when you're only paying $13.95 for an AYCE. Shrimp and vegetable tempura, beef gyoza, chicken teriyaki, miso butterfish (with bones), salmon (with bones), teppan steak, and a variety of sushi/nigiri were the "highlights" of the buffet. The quality wasn't quite there though. But, it didn't taste like complete garbage at least! The shrimp tempura didn't seem fresh and looked as if it were cooked in old oil. Majority of the butterfish pieces looked very dry and overcooked. However, if you did find a good piece, it didn't taste all that bad! The steak (apparently it was ribeye but I don't know my cuts very well) was pretty good and cooked to order (this would be where you get your monies worth). I only had the kamikani (imitation crab) nigiri which was pretty good. You can't really screw up imitation crab and sushi rice. There's also a ramen station, which I didn't try. My Aunty ordered 2 bowls of ramen and immediately regretted it after the first bite. There's a crepe station but it didn't look that great when the person in front of me ordered it. The cakes looked generic and dry. They did have fresh pineapple, which I ate an entire bowl full! The frozen yogurt (chocolate and cheesecake) was very runny and melted. You can only get one serving of frozen yogurt per person per trip. The cakes are limited to 4 pieces per person per trip also. Even at $13.95, I don't think I ate my monies worth. I wish I liked steak in general, but I don't so I only ate a few pieces from someone else's plate. So for the protein-lovers and meat-eaters, go get the steak early! People line up waiting for it! SERVICE/ATMOSPHERE: You walk in and your nose is immediately tickled. I'm not sure what it really smells like but there's this odor to the restaurant that made my nose twitch a little haha. After that, you check in with the host/ess. Damn, the hostess is grouchy. Lighten up a bit will you? I guess my smiles and attempted small talk didn't help. Eh, whatever. Our server was incredibly friendly though. She talked to us about plans for the weekend and came by several times to clear our dishes, refill drinks, and to chat. Overall, if you're just looking for somewhere cheap to get full with a variety of food but you don't care so much about quality, you should come here. Now if you want some quality food with the applicable price tag, then go somewhere else like Hakone or Tsukiji or Hawaii Prince Court. Personally, I probably won't be back unless it's an obligatory event held here.

    (2)

  • Aubry A.

    I haven't been here in a while, but it was good! The buffet was huge, assorted with all types of food from seafood to asian dishes. I kept going back for the crab which was so addicting! They also have other sides of this restaurant with sushi, teppanyaki, and desserts. They have a variety of sushi to choose from. I was a bit disappointed because they were out of ikura, which was one of the highlights on the menu. The teppanyaki line gets really long, so be prepared to wait quite a while! For the desserts, you have a choice whether if you want a crepe, frozen yogurt, or chocolate dipped fruits. Not sure why this place has two and a half stars, but it was a good experience! I'd definitely come back.

    (5)

  • Chesten V.

    Not a very good experience. I've eaten here before and kind of knew what to expect as far as the food choices go, however, the service this time around wasn't too great. After being seated it took over twenty minutes for someone to come by to take our drink order. By the time I got my drink I was already half way through finishing my food. Not too sure but from the looks of it they were understaffed. The same person that checked me in at the front ended up being the one to bring my drink as well. Also, I didn't receive any of the food that I ordered off the menu. Other then that you can expect a variety of ok food that doesn't give you a reason to be ecstatic. On the plus side they do offer military discount

    (3)

  • Sunny L.

    Dear Owner, Susan, our waiter was absolutely amazing. In my opinion she should be promoted to "Training Manager" and teach all the other and new waiters how to behave. Her service alone made the experience great. Anways, onto the actual review. On Father's Day, I expected the food to be fair, considering it is a Holiday and that it is a seafood buffet in Hawaii and how seafood is expensive... Yes it was pricey, but between kids pricing and Military, it isn't too bad. They had Lobster tail, fresh Oysters and both King and Snow crabs, and Steak and scallops... And yes All was great. I liked the other foods too! Sushi was mediocre, except for the rice part. It was hard because it was kept cold. The kids loved the desert bar! Tips? It is always a good idea to bring 1 dollar bills to buffets as they will have someone cutting, cooking or in this case breaking open oysters and would be great if you tipped them. All in all, it isn't a place I wouls go often, but I'd go here again. Thanks, v/r, Sunny the Yelper

    (3)

  • Kimberly O.

    Despite the terrible reviews we decided to give this place the benefit of the doubt. I'm not sure if the older asian woman was a manager or owner or whatever but as soon as we said "2 people" she said they were closing soon (We had an hour actually). It was just rude that she was kicking us out before we had even taken our seats. You don't say that to customers. Aside from that, the food was unimpressive, cold, and the layout was awkward to walk through from any angle. I wouldn't be sad if I never go back.

    (1)

  • Jason Y.

    Flies and Bugs everywhere! On the dishes and even sushi bar! I got food poison after lunch there. Spend the whole afternoon and evening at doctors office. Horrible! I seriously doubt the local health department is corrupted as they allowing this restaurant keep running. Advice: Stay away from this place, people!!

    (1)

  • Joseph Joel B.

    I remember back in the day when Makino Chaya first opened up in Oahu, and they had restaurants in Mililani, Aiea, and Honolulu. All 3 locations were always busy, and food was really good... But those glory days are long gone!! Fast forward to the present... Makino Chaya in Aiea is the only one that's open now. For some reason or another my parents still like going there. Maybe because it's still pretty cheap for seafood buffet, and they don't have to drive too far. But for whatever the reason is, I'm here more often than I want to be. I can easily point out all the negative things about this place, but I'll hit on the positives: 1. The Grilled Steak Station: One of the better things they got going for them. Fresh grilled steak with or without bean sprouts. 2. Snow Crab Legs: This is where you get your money's worth!! I usually wait until they bring out a new hot batch of legs. 3. The Crepes Station: Freshly made dessert crepes with your choice of multiple fillings, including Nutella, fruits, ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and powdered sugar. 4. The Chocolate Fountain: Dip fresh fruits in a fountain of molten milk chocolate. The other food is pretty much hit or miss depending on what day you go. You can easily eat your money's worth here, especially if you love crab legs... But overall, the quality of the food has gone down over the years. If you want a cheap buffet, this is the place to go, but you get what you pay for.

    (2)

  • Jenny G.

    Came here for a party and had my expectations set low (to avoid disappointment haha...) and I was very surprised to see how good it was! Don't get me wrong. It's not amazing so don't expect 5 star food and service but it's perfectly average. Food is acceptable and the service provided was on point. My favorite parts of the meal was the teppanyaki and crepe stations. The teppanyaki guy works so hard for so long without a break. I wish I had cash to tip him. I was worried about my steak being overdone but it was almost perfect! Juicy and well seasoned. The crepe station was manned (or wo-manned hahaha) by a very nice girl who smiled at everyone and made me feel welcome, not as if I was inconveniencing her. Sucks that ice cream isn't served anymore and they have mediocre frozen yogurt (4 choices). Overall, I left pretty content. It's not amazing, but it's not bad. However... I would not return if I were the one paying $30 a seat.

    (4)

  • Yamato T.

    Hey not cool. Was trying to make a reservation but the girl kept me on hold... I would've uploaded the '10:00' minute pic but got upset and hit the end button instead of screen shot.

    (1)

  • Jessica M.

    My boyfriend and I love this place! If you like crab and sushi its a great buffet. $20 for the early bird. They have tons of sides like yakisoba...fried rice....roasted potatoes. They have a saimin station...a grill for steaks. I love the tempura shrimp!! The crepes for dessert are so yummy! Service is friendly.

    (5)

  • Trish N.

    Hadn't eaten here in at least 3 or 4 years--b/c we've been doing more high-end buffets recently--but Mom really wanted to go here on 12/21/14, and I must say...I was VERY impressed by the quality of food & service! Might've been that they're particularly on-their-game b/c of the holidays & they're totally booming...but all of our water glasses were refilled regularly, empty plates cleared promptly, & all of the staff was super professional & attentive. Our main waiter (young Asian kid with glasses, didn't catch his name) was awesome, and this was one of those rare occasions when we gave a full 20% tip at a buffet. When we first got there at 5:30 pm, the restaurant wasn't even half-full, and special-order items were brought out VERY quickly...but later on, when the restaurant filled-up, it took forever. For our last order, the waiter came by 3 times to apologize & tell us it was still coming, before we finally cancelled...so I'd say go early if you want any of the special-order stuff. Even so, we appreciated that our waiter was on top of things, & we were actually pretty full by then, so it wasn't a big deal. More than anything, I loved that the buffet trays (ie crab legs) were constantly refilled; almost everything I tried (ie crab legs) was totally delicious; and the lines never got long--even when the restaurant was packed! ;D Admittedly, I only ate like 5 things (aside from crab legs) the entire time I was there. 0=) And really, for the most part, I just ate massive amounts of: -- SNOW CRAB (yay!); all large legs, perfectly-cooked--NOT overcooked, salty, or dried out like some much-pricier buffets!--& the melted butter was perfect, not separated or watered down like aforementioned-pricier-places. For New Year's, we actually went to a seafood buffet that was more than double the price, and I found myself longing for the crab from Makino Chaya, go figure! -- MISO BUTTERFISH; perfectly seasoned, cooked just right, with lightly charred skin...totally competes with most of our Japanese restaurants here; I don't understand how Makino Chaya can afford this! -- TEPPANYAKI STEAK & BEANSPROUTS; I'd say this was "steak plate" quality--meaning it was actually decent--& the medium-rare preparation & seasoning were spot-on! Early-on, I also tried these dishes, but didn't get seconds (or third or fourths!) like the items above, b/c it wasn't worth the tummy-space: -- Chinese steamed fish; pretty sure this was basa, but I actually like the taste & texture of basa, so it was good for me, though a tad spicy...it just couldn't compete with the top 3 items above -- Teppanyaki scallops; not large enough to get a good sear, more like stir-fried...& scallops themselves were plump but didn't have much flavor; not bad but not great -- Lobster halves; random mayo & cheese sauce baked on top...would skip that unless you simply must have lobster; and if you do get it, I'd remove the topping & dip the 2 bites of tail meat in the melted butter from the crab -- Stuffed crab shells; eh, not horrible; at least it was mostly seafood rather than all breading, which is a plus -- Clams; super disappointing; their Chinese-style sauce was very bland, & clams themselves were tiny & didn't have any flavor at all After gorging on my "top 3" items for about 2 hours, I had just enough room to finish up with some dessert. Others in my party tried the cakes (meh, it's just cake) or choco-covered fruit (looked good but I wasn't in the mood)...while I went straight for the chocolate froyo & a choco-banana-whipped cream crepe (which was expertly prepared!). That totally hit the spot!! When all was said & done, I was shocked at what a great time / meal we had at Makino Chaya, and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again. I'm not sure why this places gets such low reviews--unless, like I said, it's due to inconsistency--but so far I'm a fan...hope the next time is just as good!

    (4)

  • Ellarie W.

    OVERVIEW: Do not ever go here! Save your $20+ and get some good food from Cheesecake Factory or Tsukiji or elsewhere. The food quality SUCKS really badly. The only reason why I chose to have a grad party here was to accommodate a family member for lunch hour since they open till 2pm. Even though I read the reviews prior to coming here, I still gave them a chance and thought, "ehh food is food and i'm sure it can't be that bad." But oh noooo, the food WAS BAD. I just have to emphasize to NOT EAT HERE because I care for you guys that much. This place really deserves to shut down because they're sucking in people's hard earned money and serving us crappy food and bad service. FOOD QUALITY: The main entrees tasted bland, salty, and generic. Seafood was too fishy. It seemed as if the food heater wasn't working at all because the fish was cold. Deserts were equally generic, bland, and overly sweet. The blueberry cheesecake was just a bland sponge-like layer on the bottom (cake), with a thin layer of cream cheese mixed with something to make it blander, and a blueberry spread that seemed very preservative and not healthy. I was looking forward to the crepe station most of all because I use to recall it being good (but that was many many many years ago. The batter was bland (what's new right?) and the banana was ok, the strawberry was preserves. The chocolate syrup was very little so I can't even judge the taste based on what I had. CLEANLINESS: From the outside entrance to our seats, the place was smelly...like dumpster smelly (gross). I was embarrassed to have my guests eat here and none didn't mention how the food tasted because they were too polite to say it was horrible. On more of the disgusting note, there were flies flying around, the area was dirty, and more importantly, the PLATES WERE DIRTY. I had to at least dig down 4-5 plates until I found a semi-clean plate. There was a worker in front of me watching me move plates around to find the cleanest (spot-free) plate, and she gave me some sassy looks. SERVICE: The workers weren't welcoming. Our waitress was polite, but was sweating profusely because of her duties to help the rest of the restaurant. She was always rushing through our orders. She came twice to clean up our plates and once to refill our cups. There's no desert bar that you can help yourself to. You have to wait in a long line that services ALL DESERTS. And mind you that there are 1-2 helpers in that area that takes forever. Servers have to multi-task by making frozen yogurt, crepes, and plating the cake slices. These two girls were pretty horrible at service too. They weren't greeting. Once you arrive to the counter, they look at you like they're already waiting for you to order. Questions should be held back because they will definitely give you some sass. Sass must be an employee hire requirement here. Lol. So service was very poor considering our not-so-present waitress and ESPECIALLY the rest of the staff.

    (1)

  • Tim C.

    I came back.... Huge mistake. Did not get seated for 45 minutes. Server said he "simply forgot". I left and went next door for a steak an beer.. It was cheaper.

    (1)

  • Chuncha T.

    Excellent food, and service is great. My favorite place to go with friends and family

    (5)

  • Tabatha P.

    This is, by far, my favorite buffet on Oahu. I tried to forget about it for awhile because I had sad memories linked to it. But once I got closure on that, I started coming here again and even brought my friend here for his birthday, and he was stoked. What I love about buffets typically is the variety of foods. This place has a lot of options. People have tried telling me, "that place is so expensive, I can't believe you eat there a lot." Actually, it has a very decent price for all the seafood and sushi and crepes and all that they offer! Try going to a place like that with authentic Japanese food in Las Vegas, you would probably get charged near $60 for dinner. They charge less than half of that! The place is big enough for large parties, we once had a party of about 50 people roll up in there and they were very catering. I have never been sick after eating here, I leave energized and full. I have tried going a couple times between lunch and dinner and was disappointed to find them closed, luckily there are many other food options in the area. It's nice that they have a grill to freshly cook beef and lobster, and I love the little stuffed crabs they serve, sooo good! I really like getting my crepe after, which is usually hard to stuff down but I manage. I always leave feeling like my belly is going to pop. XOXO Makino Chaya!

    (5)

  • Emmanuel M.

    13FEB2015 Pro: our waitress. Bri-anne. She was wonderful. She made sure our plates were cleaned, water filled, and kept a continous supply of lobsters headed my way. Cons: makino is a shell of what it used to be. Gross floors. Filthy kitchen. No paper towels in the bathroom. Food was old tasting. Salty crabs. I wouldn't eat here again unless it was free. Even so, maybe not. Unrelated or not, our trip home to ewa was horrible. I don't know if it was the countless lobsters and crab or the medium rare beef. But I felt as if the devil himself was trying to crawl from under my ass. It felt as if lava from the big island was leaking. Pele herself was slipping through my guts. Every speed bump was bad. I turned the music down. I shhhd my wife and kids. Sweat began to drip down my brow. I was in panic mode. I screamed at my wife to find a plastic bag. I unzipped my pants while driving on the freeway. Public safety out the door. Bag under me, left hand on the wheel. Richard Simmons would be jealous of how tight my ass was. Clenched like a disturbed clam. Ewa exit. I'm lifting one ass cheek now. hands are cold. I'm shaking now. Should I just shit? What if my wife tells everyone? She will. Fuck.. I'll just close the windows. Suffocating her. Too bad. Ewa zippys. Yes! Almost home. Shit. Satan is back. He's prying my cheeks apart. Oh no!! Jesus take the wheel!#! I can see my drive way now. But I'm about to crap. I've got leather seats. I can shoot it down. Thankfully makino was looking out for me. I made it home. Destroyed my toilet. Now I need a plumber

    (3)

  • Gina M.

    Food is tasty but doesn't replenish fast enough for its customers. Atmosphere is noisy and dark. Would be better if it looked cleaner. It does beat driving into town if time is short.

    (3)

  • Jade A.

    The only reason im giving a star is because i liked that seafood crab thing. Other than that, its a no. The service there was rude for the most part. We asked what type of drinks there were and the waitress looked rather irritated. Then I went to get a crepe. I was about to grab a plate they put in front of them & the lady making the crepes told me in an unpleasent tone that she already had plates in front of her. As if i can see whats going on there. Anyways, I asked for whipped cream but they ddnt have any so i asked for the frozen yogurt instead. The lady told me that they had only 3 flavors. Great. I saw the flavors available on a paper they had put out in front of the desert stand & i wasnt sure of one flavor, so i asked the lady "what does ____ taste like" and she tells me "Its there on the paper", making me feel stupid. So what am i supposed to do? lick the paper and find out ? Like seriously makino chaya, tell your night shift crepe makers to learn some common courtesy & customer service skills. The crepe wasnt even good. You need new chefs with better attitudes. I hope you find better and NICER employees. Stop hiring just "anybody". They wont get u business.

    (1)

  • Joan A.

    This was only my second time here and my first time was years ago! They are located on the second level of the Westridge mall across of Bed, Bath and Beyond. I went here a couple of days ago for a party. The food was okay but I wouldn't pay to eat here. Lol I had salmon nigiri but that's all from the sushi station. I gave up meat so the teppanyaki station was a no no! They had slabs of whole fish on the counter of the ramen station that I thought should've been on ice...kind of unsanitary and not safe temperature wise. I did enjoy their dynamite crab and miso butterfish though...those were the only two I really enjoyed. Our waitress was awesome though! She always made sure our drinks were filled and made sure we were okay!

    (2)

  • Amanda G.

    First time to this place, and I will NEVER go back. I'm sorry to say it but this just was not a good experience. 1. Food Quality - food was sub par and the buffet was not stocked, there were several dishes that were empty and continued to be empty throughout my visit there 2. Cleanliness - dirty plates left on tables for over a 1/2 hour + bathroom reeked 3. Staff was unfriendly/inattentive - when asked to break up our check (as we had a party of over 20 ppl) we were met with attitude and were told we needed to make sure we paid the whole bill!! RUDE

    (1)

  • Pamela L.

    So I remember this was called Buffet 100 and I had my birthday and graduation here. Looks like they are under new management and it has now gone down. The early bird happy hour price was not bad because it was under $20. However the appearance of the restaurant looked cheap, the line to cook your BBQ was long and slow, and their variety of desserts sucked. The only thing I enjoyed was their tempuras and fried rice. I don't think I would go there again unless they clean up the place and clean up their servers because ours wasn't very friendly except for the girl who took our plates and gave us water.

    (2)

  • Sunshine J.

    Food is junk here. Most of it was empty... They can't keep up to restock the food. never coming back here again. Utensils not stocked. Unhappy. Worse buffet ever

    (1)

  • CC R.

    Good service for drinks, clearing plates. Asked for table change directly next to buffet line to window area; as my Aunty+Uncle are seniors. Totally denied! Told that area was reserved- observed entire time we dined, remained empty Food definitely NOT as good from last year- Less variety, Lower quality. Overly thin teppanyaki steak now marginal. Sushi lackluster. AYCE buffet means just that- except @dessert bar! Mediocre, bland petit four sized "sponge" cakes w/different frostings (red velvet, chocolate mouse, coconut...) "guarded", placed limit p/person and crepe maker balked and rolled her eyes at me when I wanted frozen yogurt after my crepe!! FroYo was also chintzy portion Recalling our overall dining experience writing this, 3 star lends generosity. At least early bird (530-630) $19.95 pricing was reasonable. We arrived at 530. They made us wait in line for 10-15 minutes... Upon sitting at our table, barely one third *1/3* of restaurant was filled. At one time, amazing food for bargain pricing. Now just okay food, okay price, haphazard service by some.

    (3)

  • Brandi F.

    This is only the second review I've EVER written (just cuz I'm normally too busy stuffing my face and passing out from a full stomach afterwards). This place is the exception though... Simply put -- DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE! I'm normally quite complacent and, as the saying goes, "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it at all", but in this case I must. This place is absolutely NOTHING like the other Makino Chayas that were in town. The quality of the food is far from good with gritty sandy clams, soggy ramen noodles, and little-to-no seasoning on dishes (amongst other things). The food servers don't wear proper food service clothing (no hairnets or paper chef caps), in fact the dessert station server was wearing what looked like a Diamond Supply Co hat with high top shoes. The dessert station is set-up on the side almost as an after-thought with one person manning the soft-serve, crepe station, and the smaller individual cake portions which creates a large line to wait (I actually feel really sorry for that man). The waitresses are nice, you can tell the people working are trying to do their jobs, but I think the problem comes down to refining processes and regulations to look more professional. Little things like giving the dessert area a proper set-up, having the teppanyaki guy ask what temperature is desired from the steak per customer, wearing proper attire -- it all adds up to make a restaurant look clean and inviting. I wonder if this place will stay afloat, but we'll see.

    (1)

  • Marni T.

    First and last time coming here. The people here are not friendly plus the food is awful. I could make better food than this, and it would be cheaper. I came here and it seemed fine, once I started getting food I regretted everything. Nothing was good, the sushi was so gross I threw it away instead of eating it. The waitress refilled our drink once and I never saw her again. They really need to step it up, especially the food or this place WILL be shut down soon.

    (2)

  • Sunny D.

    Just had lunch here since my mom wanted to use the "senior" lunch coupon. Senior is 55 or over and was $9.95 with the coupon whereas the regular price is $13.95 and if you want a drink other than water it's $3.25 for what looks like a 28 oz. cup. We got there just after 11:00, there were lots of tables and most of the customers were seniors. There is an area near the entrance where you can get made to order noodles or teppanyaki but we did not partake in either. Near the windows is a sushi bar with a decent selection of pop in your mouth sized sushi such as spicy ahi, California, Tamago, shrimp, etc. The dessert bar is next to that, you can get flavored yogurt, mini slivers of Mango, Haupia, chocolate and Guava cakes, and also made to order crepes. We tried all four, meh...they were okay but nothing out of the ordinary. Across the room is the long buffet with a decent sized selection. There are several types of fish such as salmon bone, butterfish but they looked sort of dry. I find that fish at a buffet needs to be in some sort of sauce otherwise they do tend to dry out. Veg salad, noodle, fried rice, even fried sushi which imo had no real flavor, but mom liked it. Shrimp and veggie tempura, teriyaki chicken and a bunch of other stuff. Honestly, the lunch buffet is mediocre to okay. The only thing I went back for was the fried noodles which I thought was pretty tasty. The batter on the shrimp was bland and unfortunately the dipping sauce was bland as well which didn't help at all. Okay, the spicy ahi was pretty good, but overall I was unimpressed with lunch. There service was fine. The place really does need an overhaul as it looks sort of dingy and dark. Both mom and I thought it was mediocre.

    (2)

  • Sethsmom 1.

    Must be new management or owner. WORST experience ever! I have been here on numerous occasions and I can't believe the people working here! RUDE! Our waitress, Nastasha (the only way we knew her name was on the receipt). First of all, She acted like she didn't want to work, from the moment we walked in. We were told by another waitress as we waited that a 11 year old was good to go as far as being charged for a kid instead of adult because of their ridiculous height chart! How can they get away with discriminating a child's height?! After getting the check we asked Natasha about the charges for the 11 year old and she made a scene and actually said she with an attitude "We have to measure you". Upon paying we addressed the height issue again and the Manager came out and told us it was policy. But we were told on the way in she was good to go! He than said "I deal with a lot of HAWAIIAN & SAMOAN kids" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? HOW CAN A RESTURANT DISCRIMINATE AND STEREO TYPE PEOPLE!!!! NEEDLESS TO SAY, It wasn't the money it was the principle! WISH THERE WAS A NO STAR! ONE STAR WAS BEING GENEROUS!

    (1)

  • Harvey A.

    Food was Ono for the price. We had our daughter's 15th birthday here and our waiter took great care of us.

    (4)

  • Janice S.

    Food is ok. Nothing special. Parking lot is always full.

    (2)

  • Barry R.

    First of all, I've been a chef in many high class restaurants here in Oahu and i am currently a chef at Benihanas now. When i seen the 2.5 Star rating here on yelp, i did not wan't to go to makino chaya. I had no choice though. My family had come down from Washington and Vegas so I was to eat out with them. When i got to Makino Chaya at around 5:45, we were sat immediately. It was only the 4 of us and we had a party of 8. Server brought out 8 glasses of water even if they're were only the 4 of us at the time and to me, thats great service. The main attraction seemed to be the SNOW CRAB. Once the crab ran out, the kitchen reloaded/restocked the crab instantly. I was amazed! Food selection was massive! food and taste is excellent for the price you pay ($20) for an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT restaurant here on OAHU. Sushi was dry but i was expecting that because I KNOW that SUSHI SHOULD BE EATEN ASAP. If sushi is in an all you can eat place, the sushi will dry a little because it was sitting out for a bit. Same with all the other food. The longer food stays out, the more the food will dry up and the quality will go down. My advice is to go to Makino Chaya During dinner just right when they open up. You won't be disappointed. Everything will be FULLY stocked, food will be at a perfect temperature and the service will be better (only one server was serving the whole restaurant)... Steak quality was not the best but was cooked right in front of your eyes on a iron teppanyaki grill. I cannot complain about the steak because I KNOW the price is still right. My advice to Makino Chaya is to Have 1-2 more servers walking around because drinks DO run out fast. Props to that one lady server with the tattoos though for working hard and trying to service every one on her own.Staff was freindly, Ice cream and desert was awsome!! Food was awsome, everything was awsome for the (PRICE)...I belive that Makino Chaya deserves more then 2.5 stars on yelp so ima put a (5 star review to help bump up they're ratings) I would say that the over rating to me would be AT LEAST 3.5 stars for now. I recomend every one to come here ONLY at "HAPPY HOUR" (5:30-6:30pm) Anyways, Im sleepy from allllllll that food. I hope this review helped you guys out alot. God bless :)

    (5)

  • Kris F.

    "Hello, please hold" For 8 minutes I was put on hold, I can hear all the background conversations, kids crying. Decided to call with a different phone "Hello Makino Chaya!"I proceed to tell her that I am still on hold on the other line for 8 minutes. Her tone changes and she states "What did you need". I do not get an apology and a what do you need instead? This was at 12:30pm

    (1)

  • Silvia M.

    Food was meh. I wasn't impressed with the lobster, it was crazy salty as well as the oysters. When I was at the sushi station, the sushi roll had a long black hair. I decided to skip it. Then I went to the crab and grab a bunch of legs but they didn't have utensils to break the crab legs and I almost injure myself trying to eat my food cause I couldn't break the legs easy. It sucks getting frustrated with your own food. The only think that saved the night was the teppanyaki, they make it right in front of you and you also can get scallops. The crepes were good too!! But avoid the sushi!!

    (3)

  • Cheryl E.

    This is a restaurant that used to be fair on their better days. We had dinner there a few weeks ago, and I must agree with other reviewers that this place has dramatically gone downhill. ALL the buffet items were tasteles and blah. The crab legs were boiled to death and extremely salty. The young gal who was doing the dessert counter was extremely surly and uncooperative and had no idea how to cook, so it's a mystery as to why she was making the crepes. She plopped a heaping cup of batter on the grill and then immediately flipped it over and then immediately took it off. I mentioned that the crepe was raw dough and undercooked. She gave me a very dirty look and asked what flavor ice cream I wanted on it. !!!??!!! The restaurant was not clean and I had to search for a clean plate in the rack. They were all tacky and dirty. In addition, their was a large party next to us, and that's fine, except that the children in that group were running full speed, pounding the windows, knocking into our chairs and screaming at the top of their lungs. None of the waiters or management said or did anything. We had a very unpleasant time and I will not go back here again. There are too many other good places to eat on this island.

    (1)

  • Veronica L.

    Now, I can't say for sure whether or not I feel Makino's has received fair reviews. I could be blinded by their unlimited WARM crab legs - the way to my heart is through my stomach with crab. I have been frequenting Makino Chaya for probably a decade now. It has been a staple for me here in Hawaii. Why you ask? This is the only place I have found on the island with all-you-can-eat warm snow crab legs at lunch AND dinner for a decent price. They almost never disappoint. To be perfectly honest, I rarely eat the other buffet items because when I am going to eat crab, I am going to eat crab. The service, okay, is a little lacking sometimes. More times than not, however, the servers are pretty good. The hostesses are sometimes not the friendliest but I only have to deal with them a minute amount of time in the grand scheme of things. My mom's complaint has always been the lack of cleanliness of the bathrooms - but on my most recent visit (on my birthday) I noticed that they renovated and cleaned the bathroom. Yay! So now I don't have to listen to my mom complain about that. Haha. I will continue to come back frequently...there is no doubt. They have the best crab on the island for all-you-can-eat and a pretty great price. Note: they no longer offer free birthday meals on your birthday - it's half price. But if you're over the age of 65, it is free. Also, they now offer 5% discount to retired military and 10% to active duty. They used to only offer discounts to active duty. Enjoy and crab on!

    (4)

  • Shane S.

    This is a generous rating...seriously...much better buffet choices out there...this location used to be Eastern Garden and that place was worth going...sad it is gone...not worth going here...

    (2)

  • Chanel V.

    Making Chaya used to have an awesome selection of food in their buffer lines. And over the years they slightly were becoming a place where I didn't want to eat anymore. But I still had little visits now and then for parties and to eat lunch. But now it seems Jay they are bringing back more good things to eat and a great selection of food once again. Their sushi/poke bar has gotten better where they serve poke now and poke bowls. The main entree line has more interesting foods from rice to noodles to fish chicken shrimp and can't forget the CRAB LEGS! Which taste so good! They also have the different soups towards the end of the line. But what I enjoy most is standing in the steak teppanyaki line. The steak is serve and cooked right before your eyes and the cook will ask you how you want it and if you want veggies or some days are different they'll serve the steak with scallops or fish. Depending on what you want. Also they have a noodle bar where you order what kind of noodles you want and you pick your ingredient on what you want inside. Last but not least they have the dessert area. You can choose 4 different types of cakes and they have a crepe line as well. You pick what you want in your crepe and they'll make it for you. And they also have some items in their menu for dinner that you can order. Like they have oyster and lobster too. Overall they have improved over the pass and would recommend people to try it out.

    (4)

  • Peter L.

    Filthy. Can't stress enough how badly this place needs a deep clean. The carpets smell like a locker room. The bathroom was unusable. Disgusting. Really.... The food, well... It got two stars because it was edible and abundant. It's clear people visit for the volume of food. None of it was great. The staff was disinterested and uninspired. It's a buffet. Not sure what I was expecting...

    (2)

  • Kat A.

    I don't know if it's just me.....but this place has really turned to crap....u pretty much pay to eat crap...not worth the money....service was bleh....environment was bleh.....kids running around and crawling on the dirty carpet not wearing shoes.......bathroooms were dirty...buffet was lacking..lots of stuff empty....dessert station lacked a lot..... the plates weren't clean..silverware was dirty....dirty dishes left on tables for a long time....staff just wasnt on it......they hardly had any fruit for the chocolate fountain...basically go there to eat the steak n crab legs...other than that i wouldn't waste your time or money...i remember Makino Chaya being somewhat better than this years ago.......never again.....i don't see how this place is still in business...maybe we just went on the wrong night..

    (1)

  • Iris C.

    Came here on 08/08/14 with a party of 30 for a welcoming dinner for one of my aunts. Arrived just in time for their happy hour (Monday-Friday 5:30-6:30 50% off) We've been here many times in the past, however the lack of freshness in the stopped us from returning in the recent years. I'm glad that we somehow found our way back. The food was hot and fresh, lots of selection, the buffet line was never empty, and the made to order steak was superb! They have really changed up their game since we last came here. I was quite impressed! The cakes were now in glass cases and ordered through the person at the dessert station. Which is good because they limit 4 pieces of cake per person (I guess to minimize food waste) The only thing that I didn't like was how they made a switch from tub ice cream (meadow gold) to those soft serve yogurt type of ice cream for their crepes :( Our server cleared our tables and filled our drinks quiet often, good job guys! All in all, our visit to Makino Chaya went better than expected and will definitely come back for more.

    (4)

  • Donna Lyn B.

    So in my last review a year ago, I said I would wait another three or four years until I came back again. Guess as fate would have it, I went back just a year later for another party at Makino Chaya and this time it was at lunch. Amazingly, those ugly Word doc signs I griped about last time are gone and now the buffet looks neater with nicely frames signs for each of the food items. For the hot foods buffet, it offered steamed fish, beef gyoza, shrimp and veggie tempura, butterfish, that seafood dynamite in little crab shells, oily chow fun, crab legs, roasted potatoes, and I'm probably forgetting a couple more choices. There were a few other things at the cold foods bar, but I didn't get a closer look. I walked by the sushi bar across the way by the windows and nothing looked fresh, so I skipped taking anything from there. I was bummed there was no roasted ahi head (aka the Thelma's Special version with fish) like I had a year ago. I also tasted the steak from the teppenyaki station from my husband's plate. The only thing I really liked was the butterfish, but it was really bony. The flavor was great, but I had to sift out the bones and it was like just scraps of meat from each piece I had. The steak was really chewy. I didn't have much of an appetite for dessert after, but the crepes that the other party guests had looked okay. Honestly, I'm glad the place LOOKS better with the framed signs for the buffet, but the food still is lackluster to me and there's still nothing for me to rave about or crave for. It was just okay. So again, it's still a solid two stars.

    (2)

  • Azteca Q.

    I would minus stars if I could!!! This place is a mile past disgusting! There was a big nasty sig burn/ brown and yellow stain on our table cloth under the plastic that was bigger than the size of the plate. The crab legs were super tiny not even 3 inches long. And they only brought out a refill once in the hour I was there. None of the food was replenished before it was completely dried out and disgusting.

    (1)

  • Veronica L.

    Mehhh it was just okay. The service was great though! To be honest, the food just honestly did not seem worth the price. They have a big variety and different choices of food, but I would probably give the quality of the food about a 3 out of 5. The food tasted dry and hard, and what really upset me was the dessert. The crepe's were undercooked, and they use frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. The frozen yogurt is already a softer texture and melted a lot faster wrapped in the warm crepe. On too of that, I felt like I was eating a kitchen sponge when I bit into the cakes. The cake was dry and mostly tasteless. Also, the way that this buffet is placed is ridiculous! They have one section with majority of the food, then they have a teppanyaki steak section (steak was chewy/fatty) and the sushi is in the back by the desserts (weird?) and the ramen is in a weird bar looking thing and I didn't even notice it until I was in line for dessert! How disappointing... Overall, this buffet isn't too bad if you go for the Early Bird Special ($19) like the other reviews say to, but definitely not worth the $30 for the complete dinner buffet. If you compare to other buffets with similar price ranges like Tsukiji's or Todai, the food quality cannot compare to the price.

    (2)

  • Tiff S.

    Dirty plates and utensils!!! Some sushi were a brownish color (looked old). Slabs of raw ahi were just sitting on the counter tops of the sushi station (not on ice and only half way covered). The only good thing about this place was the crab...but you even had to wait for that, they couldn't keep up with their guest. All in all I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, not only did the food suck but the whole restaurant felt and looked dirty

    (1)

  • Faith F.

    Girl! 3 times I eat here with family and each time they have down graded their food. The last time I came here the fried rice ran out twice and they never ever brought more out!!!!!! REally!! In-fact, there were many dishes that ran out and they never replenished it and it was still early. The only thing that tasted good was the friend sushi, everything else was bland. Oh and check your drinks, most all of our cups had oil floating at the top of our soda. So Nasty I'd rather buffet at Chans by the airport.

    (2)

  • Tenari F.

    If there were negative stars thats what i would rate this place at service sucked food sucked all around junk experience

    (1)

  • Ninarae N.

    Yeeks. I came here with my family after a viewing and all I can say is: greasy. Everything tasted like it had been drenched in oil & not drained. We had a variety of food & nothing stood out as amazing. Possibly the walnut shrimp might've been the dish 'o the day, but even so, I've had better elsewhere. Service was okay for an average Asian restaurant. They weren't rude and were very diligent in refilling our drinks. Maybe because we were the only table in there? They seem like nice people, but chances are, I won't be returning.

    (2)

  • Jostin I.

    For the cost to bring our family here and quality of the food I'm never coming back. It ain't worth $31.98 a person sushi sucks they closed the yogurt machine without notice 30 min prior to closing service at the desert and ramen sucks cheese. Now I know why this place was so empty. Employees touching their nose and stuff.

    (1)

  • Mele P.

    Went here for lunch and was pretty happy and surprised that they had some good food out even though it wasn't dinner time. They have many options like steak, shrimp tempura, butterfish, all kinds of sushi, even a crepe and dessert bar with ice cream and fruits. The beer is really pricey during lunch, $7 for one Heineken. Other than that, the price for the lunch buffet is great - $13 for adults. The only problem I had was our waitress didn't bus our table the whole time we were there. She brought us more drinks, but left the old plates behind. It might be how they limit you from eating a lot or they just had shotty customer service the day we went. Either way, Makino Chaya is good for parties, special occasions, or just a heavy lunch. Will return!

    (4)

  • David C.

    The food isn't really that good, but I suppose it's a good value considering the price for the lunch buffet.

    (3)

  • Crystal B.

    I came here for my Auntys 64th Birthday last night. First time I have ever been here. The food was okay. It wasnt to die for or anything like that. We had a really nice waiter and staff seemed very friendly. They did however, seem to be understaffed. My family and I got there about an hour after opening and there was a big crowd of people. Pretty busy considering it was Thursday night. We then took into consideration that it is graduation season and all that so it isnt too far fetched. I have seen other reviews of this place and can agree for the most part with some. This place is good for a family occasion and nothing more. The buffet is okay and nothing much to offer, other than the chocolate fountain, which didnt have good fruit to go with it. I was bummed about that. Overall, its decent for what it is and thank you too our waiter for being soo nice! Sorry I didnt catch your name!

    (3)

  • Shey O.

    The reviews here made me stray away from this establishment, but we got a kaukau card from the boy scouts that made it sound convincing and a 20% off discount for lunch and/or dinner was included. Our server, Branden, was excellent. He warned us about getting the beverages for our discount and was awesome about everything. I didn't get the girl's name from the crepe station, but she was awesome, too. Gave me a lot of whipped cream when I asked her. I just wish I had the genius idea of putting chocolate from the fondue onto my crepe wat before I overstuffed myself. Bring one's to tip out people making your food in front of you. They're amazing. Tiramisu, king crab, lobster, snow crab, made-to-order ramen and kobe steak, sushi and cute little donburi bowls, chocolate fountain, freshly made crepes, quality yogurt and so much more. Some foods were off but you can't expect every single food item to impress you at a buffet. Branden was handling a lotttt of tables so we didn't mind the wait whatsoever. We left cash and a written tip from our credit card, but I guess he didn't see the one on our check. Grrr. He deserved that tip. Hope we can tip him again and sit in his section. Great service!

    (4)

  • Taz M.

    Good food, great service. Except towards the end of the visit, noticed that when they refilled the buffet line that they put the new food directly on top of the old food. So you actually don't know how long your dynamite crab has been sitting there.

    (2)

  • Derek S.

    The extra 2 stars is for our server. I wish I got his name but he was amazing. Came here for a graduation party. The food is not that great most things I grabbed was still on my plate when they took it. The sushi was also bad. The rice was hard and when I went up there was only 3 different type of sushi. Everything else was empty. The crepe was nothing special. I thought it was going to be amazing because the line was so long. But the line was long because there was only 1 person with 1 burner. I think they need more people. I have to say they are better then the last time I came here but still need improving and renovating. Again the reason I'm giving them 3 stars and not 1 is not because of Makino it's actually their waiter. He was funny he laughed with us and he was the only server for our entire party and always kept a smile on.

    (3)

  • Courtney O.

    Flies, and gnats, and bugs, oh my! Where is the department of health? Are they too scared to come here? Quality? No. Service? Nope. Value? Try again. I have no idea why people come here unless they are looking to lose a few pounds from food poisoning. The sushi is not fresh, the prime rib still has a heart beat, overall, a really risky choice if you ask me. I would not wish this as a last meal on my worst enemy.

    (1)

  • Christal C.

    Ok, I'll be honest. I was kind of disturbed the last time I came. But oh my gosh has things changed since then. I am very pleased with the changes they've made. The food is no longer served on weird dirty colored looking trays. They now serve the food on normal stainless steal trays. The tables are covered and looks so much better than before. And most of the food was pretty good. The place looks so much more cleaner and nicer than I remembered. Maybe it was a good thing that those green "pass" cards took into effect cause this place is finally looking decent.

    (3)

  • Kalei A.

    The food is good. Plenty of options. There is also a sushi bar. My only concern is that my daughter and I have been here for about 15 mins now, we have our plates and began eating but our waiter still hasn't brought us our drinks. I will be updating after .

    (3)

  • Randoll C.

    Seafood buffet - $32.95 or free when it's your birthday, or so I was told. Also, there's a senior discount. As for other promotions, you'll have to ask because nothing else pertained to the group (my family) that took me there last night for dinner. Across the street from Pearlridge - there's abundant parking as long as you don't mind walking. If you know the area, you know what I mean. If you don't, find the restaurant, then find parking. Then walk. :-) To the buffet - I'm sorry, but for the price, Eek! Methinks not. For the price, approaching Las Vegas resort prices, I was expecting - hoping for some flavorful feasting. There wasn't a selection that I went for twice. In fact, some I didn't even go for firsts. The made to order items were almost as bad. Lobster with cream of broccoli topping - overdone and tough.The Tempura was soggy on the inside and bland. The sushi was to be expected - dry and tough as it's sitting on display. The Tempura wasn't bad. That's about the extent of my compliments for the place. I take that back. Service wasn't bad. And the complimentary chocolate mousse cake was OK as well.

    (1)

  • Paul R.

    Uh.... I really don't like talking bad about places... But Makino Chaya needs a LOT of improvement. The place is kinda run down. The food is not very fresh. Just the whole environment is bad. If I hadn't been there for a birthday, I would have just left. The service is pretty good though. The lady would come to the table every once in a while to see if we wanted anything off the menu and was expeditious in getting our drinks. No complaints there. I started of with ahi sashimi. It wasn't bad, but again didn't look or taste too fresh. The crab dynamite or I forget its name had too much of something. The teri chicken was decent. Lobster was ehh.. Steak was ok. Apparently everyone comes here for the crab legs. They have a mountain of legs, and they're good. But they're puny, and cold two seconds after removing them from the heat lamp. My only comfort was "oh well at least this place will be cheap"... wrong.. $27. Which I guess isn't much for a buffet, but far too much for this one.. I.. I just don't like the feeling this place gave me. Would not recommend this place, but if you go enjoy the legs, and tip your waitress :)

    (2)

  • Alice N.

    Went there with two of my friends today Tuesday. They let you sign in early around 1130 but wont seat you until 11:45. They were two mins late for that also. Got our table and immediately I shoot for the hot entrees as couple times I been there things run out quickly and not refilled. There is steamed rice, fried rice, noodles two styles, choy sum, some kind of crab shell thing but does not taste good don't get it. Then fried fish and steamed fish, get that. Vegetable and shrimp tempura get those. Three different types of soup, miso one and the mushroom one is good. There's a tofu one with pork and veggies but that one is more of a dish but watery lol. The steamed dumpling was so-so, wonton so-so. There is a guy cooking teppanyaki steak, get that!!! Opposite side has sushi and desserts. To me the sushi was not really up to par even with Genki. Desserts was crepe with banana and strawberry and they just put in a fondue fountain and fruits. Also in the cold case there are a bunch of different flavored cheesecakes. All in all for about $12 was a pretty good lunch just quality needs to improve. At least it was not too expensive! Side note they forgot two of our drinks till the end and didn't charge us for it. But on the other hand they automatically put tip on the check 15 percent which was weird. They lose out since I usually give 20.

    (3)

  • Julie G.

    I'd like to put zero star if I can. Flies and bugs every where, food not fresh and bad service. Why does this restaurant still exist? I can tell why it's so cheap, but it is not worth even a penny, really!

    (1)

  • Sheryl G.

    what: japanese style buffet~ something good: so since i last came here, makino has definitely stepped up their game, i am so thankful for the clean flooring and dishes! i'm so happy with that, that i don't care that there isn't any crab legs for lunch : ) !! i noticed that they have a few new items like ramen and melona ice waffle for dessert! we were happy eating the dessert ; ) !! something not so good: it could be cleaner, but it's gotten much better from the last time i was here so i think it's definitely headed in the right direction! : ) !! something to try: lunch buffet & dinner buffet

    (3)

  • John B.

    20130109: My Auntie bought all of us cousin's gift cards to use at dinner to celebrate her son's birthday. She did the same thing last year too (thanks Auntie!!!). Not really sure where to start off with my review but this most recent trip to Makinos was definitely better than the two I had last year. (last years trips to Makinos was ok but this latest one was the best at this Aiea location!!) The inside looked much cleaner and they did some good renovations and changes inside. Off the top of my head, the placement of the dessert case & area where they make your dessert crepe is now in the middle of the restaurant by the windows facing Bed Bath & Beyond. They should have 2 workers there. Oh since we were celebrating a birthday, my cousin got a special cake (ice cream cake I think) from that dessert case thing. I don't normally get sushi or sashimi when I go to Makinos. I mostly go for the snow crab legs for the majority of my seafood. This is along with stuff from the hot food line like fried rice, gyoza, shumai, won tons, shrimp tempura. You can check out the pics that I uploaded if you like. The sashimi trays looked so good last night that I had 3 of them total :-) Was very pleased to see they had lobster on the grill along with the wagyu steak. I went up twice this trip for both! I don't normally get king crab legs but they had them to order off the menu and my cousin (b-day boy) ordered several plates of them and I had at least 2 big legs. I'm now officially a king crab guy! Don't know why I avoided them all this time. But I think I got the hang of cracking them open now haha. for dessert i had 2 crepes: 1 with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and the 2nd one with strawberries and ice cream. Pro tip: I used the bananas on the stick to get the chocolate fountain chocolate on my crepes. tastes much better than that weak sauce Hershy syrup. I'll end this long review by saying that it seems hit or miss with Makino Chaya and your own individual experience. But when we went last night (a Wednesday night) it wasn't too busy. I don't like crowds much so that was a big plus for me :-) There was 14 of us total but they wait staff did a good job with refilling our drinks and taking orders from us off the menu. Also, we didn't have the "sticky carpet" feeling this time, which was nice. I hope its this nice again the next time we eat at Makinos! :-)

    (5)

  • Jocelyn T.

    It was my uncle's birthday and this place was one of his favorite spots to eat so we went during lunch time. Of course being Filipino, we were late. Arrived after 1pm and the place closed at 2 so was expecting not much of a spread at this point. Food was your typical buffet with your Chinese and Japanese and food items but there hardly anything left on the buffet. The sushi station was almost non existent so I avoided it all together. They also had a ramen station which wasn't too bad. The only thing I enjoyed was the teppanyaki steak and banana crepes with vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Service was really good though, the lady who took care of us was really nice. I can actually see my dad liking this place a lot.

    (2)

  • Christopher T.

    went 2 times was not satisfied the 1 was with an organization for my church group we were told we would get percentage off our bill for birthdays senior citizen and military but we did not get that we had to pay full price that time I went for lunch the 2 time I went for dinner and that was the same day as they had a chemical order so they closed the businesses so I was not pleased

    (1)

  • Jaedee L.

    I've never been a huge fan of buffets in hawaii and the last time I went to one, I was eight. So I guess you can say I had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to go with my boyfriend to this horrible place. I usually dont look at reviews before I go to places....just cause I like to go in with an open mind....Lets just say that I should have read the reveiws on this place. The sushi area from afar looked pretty decent and tolerable. But once I actually got there. The sushi looked like it had been sitting there all day and the sashimi quality was horrible. Nevertheless, I grabbed a piece just to see if it would somewhat be okay.It was jist as nasty as it looked! This place holds negative stars in my book. The hot food wasnt that big of a deal either. I had miso butter fish,shrimp tempura,veggie tempura and beef gyoza, it looked okay on the buffet line, but it was SUPER GREASY. Now about their dessert....NO BUENO!!! I asked for a crepe...I got a piece of cardboard with whipped cream...Bottom line....I will NEVER EVER EAT HERE AGAIN!!!

    (1)

  • Kevin Y.

    Yikes. Scary to say to say the least. This is the second review I ever posted. The crab and lobster isn't the only thing that has legs around here, so do the live roaches infesting this place. Sanitation is definitely out the window from the preparation of the food to the bathroom. The fact that all the toilets were overflowing like the fondue fountains or that there is no paper towels. I wonder if the workers were not washing their hands? I think I threw up a little in my mouth. Good thing the food was dry, over cooked and tasteless. Seafood is best cooked fresh. I guess a brown oysters is their preferred sign of freshness. Thats ok i was masked by cheese and old hollandaise sauce, now thats an oyster rockefeller. Yummmy but back to the fresh king crab. Freshly cooked yesterday just for you and we left it out just the way you like it. And the lobster, sizzler has nothing to worry about. This was definitely a priceless experience. So for your next birthday, think about another venue or enjoy the entertainment of the cockroaches as they scamper around while you dine, and finish with the toilet fondue. Btw. I got sick after. And I'm reporting them to department of health!!

    (1)

  • Chan M.

    Filthy, disgusting, rude service, gone downhill! Years ago, this place used to be so yummy, clean with the best service. Seems like a new management took over, and ever since the place is the worst place to ever eat!! WASTE OF UR MONEY!! Former friend of mines used to work here, and she says there's a lot of rats in their kitchen! Talk about disgusting!!!

    (1)

  • Alex L.

    I'm giving this a one star. because the restaurant is just too cramped for my liking and some of the food gets cold. I think it's ok when the restaurant is empty, but when it gets full it becomes more a noisy zoo than a restaurant. It's hard for me to come out of my chair when the place is full. I would raise my star rating if they made the place more open than so cramped!

    (1)

  • Darcie C.

    My first time going and the wait was 1 hour even with a called in reservation. Its very smoky when they grill the meats. The selection is okay, wasnt too excited. The desserts were all gone by the time we got up there. The wait time for desserts was 30 minutes. Although, the staff was great!

    (2)

  • Darrell P.

    First off, I'm going to spare you the pictures because I didn't think I can handle looking at it again. Our office was treated to this place and based on the bad reviews I was expecting the worse but on the other hand I thought it couldn't be that bad. We got there about 45 minutes early and waited then eventually our names were called and we were finally seated. I dont know about anyone else, but when I go to a buffet, I avoid all starches and any type of bread and head to what would be the more expensive stuff. So I piled my plate and headed back to my seat. The choy sum I'd say was the only healthy thing on my plate and it wasn't that bad either. The shrimp tempura was ok. But after the first bite I just started to peel the batter and eat the shrimp. It was on the greasy side. The stuffed crab shell, I don't know what it was but it had a vinegary taste to it and didn't taste like crab at all. It was really rich too. The tako yaki. I had this at the last ETS and this was nowhere near that. I guess it cooled off and the stuff inside started to solidify. When I took a bite it was like a really super thick batter. I forced myself to swallow it to the edge of a gage reflex and I'm not exaggerating either. The rest stayed on the plate. The miso butterfish made me queasy. It was really friggin greasy. I literally had to ask my buddy for a couple sushi from his plate to soak up that grease so my stomach could equalize. I had a bowl of the miso soup and I'd say it was pretty good washing the grease down. For desert I had the strawberry crepe and the wannabe cheesecake. The strawberry filling of the crepe was sour. Like a sour strawberry. I had to cut it with the whip cream just so it could get by. I ended up pushing the filling out and just ate the crepe. The cheesecake was no cheesecake. Well technically it had cheesecake but it was just about 3/8 thick and the crust wasn't like a graham crust it was a 1/2 or more of pound cake. We ended up just scraping the top off and ditching the cake. I don't mean to rip on the food but I'm gonna tell it like it is. Like other reviews said about the meat, yeah I did see it just sitting there without anything to keep it cool or a cover but I didnt see any flies or bugs in the food. The manager was on the up tight side too. He had to jump on the cheesecake side and pass them out and make ice cream for customers too. But on a good note, the waitress we had was very friendly and always came back to see how we were doing. I kinda felt sorry for her in a way because I think they were shorthanded today seeing how she was going none stop and at the same time checking on our table so in that respect it was a good experience. As far as going back again....I really don't think so. The food menu needs a serious makeover before I come back again. I thought I'd have a better experience but that didn't happen on this one. Sorry.

    (2)

  • Vince L.

    Craving for Japanese buffet . Heard about Makino Chaya. As you enter the Resto you see their grill and they serve. Fine beef cuts. I like mine with just salt and pepper. It melts in your mouth kind of good.i like the grilled tuna head. I can see other people grossed out but I'm just fine . I ended up eating almost the tuna head for myself. Good bang for the buck if your looking for cheap Japanese cooking. Tha tako yaki is what it is. Yucky... It tasted just like flour with a hint of msg and little tiny cuts of imitation crab. Like I said the buffet price was good for price bargain hunters . I will still come back here if they will add more selections on their buffet line.

    (3)

  • Raych D.

    Tried the Aloha Tower location twice in the past and wasn't to impressed by it, with that impression I've never really gone out of my way to try the Aiea location until last week. Got my hair did late last week down this side with a friend of mine, and since I was his last client we decided to grab dinner after wards. Everything was closing at 9pm, and just to be sure I called to asked if we could make a rsvp and what time they closed, the lady who answered "greeted me and with a sny comment said "well we close at 9pm and we stop cooking at 8:15pm and we do not take reservations". She made it sound like we were inconveniencing her but we still opted to eat there and made it there by 8:30pm. When we got there, the host asked us if we wanted to check the line to see the food they had left before we decide if we want to eat there....and AGAIN I felt like we were inconveniencing them. I was so annoyed that I just said Yes we are going to eat here regardless of the rude attitude I got twice! They didn't have to much food left especially the sushi section but we manage to grab a few fresh ones. The selection is far more than the Aloha tower one that I've been too. Some of my favorites were the chicken, crab legs, fried rice, fried noodles, beef and broccoli, garlic shrimp, fresh made kobe steak, and all the tons and tons of sushi/miso butterfish and stuffed lobster we ordered from the other menu. I will say the waiter we had name "JOE" is so AWESOME!!! He kept telling us what foods to order, and that because we came late we could order more than 3 items from the menu and he didn't charge us for our sodas. He was so nice to us and so patient that we had to give him extra mula for his hospitality. If it wasn't for JOE, I would have never wanted to come here again...but because he made out night I'm definitely coming back again, hopefully this time earlier so I can see all the food they have.

    (4)

  • Mika K.

    What happened to this place? We have been here a few times but this time around it was honestly junk. The service was nice but some staff needs training in customer service. Food was ugh!

    (1)

  • mai n.

    We had lunch here, which is probably why there was no crab or butterfish, both of which I was looking forward to. That being said, overall I would say this is an ok place if you stick with what's good/decent. I did not try the ramen or beef stations just because. I also avoided basic fillers like rice, potatoes, noodles, and soup. What I thought was good was the shrimp tempura, steamed fish, and the teriyaki chicken, although FYI the fish used is basa, which is a fresh water cheapo fish from Vietnam. But it did taste good and was tender...the tempura sushi was ugh, some seafood thingy on a shell was ugh, bok choi was ok. Whatever you do avoid the nigiri, the seafood was sliced really thin and looked and tasted dry. Dessert wise I did not partake of the crepe, the soft serve was good enough but the cakes bleh...so if you like shrimp tempura you can get your money's worth for sure and enjoy your meal, otherwise...

    (3)

  • Loren O.

    Yikes. Service was terrible. Food was even worse. HORRIBLE experience. The night we came there was a party that took up most of the restaurant. Lines were extremely long, I thought it was pretty awful that they allowed the party to have karaoke, so it was extremely loud the ENTIRE time we were there. My water was never refilled, the people who were working the different stations were not at all friendly, and the front desk people were straight up rude. We ask for a high chair, and his reply? "Its right behind you." Baby in one arm, high chair now in the other. Thanks, dude. Great help. Food was disgusting. The only thing I was able to eat was the steak (which took about 20 minutes to get since they grill it to order tepanyaki style), but even that seemed sketchy to me since the steaks were piled up and left uncovered (and not even sitting on ice) next to the cook. Everything else in the buffet line seemed old and inedible. I didn't see them replace anything off the buffet line once, the entire time we were there. My slice of prime rib looked so raw that I'm sure it still had a heart beat. The miso soup did not even look like miso soup! I expected a light colored broth, with little squares of tofu and seaweed floating around... definitely not what I expected. I'm totally being serious when I say that I couldn't tell the difference between my miso soup and my au jus sauce. SERIOUSLY. What the hell. I didn't dare to enter the bathroom. Yeah... One star... Never again.

    (1)

  • T T.

    EEEWWW..is about what sums it up for me. Initially it was really good with freshly made food as you order but whatever company took over after, really downgraded the quality. The food is never fresh and looks as if it had been sitting out overnight and reused and reused again. The interior is down right drabby and dirty. It smells horrible and the carpets are filthy. Servers are inattentive and look like they hate their job. Definitely not worth the money for salmonella poisoned food!! YUCK

    (1)

  • Ryan W.

    Ok, it's not a 5-star outfit with people wiping your chin and filling your water glass every 3 seconds. What it is... is a seafood style buffet where all the locals go... Enough said; it's affordable, the food is good for buffet style and you will get your fill. Crab legs... All you can eat... Stop whining!!! Seriously! Oh and Chris the manager, is a pretty good guy!

    (5)

  • Robert R.

    Excellent food but the service is very bad! The place is a little expensive, roughly $30 per person and you are unable to split the bill. To make it worse, they FORCE you to pay a gratuity for crap service! My waitress gave me plenty of attitude for asking for water instead of soda, seriously??? The food was good but I do not recommend going there unless you do not care about service.

    (2)

  • Carrie S.

    Just don't. All the food is cold. Ordered softshell crab off the menu and it came out flavorless and soaked in grease. Sushi was crap - bits of canned tuna inside tons of rice. What's going on with the steak and sprout stirfry? Why not have other veggies out for a nice mongolian grill offering. I mean geez pick just 2 or 3 more veggie options. Just steak and bean sprouts?!? On a good note, our waitor was VERY attentive! He gets 5 stars.

    (2)

  • Lei N.

    The weekend after father's day, my dad still wanted to eat at Makino Chaya. I didn't want to argue so I made reservations earlier that day for three: my brother, my dad and I. He wanted to have dinner at five p.m. but they didn't open until six so I made the reservations at that time. When we got to the restaurant we checked in with the hostess and had to wait until the restaurant actually opened, for the dinner rush I suppose. Once we finally got called in to be seated, I noticed that they had arranged a portion of the place for smaller parties? I think so. We got the table overlooking the parking lot and parts of Pearlridge Uptown. Once we got seated our waitress served us our drinks and we started on getting food from the buffet and sushi bar. As we were gathering our food my dad stood at the steak line so that we could all get our own plate of steak. My brother and I piled our plates with food and started eating. Our goal was to eat our money's worth but that didn't turn out well. My brother was the first to cave in, then my father who really wanted to eat as much as possible and I was the last struggling to fork down as much of my dinner as possible. By the end of the night we didn't even get up for seconds, well except for corn. Their noodles was a disappointment. After our meal, my stomach wasn't feeling so good, so I'm not sure if I would like to eat there again.

    (2)

  • Nathan N.

    The place just sucks. Don't waste your time.

    (2)

  • Kana T.

    If you only take away one thing from this review, let it be this: Make sure you plan ahead, and print out a "15% off for Kama Aina" coupon before you go visit! After driving around looking for parking (cannot be helped since this was on a Sat), my friend and I debated between Tony Roma's and Makino Chaya, and decided to eat here. We asked if we could use the Kama Aina coupon that we found online, and were told only if it's printed out. Okay, fair enough since that is what is says on the coupon online. But I will say this-their buffet is definitely not worth $30 a person. Even at $25.50 (with the 15% off for Kama Ainas), it's still debatable. Yes I was full after my meal. I liked the ikura and enjoyed the desserts (crepe/soft serve), but that's about the only positive thing I can say about this place. The garlic shrimp was cold, and the nigiri sushi on the line had wasabi in it already. (In their defense, I'm sure they would make any of the nigiris without wasabi if you ask) The teppanyaki steak was the SALTIEST steak I've ever had, and the lobster and unagi weren't anything special...lastly, the soft shell crab was majority tempura batter. My friend really liked the sake shio yaki which I didn't try. I liked that they had a crepe station, but the attendant went missing at one point, kept us waiting. They also had a sign saying one ice cream scoop per visit...Really Makino Chaya? You're putting a limit on ice cream? When you only have one flavor to begin with? I haven't been to Todai in ages, but I'm sure their buffet would be more enjoyable. Or better yet-pay the additional $10 or so and go to Hakone in the Hawaii Prince Hotel.

    (2)

  • Esther S.

    I am updating my review because the manager was nice enough to follow up with our incident. He thoroughly apologized. My parents were comped a dinner for two on the house and we were given four $25 gift cards. The acknowledgement shows great management and the gesture was much appreciated. My parents enjoyed their meal.

    (4)

  • Sera O.

    Fffff... I wanted to like this place, I really did. To be fair the selection is wide and varied and any time spent with my grandparents is a great one. However the quality of the food left a lot to be desired. Should I would rather have this place with only a few good items to eat, then a plethora of of crap I have to sift through to find something edible. There were flies buzzing all around, and my feet were sticking to the filthy stained carpet. Yes that's right !! ...sticky, smelly, nasty ass carpet. Again, had my grandparents not brought me here (and I was trying to spare their feelings) I would have walked out on the floor alone. Some of the food was cold when it should have been hot, some of the hot food was cold. I will say that the crepes and the ice cream was rather good but I'm not sure how you mess those up... Also, the staff's "don't give a s***" attitude was really the icing on the cake! I go to the island twice a year but I will not be back here.

    (2)

  • Johnelle P.

    I have been here only a handful of times but it is more than enough times for me to confidently say STAY AWAY FROM HERE. On my first visit, the place was a mess. Dishes on empty tables and not a single waiter/waitress in sight. It took about half an hour to get our drinks. And that was the last time we saw a waiter. Major red flag. I went to grab a plate and my finger SLIPPED. As in, the dish was so greasy that it literally slipped out of my hand. I caught it before it fell on the ground. I ended up going through 5 plates before I found a 'clean' one. I was disgusted at this point, but being that we had waited to eat all day, I was trying not to let this part get to me. And then there's the food. The food in the buffet area was dried out and there were very few dishes to choose from. It wasn't anywhere near closing time, so you'd think that it'd be well stocked right? Yeah, no. The man who made the steak was very friendly. As was the man who made the crepes. He barely spoke English, but he could say very basic things. The rest of this restaurant is bogus. It turns out that you can't pay separately, and at that time we went to pay they weren't taking cash. I didn't have any cards on me, just cash. A friend of ours ended up spotting all of us..that was very embarrassing :( Stay away stay away stay away

    (1)

  • Karen D.

    Disclaimer: I've never actually been inside the restaurant. But yesterday I had their bento box for lunch at a workshop. The quality was fine, taste was decent but nothing to write home about. I understand that the prices are very affordable, which is why the free lunch was from Makino Chaya I suppose. While I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, I would be happy to eat another (free) Makino Chaya box lunch, haha! Yelp 365 Challenge 204/365

    (3)

  • P M.

    I'd go back here but definitely not worth all the money! $130 including tip and military discount for four adults, a five year old, six year old, and one year old. That's kind of a lot for a buffet that didn't really have that many items. We're all local so we're only comparing it to local food--it was ok...but I wouldn't go there on my own. And I kinda felt bad that my sister wasted that much on us.

    (3)

  • Lori W.

    Oh, where to begin. The other reviewers were right. Went here for lunch a few Saturdays ago because a family member wanted to celebrate something here, and loves the Las Vegas location. Maybe because it was daytime, it was worse because, well, it's dayLIGHT. So you could really see what you didn't want to see. Flies, flies, gnats, flies, gnats, flies. In an indoor location. With garbage in the corners. Flies buzzing all over the sushi. Flies buzzing all over the fruit. Just...nasty. The waitstaff was ok. Nothing great, but it is a buffet, so it's not like they have a chance to bust out anything spectacular. The grill guy was nice and cooked stuff to order, but it ain't Benihana. I worried about all that raw meat just sitting out on the counter. No cold storage. No cover. There wasn't enough food to go around--the crab legs were always empty when we went up to check, although we did see fellow diners walking back with plates of just crab. Same with the shrimp tempura. IDK...maybe it was a blessing, anyways. If the floors are gross, could the cooktops/kitchen really be better? Yeesh. There was a small child standing at the pineapple by the dessert area, eating pineapple right off the platter of food. Like it was her personal plate. With her hands. And NO ONE stopped her or said anything--not the parents, the lady behind the dessert bar, nobody. So although I didn't really want to...here it went. Me, to the mom/Aunty/whoever it was:"Ummm. Excuse me, but I think she needs her own plate." "Haaaaaah?" "She. Needs. Her. Own. Plate. She's eating off the buffet. With her hands." "Oh. Yeah...Ok." And nothing. OK, yeah...I tried. Never again, not even for family. I didn't want to go in the first place, and I regret it. Got sick afterwards, too. The health department has not been here, I think. Just don't do it, people. Maybe this place would be ok if it was clean and had a decent ventilation system, and if the food areas were maintained/watched over better. But for this experience, thumbs way down. Won't be back until I see something positive on yelp...

    (1)

  • Sherry V.

    I came here to celebrate my aunt and uncle's combined birthdays; in the end, I was satisfied with the experience, but the food could use a lot of improvement. We came for the seafood buffet. The best part about this buffet experience was their teppanyaki grill which had steak and lobster. The lobster is cut in half and is already precooked and re-grilled before it is given to you. So needless to say, the lobster is overcooked and chewy, but it is lobster (you only get one at a time, by the way). Aside from the grill, everything else is not worth it. The crepe station didn't even have powdered sugar or any fruit other than banana. They did have ice cream but who puts ice cream on a crepe? I rather have ice cream by itself. The fruits, although cut up wasn't peeled. I mean the "skin/peel" were still on. Who eats cantaloupe or honeydew with the peel on? The kitchen staff got lazy? Generally the quality of the other food was "cafeteria" like at best. And the service - not the best, but I did feel they did their best, especially since they didn't seem to have enough staff. I like that it is all you can eat all you want, but next time, perhaps I'll try to order my food from the menu instead.

    (2)

  • Josie G.

    To be honest I really don't care for the service. It's not fine dining or a five star restaurant so I don't expect much at all. I was just there for the food, they have the best selection ever! I arrive hungry and leave happy....BOOM!

    (5)

  • Mark W.

    Just came here for dinner with my girlfriend and her brother and his girlfriend. We had our reservation all worked out and didn't wait when we showed up to be seated. I decided to hit the steak and lobsters station first. Considering the mass of people to be served, the portion sizes are fair. You can only get about a half steak worth of meat and a half lobster tail per visit per person to the station. The lobster isn't particularly large and is perhaps a bit chewy, but it was still pretty delicious so I went back for a second trip. The dude will also grill up some bean sprouts at your request. We spent much of our time eating the multitude of crab legs available at the main buffet line. Solid crab, plenty of meat to be had, no complaints here. The tempura shrimp was a bit doughy but not terrible. I didn't much care for the manila clam or the seafood dynamite... Which looked especially questionable. The pine nut shrimp was a tasty treat. I went to the sushi table for some tuna and wasn't very impressed, but that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone--good sushi is not made at buffets. So why the mediocre review? A number of reasons, some of which I have already stated. But there's also the environment,, which is not well kept. You'll notice flies all over the place, and the service leaves much to be desired. Our waitress was friendly and generous with the refills, but no one else seems to understand the importance of a smile in service. Even she wasn't that great-- the dishes piled up and we needed to get her attention to get them bussed. Make a custom order at the crepe station and be prepared to be glared at by underpaid, miserable people who clearly don't want to be there. I think the accolades this place has received have gotten to the owners head, and as a result, management is sub par. This place is worth a visit if it's quantity you crave. But for a nice family dinner with quality food and good service, you'll likely have better luck next door.

    (3)

  • Debrah D.

    Went here for my dad's birthday. I ended up reserving a table for ten people about two hours earlier. Upon checking in, we were immediately seated. It was about 7pm, there were a lot of empty tables still. Around 8pm, business started to pick up and there were lines for each section of the buffet. If you ever visit here make sure u eat your hot food right away, once it gets cold the food isn't really great. I love the steak and lobster station. I wish the utensils and plates were cleaned more thoroughly. It would help a lot if there were two people servicing the dessert station as well as refilling the chocolate fountain and the dipping items. I have never had the sushi in this place, it doesn't look like the sushi is a hit anyway. Despite the food, the service was superb. Our waitress made sure we were getting our refills, and cleared empty plates right away.

    (3)

  • Vanessa B.

    The food is was good. A great place to spend time with family and friends. Sometimes they ran out of what is on the menu, such as the uni or the soft crab. They have a lot of crab legs and sushi. The steak and lobster station was awesome, especially the crepe station. There is also a ramen station. That was new. They cook the steak perfectly, just how a customer likes it. Not to dry or well done. Overall, it's good.

    (4)

  • Grant S.

    Buffets are like "Choose your own destiny" books. This Makino Chaya at Westridge is a "choose your own destiny" book except all the pages with positive endings were torn out long ago. Let's examine the good points of the night. Our server was quite good. Despite having to tend very rarely to tables at the buffet, she was quick to refill drinks and ask if we wanted any made-to-order items. The baby octopus was quite good, tender and deep fried. The vegetable tempura was cooked well and came out hot. The list ends there. If you ever find yourself not knowing what room temperature feels like, try anything on the buffet line. I usually stray away from lukewarm and poor reviews but this review of Makino Chaya is fittingly so. Let's take a trip down memory lane at the buffet, the white rice smelled as if it had been sitting in a cold pot all day, the fried rice was gray, the rest of the starch options just looked unappetizing. The bbq chicken was ok, but room temperature, the shumai was mushy and cold, I can go on and on. The buffet line gives you a peek into the kitchen where they pass trays of food. Unfortunately, what has been seen cannot be unseen. Back of the house workers wore street clothes, a good indication of the unsanitary conditions to follow. The cutting boards and prep surfaces had half cooked and half prepped food sitting on them with no one to tend to them. I saw a side of raw tuna left half trimmed sitting all night on the chopping board. There was a bicycle and a shop vac sitting in the kitchen. Steam was coming out of the steam table yet no food on the table absorbed a hint of that heat. I guess the smoke and mirrors show deserved some stars.... Nope. The sushi station was filthy, containers were open and strewn everywhere, the rice boxes were black, dirty, and stained. The sushi laid out on the line just sat on serving platters without any cooling mechanism. Spicy tuna, mayo topping, dried out nigiri, all room temperature. The crepe station next door had big tubs of cut bananas all per-oxidized for your enjoyment. The canned strawberries were still frozen on the inside. The crepe was overcooked on one side, undercooked on the other. The busboy wore a tank top and shorts, carried a dirty bus bin and wandered a little too close to the food. At this point the dinner could not be saved. To get this place back into shape, either Kitchen Impossible needs to pay them a visit or they need to be shut down. I'd love to be constructive instead of complaining about all the problems, but if a health inspector walked into this place (with all the budget cuts, the one health inspector...) it would be condemned on sight. Maybe a renovation is in order, new everything should be ordered.

    (1)

  • Sol R.

    Unfortunately, my last visit to this place may just be that... my last visit. The sushi was not fresh, it felt dirty, and the place gets really crowded to a point where i could not enjoy my meal. I guess that's what you expect from a buffet... but for the price?

    (1)

  • Ashlyn B.

    This restaurant is what actually made me sign up for Yelp. My first, and definitely last, experience at this particular location was awful! The sushi looked as if it were left out all day. Every type of dish there was cold. The tongs for many of the dishes were resting on TOP of the food (eew, not everyone who uses those tongs wash their hands! and now it's on the food? gross!) The lobster tail seafood thing was cold and flavorless. And finally, my cup was dirty! I ordered a Coke and seen a layer of film floating on it! Please save yourself the time and money. I found nothing pleasing about this restaurant at all.

    (1)

  • Kristi P.

    I am not one to write negative reviews but I felt compelled to express my opinion about our dining experience at Makino Chaya. We've been there before and it was always just OK for me. I'm wondering if they are under new management & staffing because I would now describe it as being HORRIBLE and a complete waste of money. Service deserves 1 star. I felt bad for our waitress who had too many tables to service/buss and wasn't able to clear our table, refill drinks, etc. The manager was standing around the restaurant overseeing operations, but not once did I see him help out with table service. Food deserves 1 star. I am not a seafood or crab lover, therefore in order to get my money's worth I was hoping that the other food would make up for it. No vegetarian sushi options except for inari. My fiancé said the ahi color, freshness, & quality was poor. I tried one bite of the miso ramen that resembled bland tasting saimin noodles. I also tried the steak and it was rubbery. The best tasting item for a non seafood diner is the vegetable tempura. They ran out of chicken katsu curry when I tried to order it off the menu. Our waitress' response was "You wouldn't want to try it anyways it's nothing special." Ok that's NOT what you want to tell customers about your restaurant's food. Worst part is that my mother-in-law found a long piece of HAIR IN HER FOOD. When we spoke with the manager his response was unacceptable. "It might have been from a customer. Sometimes when people lean over to get their food that can happen." True, but don't you think cooks in the back should take precautionary measures and wear hairnets? I could see through the back area and I assure you they weren't. Note to the manager; Acknowledge the fact that it's DISGUSTING and do something about it. He did end up comping 1 buffet meal for free. If you're looking for $27 worth of buffet dining, I suggest you find another place that will give you the proper service & food quality any paying customer deserves.

    (1)

  • Emy R.

    How this place is still open is beyond my comprehension. Though this review is from last August, I feel the need to put in my 2 cents. Review simplified: service sucked, food sucked, and place is filthy dirty. Bathrooms are worse than a truck stop bathroom. Filthy and smelly. If you gotta go, hold it. If you really gotta go, hold it. If you can't, water a plant or a tree outside. If you must, hold your breath. We had out of town guests visiting from the Mainland who were pretty insistent on eating here despite our best efforts to discourage them. In the end, 6 vs 2. First, straight up the service sucked. It took some time for the waiter to come over and take our drink orders, which was fine since we were talking anyway. When he came back with our drinks, I ordered sushi off the menu. Wait, let me back up, while he was getting our drinks, my friends told me what they wanted to order so when the waiter came back I told him what everyone wanted. He stopped me and told me I was only allowed to order 2 items for myself. I explained to him that I was ordering for everyone and he told me I wasn't allowed to do that. Saaay what??? He tells me it's policy because some people order a lot of items for themselves and don't finish it hence the 2 dish order policy. He needed to hear the order from each person individually. Seriously dude, do the math, do you honestly think I'm going to eat 18 plates of 2 pieces of sushi by myself? Food - blah. The only thing I had from the buffet was the shrimp tempura and that was only because I saw them bringing out a new batch. Nothing special about it, just a stomach filler. The food still looks gross and in the past tasted as it looked so I wasn't going to venture there again. There really isn't anything special in the buffet line that would justify the high price you're paying to eat here. They do have a steak station where a cook will cook your steak in front of you. Word to the wise. They advertise Wagyu beef but aren't serving it. I called the cook out on it and he quickly got a different piece of meat from the kitchen that looked a lot better than the other ones he was cooking up. It was alright, nothing special. The dessert station is ok, the desserts are cut into bite sizes so you can try more of a variety. The crepe station was out of order. They have ice creme but the cream was melting before it hit the bowl so it was more like a milk shake. To top off a sucky dinner when the waiter brought our check, he had add a 17% tip to our bill. My friend was figuring out a 20% tip when he noticed the tip had already been included. Normally, we leave 20% and so leaving 17% isn't a problem even for crappy service but to be told we had to leave 17% by default because we had a party of 8, didn't sit well with my friend. After speaking to the manager who also indicated it was standard policy, we eventually got the 17% taken off and left 15% instead. My friend told the manager and the waiter he would've left 20% if they hadn't told him what he had to leave. If you're remotely thinking about eating here, don't waste your hard earned money. Seriously, isn't even worth peeking your curiosity. Management needs to step up their game. There's a reason why the Aloha Tower location closed. FUN FACT: Mr. Makino, used to own part of Todai (the seafood buffet in Waikiki across from Hilton Hawaiian Village) but went out on his own and opened Makino-Chaya. Notice the similarities?

    (1)

  • Chibi C.

    Went to lunch with my friend about 1:00 p.m. The girl at the check-in counter didn't greet us or say anything to us in terms of greeting. The first thing out of her mouth was we close in 30 minutes and food will be taken away in 15 minutes, do you still want to eat here? I replied "yes, we do". The next thing out of her mouth was we are not cooking or adding anything new to what we already have, do you still want to eat here? Gee, do you not want business or something? or Are you doing us a favor by letting us come in to your restaurant? Her attitude sucked and I wanted to leave, but we were hungry and we had our mind made up to eat there, so I continued to say "yes". Without sitting in our seats, we just went to the buffet line and took all the food we wanted from the sushi section as well as the hot food section. The sushi had been out there quite some time, it was dry and rice was starting to harden. The hot foods weren't that great either. We could've handled the less than mediocre food if the service was good and friendly, but everything sucked. While we were dining, another totally different waitress comes along and tells us we will be closing in 15 minutes. It was 1:15 p.m. Yes, I heard that at the beginning like a million times....They rip you off when you order a drink cuz a soda was over $3.00 ($3.25 or $3.50). 1:20 p.m. all the staff starts cleaning the plates from your table whether you are done or not and massive cleaning effort starts to happen, sweeping right by and under your table whether you are eating or drinking. In essence almost like shouting "get the hell out of here". Sure, who wants to stay here. I was totally embarrassed because I suggested we try out this place. Don't care if there is a coupon or no coupon, reasonable or not reasonable, I will never ever step into this restaurant ever again!! Talk about taking customers for granted and terrible service, this restaurant takes the cake!

    (1)

  • Celtic S.

    Makino chaya is not what it use to be, they may have been the best up until 2013 but now they are junk. If it had not been for their dinner attraction to people they would be out of business within a year. There are also lots of flies in the resturant, returning to the table were flies all on my food. They also recycle the food on the line that people dont take. I strongly would not recommend this place

    (1)

  • Shyla O.

    This place is good for the price and variety of food they have.All you can eat snow crab,steak,sushi,dessert and more. You can't go wrong with there price.

    (4)

  • Miz S.

    It's a buffet. If you walk in with the mind set knowing your food has been mass produced and sitting under the hot lamp for a while, you won't be disappointed. Parking is horrendous once all the shops open in the shopping center. If you don't mind walking, there are alternatives down stairs, across the street, or at the swap meet next door. yesterday, I planned a mini surprise party to celebrate my aunty's birthday. There was a total of 15 of us, and the hostess was nice enough to seat us earlier than our reserved time. Normally, at least half the party must be there before they seat you. Buffet line was constantly filled and attention to patrons were great!

    (3)

  • Ed L.

    Like Todai's in Waikiki, the Makino Chaya has been synonymous with seafood themed buffets. It's where lots of people just force feed themselves for a bargain of $20 per meal, approximately. With that said, I have had birthdays here in the past at this location in the Westridge shopping center a while back, but this time, I was here just because I had a hankering for seafood. My rule of thumb was to eat all the seafood - minus the sushi - to maximize $$ value. The restaurant itself is almost like a glorified cafeteria. The place is clean and the lighting is nice. The ambiance does get loud, as numerous amounts of people are talking at any amount of time. There are various of items to enjoy, including the wagyu beef, that's pretty tasty. Not that good from a real steakhouse, but that's an argument for later use. The service was ok, not great, since the wait staff was just going crazy on just maintaining some sort of order while catering to everyone in the restaurant. Can't blame them though. For what the normal person can eat on a certain day, this place does often rake it a consistent and considerable amount of $$. For those overzealous types that can go for 3+ types, they're the exceptions. While I did stop myself at 2 plates, I could not help wonder why I didn't go for more, when I just had the seafood and nothing much. I do recommend this this place, unless you are interested in good - not great - seafood items and other assorted items. Almost like a Chinese buffet system / high school cafeteria system, where you just line up and scoop yourself - or wait to be served. Not like it's a bad thing, but I guess I do love exclusive waiter service, rather than occasional water refills and the check drop after the meal. I would go back during special occasions, but not on a regular basis. C+

    (3)

  • Elizabeth O.

    Let's see where to begin. How about at the beginning, we went online and noticed that the hours were starting at 5:30 went there at 5:15 and store hours were 6:30-8:30. As the dinner went on the kitchen seemed like they could not keep up with the amount of people that were in line, certain items were constantly empty, they would bring out one tray of food and if you missed the person filling then it seemed like no one bothered to fill it. I noticed the male manager standing around A LOT, he would help out here and there and btw although his actual hands were not touching the food but touching the tongs for the food I did not see a whole lot of hand washing by him, when it comes to food I like to see lots of wiping, and hand washing before you touch food! My husband also said that during his standing in line for the buffet a toddler threw up in line and NO EMPLOYEE came to the parent's aid...not even the manager to offer a sanitary method of cleaning it. The parents were on hands and knees to clean the area with napkins! I seriously think they need to be re-educated on food safety and sanitation!! My husband ordered butterfish and some pieces were frozen and/or mushy. Flagging down a server for drinks or even water was tough considering there was only 3 for the entire restaurant on a holiday weekend. Don't bother going to Makino Chaya, you can spend a little more per person at a different hotel or buffet and have a better experience.

    (1)

  • Rissa K.

    This place was Ok. I feel the quality isn't as great as before. The best things to focus on here would be the crab legs, butter flsh, and the crepe dessert with ice cream. The selection wasn't that impressive. If it's your bday then you only pay half of what the normal price per person would be.

    (3)

  • Jonathan V.

    Synopsis: Yelp should come out with a 0-star or negative star option! In the near future, I see this place closing down, or filled with people whose taste buds are not functioning anymore. Buffets are never ever good to go to. Why? Over-consumption of calories, high sums of cash used, and the aftermath damage of bloatedness. I think I gained 5 lbs.! Buffets are worse for those who have a disease that requires restrictions as well! Hyperglycemia in your future? The food here was below par. I only found myself relishing in 10 pieces of shrimp tempura, and the some of the sushi things at the bar. :/ Money certainly wasted. I hope next year is different place...or not a buffet at all. But the reason why we came here is because it was cheaper than other places. *sad face* Environment: Oh eww...outside faces Pearlridge... the place is very dim. Once you go inside, on the left are a bunch of brown Hello Kitties in a once used machine for the claw. In front is where the cook in your face, and then all around it are sitting areas. The carpets were sticky from countless food that was probably dropped. I am sure it's marinating the floor, and who knows what kind of bacteria is flourishing. Did I also mention that our table was dirty? There were left over sauce on m right side of my utensils. X_X Parking: It's horrendous. It is best that you're there to park at 11:15 AM because let me tell you. If you wait even 5 minutes, you will be hunting. And finding parking for this place is not even worth it, trust me! Food: A variety of asian seafood and fillers. Rules for a buffet, don't eat something you can make yourself. Never eat filler foods such as rice or soup because the cost of these items are minimal and are distracters of eating the much more pricier foods such as shrimp tempura, or muscles. The snow crab they used to have isn't even there anymore, "until further notice" although their prices weren't dropped. X_X Okay... Items that were worth the calories: Shrimp tempura, seasoned muscles, tako poke, crepes, spicy tuna sushi, ocean salad, soft tofu. Highly recommend not to eat the fresh fish. I looked at it and it looked OLLLLLDDD. Like..ew, and I am a fresh fish eater! Cost: It was just about 18 bucks because we had a voucher and gift certificate that made it cheaper. You should definitely go that route instead of paying the regular price. Although, overall, I wouldn't have paid that much for the buffet anyway. -_-;;;; Employee: The girl Bri (I think that was her name)...seriously! You don't even have to work that hard, everything is done for you! WE GET OUR OWN FOOD AND UTENSILS! All you have to do is take drinks order. Snap to it honey. And honey, you need to make sure you put your lip-gloss on correctly, or make sure it's NON-MELT. I was nice about it. I told her, "um..honey, you have some lip-gloss on your chin."

    (1)

  • Julie N.

    There's a reason why your Aloha Tower location CLOSED DOWN and your Makitti needs to close too! I'm not being mean here, but this buffet is so disgusting!! The restaurant is dirty (it needs a really good cleaning, or maybe a renovation!) They give out a lot of coupons, but I wouldn't even go here if it was my birthday and I got to eat free. I'd rather pay and go elsewhere! - btw that's saying a lot if you know me!

    (1)

  • Emely S.

    Could I put a NO STAR on this place?! Needs a lot of improvements! I can't believe I paid $27 per person here?! I should've walked out as soon as I sat down. Food was less than mediocre. When I ask for steak well done, I expect not to see any blood on my plate

    (1)

  • K.J. N.

    When we arrived for the party, the entire establishment reeked of cigarette smoke. I had to pinch myself to be sure that I was not in the California Hotel casino in Las Vegas. After I inquired about where the smoke was coming from, the waitress informed that it was coming from the Manager's office within the restaurant. (The Manager was smoking.) Obviously, the smoke permeated the entire restaurant air conditioning system, and it certainly created an unhealthy environment. Before we approached the buffet, the same waitress kept announcing, "As I reiterated, with the coupon your party is using, you HAVE to order a drink." She said this to every third person. JUST SAY DRINKS ARE INCLUDED DAMMIT! For the price of $23 per head, the buffet has many local favorites and albeit mediocre presentation, the food tasted okay. The steak station was the best item on the buffet, and my steak was tender and rare as I requested. The final touch of "customer service" was the dessert gal who got upset that another customer and I came to get dessert after she closed down shop. I had no idea that the dessert station was closed, and I just wanted one sweet thing to counter the MSG high that I started to feel from who knows what I ate. When I asked for what looked like fudge, she barked, "NO FUDGE!" When I pointed to what looked like fudge, dessert Nazi girl barked, "YOU WANT ONE OR TWO??!!" "TWO!" I barked back. I then proceeded to my seat, where I found I no longer had an appetite.

    (2)

  • Never F.

    Food is amazing. The beef was my favorite. Way to packed and beer was very pricey, asahi was $10. Parking is also a pain, but a very good place for an all you can eat.

    (4)

  • Sarah L.

    I see why all the other Makino Chaya locations closed. This one doesn't seem too far from the same fate. Dirtydirtydirty. Sticky tables, pieces of who knows what all over the floor, and flies playing tag with your food. The sushi section was seriously lacking, as they decided not to replenish. From other reviews, it seems like this is always a problem. Take your chances with the made-to-order items. I think the only decent thing we ate was the miso butterfish, veggie tempura, and crepes. Not worth the price.

    (1)

  • Kim N.

    What a terrible experience! Went there to celebrate my husband's birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary. Gals at the reception area FORGOT to add the coupons to our bill at the end of the night after verifying the birthday. The food was not filled, lots of empty trays while cooks were watching everyone in line. The sushi was hard as rock and old. The only good thing was the miso soup. Went there to eat miso butterfish..and instead got BONES! Really?! For the price that we are paying this was a dump! The server was rude and they started cleaning up around us which made is difficult for us to maneuver around. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE!!

    (1)

  • Kris M.

    It's not someplace that I would choose to go. Been here twice for family get togethers and been disappointed both times. I think the only people that were somewhat satisfied were the ones piling up on the skinny crab legs.

    (2)

  • Wayne S.

    The nuts don't fall too far from the tree............... Well if you look at the quality of food and over all pride of the restaurant you see the same thing at Makitti that you do at Makina Chaya. We ended up here because the in-laws wanted to try the place. First thing that I noticed was how tired and how in serious need of cleaning and new carpet the restaurant needed. Next was the buffet line and how unsanitary it was with the low sneeze guard and the patrons touching things, moving their hair, coughing, talking over the food, etc etc etc. I just could not get into the whole experience. No pride in the employees and no pride in the management and for sure the owners don't give a crap about this dump. Sushi old man was emptying trash with gloves on and then making sushi. Some people just don't get the entire gloves concept. COME ON!! This place gets a 0!!!!!!! I had this review incomplete for a while because I was just to pissed to finish...........in fact finishing this now I am getting pissed so I will end it now. I need to go to a happy place NOW but sheeesh I already ate my Hokulani cupcake before I finished this review. I need another!! 0!!!!!!!

    (1)

  • Alissa L.

    I see that this place hasn't gotten many good reviews on here so that is why I felt I had to voice my opinion. In short it's not the fanciest or best quality food, but it's tasty all you can eat sea food - crab legs, sahimi, etc + chocolate fountain & crepes. It didn't make me sick, it all went down great! Now the long review: We recently had out of town guests come to visit. Actually a lot of out of town guests. One place we knew we had to take them was Makino Chaya because it's something they would not get on the mainland. Because of scheduling we ended up going to Makino Chaya twice in one week (Both for Dinner)! Now because of price I wouldn't recommend that (about $32 / person + drinks, tips & tax), but I think it was worth it to see all of our friends faces by the time the night was done. Everyone loved the selection from sushi, fresh sashimi, all you can eat crab legs, (the stuffed crab is to die for), and of course the lobster tail (small but tasty -made to order) & teppanyaki steak. Oh and how can I forget the crepes (I had 2 filled with ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream & topped with chocolate), chocolate fountain, & mini cakes. All so fresh & yummy. The service was great when we went as well. The waiter was extremely nice! I think this place is well worth the price if you only go there on special occasions- or with out of town guests. One thing I didn't like though was it's limited hours. From 11-2pm for lunch & 5-8:30 or 9pm for dinner. Because of this the latest they'd take a reservation was 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours before closing because the wanted to make sure you had time to eat before they pulled the food. I did however see them seat a walk in party of six at about 8:15 -They just warned them that they'd be closing soon. I say give it a try!

    (4)

  • Michael C.

    Terrible. Makino Chaya is a restaurant that used to be so awesome it was almost legendary, but has since fallen from grace so far that it has become an embarrassment. Sometimes it's just time to call it quits and close the doors. Makino Chaya reached that point a long time ago. When Makino Chaya first opened its original location, it was even better than hallowed Hakone, with a huge made-to-order menu, high quality food, great service, a massive selection that gave you everything you could get at a good Japanese restaurant at an incredible value because it was an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Today, Makino Chaya lacks everything that made it once a great restaurant. The made-to-order menu is completely gone now. I overheard many other surprised diners finding this out also, after spending $32 per person. FOOD: I'm not even sure why I keep giving Makino Chaya "one more chance". They're like that boyfriend/ girlfriend that used to be really great, but then has degenerated into a lowlife that you keep giving chances to because you're hoping they'll go back to being the person they once were, until one day you finally had enough and leave for good. The sushi options are awful. About two dozen rolls, none of which are very good. And then about a half dozen nigiri, with none of the good stuff. They also do not replenish once the tray is gone. The sashimi is low-quality, and comes in small plates of ahi and salmon or ahi and hamachi. The ahi and salmon were inedible and old (turning colors, edges dull), and the hamachi was barely edible. Again, made-to-order sushi is gone. The hot food buffet is awful. All the good items from before are no longer there. The best items are the tempura, which is still decent, and the crab legs, which are tiny and overcooked (almost no meat, and the meat that is there is tough and dry). The teppanyaki station has lobsters, cut in half, but the tails are about the size of my pinky and you can only get one half at a time. It also does small cubes of steak, which are decent but not the Wagyu they used to serve. All the other options are gone. The dessert station only allows you to take two tiny rectangles of "cake" at a time. The crepe station is still there though. Overall, not only has the selection dwindled down to the lowest-quality items, those low-quality items are the lowest quality they could be, tasting awful and leaving my party feeling ill afterward. PARKING: Difficult. Westridge, surprisingly, has a large packed parking lot but I don't know where everybody is going. None of the restaurants seem packed. ORDERING/ SEATING: Makino Chaya is a large restaurant, seating close to 200 at max capacity. Because their quality has gone down so much, only half the restaurant is full at any time. Seating times have been reduced to 6:30 to 8:30, when they close. Their opening time has reduced to two hours for dinner. Arrive at 6:30, put your name in, and they will call you and seat you. And by "seat" I mean yell your name across the room and point at your table. SERVICE: Barely acceptable. See above reference to "seating" being yelling your name across the room and pointing at your table. Also, just getting drinks took about 20 minutes, and wrong too. Water was refilled once in 1.5 hours. ATMOSPHERE: Sad. It's difficult to quanitfy, but the overall feeling I felt was "sad". I think this is because people don't go to Makino Chaya a lot, and a lot of people who returned that evening were people like myself who expected to be eating decent food and able to order off of the made-to-order menu, which is now gone. Makino Chaya used to be a happy place, with lots of conversation and laughter in the background. Not anymore. COST/ VALUE: Terrible. At $32 a person, you could pay $13 more and go to Hakone and get an incredible meal; but at Makino Chaya, you get inedible crap. VERDICT: 2/5 - I only give 1/5 for restaurants that screw with me, are racist bastards, or should face civil or criminal penalties for their actions. Otherwise, Makino Chaya would get a 1/5. This is probably the lowest 2/5 rating I've ever given. This is also one of the saddest 2/5's I've ever given, as Makino Chaya in its glory days was truly epic. Makino Chaya needs to just close their last restaurant before their memory is tarnished beyond repair.

    (2)

  • Michelle L.

    This place had definitely seen better days. I remembered coming here when it first opened when I was in high school and it was really good. Now, one word screams out, "GHETTO!" The floors were very sticky which kind of grossed me out. The buffet items were pathetic. Everything was running low and the staff failed to refresh many of the items during my dining time. I think the food offerings are confused. It's a Japanese buffet but they also serve BBQ ribs?! Weird. Dessert was nonexistent because all of the fruits for the chocolate fountain were gone and so were the cakes. Also, the crepe station was closed for the day too! Lame :( Thank goodness for the teppanyaki station which turned out to be my favorite! The guy manning it cooked my steak perfectly and everything was well seasoned. Although the steak was of cheap quality, I still enjoyed it but can't say the same for the lobster as it was undercooked. The sushi selection was okay. I kept ordering the uni because I felt I will get my money's worth that way. It wasn't the freshest but passable. Our server man was quick to bring those, go him and sushi maker dude! Suffice to say, I won't be coming back for a looooong time! After dining at Hakone, I haven't found satisfaction in any other Japanese buffet. Thank you Hot Deals for the opportunity but no thanks in the end. PS: the bathrooms were disgusting! one of the toilets had brown gunk all around and inside of the bowl. it was nastier than beach toilets. yum, great way to start off my meal to see that.

    (2)

  • Brian B.

    I'm normally a fan of Japanese food and will usually be up for going whenever someone asks but not if we're coming here... I recently ate here with my parents when they came down for Christmas and boy do I wish I had talked them out of coming here! Thankfully my parents are easy enough to please and will rarely complain but they could certainly do FAR better than this... First of all, I don't mind buffets as long as the food is rotated regularly so that things are kept fresh. Here, it seems like they keep things out until it looks like the food is almost about to come back to life and walk off the line... Disgusting! Also, the areas of the line where the food is don't seem to look like they're wiped down very well either which is not my idea of clean or appetizing. I shudder to think that there's probably some bacteria or something looming right below or nearby to where the food is sitting. Did I mention that some of the seafood looks like it's going to come back to life? The tables and chairs here are also very old and in dire need of replacement too. It almost seems like everything here has been around for a while, like they never replaced anything since they opened including the carpet. Like another fellow Yelper said, this place screams GHETTO with the way it just looks so run down & dank. The variety of food is ok, but honestly I can't say that I find it appetizing due to the reasons mentioned above. The desserts are also kinda ehhh, since they too look like they've been sitting out for quite a long time too. Seriously, would it be that hard for a runner to come by every so often and make sure the food is still fresh or even clean things up a little and arrange things nicely? After having come here and eaten again, I have definitely been reminded of why I don't like the Makino Chaya restaurants on the island. All of them seem run down and like they're coasting on the reputation of the name more then quality of food & dining experience. For the price, I expect better then this... MUCH better. Definitely not coming back again unless some hot chick that I'm dating drags me here... Hmmm, then again maybe not!

    (1)

  • Jordan S.

    Ive been here 3 times.... and each time it got worse and worse.... From the dishes served, to the dingy look. First time was just.... eh..... 2nd time was..... why did we come here again? 3rd time (only cause of 2 for 1 coupon, and I normally like buffets) It was like..... no.... just no.... Not gonna ever come here again, even if its free. Let me just say, there was never anything terribly wrong with the service. Now, the rest is all bad stuff. The buffet selection itself was very varied.... but the quality seriously lacked. The meats were chewy and either tasteless or overpowered with the wrong types of flavors, the fish was rubbery and just plain yuck. The one food item I enjoyed was the chocolate fountain and jellos.... but then again, if they couldnt get jello right, I would ask them to just shut down already. There was a teppanyaki station at one point, with steak and scallops. The steak was alright, and I wanted to try the scallops, so I ordered a combo with both..... the steak wass still ok... but the scallops were ice cold!!! Still near frozen! It had a nasty taste and texture! I nearly had to stick my whole mouth in the chocolate fountain! Next, the look of the place..... There is just something that completely turns me off about the look! Its dark, and sometimes looks rather un-clean, the carpet definitely does not help the feeling. All I gotta say, just dont go here.... save yourself the time and gas.... go to KFC downstairs instead or something.... idk, just not here!

    (1)

  • Kylie Y.

    Its been a while since we last visited here--about a year or so and things have gotten worse! 1. Our server and the entire staff didn't seem like any of them wanted to be there 2. Food was luke warm 3. No chocolate fountain anymore 4. The price went up for "4th of July" (That doesn't even make sense) 5. They were out of many items on the "all you can eat" menu 6. They were also out of whipped cream for the crepes, tamago sushi I usually can deal with things that go wrong in the restaurant business such as running out of things, food being on the colder side BUT when you're gonna charge a arm and a leg because it's "4th of July" and are only open for an hour and a half please make sure you can actually serve people their money's worth OR at least train your staff to be courteous to guests when explaining that there isn't an item they ordered OR make sure that the entire staff is on the same page of knowing what's "86" for the day before the shift starts. There isn't much good to say about this place. I was excited about the chocolate fountain but then became disappointed when we found out there was none. The only reason this place is staying open is probably because Hawaii doesn't have many buffets and people frequent this place because there is no where else. THEY NEED ROBERT IRVINE TO COME AND DO A RESTAURANT IMPOSSIBLE ON THEM! AVOID-AVOID-AVOID!

    (1)

  • Mimi A.

    RATS!!! They have RATS!!! Ate there for dinner last night and there was not one, but 2 rats in the kitchen!!!! I would give NO STARS if I could! DISGUSTING. The silverware and plates were dirty too. DO NOT EAT HERE!!!

    (1)

  • S N.

    One star for chocolate fountain only, for the price u pay, not worth it! Dirty, n the quality of food is horrible

    (1)

  • Eileen S.

    My first time there and I was not impressed. The food was less than mediocre. We had a reservation for 730pm and before half of us got through the line they ran out of some of the foods. Really? Service was sucky. The waiter came back maybe once to see how we were. I actually had to yell out to him to ask for a refill on my water. They are absolutely not worth the $32.95 they charge. Even the coupon we used that brought it down to $24.74 (not including the mandatory drink purchase) is not worth it. $10 or $15 at most, but definitely not anything more. I won't be going there again on any future visits to Hawaii. Unless you like overpaying for low quality food and service, I suggest you look elsewhere.

    (1)

  • Ursula C.

    We ate here for lunch today and it was underwhelming. This place always gets negative reviews but I've had a handful of good experiences here. The old lady at the front desk is always friendly, funny and welcoming. Unfortunately, nothing today made me go back for seconds. The tempura and guise was delicious as usual. I tried the miso soup for the first time today and I was happy that it was tasty and the tofu was nice and soft. I was disappointed in the stuffed crab. Each time I go there it tastes different. Today the cheese and tomato killed any other flavors but it's just as well because the one section I ate that was just crab didn't taste too great. My daughter loved it even thought she didn't eat much and only tried one fondue banana for dessert. I'll go back but will avoid the same day and time. I just wanted to note that it's not Italian food.

    (3)

  • Mohammed K.

    Food was decent. Lobster was pretty good, and unlimited crabs was solid. The waiter Matthew was excellent, could tell he really cared about the customers. Great place for the price.

    (4)

  • Lily B.

    Located in Westridge is Makino Chaya. This restaurant shares parking with Tony Roma's, Ichiriki, and Chez Bar to name a few. Parking can be extremely limited for dinner, especially on weekends. You have to go round and round... or even venture for parking downstairs (and usually that lot is full also). If you have a reservation, be sure to give yourself enough time to find a parking stall. Onto the restaurant... I've never been a fan of buffets. It's kinda not really my thing. I'm pretty simple. And I'm pretty picky. Those two put together make me a easy yet complex eater. Oxymoron? Yup. I'm shaking my head at myself with you. As I went off on a tangent... I'm not a fan of buffets (okay wait, EXCEPT for the Bellagio buffet in Vegas... oh God that is the ONE exception, it is hands down THE BEST buffet I've ever been fortunate to eat at - twice!)... ok ok tangent again... so the BF and his co workers had a dinner here. Wifey's/girlfriends/friends were invited, so the BF dragged me along. I wasn't excited because I had already read reviews on Yelp about Makino's... that and we dined here a while ago and I remember it not being a pleasant (nor tummy satisfying meal)... but free? Okay fine. The restaurant is a decent size but gosh they sure cram as many tables as they can inside! The buffet line is SO close to tables and there's just not much space to walk. It's very uncomfortable. The A/C isn't very cold (I HATE being hot), and the staff, well, they're okay. Not exactly on their A game though. Bathrooms are... okay. I mean the door locks. There's toilet paper. And soap to wash your hands. Decor is... not the best. Food... mediocre. At best. Luke warm and either bland or salty. No happy medium. They have white rice, fried rice, noodles, chicken, gyoza, stir fry vegetables, tofu, poke, beef and broccoli, dumplings, shumai, shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, an assortment of sushi, a crepe station, desserts station (various cakes), ice cream, and a "meat" station where the chef will cook you up some beef. Needless to say, I left dinner... hungry. Again. Flashbacks to our previous visit a loooong time ago. Lesson learned: remove Makino as a restaurant to dine at - even if it's free. I'd rather pay $8 to go to Panda Express at Pearlridge and grab some fried rice/chow fun with honey walnut shrimp and chicken w/ mushrooms. I must make a side note though... the boys enjoyed their dinner. Maybe because they were hungry... or because it was free... or because they were tipsy... or all of the above... the sober women knew better though.

    (1)

  • B H.

    Food was surprisingly good, although was not worth waiting for the lobster. The tail was the size of my pinky. Place was clean. Plates were clean. Forks were bent but clean.

    (4)

  • Jeannine R.

    We had a large party and we came in close to closing time, but they were still willing to accomodate us. The buffet had a fair selection but the fire grill was probably my favorite part. The dessert buffet was decent as well but they have a handmade crepe station that I loved since I could ask the worker to put whatever I wanted on it. If you're looking to feed a bunch of picky eaters, this is a good place to go since everyone can eat whatever they want.

    (3)

  • Tom M.

    Over crowded. Slow service. Food ran out and they did not refill for over 10 minutes. Notanything like I remembered 2 years ago when I would have rated them 5 Stars. Certainly not worth the $28 per person price tag. Sorry, just a bad experience for all 3 in our party.

    (1)

  • Darcie C.

    My first time going and the wait was 1 hour even with a called in reservation. Its very smoky when they grill the meats. The selection is okay, wasnt too excited. The desserts were all gone by the time we got up there. The wait time for desserts was 30 minutes. Although, the staff was great!

    (2)

  • Keith K.

    This place used to be a great deal about 6 years ago for the customer but guessing that the owner was taking it in the shorts.... now? Most of getting seafood is either coated in tempura or smothered in some sort of sauce. They don't offer fresh fruit anymore and no more cocktail shrimp. Snow crab legs and white fish are still pretty good. I also liked the raspberry frozen yogurt.

    (3)

  • Huong N.

    The food never had no taste. Was mostly all warm. Wouldn't come back here again unless they hired better cooks

    (1)

  • John B.

    20130109: My Auntie bought all of us cousin's gift cards to use at dinner to celebrate her son's birthday. She did the same thing last year too (thanks Auntie!!!). Not really sure where to start off with my review but this most recent trip to Makinos was definitely better than the two I had last year. (last years trips to Makinos was ok but this latest one was the best at this Aiea location!!) The inside looked much cleaner and they did some good renovations and changes inside. Off the top of my head, the placement of the dessert case & area where they make your dessert crepe is now in the middle of the restaurant by the windows facing Bed Bath & Beyond. They should have 2 workers there. Oh since we were celebrating a birthday, my cousin got a special cake (ice cream cake I think) from that dessert case thing. I don't normally get sushi or sashimi when I go to Makinos. I mostly go for the snow crab legs for the majority of my seafood. This is along with stuff from the hot food line like fried rice, gyoza, shumai, won tons, shrimp tempura. You can check out the pics that I uploaded if you like. The sashimi trays looked so good last night that I had 3 of them total :-) Was very pleased to see they had lobster on the grill along with the wagyu steak. I went up twice this trip for both! I don't normally get king crab legs but they had them to order off the menu and my cousin (b-day boy) ordered several plates of them and I had at least 2 big legs. I'm now officially a king crab guy! Don't know why I avoided them all this time. But I think I got the hang of cracking them open now haha. for dessert i had 2 crepes: 1 with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream and the 2nd one with strawberries and ice cream. Pro tip: I used the bananas on the stick to get the chocolate fountain chocolate on my crepes. tastes much better than that weak sauce Hershy syrup. I'll end this long review by saying that it seems hit or miss with Makino Chaya and your own individual experience. But when we went last night (a Wednesday night) it wasn't too busy. I don't like crowds much so that was a big plus for me :-) There was 14 of us total but they wait staff did a good job with refilling our drinks and taking orders from us off the menu. Also, we didn't have the "sticky carpet" feeling this time, which was nice. I hope its this nice again the next time we eat at Makinos! :-)

    (5)

  • Jocelyn T.

    It was my uncle's birthday and this place was one of his favorite spots to eat so we went during lunch time. Of course being Filipino, we were late. Arrived after 1pm and the place closed at 2 so was expecting not much of a spread at this point. Food was your typical buffet with your Chinese and Japanese and food items but there hardly anything left on the buffet. The sushi station was almost non existent so I avoided it all together. They also had a ramen station which wasn't too bad. The only thing I enjoyed was the teppanyaki steak and banana crepes with vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Service was really good though, the lady who took care of us was really nice. I can actually see my dad liking this place a lot.

    (2)

  • Christopher T.

    went 2 times was not satisfied the 1 was with an organization for my church group we were told we would get percentage off our bill for birthdays senior citizen and military but we did not get that we had to pay full price that time I went for lunch the 2 time I went for dinner and that was the same day as they had a chemical order so they closed the businesses so I was not pleased

    (1)

  • Jaedee L.

    I've never been a huge fan of buffets in hawaii and the last time I went to one, I was eight. So I guess you can say I had no idea what I was getting into when I agreed to go with my boyfriend to this horrible place. I usually dont look at reviews before I go to places....just cause I like to go in with an open mind....Lets just say that I should have read the reveiws on this place. The sushi area from afar looked pretty decent and tolerable. But once I actually got there. The sushi looked like it had been sitting there all day and the sashimi quality was horrible. Nevertheless, I grabbed a piece just to see if it would somewhat be okay.It was jist as nasty as it looked! This place holds negative stars in my book. The hot food wasnt that big of a deal either. I had miso butter fish,shrimp tempura,veggie tempura and beef gyoza, it looked okay on the buffet line, but it was SUPER GREASY. Now about their dessert....NO BUENO!!! I asked for a crepe...I got a piece of cardboard with whipped cream...Bottom line....I will NEVER EVER EAT HERE AGAIN!!!

    (1)

  • Kevin Y.

    Yikes. Scary to say to say the least. This is the second review I ever posted. The crab and lobster isn't the only thing that has legs around here, so do the live roaches infesting this place. Sanitation is definitely out the window from the preparation of the food to the bathroom. The fact that all the toilets were overflowing like the fondue fountains or that there is no paper towels. I wonder if the workers were not washing their hands? I think I threw up a little in my mouth. Good thing the food was dry, over cooked and tasteless. Seafood is best cooked fresh. I guess a brown oysters is their preferred sign of freshness. Thats ok i was masked by cheese and old hollandaise sauce, now thats an oyster rockefeller. Yummmy but back to the fresh king crab. Freshly cooked yesterday just for you and we left it out just the way you like it. And the lobster, sizzler has nothing to worry about. This was definitely a priceless experience. So for your next birthday, think about another venue or enjoy the entertainment of the cockroaches as they scamper around while you dine, and finish with the toilet fondue. Btw. I got sick after. And I'm reporting them to department of health!!

    (1)

  • Kimberly O.

    Despite the terrible reviews we decided to give this place the benefit of the doubt. I'm not sure if the older asian woman was a manager or owner or whatever but as soon as we said "2 people" she said they were closing soon (We had an hour actually). It was just rude that she was kicking us out before we had even taken our seats. You don't say that to customers. Aside from that, the food was unimpressive, cold, and the layout was awkward to walk through from any angle. I wouldn't be sad if I never go back.

    (1)

  • Jason Y.

    Flies and Bugs everywhere! On the dishes and even sushi bar! I got food poison after lunch there. Spend the whole afternoon and evening at doctors office. Horrible! I seriously doubt the local health department is corrupted as they allowing this restaurant keep running. Advice: Stay away from this place, people!!

    (1)

  • Harvey A.

    Food was Ono for the price. We had our daughter's 15th birthday here and our waiter took great care of us.

    (4)

  • Janice S.

    Food is ok. Nothing special. Parking lot is always full.

    (2)

  • Darrell P.

    First off, I'm going to spare you the pictures because I didn't think I can handle looking at it again. Our office was treated to this place and based on the bad reviews I was expecting the worse but on the other hand I thought it couldn't be that bad. We got there about 45 minutes early and waited then eventually our names were called and we were finally seated. I dont know about anyone else, but when I go to a buffet, I avoid all starches and any type of bread and head to what would be the more expensive stuff. So I piled my plate and headed back to my seat. The choy sum I'd say was the only healthy thing on my plate and it wasn't that bad either. The shrimp tempura was ok. But after the first bite I just started to peel the batter and eat the shrimp. It was on the greasy side. The stuffed crab shell, I don't know what it was but it had a vinegary taste to it and didn't taste like crab at all. It was really rich too. The tako yaki. I had this at the last ETS and this was nowhere near that. I guess it cooled off and the stuff inside started to solidify. When I took a bite it was like a really super thick batter. I forced myself to swallow it to the edge of a gage reflex and I'm not exaggerating either. The rest stayed on the plate. The miso butterfish made me queasy. It was really friggin greasy. I literally had to ask my buddy for a couple sushi from his plate to soak up that grease so my stomach could equalize. I had a bowl of the miso soup and I'd say it was pretty good washing the grease down. For desert I had the strawberry crepe and the wannabe cheesecake. The strawberry filling of the crepe was sour. Like a sour strawberry. I had to cut it with the whip cream just so it could get by. I ended up pushing the filling out and just ate the crepe. The cheesecake was no cheesecake. Well technically it had cheesecake but it was just about 3/8 thick and the crust wasn't like a graham crust it was a 1/2 or more of pound cake. We ended up just scraping the top off and ditching the cake. I don't mean to rip on the food but I'm gonna tell it like it is. Like other reviews said about the meat, yeah I did see it just sitting there without anything to keep it cool or a cover but I didnt see any flies or bugs in the food. The manager was on the up tight side too. He had to jump on the cheesecake side and pass them out and make ice cream for customers too. But on a good note, the waitress we had was very friendly and always came back to see how we were doing. I kinda felt sorry for her in a way because I think they were shorthanded today seeing how she was going none stop and at the same time checking on our table so in that respect it was a good experience. As far as going back again....I really don't think so. The food menu needs a serious makeover before I come back again. I thought I'd have a better experience but that didn't happen on this one. Sorry.

    (2)

  • Vince L.

    Craving for Japanese buffet . Heard about Makino Chaya. As you enter the Resto you see their grill and they serve. Fine beef cuts. I like mine with just salt and pepper. It melts in your mouth kind of good.i like the grilled tuna head. I can see other people grossed out but I'm just fine . I ended up eating almost the tuna head for myself. Good bang for the buck if your looking for cheap Japanese cooking. Tha tako yaki is what it is. Yucky... It tasted just like flour with a hint of msg and little tiny cuts of imitation crab. Like I said the buffet price was good for price bargain hunters . I will still come back here if they will add more selections on their buffet line.

    (3)

  • Raych D.

    Tried the Aloha Tower location twice in the past and wasn't to impressed by it, with that impression I've never really gone out of my way to try the Aiea location until last week. Got my hair did late last week down this side with a friend of mine, and since I was his last client we decided to grab dinner after wards. Everything was closing at 9pm, and just to be sure I called to asked if we could make a rsvp and what time they closed, the lady who answered "greeted me and with a sny comment said "well we close at 9pm and we stop cooking at 8:15pm and we do not take reservations". She made it sound like we were inconveniencing her but we still opted to eat there and made it there by 8:30pm. When we got there, the host asked us if we wanted to check the line to see the food they had left before we decide if we want to eat there....and AGAIN I felt like we were inconveniencing them. I was so annoyed that I just said Yes we are going to eat here regardless of the rude attitude I got twice! They didn't have to much food left especially the sushi section but we manage to grab a few fresh ones. The selection is far more than the Aloha tower one that I've been too. Some of my favorites were the chicken, crab legs, fried rice, fried noodles, beef and broccoli, garlic shrimp, fresh made kobe steak, and all the tons and tons of sushi/miso butterfish and stuffed lobster we ordered from the other menu. I will say the waiter we had name "JOE" is so AWESOME!!! He kept telling us what foods to order, and that because we came late we could order more than 3 items from the menu and he didn't charge us for our sodas. He was so nice to us and so patient that we had to give him extra mula for his hospitality. If it wasn't for JOE, I would have never wanted to come here again...but because he made out night I'm definitely coming back again, hopefully this time earlier so I can see all the food they have.

    (4)

  • Mika K.

    What happened to this place? We have been here a few times but this time around it was honestly junk. The service was nice but some staff needs training in customer service. Food was ugh!

    (1)

  • mai n.

    We had lunch here, which is probably why there was no crab or butterfish, both of which I was looking forward to. That being said, overall I would say this is an ok place if you stick with what's good/decent. I did not try the ramen or beef stations just because. I also avoided basic fillers like rice, potatoes, noodles, and soup. What I thought was good was the shrimp tempura, steamed fish, and the teriyaki chicken, although FYI the fish used is basa, which is a fresh water cheapo fish from Vietnam. But it did taste good and was tender...the tempura sushi was ugh, some seafood thingy on a shell was ugh, bok choi was ok. Whatever you do avoid the nigiri, the seafood was sliced really thin and looked and tasted dry. Dessert wise I did not partake of the crepe, the soft serve was good enough but the cakes bleh...so if you like shrimp tempura you can get your money's worth for sure and enjoy your meal, otherwise...

    (3)

  • Loren O.

    Yikes. Service was terrible. Food was even worse. HORRIBLE experience. The night we came there was a party that took up most of the restaurant. Lines were extremely long, I thought it was pretty awful that they allowed the party to have karaoke, so it was extremely loud the ENTIRE time we were there. My water was never refilled, the people who were working the different stations were not at all friendly, and the front desk people were straight up rude. We ask for a high chair, and his reply? "Its right behind you." Baby in one arm, high chair now in the other. Thanks, dude. Great help. Food was disgusting. The only thing I was able to eat was the steak (which took about 20 minutes to get since they grill it to order tepanyaki style), but even that seemed sketchy to me since the steaks were piled up and left uncovered (and not even sitting on ice) next to the cook. Everything else in the buffet line seemed old and inedible. I didn't see them replace anything off the buffet line once, the entire time we were there. My slice of prime rib looked so raw that I'm sure it still had a heart beat. The miso soup did not even look like miso soup! I expected a light colored broth, with little squares of tofu and seaweed floating around... definitely not what I expected. I'm totally being serious when I say that I couldn't tell the difference between my miso soup and my au jus sauce. SERIOUSLY. What the hell. I didn't dare to enter the bathroom. Yeah... One star... Never again.

    (1)

  • T T.

    EEEWWW..is about what sums it up for me. Initially it was really good with freshly made food as you order but whatever company took over after, really downgraded the quality. The food is never fresh and looks as if it had been sitting out overnight and reused and reused again. The interior is down right drabby and dirty. It smells horrible and the carpets are filthy. Servers are inattentive and look like they hate their job. Definitely not worth the money for salmonella poisoned food!! YUCK

    (1)

  • Ryan W.

    Ok, it's not a 5-star outfit with people wiping your chin and filling your water glass every 3 seconds. What it is... is a seafood style buffet where all the locals go... Enough said; it's affordable, the food is good for buffet style and you will get your fill. Crab legs... All you can eat... Stop whining!!! Seriously! Oh and Chris the manager, is a pretty good guy!

    (5)

  • Ashlyn B.

    This restaurant is what actually made me sign up for Yelp. My first, and definitely last, experience at this particular location was awful! The sushi looked as if it were left out all day. Every type of dish there was cold. The tongs for many of the dishes were resting on TOP of the food (eew, not everyone who uses those tongs wash their hands! and now it's on the food? gross!) The lobster tail seafood thing was cold and flavorless. And finally, my cup was dirty! I ordered a Coke and seen a layer of film floating on it! Please save yourself the time and money. I found nothing pleasing about this restaurant at all.

    (1)

  • Lei N.

    The weekend after father's day, my dad still wanted to eat at Makino Chaya. I didn't want to argue so I made reservations earlier that day for three: my brother, my dad and I. He wanted to have dinner at five p.m. but they didn't open until six so I made the reservations at that time. When we got to the restaurant we checked in with the hostess and had to wait until the restaurant actually opened, for the dinner rush I suppose. Once we finally got called in to be seated, I noticed that they had arranged a portion of the place for smaller parties? I think so. We got the table overlooking the parking lot and parts of Pearlridge Uptown. Once we got seated our waitress served us our drinks and we started on getting food from the buffet and sushi bar. As we were gathering our food my dad stood at the steak line so that we could all get our own plate of steak. My brother and I piled our plates with food and started eating. Our goal was to eat our money's worth but that didn't turn out well. My brother was the first to cave in, then my father who really wanted to eat as much as possible and I was the last struggling to fork down as much of my dinner as possible. By the end of the night we didn't even get up for seconds, well except for corn. Their noodles was a disappointment. After our meal, my stomach wasn't feeling so good, so I'm not sure if I would like to eat there again.

    (2)

  • Nathan N.

    The place just sucks. Don't waste your time.

    (2)

  • Kana T.

    If you only take away one thing from this review, let it be this: Make sure you plan ahead, and print out a "15% off for Kama Aina" coupon before you go visit! After driving around looking for parking (cannot be helped since this was on a Sat), my friend and I debated between Tony Roma's and Makino Chaya, and decided to eat here. We asked if we could use the Kama Aina coupon that we found online, and were told only if it's printed out. Okay, fair enough since that is what is says on the coupon online. But I will say this-their buffet is definitely not worth $30 a person. Even at $25.50 (with the 15% off for Kama Ainas), it's still debatable. Yes I was full after my meal. I liked the ikura and enjoyed the desserts (crepe/soft serve), but that's about the only positive thing I can say about this place. The garlic shrimp was cold, and the nigiri sushi on the line had wasabi in it already. (In their defense, I'm sure they would make any of the nigiris without wasabi if you ask) The teppanyaki steak was the SALTIEST steak I've ever had, and the lobster and unagi weren't anything special...lastly, the soft shell crab was majority tempura batter. My friend really liked the sake shio yaki which I didn't try. I liked that they had a crepe station, but the attendant went missing at one point, kept us waiting. They also had a sign saying one ice cream scoop per visit...Really Makino Chaya? You're putting a limit on ice cream? When you only have one flavor to begin with? I haven't been to Todai in ages, but I'm sure their buffet would be more enjoyable. Or better yet-pay the additional $10 or so and go to Hakone in the Hawaii Prince Hotel.

    (2)

  • Esther S.

    I am updating my review because the manager was nice enough to follow up with our incident. He thoroughly apologized. My parents were comped a dinner for two on the house and we were given four $25 gift cards. The acknowledgement shows great management and the gesture was much appreciated. My parents enjoyed their meal.

    (4)

  • Sera O.

    Fffff... I wanted to like this place, I really did. To be fair the selection is wide and varied and any time spent with my grandparents is a great one. However the quality of the food left a lot to be desired. Should I would rather have this place with only a few good items to eat, then a plethora of of crap I have to sift through to find something edible. There were flies buzzing all around, and my feet were sticking to the filthy stained carpet. Yes that's right !! ...sticky, smelly, nasty ass carpet. Again, had my grandparents not brought me here (and I was trying to spare their feelings) I would have walked out on the floor alone. Some of the food was cold when it should have been hot, some of the hot food was cold. I will say that the crepes and the ice cream was rather good but I'm not sure how you mess those up... Also, the staff's "don't give a s***" attitude was really the icing on the cake! I go to the island twice a year but I will not be back here.

    (2)

  • Johnelle P.

    I have been here only a handful of times but it is more than enough times for me to confidently say STAY AWAY FROM HERE. On my first visit, the place was a mess. Dishes on empty tables and not a single waiter/waitress in sight. It took about half an hour to get our drinks. And that was the last time we saw a waiter. Major red flag. I went to grab a plate and my finger SLIPPED. As in, the dish was so greasy that it literally slipped out of my hand. I caught it before it fell on the ground. I ended up going through 5 plates before I found a 'clean' one. I was disgusted at this point, but being that we had waited to eat all day, I was trying not to let this part get to me. And then there's the food. The food in the buffet area was dried out and there were very few dishes to choose from. It wasn't anywhere near closing time, so you'd think that it'd be well stocked right? Yeah, no. The man who made the steak was very friendly. As was the man who made the crepes. He barely spoke English, but he could say very basic things. The rest of this restaurant is bogus. It turns out that you can't pay separately, and at that time we went to pay they weren't taking cash. I didn't have any cards on me, just cash. A friend of ours ended up spotting all of us..that was very embarrassing :( Stay away stay away stay away

    (1)

  • Jane L.

    When this location first opened, my family and I used to go on birthdays. The last time we went there a few years ago we all got sick and never went back. It started off as good but then turned to crap.

    (1)

  • Dave F.

    Went here for a birthday and I have to admit, it was horrible! The place looked like it was in dire need of a cleaning. The only thing really worth eating was the steak because it was freshly cooked. The crab was overdone and rubbery and the sushi was hard. The line can be deceiving, giving one the wrong impression as if the food inside is so great... Sorry, but I won't be back, I'll spend my money elsewhere...

    (1)

  • Jo S.

    I only stack crab legs and steak on my plate. NOM NOM. When you go to a buffet, it is up to YOU to eat your moneys worth.

    (5)

  • Lori W.

    Oh, where to begin. The other reviewers were right. Went here for lunch a few Saturdays ago because a family member wanted to celebrate something here, and loves the Las Vegas location. Maybe because it was daytime, it was worse because, well, it's dayLIGHT. So you could really see what you didn't want to see. Flies, flies, gnats, flies, gnats, flies. In an indoor location. With garbage in the corners. Flies buzzing all over the sushi. Flies buzzing all over the fruit. Just...nasty. The waitstaff was ok. Nothing great, but it is a buffet, so it's not like they have a chance to bust out anything spectacular. The grill guy was nice and cooked stuff to order, but it ain't Benihana. I worried about all that raw meat just sitting out on the counter. No cold storage. No cover. There wasn't enough food to go around--the crab legs were always empty when we went up to check, although we did see fellow diners walking back with plates of just crab. Same with the shrimp tempura. IDK...maybe it was a blessing, anyways. If the floors are gross, could the cooktops/kitchen really be better? Yeesh. There was a small child standing at the pineapple by the dessert area, eating pineapple right off the platter of food. Like it was her personal plate. With her hands. And NO ONE stopped her or said anything--not the parents, the lady behind the dessert bar, nobody. So although I didn't really want to...here it went. Me, to the mom/Aunty/whoever it was:"Ummm. Excuse me, but I think she needs her own plate." "Haaaaaah?" "She. Needs. Her. Own. Plate. She's eating off the buffet. With her hands." "Oh. Yeah...Ok." And nothing. OK, yeah...I tried. Never again, not even for family. I didn't want to go in the first place, and I regret it. Got sick afterwards, too. The health department has not been here, I think. Just don't do it, people. Maybe this place would be ok if it was clean and had a decent ventilation system, and if the food areas were maintained/watched over better. But for this experience, thumbs way down. Won't be back until I see something positive on yelp...

    (1)

  • Sherry V.

    I came here to celebrate my aunt and uncle's combined birthdays; in the end, I was satisfied with the experience, but the food could use a lot of improvement. We came for the seafood buffet. The best part about this buffet experience was their teppanyaki grill which had steak and lobster. The lobster is cut in half and is already precooked and re-grilled before it is given to you. So needless to say, the lobster is overcooked and chewy, but it is lobster (you only get one at a time, by the way). Aside from the grill, everything else is not worth it. The crepe station didn't even have powdered sugar or any fruit other than banana. They did have ice cream but who puts ice cream on a crepe? I rather have ice cream by itself. The fruits, although cut up wasn't peeled. I mean the "skin/peel" were still on. Who eats cantaloupe or honeydew with the peel on? The kitchen staff got lazy? Generally the quality of the other food was "cafeteria" like at best. And the service - not the best, but I did feel they did their best, especially since they didn't seem to have enough staff. I like that it is all you can eat all you want, but next time, perhaps I'll try to order my food from the menu instead.

    (2)

  • Josie G.

    To be honest I really don't care for the service. It's not fine dining or a five star restaurant so I don't expect much at all. I was just there for the food, they have the best selection ever! I arrive hungry and leave happy....BOOM!

    (5)

  • Mark W.

    Just came here for dinner with my girlfriend and her brother and his girlfriend. We had our reservation all worked out and didn't wait when we showed up to be seated. I decided to hit the steak and lobsters station first. Considering the mass of people to be served, the portion sizes are fair. You can only get about a half steak worth of meat and a half lobster tail per visit per person to the station. The lobster isn't particularly large and is perhaps a bit chewy, but it was still pretty delicious so I went back for a second trip. The dude will also grill up some bean sprouts at your request. We spent much of our time eating the multitude of crab legs available at the main buffet line. Solid crab, plenty of meat to be had, no complaints here. The tempura shrimp was a bit doughy but not terrible. I didn't much care for the manila clam or the seafood dynamite... Which looked especially questionable. The pine nut shrimp was a tasty treat. I went to the sushi table for some tuna and wasn't very impressed, but that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone--good sushi is not made at buffets. So why the mediocre review? A number of reasons, some of which I have already stated. But there's also the environment,, which is not well kept. You'll notice flies all over the place, and the service leaves much to be desired. Our waitress was friendly and generous with the refills, but no one else seems to understand the importance of a smile in service. Even she wasn't that great-- the dishes piled up and we needed to get her attention to get them bussed. Make a custom order at the crepe station and be prepared to be glared at by underpaid, miserable people who clearly don't want to be there. I think the accolades this place has received have gotten to the owners head, and as a result, management is sub par. This place is worth a visit if it's quantity you crave. But for a nice family dinner with quality food and good service, you'll likely have better luck next door.

    (3)

  • Debrah D.

    Went here for my dad's birthday. I ended up reserving a table for ten people about two hours earlier. Upon checking in, we were immediately seated. It was about 7pm, there were a lot of empty tables still. Around 8pm, business started to pick up and there were lines for each section of the buffet. If you ever visit here make sure u eat your hot food right away, once it gets cold the food isn't really great. I love the steak and lobster station. I wish the utensils and plates were cleaned more thoroughly. It would help a lot if there were two people servicing the dessert station as well as refilling the chocolate fountain and the dipping items. I have never had the sushi in this place, it doesn't look like the sushi is a hit anyway. Despite the food, the service was superb. Our waitress made sure we were getting our refills, and cleared empty plates right away.

    (3)

  • Brian F.

    Wow, how the mighty have fallen. The only good thing I had there was the teppan steak which was prepared right in front of me. Everything on the "hot" buffet line was luke warm at best, plus they were 75% empty the whole time we were there. The sushi platters were also empty. I ordered the soft shell crab off the menu and that was horrible. The restaurant has a greasy smell when you walk in, not a good first impression. The entrance looks so tacky with all the signs taped to the glass. Save your money. p.s. check your plates that you pick up at the teppan station and the buffet lines as alot of them were dirty!!

    (1)

  • Grant S.

    Buffets are like "Choose your own destiny" books. This Makino Chaya at Westridge is a "choose your own destiny" book except all the pages with positive endings were torn out long ago. Let's examine the good points of the night. Our server was quite good. Despite having to tend very rarely to tables at the buffet, she was quick to refill drinks and ask if we wanted any made-to-order items. The baby octopus was quite good, tender and deep fried. The vegetable tempura was cooked well and came out hot. The list ends there. If you ever find yourself not knowing what room temperature feels like, try anything on the buffet line. I usually stray away from lukewarm and poor reviews but this review of Makino Chaya is fittingly so. Let's take a trip down memory lane at the buffet, the white rice smelled as if it had been sitting in a cold pot all day, the fried rice was gray, the rest of the starch options just looked unappetizing. The bbq chicken was ok, but room temperature, the shumai was mushy and cold, I can go on and on. The buffet line gives you a peek into the kitchen where they pass trays of food. Unfortunately, what has been seen cannot be unseen. Back of the house workers wore street clothes, a good indication of the unsanitary conditions to follow. The cutting boards and prep surfaces had half cooked and half prepped food sitting on them with no one to tend to them. I saw a side of raw tuna left half trimmed sitting all night on the chopping board. There was a bicycle and a shop vac sitting in the kitchen. Steam was coming out of the steam table yet no food on the table absorbed a hint of that heat. I guess the smoke and mirrors show deserved some stars.... Nope. The sushi station was filthy, containers were open and strewn everywhere, the rice boxes were black, dirty, and stained. The sushi laid out on the line just sat on serving platters without any cooling mechanism. Spicy tuna, mayo topping, dried out nigiri, all room temperature. The crepe station next door had big tubs of cut bananas all per-oxidized for your enjoyment. The canned strawberries were still frozen on the inside. The crepe was overcooked on one side, undercooked on the other. The busboy wore a tank top and shorts, carried a dirty bus bin and wandered a little too close to the food. At this point the dinner could not be saved. To get this place back into shape, either Kitchen Impossible needs to pay them a visit or they need to be shut down. I'd love to be constructive instead of complaining about all the problems, but if a health inspector walked into this place (with all the budget cuts, the one health inspector...) it would be condemned on sight. Maybe a renovation is in order, new everything should be ordered.

    (1)

  • Jensen S.

    This place is terrible. Old untasty food, poor service, expensive. What more do you NOT want in a restaurant? I don't understand how people still go here... I'm sorry. Save your money and go to idk Teddy's Bigger Burger if you want to eat a lot or even JP Serato Pasta downstairs is a good choice. Even 7-11 is better.

    (1)

  • Chan M.

    Filthy, disgusting, rude service, gone downhill! Years ago, this place used to be so yummy, clean with the best service. Seems like a new management took over, and ever since the place is the worst place to ever eat!! WASTE OF UR MONEY!! Former friend of mines used to work here, and she says there's a lot of rats in their kitchen! Talk about disgusting!!!

    (1)

  • Kristi P.

    I am not one to write negative reviews but I felt compelled to express my opinion about our dining experience at Makino Chaya. We've been there before and it was always just OK for me. I'm wondering if they are under new management & staffing because I would now describe it as being HORRIBLE and a complete waste of money. Service deserves 1 star. I felt bad for our waitress who had too many tables to service/buss and wasn't able to clear our table, refill drinks, etc. The manager was standing around the restaurant overseeing operations, but not once did I see him help out with table service. Food deserves 1 star. I am not a seafood or crab lover, therefore in order to get my money's worth I was hoping that the other food would make up for it. No vegetarian sushi options except for inari. My fiancé said the ahi color, freshness, & quality was poor. I tried one bite of the miso ramen that resembled bland tasting saimin noodles. I also tried the steak and it was rubbery. The best tasting item for a non seafood diner is the vegetable tempura. They ran out of chicken katsu curry when I tried to order it off the menu. Our waitress' response was "You wouldn't want to try it anyways it's nothing special." Ok that's NOT what you want to tell customers about your restaurant's food. Worst part is that my mother-in-law found a long piece of HAIR IN HER FOOD. When we spoke with the manager his response was unacceptable. "It might have been from a customer. Sometimes when people lean over to get their food that can happen." True, but don't you think cooks in the back should take precautionary measures and wear hairnets? I could see through the back area and I assure you they weren't. Note to the manager; Acknowledge the fact that it's DISGUSTING and do something about it. He did end up comping 1 buffet meal for free. If you're looking for $27 worth of buffet dining, I suggest you find another place that will give you the proper service & food quality any paying customer deserves.

    (1)

  • Vanessa B.

    The food is was good. A great place to spend time with family and friends. Sometimes they ran out of what is on the menu, such as the uni or the soft crab. They have a lot of crab legs and sushi. The steak and lobster station was awesome, especially the crepe station. There is also a ramen station. That was new. They cook the steak perfectly, just how a customer likes it. Not to dry or well done. Overall, it's good.

    (4)

  • Karen D.

    Disclaimer: I've never actually been inside the restaurant. But yesterday I had their bento box for lunch at a workshop. The quality was fine, taste was decent but nothing to write home about. I understand that the prices are very affordable, which is why the free lunch was from Makino Chaya I suppose. While I wouldn't go out of my way to eat here, I would be happy to eat another (free) Makino Chaya box lunch, haha! Yelp 365 Challenge 204/365

    (3)

  • P M.

    I'd go back here but definitely not worth all the money! $130 including tip and military discount for four adults, a five year old, six year old, and one year old. That's kind of a lot for a buffet that didn't really have that many items. We're all local so we're only comparing it to local food--it was ok...but I wouldn't go there on my own. And I kinda felt bad that my sister wasted that much on us.

    (3)

  • Emy R.

    How this place is still open is beyond my comprehension. Though this review is from last August, I feel the need to put in my 2 cents. Review simplified: service sucked, food sucked, and place is filthy dirty. Bathrooms are worse than a truck stop bathroom. Filthy and smelly. If you gotta go, hold it. If you really gotta go, hold it. If you can't, water a plant or a tree outside. If you must, hold your breath. We had out of town guests visiting from the Mainland who were pretty insistent on eating here despite our best efforts to discourage them. In the end, 6 vs 2. First, straight up the service sucked. It took some time for the waiter to come over and take our drink orders, which was fine since we were talking anyway. When he came back with our drinks, I ordered sushi off the menu. Wait, let me back up, while he was getting our drinks, my friends told me what they wanted to order so when the waiter came back I told him what everyone wanted. He stopped me and told me I was only allowed to order 2 items for myself. I explained to him that I was ordering for everyone and he told me I wasn't allowed to do that. Saaay what??? He tells me it's policy because some people order a lot of items for themselves and don't finish it hence the 2 dish order policy. He needed to hear the order from each person individually. Seriously dude, do the math, do you honestly think I'm going to eat 18 plates of 2 pieces of sushi by myself? Food - blah. The only thing I had from the buffet was the shrimp tempura and that was only because I saw them bringing out a new batch. Nothing special about it, just a stomach filler. The food still looks gross and in the past tasted as it looked so I wasn't going to venture there again. There really isn't anything special in the buffet line that would justify the high price you're paying to eat here. They do have a steak station where a cook will cook your steak in front of you. Word to the wise. They advertise Wagyu beef but aren't serving it. I called the cook out on it and he quickly got a different piece of meat from the kitchen that looked a lot better than the other ones he was cooking up. It was alright, nothing special. The dessert station is ok, the desserts are cut into bite sizes so you can try more of a variety. The crepe station was out of order. They have ice creme but the cream was melting before it hit the bowl so it was more like a milk shake. To top off a sucky dinner when the waiter brought our check, he had add a 17% tip to our bill. My friend was figuring out a 20% tip when he noticed the tip had already been included. Normally, we leave 20% and so leaving 17% isn't a problem even for crappy service but to be told we had to leave 17% by default because we had a party of 8, didn't sit well with my friend. After speaking to the manager who also indicated it was standard policy, we eventually got the 17% taken off and left 15% instead. My friend told the manager and the waiter he would've left 20% if they hadn't told him what he had to leave. If you're remotely thinking about eating here, don't waste your hard earned money. Seriously, isn't even worth peeking your curiosity. Management needs to step up their game. There's a reason why the Aloha Tower location closed. FUN FACT: Mr. Makino, used to own part of Todai (the seafood buffet in Waikiki across from Hilton Hawaiian Village) but went out on his own and opened Makino-Chaya. Notice the similarities?

    (1)

  • Chibi C.

    Went to lunch with my friend about 1:00 p.m. The girl at the check-in counter didn't greet us or say anything to us in terms of greeting. The first thing out of her mouth was we close in 30 minutes and food will be taken away in 15 minutes, do you still want to eat here? I replied "yes, we do". The next thing out of her mouth was we are not cooking or adding anything new to what we already have, do you still want to eat here? Gee, do you not want business or something? or Are you doing us a favor by letting us come in to your restaurant? Her attitude sucked and I wanted to leave, but we were hungry and we had our mind made up to eat there, so I continued to say "yes". Without sitting in our seats, we just went to the buffet line and took all the food we wanted from the sushi section as well as the hot food section. The sushi had been out there quite some time, it was dry and rice was starting to harden. The hot foods weren't that great either. We could've handled the less than mediocre food if the service was good and friendly, but everything sucked. While we were dining, another totally different waitress comes along and tells us we will be closing in 15 minutes. It was 1:15 p.m. Yes, I heard that at the beginning like a million times....They rip you off when you order a drink cuz a soda was over $3.00 ($3.25 or $3.50). 1:20 p.m. all the staff starts cleaning the plates from your table whether you are done or not and massive cleaning effort starts to happen, sweeping right by and under your table whether you are eating or drinking. In essence almost like shouting "get the hell out of here". Sure, who wants to stay here. I was totally embarrassed because I suggested we try out this place. Don't care if there is a coupon or no coupon, reasonable or not reasonable, I will never ever step into this restaurant ever again!! Talk about taking customers for granted and terrible service, this restaurant takes the cake!

    (1)

  • Celtic S.

    Makino chaya is not what it use to be, they may have been the best up until 2013 but now they are junk. If it had not been for their dinner attraction to people they would be out of business within a year. There are also lots of flies in the resturant, returning to the table were flies all on my food. They also recycle the food on the line that people dont take. I strongly would not recommend this place

    (1)

  • Shyla O.

    This place is good for the price and variety of food they have.All you can eat snow crab,steak,sushi,dessert and more. You can't go wrong with there price.

    (4)

  • Miz S.

    It's a buffet. If you walk in with the mind set knowing your food has been mass produced and sitting under the hot lamp for a while, you won't be disappointed. Parking is horrendous once all the shops open in the shopping center. If you don't mind walking, there are alternatives down stairs, across the street, or at the swap meet next door. yesterday, I planned a mini surprise party to celebrate my aunty's birthday. There was a total of 15 of us, and the hostess was nice enough to seat us earlier than our reserved time. Normally, at least half the party must be there before they seat you. Buffet line was constantly filled and attention to patrons were great!

    (3)

  • Ed L.

    Like Todai's in Waikiki, the Makino Chaya has been synonymous with seafood themed buffets. It's where lots of people just force feed themselves for a bargain of $20 per meal, approximately. With that said, I have had birthdays here in the past at this location in the Westridge shopping center a while back, but this time, I was here just because I had a hankering for seafood. My rule of thumb was to eat all the seafood - minus the sushi - to maximize $$ value. The restaurant itself is almost like a glorified cafeteria. The place is clean and the lighting is nice. The ambiance does get loud, as numerous amounts of people are talking at any amount of time. There are various of items to enjoy, including the wagyu beef, that's pretty tasty. Not that good from a real steakhouse, but that's an argument for later use. The service was ok, not great, since the wait staff was just going crazy on just maintaining some sort of order while catering to everyone in the restaurant. Can't blame them though. For what the normal person can eat on a certain day, this place does often rake it a consistent and considerable amount of $$. For those overzealous types that can go for 3+ types, they're the exceptions. While I did stop myself at 2 plates, I could not help wonder why I didn't go for more, when I just had the seafood and nothing much. I do recommend this this place, unless you are interested in good - not great - seafood items and other assorted items. Almost like a Chinese buffet system / high school cafeteria system, where you just line up and scoop yourself - or wait to be served. Not like it's a bad thing, but I guess I do love exclusive waiter service, rather than occasional water refills and the check drop after the meal. I would go back during special occasions, but not on a regular basis. C+

    (3)

  • Elizabeth O.

    Let's see where to begin. How about at the beginning, we went online and noticed that the hours were starting at 5:30 went there at 5:15 and store hours were 6:30-8:30. As the dinner went on the kitchen seemed like they could not keep up with the amount of people that were in line, certain items were constantly empty, they would bring out one tray of food and if you missed the person filling then it seemed like no one bothered to fill it. I noticed the male manager standing around A LOT, he would help out here and there and btw although his actual hands were not touching the food but touching the tongs for the food I did not see a whole lot of hand washing by him, when it comes to food I like to see lots of wiping, and hand washing before you touch food! My husband also said that during his standing in line for the buffet a toddler threw up in line and NO EMPLOYEE came to the parent's aid...not even the manager to offer a sanitary method of cleaning it. The parents were on hands and knees to clean the area with napkins! I seriously think they need to be re-educated on food safety and sanitation!! My husband ordered butterfish and some pieces were frozen and/or mushy. Flagging down a server for drinks or even water was tough considering there was only 3 for the entire restaurant on a holiday weekend. Don't bother going to Makino Chaya, you can spend a little more per person at a different hotel or buffet and have a better experience.

    (1)

  • Rissa K.

    This place was Ok. I feel the quality isn't as great as before. The best things to focus on here would be the crab legs, butter flsh, and the crepe dessert with ice cream. The selection wasn't that impressive. If it's your bday then you only pay half of what the normal price per person would be.

    (3)

  • Jonathan V.

    Synopsis: Yelp should come out with a 0-star or negative star option! In the near future, I see this place closing down, or filled with people whose taste buds are not functioning anymore. Buffets are never ever good to go to. Why? Over-consumption of calories, high sums of cash used, and the aftermath damage of bloatedness. I think I gained 5 lbs.! Buffets are worse for those who have a disease that requires restrictions as well! Hyperglycemia in your future? The food here was below par. I only found myself relishing in 10 pieces of shrimp tempura, and the some of the sushi things at the bar. :/ Money certainly wasted. I hope next year is different place...or not a buffet at all. But the reason why we came here is because it was cheaper than other places. *sad face* Environment: Oh eww...outside faces Pearlridge... the place is very dim. Once you go inside, on the left are a bunch of brown Hello Kitties in a once used machine for the claw. In front is where the cook in your face, and then all around it are sitting areas. The carpets were sticky from countless food that was probably dropped. I am sure it's marinating the floor, and who knows what kind of bacteria is flourishing. Did I also mention that our table was dirty? There were left over sauce on m right side of my utensils. X_X Parking: It's horrendous. It is best that you're there to park at 11:15 AM because let me tell you. If you wait even 5 minutes, you will be hunting. And finding parking for this place is not even worth it, trust me! Food: A variety of asian seafood and fillers. Rules for a buffet, don't eat something you can make yourself. Never eat filler foods such as rice or soup because the cost of these items are minimal and are distracters of eating the much more pricier foods such as shrimp tempura, or muscles. The snow crab they used to have isn't even there anymore, "until further notice" although their prices weren't dropped. X_X Okay... Items that were worth the calories: Shrimp tempura, seasoned muscles, tako poke, crepes, spicy tuna sushi, ocean salad, soft tofu. Highly recommend not to eat the fresh fish. I looked at it and it looked OLLLLLDDD. Like..ew, and I am a fresh fish eater! Cost: It was just about 18 bucks because we had a voucher and gift certificate that made it cheaper. You should definitely go that route instead of paying the regular price. Although, overall, I wouldn't have paid that much for the buffet anyway. -_-;;;; Employee: The girl Bri (I think that was her name)...seriously! You don't even have to work that hard, everything is done for you! WE GET OUR OWN FOOD AND UTENSILS! All you have to do is take drinks order. Snap to it honey. And honey, you need to make sure you put your lip-gloss on correctly, or make sure it's NON-MELT. I was nice about it. I told her, "um..honey, you have some lip-gloss on your chin."

    (1)

  • Julie N.

    There's a reason why your Aloha Tower location CLOSED DOWN and your Makitti needs to close too! I'm not being mean here, but this buffet is so disgusting!! The restaurant is dirty (it needs a really good cleaning, or maybe a renovation!) They give out a lot of coupons, but I wouldn't even go here if it was my birthday and I got to eat free. I'd rather pay and go elsewhere! - btw that's saying a lot if you know me!

    (1)

  • Emely S.

    Could I put a NO STAR on this place?! Needs a lot of improvements! I can't believe I paid $27 per person here?! I should've walked out as soon as I sat down. Food was less than mediocre. When I ask for steak well done, I expect not to see any blood on my plate

    (1)

  • K.J. N.

    When we arrived for the party, the entire establishment reeked of cigarette smoke. I had to pinch myself to be sure that I was not in the California Hotel casino in Las Vegas. After I inquired about where the smoke was coming from, the waitress informed that it was coming from the Manager's office within the restaurant. (The Manager was smoking.) Obviously, the smoke permeated the entire restaurant air conditioning system, and it certainly created an unhealthy environment. Before we approached the buffet, the same waitress kept announcing, "As I reiterated, with the coupon your party is using, you HAVE to order a drink." She said this to every third person. JUST SAY DRINKS ARE INCLUDED DAMMIT! For the price of $23 per head, the buffet has many local favorites and albeit mediocre presentation, the food tasted okay. The steak station was the best item on the buffet, and my steak was tender and rare as I requested. The final touch of "customer service" was the dessert gal who got upset that another customer and I came to get dessert after she closed down shop. I had no idea that the dessert station was closed, and I just wanted one sweet thing to counter the MSG high that I started to feel from who knows what I ate. When I asked for what looked like fudge, she barked, "NO FUDGE!" When I pointed to what looked like fudge, dessert Nazi girl barked, "YOU WANT ONE OR TWO??!!" "TWO!" I barked back. I then proceeded to my seat, where I found I no longer had an appetite.

    (2)

  • Never F.

    Food is amazing. The beef was my favorite. Way to packed and beer was very pricey, asahi was $10. Parking is also a pain, but a very good place for an all you can eat.

    (4)

  • Sarah L.

    I see why all the other Makino Chaya locations closed. This one doesn't seem too far from the same fate. Dirtydirtydirty. Sticky tables, pieces of who knows what all over the floor, and flies playing tag with your food. The sushi section was seriously lacking, as they decided not to replenish. From other reviews, it seems like this is always a problem. Take your chances with the made-to-order items. I think the only decent thing we ate was the miso butterfish, veggie tempura, and crepes. Not worth the price.

    (1)

  • Kim N.

    What a terrible experience! Went there to celebrate my husband's birthday and our 25th wedding anniversary. Gals at the reception area FORGOT to add the coupons to our bill at the end of the night after verifying the birthday. The food was not filled, lots of empty trays while cooks were watching everyone in line. The sushi was hard as rock and old. The only good thing was the miso soup. Went there to eat miso butterfish..and instead got BONES! Really?! For the price that we are paying this was a dump! The server was rude and they started cleaning up around us which made is difficult for us to maneuver around. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE TERRIBLE!!

    (1)

  • Kris M.

    It's not someplace that I would choose to go. Been here twice for family get togethers and been disappointed both times. I think the only people that were somewhat satisfied were the ones piling up on the skinny crab legs.

    (2)

  • Wayne S.

    The nuts don't fall too far from the tree............... Well if you look at the quality of food and over all pride of the restaurant you see the same thing at Makitti that you do at Makina Chaya. We ended up here because the in-laws wanted to try the place. First thing that I noticed was how tired and how in serious need of cleaning and new carpet the restaurant needed. Next was the buffet line and how unsanitary it was with the low sneeze guard and the patrons touching things, moving their hair, coughing, talking over the food, etc etc etc. I just could not get into the whole experience. No pride in the employees and no pride in the management and for sure the owners don't give a crap about this dump. Sushi old man was emptying trash with gloves on and then making sushi. Some people just don't get the entire gloves concept. COME ON!! This place gets a 0!!!!!!! I had this review incomplete for a while because I was just to pissed to finish...........in fact finishing this now I am getting pissed so I will end it now. I need to go to a happy place NOW but sheeesh I already ate my Hokulani cupcake before I finished this review. I need another!! 0!!!!!!!

    (1)

  • Alissa L.

    I see that this place hasn't gotten many good reviews on here so that is why I felt I had to voice my opinion. In short it's not the fanciest or best quality food, but it's tasty all you can eat sea food - crab legs, sahimi, etc + chocolate fountain & crepes. It didn't make me sick, it all went down great! Now the long review: We recently had out of town guests come to visit. Actually a lot of out of town guests. One place we knew we had to take them was Makino Chaya because it's something they would not get on the mainland. Because of scheduling we ended up going to Makino Chaya twice in one week (Both for Dinner)! Now because of price I wouldn't recommend that (about $32 / person + drinks, tips & tax), but I think it was worth it to see all of our friends faces by the time the night was done. Everyone loved the selection from sushi, fresh sashimi, all you can eat crab legs, (the stuffed crab is to die for), and of course the lobster tail (small but tasty -made to order) & teppanyaki steak. Oh and how can I forget the crepes (I had 2 filled with ice cream, strawberries, whipped cream & topped with chocolate), chocolate fountain, & mini cakes. All so fresh & yummy. The service was great when we went as well. The waiter was extremely nice! I think this place is well worth the price if you only go there on special occasions- or with out of town guests. One thing I didn't like though was it's limited hours. From 11-2pm for lunch & 5-8:30 or 9pm for dinner. Because of this the latest they'd take a reservation was 1 & 1/2 to 2 hours before closing because the wanted to make sure you had time to eat before they pulled the food. I did however see them seat a walk in party of six at about 8:15 -They just warned them that they'd be closing soon. I say give it a try!

    (4)

  • Michael C.

    Terrible. Makino Chaya is a restaurant that used to be so awesome it was almost legendary, but has since fallen from grace so far that it has become an embarrassment. Sometimes it's just time to call it quits and close the doors. Makino Chaya reached that point a long time ago. When Makino Chaya first opened its original location, it was even better than hallowed Hakone, with a huge made-to-order menu, high quality food, great service, a massive selection that gave you everything you could get at a good Japanese restaurant at an incredible value because it was an all-you-can-eat restaurant. Today, Makino Chaya lacks everything that made it once a great restaurant. The made-to-order menu is completely gone now. I overheard many other surprised diners finding this out also, after spending $32 per person. FOOD: I'm not even sure why I keep giving Makino Chaya "one more chance". They're like that boyfriend/ girlfriend that used to be really great, but then has degenerated into a lowlife that you keep giving chances to because you're hoping they'll go back to being the person they once were, until one day you finally had enough and leave for good. The sushi options are awful. About two dozen rolls, none of which are very good. And then about a half dozen nigiri, with none of the good stuff. They also do not replenish once the tray is gone. The sashimi is low-quality, and comes in small plates of ahi and salmon or ahi and hamachi. The ahi and salmon were inedible and old (turning colors, edges dull), and the hamachi was barely edible. Again, made-to-order sushi is gone. The hot food buffet is awful. All the good items from before are no longer there. The best items are the tempura, which is still decent, and the crab legs, which are tiny and overcooked (almost no meat, and the meat that is there is tough and dry). The teppanyaki station has lobsters, cut in half, but the tails are about the size of my pinky and you can only get one half at a time. It also does small cubes of steak, which are decent but not the Wagyu they used to serve. All the other options are gone. The dessert station only allows you to take two tiny rectangles of "cake" at a time. The crepe station is still there though. Overall, not only has the selection dwindled down to the lowest-quality items, those low-quality items are the lowest quality they could be, tasting awful and leaving my party feeling ill afterward. PARKING: Difficult. Westridge, surprisingly, has a large packed parking lot but I don't know where everybody is going. None of the restaurants seem packed. ORDERING/ SEATING: Makino Chaya is a large restaurant, seating close to 200 at max capacity. Because their quality has gone down so much, only half the restaurant is full at any time. Seating times have been reduced to 6:30 to 8:30, when they close. Their opening time has reduced to two hours for dinner. Arrive at 6:30, put your name in, and they will call you and seat you. And by "seat" I mean yell your name across the room and point at your table. SERVICE: Barely acceptable. See above reference to "seating" being yelling your name across the room and pointing at your table. Also, just getting drinks took about 20 minutes, and wrong too. Water was refilled once in 1.5 hours. ATMOSPHERE: Sad. It's difficult to quanitfy, but the overall feeling I felt was "sad". I think this is because people don't go to Makino Chaya a lot, and a lot of people who returned that evening were people like myself who expected to be eating decent food and able to order off of the made-to-order menu, which is now gone. Makino Chaya used to be a happy place, with lots of conversation and laughter in the background. Not anymore. COST/ VALUE: Terrible. At $32 a person, you could pay $13 more and go to Hakone and get an incredible meal; but at Makino Chaya, you get inedible crap. VERDICT: 2/5 - I only give 1/5 for restaurants that screw with me, are racist bastards, or should face civil or criminal penalties for their actions. Otherwise, Makino Chaya would get a 1/5. This is probably the lowest 2/5 rating I've ever given. This is also one of the saddest 2/5's I've ever given, as Makino Chaya in its glory days was truly epic. Makino Chaya needs to just close their last restaurant before their memory is tarnished beyond repair.

    (2)

  • Michelle L.

    This place had definitely seen better days. I remembered coming here when it first opened when I was in high school and it was really good. Now, one word screams out, "GHETTO!" The floors were very sticky which kind of grossed me out. The buffet items were pathetic. Everything was running low and the staff failed to refresh many of the items during my dining time. I think the food offerings are confused. It's a Japanese buffet but they also serve BBQ ribs?! Weird. Dessert was nonexistent because all of the fruits for the chocolate fountain were gone and so were the cakes. Also, the crepe station was closed for the day too! Lame :( Thank goodness for the teppanyaki station which turned out to be my favorite! The guy manning it cooked my steak perfectly and everything was well seasoned. Although the steak was of cheap quality, I still enjoyed it but can't say the same for the lobster as it was undercooked. The sushi selection was okay. I kept ordering the uni because I felt I will get my money's worth that way. It wasn't the freshest but passable. Our server man was quick to bring those, go him and sushi maker dude! Suffice to say, I won't be coming back for a looooong time! After dining at Hakone, I haven't found satisfaction in any other Japanese buffet. Thank you Hot Deals for the opportunity but no thanks in the end. PS: the bathrooms were disgusting! one of the toilets had brown gunk all around and inside of the bowl. it was nastier than beach toilets. yum, great way to start off my meal to see that.

    (2)

  • Brian B.

    I'm normally a fan of Japanese food and will usually be up for going whenever someone asks but not if we're coming here... I recently ate here with my parents when they came down for Christmas and boy do I wish I had talked them out of coming here! Thankfully my parents are easy enough to please and will rarely complain but they could certainly do FAR better than this... First of all, I don't mind buffets as long as the food is rotated regularly so that things are kept fresh. Here, it seems like they keep things out until it looks like the food is almost about to come back to life and walk off the line... Disgusting! Also, the areas of the line where the food is don't seem to look like they're wiped down very well either which is not my idea of clean or appetizing. I shudder to think that there's probably some bacteria or something looming right below or nearby to where the food is sitting. Did I mention that some of the seafood looks like it's going to come back to life? The tables and chairs here are also very old and in dire need of replacement too. It almost seems like everything here has been around for a while, like they never replaced anything since they opened including the carpet. Like another fellow Yelper said, this place screams GHETTO with the way it just looks so run down & dank. The variety of food is ok, but honestly I can't say that I find it appetizing due to the reasons mentioned above. The desserts are also kinda ehhh, since they too look like they've been sitting out for quite a long time too. Seriously, would it be that hard for a runner to come by every so often and make sure the food is still fresh or even clean things up a little and arrange things nicely? After having come here and eaten again, I have definitely been reminded of why I don't like the Makino Chaya restaurants on the island. All of them seem run down and like they're coasting on the reputation of the name more then quality of food & dining experience. For the price, I expect better then this... MUCH better. Definitely not coming back again unless some hot chick that I'm dating drags me here... Hmmm, then again maybe not!

    (1)

  • Jordan S.

    Ive been here 3 times.... and each time it got worse and worse.... From the dishes served, to the dingy look. First time was just.... eh..... 2nd time was..... why did we come here again? 3rd time (only cause of 2 for 1 coupon, and I normally like buffets) It was like..... no.... just no.... Not gonna ever come here again, even if its free. Let me just say, there was never anything terribly wrong with the service. Now, the rest is all bad stuff. The buffet selection itself was very varied.... but the quality seriously lacked. The meats were chewy and either tasteless or overpowered with the wrong types of flavors, the fish was rubbery and just plain yuck. The one food item I enjoyed was the chocolate fountain and jellos.... but then again, if they couldnt get jello right, I would ask them to just shut down already. There was a teppanyaki station at one point, with steak and scallops. The steak was alright, and I wanted to try the scallops, so I ordered a combo with both..... the steak wass still ok... but the scallops were ice cold!!! Still near frozen! It had a nasty taste and texture! I nearly had to stick my whole mouth in the chocolate fountain! Next, the look of the place..... There is just something that completely turns me off about the look! Its dark, and sometimes looks rather un-clean, the carpet definitely does not help the feeling. All I gotta say, just dont go here.... save yourself the time and gas.... go to KFC downstairs instead or something.... idk, just not here!

    (1)

  • Kylie Y.

    Its been a while since we last visited here--about a year or so and things have gotten worse! 1. Our server and the entire staff didn't seem like any of them wanted to be there 2. Food was luke warm 3. No chocolate fountain anymore 4. The price went up for "4th of July" (That doesn't even make sense) 5. They were out of many items on the "all you can eat" menu 6. They were also out of whipped cream for the crepes, tamago sushi I usually can deal with things that go wrong in the restaurant business such as running out of things, food being on the colder side BUT when you're gonna charge a arm and a leg because it's "4th of July" and are only open for an hour and a half please make sure you can actually serve people their money's worth OR at least train your staff to be courteous to guests when explaining that there isn't an item they ordered OR make sure that the entire staff is on the same page of knowing what's "86" for the day before the shift starts. There isn't much good to say about this place. I was excited about the chocolate fountain but then became disappointed when we found out there was none. The only reason this place is staying open is probably because Hawaii doesn't have many buffets and people frequent this place because there is no where else. THEY NEED ROBERT IRVINE TO COME AND DO A RESTAURANT IMPOSSIBLE ON THEM! AVOID-AVOID-AVOID!

    (1)

  • Mimi A.

    RATS!!! They have RATS!!! Ate there for dinner last night and there was not one, but 2 rats in the kitchen!!!! I would give NO STARS if I could! DISGUSTING. The silverware and plates were dirty too. DO NOT EAT HERE!!!

    (1)

  • S N.

    One star for chocolate fountain only, for the price u pay, not worth it! Dirty, n the quality of food is horrible

    (1)

  • Eileen S.

    My first time there and I was not impressed. The food was less than mediocre. We had a reservation for 730pm and before half of us got through the line they ran out of some of the foods. Really? Service was sucky. The waiter came back maybe once to see how we were. I actually had to yell out to him to ask for a refill on my water. They are absolutely not worth the $32.95 they charge. Even the coupon we used that brought it down to $24.74 (not including the mandatory drink purchase) is not worth it. $10 or $15 at most, but definitely not anything more. I won't be going there again on any future visits to Hawaii. Unless you like overpaying for low quality food and service, I suggest you look elsewhere.

    (1)

  • Ursula C.

    We ate here for lunch today and it was underwhelming. This place always gets negative reviews but I've had a handful of good experiences here. The old lady at the front desk is always friendly, funny and welcoming. Unfortunately, nothing today made me go back for seconds. The tempura and guise was delicious as usual. I tried the miso soup for the first time today and I was happy that it was tasty and the tofu was nice and soft. I was disappointed in the stuffed crab. Each time I go there it tastes different. Today the cheese and tomato killed any other flavors but it's just as well because the one section I ate that was just crab didn't taste too great. My daughter loved it even thought she didn't eat much and only tried one fondue banana for dessert. I'll go back but will avoid the same day and time. I just wanted to note that it's not Italian food.

    (3)

  • Mohammed K.

    Food was decent. Lobster was pretty good, and unlimited crabs was solid. The waiter Matthew was excellent, could tell he really cared about the customers. Great place for the price.

    (4)

  • Polina T.

    Walked in and checked the price of the buffet...$28.95, ok. The place did not appear clean, dirty carpets and filthy bathroom. I left!

    (2)

  • Ms Theo F.

    The food wasn't too bad, but it was difficult to enjoy because the place was very smoky from the teppanyaki grill that didn't have a smoke vent. There were lots of good, fresh vegies & fruit. The rolled sushi were not too large, good rice to filling ratio. I had to wash every piece of clothing that I wore today because it smelled like teppanyaki grease. Our waiter was very attentive and always brought me hot water replacements for my hot tea. Strange that they serve the tea in styro cups and they did not have coffee available. The place is very run down, our feet stuck to the carpet, fabric chairs were frayed, peeling paint on railings. At least the bathrooms were clean.

    (2)

  • Monica L.

    It's not too bad but I'm not crazy about it either. The one thing that's great about this place is Wagyu beef. I've never had Kobe or Wagyu in my life.. and trying it just opened my eyes and tastebuds to the world of tender, tasty, favorful red meat. (I tried to become a vegetarian years ago..but I'm actually glad it didn't work out.. I mean, I'd be missing out on so much good food!) They also had Wagyu fried rice.. which was ok.. but it reminded me of the saying, "Too much of a good thing..."

    (3)

  • Lily B.

    Located in Westridge is Makino Chaya. This restaurant shares parking with Tony Roma's, Ichiriki, and Chez Bar to name a few. Parking can be extremely limited for dinner, especially on weekends. You have to go round and round... or even venture for parking downstairs (and usually that lot is full also). If you have a reservation, be sure to give yourself enough time to find a parking stall. Onto the restaurant... I've never been a fan of buffets. It's kinda not really my thing. I'm pretty simple. And I'm pretty picky. Those two put together make me a easy yet complex eater. Oxymoron? Yup. I'm shaking my head at myself with you. As I went off on a tangent... I'm not a fan of buffets (okay wait, EXCEPT for the Bellagio buffet in Vegas... oh God that is the ONE exception, it is hands down THE BEST buffet I've ever been fortunate to eat at - twice!)... ok ok tangent again... so the BF and his co workers had a dinner here. Wifey's/girlfriends/friends were invited, so the BF dragged me along. I wasn't excited because I had already read reviews on Yelp about Makino's... that and we dined here a while ago and I remember it not being a pleasant (nor tummy satisfying meal)... but free? Okay fine. The restaurant is a decent size but gosh they sure cram as many tables as they can inside! The buffet line is SO close to tables and there's just not much space to walk. It's very uncomfortable. The A/C isn't very cold (I HATE being hot), and the staff, well, they're okay. Not exactly on their A game though. Bathrooms are... okay. I mean the door locks. There's toilet paper. And soap to wash your hands. Decor is... not the best. Food... mediocre. At best. Luke warm and either bland or salty. No happy medium. They have white rice, fried rice, noodles, chicken, gyoza, stir fry vegetables, tofu, poke, beef and broccoli, dumplings, shumai, shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, an assortment of sushi, a crepe station, desserts station (various cakes), ice cream, and a "meat" station where the chef will cook you up some beef. Needless to say, I left dinner... hungry. Again. Flashbacks to our previous visit a loooong time ago. Lesson learned: remove Makino as a restaurant to dine at - even if it's free. I'd rather pay $8 to go to Panda Express at Pearlridge and grab some fried rice/chow fun with honey walnut shrimp and chicken w/ mushrooms. I must make a side note though... the boys enjoyed their dinner. Maybe because they were hungry... or because it was free... or because they were tipsy... or all of the above... the sober women knew better though.

    (1)

  • B H.

    Food was surprisingly good, although was not worth waiting for the lobster. The tail was the size of my pinky. Place was clean. Plates were clean. Forks were bent but clean.

    (4)

  • Jeannine R.

    We had a large party and we came in close to closing time, but they were still willing to accomodate us. The buffet had a fair selection but the fire grill was probably my favorite part. The dessert buffet was decent as well but they have a handmade crepe station that I loved since I could ask the worker to put whatever I wanted on it. If you're looking to feed a bunch of picky eaters, this is a good place to go since everyone can eat whatever they want.

    (3)

  • Tom M.

    Over crowded. Slow service. Food ran out and they did not refill for over 10 minutes. Notanything like I remembered 2 years ago when I would have rated them 5 Stars. Certainly not worth the $28 per person price tag. Sorry, just a bad experience for all 3 in our party.

    (1)

  • Jhay B.

    Since i haven't been in this location before, me and my co-workers decided to come in today to have lunch! judging by the reviews on yelp, it honestly made this place a bad dining experience, but we will experience it to believe it. First of all, i called in and the girl which was the "hostess" had a friendly voice and was sorta helpful. i asked her if it was busy so i can make a reservation and she said "YES" so i go "OKAY" could i make a reservation or just walk-in. She told me oh yeah you can walk-in. She didnt ask if i wanted to make a reservation. We finally get there and she asked, do you guys have a reservation!!?? Right then i said "WAIT I CALLED, AND YOU GUYS DIDNT ASK IF WE WANTED TO MAKE A RESERVATION BUT HAVE SAID I COULD DO A WALK-IN" right then she wasnt good at CUSTOMER SERVICE RECOVERY and just made like she didnt care!! like hello dumbo customers are paying for your paycheck, you need to get retrained and work on your customer service. Next we were waiting for our seats outside, cause dumbo messed up. Then finally got seated at the top right side of the area, which is a good location cause its not crowded as the main dining area. Server came and asked for drinks, she came back with it and we asked if we order from the menu or just pick from the buffet cause we didnt know. In a bitchy tone she said "UGHH NO DINNER ONLY!!" and walked away. While we see her other co-worker/friend talking to customers and surprisingly calling them by their names. Fun part was grabbing food. Food looked tasty only problem was picking a plate was hard!! i had to go through 15 plates cause they dont wash it good!! so check your plates if you decide to eat here. LUNCH MENU: Grilled Steak, Rice, Fried Rice, Mixed Veggies, Crab Cake Cake, Snow Crab, Tempura Veggies, Tempura Shrimp, Tempura Ika, BBQ Chicken, Ribs, Noodles, Beef Broccoli, Dumplings, Assorted sushi, Salad, Assorted, Jello, Fruits, Chocolate Fondu, Crepe ETC. Then the Major NO-NO'S!! Line was too long because of indecisive customers, it will get backed up to the back. Cooks or Line that restocks, doesn't fill the food fast. I mean its busy, you should know you would need back-ups for lunch rush. Food was delicious except that pork shumai it tasted spoiled. Too many flies flying around, there was a bird that was nesting down by the tables and decided to fly around. Bathroom smelled and looked disgusting, the sink was clogged with someone's barf. Our first server did not even checked up on us, a different server had to come and refill our drinks...what a shame! BUT 5*****stars for the SERVER BRI!! SHE WORKED EXTRA HARD WITH GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE, YOU NEED TO HAVE HER AS A SERVER THAN THE OTHER PEOPLE, CAUSE THEY WERE RUDE! Overall food is great but some workers need to go!!! or need to be retrained to the max

    (2)

  • Mina T.

    I mean, it's a local style buffet, what can you expect? I don't hate it but don't love it. I would not pay for their dinner, but their lunch price is alright for their food. They do have large choice of different type of dishes, so I like that. I like their teppanyaki station too. Oh and did I mention their crepe station? I also like that :P I guess I like quite a lot of things from them! haha I would try it if you got a coupon or something for lunch, but not dinner~ It's always good to try it for yourself though!

    (3)

  • Cely H.

    If there is a special occasion, my family usually goes to Makino Chaya. There was one point in time that I was getting a little bit sick of this place... but my Dad wanted to eat lobster for his birthday so we went here. Must I tell you, I'm super impressed with the changes they've made! I went there today (Jan 2) so I'm guessing they did a lot of cleaning/feng shui'ing for the New Year. There's a completely new set up to the restaurant with extra seating in the back of the crepe station (instead of the desserts and sushi). The dessert and sushi are now lined up against the back wall of the restaurant. There was a new salad bar with mixed greens (not that bad iceberg crap), seafood salad, seaweed salad, fruits, jello, and macaroni salads. They had new sushi rolls (and a new sushi chef that was getting trained next to me). The deep fried tempura sushi was KILLER. There were all kinds of maki, and all kinds of nigiri, including the usual plain stuff they used to have before. The buffet had a lot of upgrades as well... soft shell crab, ebi fry, oyster fry, and killer teriyaki chicken that looks like it was hibachi'ed. Dessert was upgraded too! Lots of cute little cakes and tarts and cake rolls and blueberry muffins. And thank heavens they cleaned up the chocolate fountain and put out skewers. It peeved me that they never put out skewers for the fountain before and people had to use their hands... it was so disgusting! Skewers keeps it neat and sanitized...which I LOVE. Of course you can still order the crepes too. The only thing that I'm going to complain about is their lobster. Before they had already cooked lobster that they grilled for you to order. Today they had raw lobster (which is great), but in order to cook it fast, they need to steam it on the grill which totally defeats the purpose of having someone do teppan. Steamed lobster is not as good as one with grill marks on it. :( The servers were great too... our server, Brandon, kept checking on us to make sure we were okay. He saw my Dad was struggling with cracking his crab and gave him a tool to help him rip them apart. The hostess also asked us if we wanted our birthday cake held in the fridge! I've never had such attentive service at Makino Chaya before! I was pretty impressed with their new stuff and their service and I totally ate enough for 10 people. Might want to come back here to experience the new makino! :D

    (4)

  • Brittany K.

    Jamie our "waitress" was extremely HORRIBLE!! She takes half our tables order for the menu items, and decides that walking away without taking the other half of our tables order is acceptable. I guess since this is a buffet, this may seem acceptable to some; however, when you have items not on the buffet line that needs to be ordered maybe there should be more attention put into taking your customers orders!! On the plus side, the food is decent. Sashimi platter was of good quality. The sushi is good, for the quality. Credit to CAKE WORKS in Moilili for the AWESOME strawberry cake!!

    (1)

  • Michelle M.

    My cousins decided that it was time for a lunch date and put the plan to work...Let's go to Makino Chaya! Never really have been a fan of buffet all you can eat places because the food quality is usually borderline gross, but I didnt want to rock the boat. Why not check it out? The first thing I noticed about this place was the GIGANTIC line out front at 1130AM. We had reservations, but many people did not and there was an Occupy Wall Street sized crowd in front of the place! Most folks were ok, friendly, talking story...but then there were a few that were kinda irked by the folks that showed up one at a time to hold spots in line for their party of 52. Yeah, that was not a fun conversation. Anyway...on to the food Surveying the buffet line, I noticed that there was a TON of seafood. Tempura, Snow Crab, Clams, Steamed Basa...Noodles and tempura fried california rolls, fried rice and chicken were all presented. Too bad that most of the veggies were deep fried :( The Teppanyaki bar was a little sad. Steak and Calamari were the only representatives for this station. Couldnt get your steak seasoned with the teriyaki sauce, so it had to be poured on the side. The bean sprouts were steamed but had no flavor. Oh well...it isnt Benihana, right? The salads were kinda lacking as well. No flavor, and kind of skimpy in the ingredients. I guess there is a menu that one could order off of however that is not possible during the lunch seating. TOo bad! Heard that they have some good stuff on that menu. The crepe bar was a nice twist. Enjoyed having a sweet treat after all the seafood gluttony. The fresh fruits were perfect in the chocolate fountain. I would have liked to order the chocolate pyramid but there was no one at the cake station to help a girl out. Oh well... The price came to $23 a person, out the door. Tax, gratuity included. Not too bad for the amount that you can consume there. I dont think I got my money's worth but oh well. They have coupons and such but I dont have time to mess with all that. I guess it is a nice option if you do have the time (I should make that a separate Yelp list topic--Dining with Coupons). I kept hearing that Tsukiji's is better...Todai is better...Would I venture to see if that is true? Maybe...if I have a coupon and start my new Yelp List!

    (3)

  • Erica L.

    I went here for the first time with my bf and his relatives a few months ago. I was very wary of the place due to the yelp reviews and ..... my fears were proven right. The food was blah and I noticed that people on my table were filling up on the crab legs mostly. I'm not a big fan of crab so I opted for other items. The desserts were pretty but I didn't want to try it because I had spotted the fresh fruit section first. Not only did I see a lot of cut up fruit, I had also spotted those SMALL BLACK FLIES (fruit flies??) on them that were happily swirling around the fruit. I don't plan on ever coming back here but I will say that the Aloha Tower location wasn't as bad as this location. Aloha Tower location = 2 stars.

    (1)

  • Joy C.

    I am being honest.. This place is not good!! I tried both of the Makinos Chaya located here in Honolulu, The reason being because my first Makino was in Las Vegas and that place is the best and the comparison is way off.. NO WAY... People say its clean.. eweee.. really JUNK.. you will just waste your money and you might get sick too.. I would rather eat Aloha sushi or Ninja sushi..

    (1)

  • Ruben A.

    We went on a Wednesday, in May about 5:30. We had reservations and got in quick with family of 8. Man, I don't know what kind of seafood/asian buffets some of these reviewers are used to, but this place was a wonderland. at the outset, ;et me agree with some reviewers that the carpet needs a good deep-cleaning. A little GET-TOE if you know what I mean. But the food when I was there, was very good. I had New Zealand mussels which were moist and flavorful, the clams which were small but tasty, butterfish collar was too OILY-YUCK!, the stuffed crabshells were so nice and sublte, the squid and calamari "poke" (for lack of a better word) was my favorite! I loved it. That's really all I ate. I just got more helpings of those. they were all very good It was fresh, replenished often, and very tasty. I skipped all the pre-made sushi (rice is a filler and I was there to eat the seafood) but did have some of the custom made sushi and that was good. the miso butterfish (also custom ordered) was so-so I have tasted better. They cooked it too long and it had a slightly burnt taste. deserts were simple but good. liked the cheese cakes. my wife got a crepe with choc/banana and she loved it

    (4)

  • Geoff K.

    I hadn't been to Makino Chaya since it first opened years ago. I was surprised to see such a large crowd waiting outside for the restaurant to open. It was the same as it ever was...pretty good. Pretaaay, pretaaay, pretaaay good. The shrimp tempura was excellent and plentiful. The crab legs were great and there was no portion control. I saw guys with their plate piled high like it was a crab leg party. There was a steak station. The steak wasn't the best in the world, but it was A-OK for an all you can eat buffet. The dessert was great. There was a crepe station. There was a chocolate fondue fountain with banana, strawberries, and melon. The dessert station contained a variety of those little finger cakes. Cheese cake, red velvet, haupia and more. Something I didn't like was there was two cake limit per station visit. Let the crab legs flow and limit the cake......meh. The worst thing about Makino Chaya was the sushi. If you come for the sushi you will be very disappointed. It was a 6-7 on the fresh scale. It was quite sloppily made which made it very unappealing. The sushi could be better if they cared while rolling it. Another minus was that it was dirty. They should close down for a few days and give this place a deep cleaning. Especially the steak station.

    (4)

  • Lesa G.

    I remember leaving full but the only reason I can't remember how good the food was, is because I only remember how much it reeked. 2 stars for prompt service and decent crab.

    (2)

  • Mark M.

    "Meh. I've experienced better." That line, straight from Yelp, sums up my dining experiences here. I've tried this place three times and I don't really know why I went back after the first time. The food quality is alright, the service is alright, and the parking blows at dinner time. If you're in Aiea, there are a lot of awesome places to eat at that serve similar food of a much higher quality. Have you ever eaten at Tadashi? You should.

    (2)

  • Sierra M.

    yes lobster and steak...sushi and crepes!!! it was very delish! but very crowded!

    (4)

  • Mac J.

    Typical Japanese buffett... Would've given a higher rating but customer service ruined my appetite. Hopefully they can improve.

    (1)

  • Mary D.

    I never recommend this place to my friends and family. I ate here a few times and each time was a nightmare. If you plan on going with a large group, i hope you get the farthest back tables deep in the restaurant. Sitting anywhere else is just inconvenient. It appears that the goal was to set up as many tables and chairs as possible so you can feed as many people as possible in the smallest amount of space possible. First off, while waiting to be seated it's easier to wait outside the entrance rather than cram the doorway. It sometimes smells out there. I believe their dumpster or something is out there to the right of the building. Good luck on humid/muggy days. It's usually crowded and beware of the ground and walkway to the entrance. The floor is sometimes very sticky. If it's not too busy, you'll hopefully get to sit on the metal folding chair along the wall for your comfort and convenience. Every time I've eaten here, all the chairs were taken. Once inside: The booths along the glass window where you get a great view of the now closed Circuit city building comfortable seats TWO! I'm not a big girl and neither is my mom or or friends and they put the four of us in there and I literally had one butt cheek hanging off and I would've had to sit with my knees out just to eat. It was pretty obvious we couldn't fit there but the server looked at us and kinda shrugged her shoulders and walked away thinking we were ok. We literally were sitting thigh to thigh with our purses in our lap, bag handles up to our chin. Finally, after about 10 minutes of waiting for her to come back or even WALK BY us we YELP out to her to move us. We get seated on a bigger round table near the crepe station. Much better! The food, not very good. Depending on what time of the day you go and how busy it is, it's a total crapshoot. One thing is for certain, the sushi looks old. Rice looks dried out and nori is soggy. Don't do it. Their only saving grace are the crab legs. I recall back in the day where you could order ANYTHING off their little menu and it was included in your buffet cost. I didn't see that menu anywhere. Boooo! They were making shrimp tempura at a snails pace. Literally, 50 pcs at a time so everytime I would try and get ONE PIECE, it would be gone just as fast as they brought it out. BOOO again! Our server in this new section we were sitting was ok. She showed her face once in a while and refilled our waters timely. She cleared our dirty plates efficiently too. I really enjoy their crepes. (Easy on the whipped cream and ice cream) They cook it fresh and fill it w/ frozen strawberries, fresh bananas or canned pineapples. It's your choice. There is a bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup for you to add if you'd like also. It was pretty good. I wasn't able to try that beef thing (wagyu?) everyone's talking about. The line was forever long and after standing in the long line just to dig into the buffet line, I wasn't in the mood to do it again. It did look good, though. One of my biggest gripes about this place is they do not split the bill if you are sitting in a large party. EVEN if you tell them in advance. We went with our entire family and each group wanted to pay separately. They said we couldn't because we were seated together. All of our husbands are in the military. They offer a military discount but only to the active member. What?! That ticked me off enough that I will not eat here again. That made me feel like the sacrifice and hard work my children and I endure in order to support my husband didn't count. And HE was paying! Wow! For the price you pay at this buffet, it's not worth the mediocre food, crowded and sometimes loud environment and crappy service. Go somewhere else. It's too bad I can't put negative stars, they truly deserve it.

    (1)

  • Dela N.

    Went there last night for dinner and I must say this will be our last. It was either Tsukiji's in Ala Moana or Makino Chaya Pearl City. Well Makino Chaya is close to Ewa and so we decided to go there. The hostess called our party and two others to follow her to be seated. No personality whatsover. I went to get a steak and lobster. Told cook I wanted mines medium well, which was well done. The sushi so called bar was not filled most of the time. Same goes for the main buffet area. Most of their main dishes were empty and not filled. As for the crepe station, there were two workers there. One who fried up the crepe, the other who filled up the crepe. The filler filled in the ice cream, not so sweet strawberries and not so fresh brown bananas. She couldn't even wrap nicely. I guess she was trying to work fast cause the line was long. And the desert station was a joke! Only two pieces of desert per serving. For a family of 5 with a bill of over $200...not worth it. The food not so good. The establishment not so nice. We should have drove to Ala Moana to have a way better dinner at Tsukiji's.

    (1)

  • Wesside D.

    No stars. I can't possibly be the only one who's ever been there that has scooped food onto a plate and saw beady little eyes and antennae?! I showed it to one of the guys on the bugget..er, buffet line, and not sure if he knew any English or not, but he just took the plate in the back. Nobody came and got the rest of the pan, nobody offerered me a free or half off or anything. Sad... And the platters were all kine ghetto with chips and things in every one of them.

    (1)

  • Darci N.

    I suppose if you're really hungry than this place should hit the spot. It was as great as it was when they first opened. I immediately experienced the sticky-ness of the carpet under my shoes/flat. If you love variety than this is the place. The food is filling, assorted sushi and tons of other asian dishes. I think people go here because of its location and the crab legs. Though I think my crab were on a diet. I love the custom crepes.

    (3)

  • Jessica d.

    Oh sweet baby Jesus in a golden diaper. I could eat my weight in crab legs. AND they have lobster! Sure, it's a buffet and the food is a little greasy and salty. But the service is good. And OK, they had me at crab legs.

    (5)

  • Shelby B.

    The rating is low because it was very crowded and loud when I went. Instead of using the whole space where there are quiet spots for smaller groups they put everyone close together. The food is alright for a buffet, and the service is alright. But its a good price for all you can eat and there is something for everyone. Id come again but I might look inside to see how crowded it is.

    (3)

  • Ana T.

    I used to like Makino Chaya, in fact we always go here everytime we have a birthday since they have pretty good deal and a good food. But today I'm kind of disappointed. Food are not as good as before. The teppanyaki beef use to be one of my favorite but not this time. Steak were too salty and beef was kind of hard. Shrimp and vegetable tempura used to be in the buffet table but this time you need to order if to the waiter. They have more selection of dessert before but today only few are available.. Oh well!!!!

    (2)

  • Wendell D.

    Went last night to celebrate my son's 29th Birthday. Party of 6 and my wife had an amazing coupon with her. I'll talk about that later. We were seated near the window and had ample room to move around and although were aligned with the dessert station and salad bar...no one was bumping into us. Service was good and the food was tastier than I remembered. Can't critique the food on the line other than the Snow Crab...which was ono. My son loves crab and probably at about 10# worth by himself. The ordering format was a little confusing but the server helped us navigate through it. I ordered the Sushi Mori and the Sashimi Mori. Well worth the price paid for the dinner. Both dishes would cost well over $40 at other restaurants. I enjoyed them both along with a double order of Teppanyaki Steak. Looked like it was flap meat instead of New York Strip but still tasty. With my refillable Coke..I was satisfied. Finished off my meal with a goodie from the Crepes station and just sat back and let the food flow down. The rest of the party also took part in ordering many of the special dishes, such as: - Shrimp Tempura - Pork Tonkatsu - King Crab - Assorted Sushi - Miso Butterfish (Very ONO) Now when It came time to pay we were able to use a coupon my wife had that gave the Birthday Boy a Free Meal and the rest of the party had a 30% discount. The total bill for the party of 6 was $122.00 not including the tip. Just a heads up...m wife received a call from Makino Chaya that day to alert her that the price just went up a dollar to $29.95. So the savings were substantial. Overall a very good dining experience.

    (4)

  • Katheryn H.

    Been craving crab for months now, and I mean months. Maybe it's been a year, but I finally got my fix! My boyfriend took me here, claiming they had good crab, he was right! The crab was so delicious! It's pretty much the only thing I ate there. I hate to say, though, the wait staff was pretty bad. The waitress we had helped everyone BUT us and I didn't get a chance to order any shrimp tempura. And they didn't have any crab utensils. But that was ok, I learned a new technique at cracking crab legs. Hahaha. I definitely love this place for the crab legs. Next time I'm craving, I will return. Yum yum.

    (4)

  • elisa o.

    Sorry, I did not care much for this location. I went during a weekday lunch. Food temperature was luke warm. We had to wait (8 minutes) for a seat, but the place was obviously "slow". If you must go to Makino Chaya...I would HAVE (just got note that this location is no longer there) recommend the McCully location on KING. So much better service and quality of food!!! I may check out the other locations...but for now....I just won't recommend this place. Sorry. :( I know how much the locals love this place! I DO like this place better than Todai though!

    (2)

  • Gabby V.

    Mmmm...the food is so delicious, but I wish they would re-stock more often! I love their fresh sushi and seafood. I also love that they make crepes, japanese dessert delicacies and kobe beef! Parking can get pretty bad so make reservations and come a little early to find parking. If you want sushi, order it from your waiter, that way you know it's fresh. DON'T grab from the platter line because you don't know how long it's been out and it tastes stale if left out for too long. Other than that, you should definitely come here if you're a seafood lover!

    (5)

  • Consuela P.

    My first time eating here was last year with R and his family. We had dinner reservations at this new type Japanese food "buffet". There's the "all-you-can eat" part and there's a selection of food that is cooked/made that you can order of the menu; which you can order any 2 items of the menu at a given time; and keep ordering to your heart's (or stomach's) content and these items are not available on the buffet lines. It was good but it can get overwhelming with all the choices of food! There was an assortment of sashimi, poke, sushi, cold noodles, various meats and seafood and desserts ~ tiramisu (my fav!), cheesecake, pies, fresh fruits and a chocolate fountain! It's like Todai's but bigger and better. I don't think I've ever eaten as much as I did that night! I could barely move and felt totally grossed out when I got home... This year on Valentine's Day, my boss treated us "small but very important people" from the office to chow down some great grubs during lunch time. The venue ~ Makino Chaya; the newly open franchise at Aloha Tower. There are two other locations; Pearlridge and Mililani. I think I had 5 plates total since it's buffet ~ an assortments of sushi, salad, OYSTERS, mussels, crab legs, tempura, and more. It was okay...less selections compared to the one at Pearlridge (but then again I ate there last year so maybe there's been some changes from then until now) and the desserts did not appeal to me. Ohh well...this one I give 3 stars :) Thank godness, R and I weren't planning on eating out that night! Otherwise...I'd would have to be carried home because I'd be too lazy to walk! *grins*

    (4)

  • Wendy K.

    If I could rate it at a negative I would. The customer service here is unbelievably ridiculous. 5 out of 5 times I get rude employees who act as if they don't want to be here. I don't recommend this place to anyone. The food is ok. Not the best but I wouldn't expect much from here. The cooks are probably rude too.

    (1)

  • Troy T.

    One fly flew in my wife's tea, another flew on my sister's cup, and I saw a swarm at the crepe stand... Other than that it was good. :P

    (1)

  • Shayna R.

    Lots of variety, but I just don't love buffets as much as I used to. Here are my thoughts on what I tried: ordered off menu items: seafood shabu shabu: very impressive when it came to the table - it had a whole lobster, split in two; crab; mussels; clams; won bok; shrimp with heads (but not fresh enough for me to enjoy the heads, though I usually love that); udon; tofu. there were two broths, miso and shoyu. the crab was really hard to eat as it wasn't cracked and very hot and spiky when it came out of the hot pot. pretty tasty seafood, but it kind of slowed me and my husband down from ordering and eating. maybe that was the point! uni and ikura: yummy, not the freshest uni, but for the price of the buffet, it's pretty good quality. however, they ran out of uni and ikura after my first order. i definitely could've eaten more!! sushi mori: they were out of most of the sushi that were pictured on the menu, and it came with smoked salmon instead of fresh salmon. if I knew they were out of the sashimi that i wanted, i wouldn't have ordered it. generally, the fish was ok, but the rice was cold and refrigerated, not freshly made, which made it not match the fish that well. soft shell crab: very crispy, light, and tasty. would definitely order this again! zaru udon: enjoyable and refreshing, but I thought the cold sauce was a little tasteless, so i just ate the udon with miso soup - that was yummy! fresh lobster: i thought it was going to be steamed, which i'd have preferred, but instead it was covered with a mayo cream type of sauce. i just scraped the top sauce off and enjoyed the lobster! i did like the lobster in the shabu shabu more though... at the buffet line, i enjoyed: gyoza, shrimp shumai, and the steak teppanyaki. overall, lots of petty tasty options, and a good deal if they had more uni available - and if you have a coupon, which we did! they've had a lot of different types of buffets - at aloha tower, at this location, at the first one on king street. my favorite was the one on king street, but this style is pretty good too. the sushi seems fresher than the aloha tower location, and the fried foods come out pretty crisp and tasty.

    (3)

  • Ele G.

    sorry, but this place has gone downhill since i last dined here... about 5 years ago or so.... cold foods.. not much selection. really disappointing. glad i wasn't paying....

    (1)

  • Jeff K.

    Food was really good, service was great. only thing is sometimes the fish sits out for a while, so watch out for that.

    (5)

  • Toshi I.

    A friend treated me to dinner here and it's a great family friendly place. As far as a buffet goes, the quality was good and for the price, you get a lot. As far as service goes, it's a buffet so you serve yourself!

    (3)

  • Kimberly H.

    This place is just too much, they focus on quantity and variety instead of the quality of the food. It wasn't too bad but way to expensive for the quality of the food. This is place reminded me of a scene in Natl Lampoons Vegas Vacation, where Griswald is with his brother in law at a buffet eating what ever slop was thrown together for the sake of eating.

    (2)

  • Derek H.

    Bento phone orders required not recommended as in flyer. They will not serve walk-ins nor is there any signs stating this. The new flyer says you need to order one day in advance.

    (1)

  • Jenny C.

    You ever been to a place a few times...and realized, they just stopped trying? Well, that's how I felt last night when I came here for dinner. I think this will be my last visit here because it was such a disappointment. While these buffet places have never been 5 star dining, I remember a time when Makino was actually okay. I looked forward to going there because of the good hot choices, cool sushi/sashimi ordering system, desserts (chocolate fountain), steak/lobster station, etc. These things still exist but it all feels...just so dirty now. The hot foods, gosh, it was just greasy stuff thrown into the pans. No care in the taste or presentation of it...and the actual items? I just feel like they try to find the easiest way to make it cheap and fast. The sushi bar, I guess it's still okay. They cut down the portion of what they give and I can't say it's that fresh. I didn't even eat the steak or lobster...or have dessert. I think the thing that bothered me the most was how dirty it felt...and how much it smelled like cleaning liquids in there. The decor is getting old...but nothing is being done. I came on a Friday night and in the past, it used to be huge groups of people waiting to get in. I had no wait time. It's really too bad to see a place fall so much....one of the few bright spots was my waiter. He was very nice, fast moving and attentive - need more of him in other places.

    (1)

  • Tom S.

    Other than the place being filthy, the waitress being grumpy and slow, and the food being junk, this place rocks! Oh yeah, its also expensive. Would have been expecting a lot less if it was $15 a person - thats all this place is worth. NEVER AGAIN MAKINO CHAYA!

    (1)

  • Joyce J.

    Great selection of different foods available. The fresh oysters, snow crab legs and soft shell crabs are FABULOUS! Also, you can't beat the fresh sushi and sashimi. Discounts are offered for seniors and military personnel, plus an additional discount is given on your receipt for your next visit. I found it a good value for what you get.

    (5)

  • Lofa L.

    I was happy when I was told we were going to Makino Chaya (i kinda like the Aloha Tower one, not the greatest but not that bad either) but when I got to the Aiea one man was it weird. I couldn't stop noticing my shoes were stuck to the floor. I mean the chairs even stuck to the floor. This was worse than any movie theater floor I've ever encountered. Now I know Makino Chaya gets bad yelp reviews at the other location that I like, so I thought maybe it could be a matter of opinion and I could give this location high marks to beat the trend. Unfortunately this review joins the other low scores. Overall the food was good. Not great, good. The sushi and hot items I liked. But my fried noodles tasted like cigarettes. The party of nine also thought it tasted like cigarettes. I couldn't get over it because I like to eat noodles. The crab legs was good, and the steak and lobster and crepes I enjoyed. Most of the staff was friendly too like the steak cook and our table waiter, but the hostess was a grump. We had reservations for nine and she gave us a table for six because the others were running late. I told her about our party reservation and that we needed a bigger table. She got grumpy and left us only to reseat us in a corner and pushed an extra table together. This was on a Thursday night, I wonder how bad she stresses out on a busy night. Makino Chaya has enough influence to convince Sanrio they can run a collab restaurant yet this location is a joke. If you gotta go Makino Chaya go to Aloha Tower or don't go at all. Maybe just eat a lunch bento.

    (2)

  • Kristen C.

    214/365 I've never really liked Makinos for their high price yet low quality food but my bf wanted to come here because he was craving for some crab legs. We came around 6:30 or so and we had to wait about 10 minutes because we didnt make a reservation, which I didnt understand why because there was clearly a lot of open tables. However, upon being seated, we noticed that there was literally only 1 waiter taking orders while another guy came from the kitchen to deliver those orders. The sushi didnt look too appealing and it actually tasted a bit old as the rice didnt taste fresh and the ocean salad I had was a bit hard/dry. From their hot dish side I got the chow fun, garlic ahi, choi sum, beef broccoli, and of course crab legs, they were all alright, and good enough to satisfy my palette. I also tried their pork gyoza and that wasnt bad. For their fresh menu, we got the lobster and miso butterfish. The lobster was tasty, flavor wise but it was a tad bit overcooked and chewy. It was also tiny and came roasted with a creamy mushroom topping. The miso butterfish was the highlight of the dishes that I got, and I think I should have ordered that from the beginning and more of it. It was very moist and flavorful. For dessert they had tiramisu, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, guava cake, pineapple cake and coconut cake along with jello, the japanese mochi and azuki bean soup and the doriyaki stuffed with azuki. The cakes that I tried were dry, except for the pineapple cake which was fairly moist and I liked the topping. I like their fresh fruit selection, especially the halved kiwis. I also got myself an ice cream crepe with strawberries, bananas and chocolate chips and that was good. Overall, dinner was $30+ and drinks are NOT included so I dont think it was worth it as the food was just eh, okay, definitely had better.

    (2)

  • Ashley Anne B.

    Alright I was very reluctant to eat here (I had read the horrible reviews) but my parents are total Cheapies! They received a coupon that got 20% off the entire meal and a free meal if you eat there on the date of your birthday. It was my little brothers birthday and my family loves buffets so naturally this coupon was a sign from the heavens to eat here. I've read the reviews and begged my dad to go elsewhere but "we got a coupon, does the other place you want to eat got a coupon? well then we eating here". We made reservations 1 week in advance for a Saturday at 6:00pm. When we got there it was packed with people waiting outside! when I told the hostess we had reservations at 6pm (we arrived at 5:55Pm) she said to wait outside and she will call the names at 6pm. Our names were called first and we were the first to start eating at all the buffet tables. The food was okay nothing spectacular but the fact that we got their early and didn't have to wait in the long line that formed after we got our food made it enjoyable! So the rule of thumb to eat here is 1. Make reservations early, because we made it so early we were the first people called into be seated even though other people had made the same time reservations. 2. The first line you should get into is the line for the wagyu beef, then quickly to the main course buffet line. 3. Because you got a head start on everyone else you will be the only people at the dessert tables :-) All in all just because we didn't have to stand in line and we got their early the food was fresh and this made a decently enjoyable experience.

    (3)

  • Kai R.

    Ayce wagyu, uni, king crab, lobster and now tonkotsu ramen!

    (5)

  • Kat A.

    Their crepes are good! Do not try their lobster, its too chewy..

    (3)

  • John B.

    Expensive, smelly carpets, and plain food with no taste. I'm steering away from here next time my wife's birthday comes along.

    (2)

  • Justin Y.

    Oh how I didn't want to write a terrible 1-star review, but my oh my has this place earned it. The only thing the star is good for is to jam in the front door to hopefully keep people out. Now lets see...I ended up here for a family dinner for whatever occasion it happened to be, and even while waiting outside this place just reeked of awful. The waiting seating outside consists of folding metal chairs up against the facade wall...not a great first impression...but at least it was an honest one. The tables and chairs are generic and cheap...the plates, cups, and silverware were dirty...dirty enough that I actually went back to my car to get my bottle of water. The service was entertaining, but not on purpose. The "chef" that was at the teppanyaki station was actually wearing shorts behind his station, as if his back wasn't to the entire restaurant. Classy! The food was greasy & nasty at best. I took a small amount of almost everything JUST to try it so I don't complain w/o good reason, and whew...I left my FIRST plate mostly uneaten after the initial nibble to taste things. The teppanyaki station was pretty funny because the "lobster" was so obviously bad a lot of people were saying they didn't want it, but Mr. shorts-chef MADE people take it if they wanted the steak. So all in all, the only person I'd recommend this place to is the health inspector.

    (1)

  • Lili A.

    Visited Makino Chaya reluctantly for the second time for a birthday. After my first experience, I was not very impressed with the food, facility or service. But because it has been years since that time, I chose to give it another shot. First, mix-up with the reservation time had our party of 5 waiting behind a party of 27. FAIL. We were called in and taken to our table in the back left corner. The setup was different from what I remembered and was impressed with the new layout. PASS! Walking to our table felt like walking in a theater where soda and candy were spilt and left for days. My slippers were making those peel-away noises with each step. FAIL. Our server Joe approached our table and was very friendly. He acknowledged the birthday girl and gave us the run down on the buffets and suggested the crepe station. Got our drink orders and went on his way. He checked back on us frequently and took sushi orders here and there. PASS! I am a huge unsweetened-iced-tea fan (no lemon!). Took a couple sips and was set back by the bitterness. It tasted like the machine needed a good scrubbing and a new fresh brew. Ended up ordering Raspberry iced tea. FAIL. Made a sushi plate to share, filled the plate with California Rolls, Spicy Ahi and tempura sushi. All very good! What was entertaining was all the rice balls left over from people just grabbing the ebi (shrimp) off of the sushi. Overall sushi...PASS! The hotline offered local-Asian style dishes. Filled my plate with choy sum, stuffed crab, two types of shrimp tempura, vegetable tempura, steak and lobster. Most items were warm (expected for a buffet) except the steak and lobster which were made to order. The lobster was initially raw, then poached on the grill in a pan of butter, then grilled to order. This whole process made the lobster tough and very over-cooked. The steak was good and the added bean sprouts were a nice touch. There was a poke bar at the very end of the hotline. Not the freshest quality, so I dodged an instant stomach ache. Sorry, neither PASS nor FAIL on this. Finished off with a trip to the crepe station. There were fresh fruit selections and rainbow sherbert (they ran out of vanilla ice cream). I chose to go with the bananas only and topped it off with a chocolate drizzle and mini cream puffs from the dessert station. It was the best part of dinner! PASS! It was an overall so-so experience. Joe's friendly and attentive service kind of made up for the ok food and unclean facility. I would return only for someone's birthday if that's what they had their heart set on.

    (2)

  • Gabriella M.

    No star from me, horrible, dirty, and nauseating experience. Unfortunately, yelp does not allow a zero star rating, hence the one.

    (1)

  • Corrina D.

    I definitely came hereto eat crab, and that's what I did. The beef broccoli was hard, crab cakes idk what that was sure wasn't crab, it's definitely not worth 32 dollars a person

    (2)

  • Keoni D.

    Went to makino chaya after a recommend......did not care for much they offered but the crab leggs and lobster tail was delish......

    (2)

  • Niki T.

    My parents took me here for my birthday and I loved it! I ended up returning in a month to take my boyfriend for his birthday. I love Japanese food and this place has a great variety of everything The ENDLESS crab legs are to die for!

    (4)

  • Jenna F.

    How can anyone eat let alone have an appetite in all the filth. As soon as I entered I could smell the bathrooms located to the right of the entrance. There was a wait outside for this dirty pit-hole buffet? My friends only wanted to try Makino Chaya because they had some coupon. Did no one see the crud all over the floors and buffet stations? I won't comment on the food because I refused to eat here but for some reason others in my party did and boy did they pay for their feast later as all of them got sick in their own way and had to re-enjoy their meals twice through reverse peristalsis. I understand that a lot of restaurants never get inspected annually due to budget cuts, so when dining out look around people! If you see some black tar looking substance on the walls that is a clue to leave asap!

    (1)

  • Maile T.

    We are regulars, and love this place. Noticed the added live music!! Typical Hawaiians!!! I love it.

    (5)

  • Jenn Y.

    This places sucks. It's so ghetto not worth it. This use to be a great buffet place but the food is not even good. The food is not hot some were empty and the food entree were hand written. I remember there use to be a chocolate fondue with fruits but that is gone. At least the tepanyaki there but the guy was just wearing a tshift how do you know it's staff and not a random person. The lobster was so dry and he did not really cook the meat well so no tip for him. They have soft shel crab but didn't even look like it. The tables were not clean with bug crawling. Drink containers were lying all over the place. Plates were dirty sometimes no forks or enough plates on some food bar. Not professional at all.

    (1)

  • Dave E.

    Not good at all. Dirty. slow service. Not worth going.

    (1)

  • A G.

    Expensive Buffet. Food quality not that great. The hibachi grill was good. $3 extra for a soda. Not sure I'm coming back. At least I didn't leave hungry.

    (2)

  • Lorna M.

    The place was not bad.(Aiea) You must come here hungry though. So far this place is the cheapest we've found for having to eat the sushi, tepanyaki and seafood. I'm sure we will comeback here for dinner.

    (4)

  • Chrysantha C.

    I FELL IN LOVE WITH MAKINO CHAYA ON SOUTH KING STREET BACK IN 2004... so imagine my disappointment when they opened a chain of restaurants and changed the menu! I dined here in March of 2008 with my parents expecting the OLD MAKINO CHAYA I first dined in. Food was NOT GOOD and there were little grey mice running around under the buffet tables... we also let the waiter know and pointed out the little creatures, he nodded and his face looked like he already knew. GROSS... WILL NOT RETURN! PS I just tried to remove the star.. but I guess I CANT!

    (1)

  • Todd D.

    I wasn't going to review this place until I read some of these complete idiots reviews of the restaurant. First, the person that said they aren't big women and couldn't fit in the booths....I'm sorry but I've sat with people in the booths, if you couldn't fit.....you're big women, so stop complaining about a normal size booth. Second, its a buffet!!! Stop expecting it to be presented like it was prepared by fricken Iron Chef Morimoto. Its about quantity!!! If you want top quality japanese food, go to Doraku or Nobu!! Stop bitching about paying less than 50 bucks for ALL YOU CAN EAT. That's like going to McDonalds and complaining that its not the best tasting burger you've ever had. Is this one of the better japanese restaurants? No. Do you get your money's worth eating here? Yes! One plate of crab legs or lobster is going to make it worth going. Try eating sashimi until your full at Shokudos and see how much it costs you. "Oh, Todai's food is much better quality." Umm...yeah, they have the same owners and get their food from exactly the same places. If you're looking for decent (not great) japanese food, this is a good place to go. You'll actually be surprised by some of their food. In particular the steak and lobster. The desserts are also definitely above average for a buffet-style restaurant. Try it! Just don't walk in expecting everything on par with an expensive sushi restaurant and you'll enjoy yourself.

    (3)

  • Crystal S.

    I'm sad to give Makino's a 2 star review because they used to be SO much better (with quality buffet-included menu-order food items). However now, it seems like they have lowered the quality of the food for more quantity. Now I love my buffets...but I was disappointed with this one. Some dishes were decent to good. There was 1 supurb dish though...the made-to-order wagyu beef and scallops. YUM. Beef was like butter and scallops were sweet and juicy. If you do go, you must devour this section first. They also have good bentos with a main dish and a bunch of sides for $5.50. Eat here if you just like eating a lot.

    (2)

  • David B.

    This place keeps getting worse and worse each time I go here. I've learned from the first time I've been here years ago, but still go back because out of town guests and my grandparents love this place. List of issues for this visit: -Opening was displayed as 5:30pm, but they didn't let in people until a quarter to 6. -Restrooms were open before the restaurant opened, but my mom said it was still disgusting inside. -I decided to hit up the teppanyaki station right away when the line was still short. The four people in front of me got a lobster tail per plate. Before it was a whole tail, but now they are even smaller and you only get half a piece. I brought up two plates and had to wait for the next wave of cooking batch for the 2nd one. Cook decides to put up the 1 lobster tail per person sign now. -Forks getting more crooked and crooked. The owner is too cheap to buy new ones. -After getting my steak, I go to my seat for the first time. I look over the menu to see what sushi I want. Remember when they first opened they had a variety of items other than sushi? Then after that they set limits. Now it's just sushi. So a waiter (Japanese guy in his 20's) comes back with the order of the party with me. They were off in the buffet line. I told him I wanted to order the hamachi and the sashimi platter. With a puzzled look he goes, "Uhhhh, we're running out." WHAT? The place just opened! He probably thought I was being greedy, but the fact was the sashimi platter was my parent's order. So I just asked for the hamachi. At this point, I knew already I ain't getting it cuz the guy is a liar. He leaves without asking what I wanted to drink. So my mom comes back and asks if I ordered anything. I said yeah, but I doubt I'm getting it and the guy said they were out. She says she ordered from a girl server. So if that guy wasn't our waiter, he should've at least told me straight up that he was there to deliver only. The girl was actually nice, but at this point I didn't bother to order sushi already. -Crepe station was "Out of order"

    (1)

  • Tina F.

    I went for lunch on a Sunday with my husband. The restaurant was about 3/4 full and we didn't have to wait for a table. We arrived around 12:30. I have to say, for a place as big as this was, there wasn't too much to choose from, kind of dissappointing. Bowls for soup were gone, and I couldn't even find any small ones to put dipping sauces or even soy sauce in. They did have a great assortment of sushi, however, if you're like me, I loooove lots of wasabi and ginger with mine... But NO SUCH LUCK- There was none to be found anywhere. We went for the crab legs anyway, which I have to say, we ate BEYOND the price we paid for lunch.. almost 3 hours later, our bellies were full and we left content! Not too shabby.

    (3)

  • E Po'u L.

    Its the best place to go if you don't want good service, don't mind mediocre food, and love waiting around for a refill, another drink, or your check. We were done 15 mins ago and still waiting. I'm writing this review as we are still sitting in the restaurant. Still have yet to see anyone come by. Worst dining experience I've ever had!!!!!!!

    (1)

  • Calvin L.

    I love dis place!... Cheehee!

    (4)

  • Amanda S.

    I'm not a very big seafood person but I like this place. I especially like the pui pui shrimp. If anyone knows the recipe let me know! The service could be better and the food is halfway decent so I give it 3 stars.

    (3)

  • Shaz Z.

    Nasty. The people who run this place are restaurant slumlords. Shame on you, Mr. Makino. I felt like I needed a shower and a cleanse after NYE's dinner here. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the gross smell, and if that's not enough to ruin your meal, the sticky carpet surely will (not just around the buffet, but in the dining area as well). The seating booths are falling apart at the seams, the dishes are cheap and dirty. And I haven't even gotten to the food yet. I could not bring myself to try the "sushi" that was being served (it all looked nasty), and each and every item I tried from the hot buffet was disgusting. I would have walked out, but two of my dear aunties had invited us and were paying, so I couldn't be rude. I am NEVER returning here.

    (1)

  • Anjelika J.

    In land of buffet, this place is not worth the $26.98 + tax + drink + crazy hungry peoples fighting for utensils and rice. Nope. I know buffet and this is like the McDonald's of buffet. I mean compared to Todai, at least this place didn't make me wanna vomit. But we did it again... we ate here... again. The food, so plentiful and oh so plenty of blah too. Ya know, when i see crab and lobster advertised for $26.98 + tax, i don't want it soakin' in some mystery broth with herbs all over it. NO! I want crab, lobster and drawn buttah. How obsurd is that request? Apparently it's taboo here at Makino Chaya. Yeah and they have this banana dessert. The sad thing is that THIS is what i look forward to eating here... all for $26.98 + tax. And yes, I do know that i can make this at home for a dollah, but NO... I wanna pay $26.98 + tax for this! So, it was the same ol' same ol' ... until... we saw... ... ... ... the wagyu beef! *dun*dun*duuuuun*! Ok... so there we were standing in a hella long line of crazy peoples with empty plates just *staring* at the chef cooking this meat of the gods. H and I, who are very meat eating peoples, were like, " How do you order this? Why do I see people getting it with sprouts? Who the eff needs sprouts? WHY the eff would you eat it with sprouts? Do you HAVE to take the sprouts? I just want meat. Will they kick us out if we just ask for meat? Can we stand in line again? Cuz that portion looks too small." Yeup, us lil' piggies... oh effing well! We got up to the front and we were so sked to ask for no sprouts cuz everyone else was getting the sprouts, so we took the damn sprouts. K den, so we went back to have taste... and then that was it. Screw the crab, screw the lobster, screw the bananas... oh hells yea, it's all about the wagyu beef for $26.98 + tax. BUT, we still had to conjure up the cojones to ask for "no sprouts". SO STUPID! Oh, and then we still didn't know if we were missing a sign that said, " ONE TRIP TO THE WAGYU BEEF STATION ONLY! " hehe... but i nevah saw one so too bad! We ate more, this time were brave enough to ask da guy to "hold the sprouts" ( i hate sprouts, just a waste of time and taste). So, the basic short story was: Crab and lobster (with crappolas instead of buttah) ... $26.98+tax Fighting hungry peoples for a fork & rice ... $26.98 + tax Banana dessert that u can make at home ... $26.98 + tax Wagyu beef w/o sprouts ... $26.98 + tax not being chicken schett to go up for seconds and thirds AND ask for no sprouts at the wagyu beef station... effing priceless. ^o^ *2 stars for the wagyu beef which is actually equal to 20 stars (10 stars for each yellow star)... but no stars for the freekin' price for the blah food. got it? k den.

    (2)

  • Keane L.

    Oh, God this is great! Having grown up in a small family, and sans the slew of les relations communes, it's always an experience when a long overdue family-friend gathering occurs. Oh, joy! Endless questions about my job, the length of my hair, my band ("I love the Beach Boys! Do you sound like them?"), etc. What could make this marvelous experience more American-kitsch? A buffet! I loved the South King Makino Chaya (now closed) when it was a lesser-known joint. They offered some superb items, like chicken slowly cooking over a tiny charcoal grill. But times change, and things get crappy with expansion and location changes. Alas, Makino ain't quite the same no more. The special menu consists mostly of nigiri and sashimi platters (still not bad), no longer offering the elaborate dishes and prepared desserts. Also, there was a rat. Happy New Year! Let's drink cheap domestics and blow shit up.

    (3)

  • Joy W.

    My parents like going here for celebrations as it's good for groups. I really loved how at their old King Street location you could order off a menu as well as partake in the buffet so was sad that this Aiea location and the one in Aloha Tower were buffet only. So imagine how happy I was to find that the Aiea location has brought back the menu! The buffet is still the same size, with lots of hot entrees to choose from, plus the wagyu beef and sushi station, but there is also a two-page menu of sushi, noodles and seafood to choose from. Overall, the food isn't the greatest here but you get a lot for the money plus the addition of the menu offers the illusion that those dishes are fresher. Service is always good, too.

    (3)

  • Robyn R.

    What happened to Makino Chaya? I liked it better back in the day.

    (2)

  • Bradley H.

    If you've never eaten at Todai, you never will. We went during the main dinner time and even though they were full, we got seated within about 5 minutes. I'm not sure if that's usual or we just got darn lucky, because there were people out the door waiting when we got there. Certain items are located in the buffet line, while the better items are located in the buffet menu. Both are all you can eat, but the menu prevents the good stuff from siting out too long. The sushi was very fresh and they had three kinds of hamachi sushi/sashimi out in the buffet line along with all the great usual suspects...salmon, maguro, etc... The buffet menu (you can order two things at a time, but you can order as many times as you want) includes soft shell crab, king crab legs, tempura, toro, blue fin tuna, and much more. I was actually impressed with the quality of the food just relative to other restaurants (not even taking into consideration the fact that buffet places tend to have lower quality food standards--which this place did NOT). I've been to the one in town too, and was more impressed with this one. As usual, if you're going to the buffet to eat fried rice, you're wasting your money. But if you're going there to eat seafood, sushi, sashimi, etc... you're going to the right place...enjoy it and come back and write a review!

    (5)

  • Marlene F.

    We went to dinner on Friday for my brother's birthday and Father's Day. I was not impressed this time around. The food was ok. The service was meh. Our plates were stacked 3 plates high and were not taken away until after we paid the bill. I noticed the prices got more expensive. Now, it's $29.98 for adults. Yikes! Most of my family seemed ok with everything tho. I'm not sure if I'm coming back.

    (2)

  • Bifyu J.

    The only culinary highlight was the wagyu beef teppanyaki station, but even there there was a good chance you'd get a cut of beef that was at least 30% fat. We're not talking marbling here, just fat... The sushi selection and quality was poor to mediocre, as was the rest of the hot food buffet. Dessert-wise, stick to the jello (hard to screw up), or the fresh fruit since it keeps the preparation to a minimum. They wanted to squeeze nine adults and a child onto two tables that would have only held eight adults comfortably. A leg actually fell off the table they tried to relocate us to next. Service was mediocre: they were relatively slow clearing away dishes, and they did not refill our water glasses once. The carpet was sticky - nothing like having your slippers adhere to the floor if you stand in one place to long. Water dripped copiously from the ceiling near their fruit station. On the other hand, I probably saw as many different varieties of fly inside as they had different types of fresh fruit available. The interior was also too warm, and as a bonus you will leave smelling greasy. They do not accept American Express, only VISA and Mastercard, and they will claim that requiring a photo id to use your credit card is not a violation of the credit card merchant agreements (false).

    (1)

  • Nelson Q.

    I should've read the reviews but instead, based it on our families' visit a VERY long time ago at their other location which was good, but that was years ago. Just about everything was mediocre to bad. The only good things were the Miso Butterfish and Ikura Nigiri, which were on their AYCE menu which was $10 more on top of the buffet price of $18. The hot items were a mess and poorly maintained. Sushi station and desserts were a joke and employees were working in ordinary street clothes!?!? Cooks don't seem to know what they are serving either. How are you gonna serve AJI nigiri, cover it with eel sauce and call it UNAGI!?!? Lobster was the cheap frozen type, and our experience here was not worth what we paid for (about $28 per person ) Low quality food, very messy atmosphere, and lack of professionalism in the kitchen makes this place one of the worse places, if not THE WORST place to dine in Oahu. AVOID!!! Shaka Meter: None!!! Not worth it....

    (1)

  • Bobby A.

    For the price, you get a great deal. We got here 30 minutes early for our reservation and we got sat in 5 minutes. Large selection of items sashimi, sushi, noodles, miso butterfish, steamed fish, clams and what I came for...CRAB LEGS! Then they have a dessert bar where you can get crepes made to order with your choice of filling. Print out your coupon online and get 20%off. Come in on your birthday and you eat free. How awesome is that. Thanks to our super cool waiter. I'm coming back for more crab legs

    (5)

  • Shannon G.

    Better off going elsewhere to eat. Quality of food here has dropped drastically. Someone needs to revamp their menu!!!!! Don't recommend this place at all.

    (1)

  • Kalatiola Mo Viliami P.

    This rating is strictly for service because I'm a stickler for service. Our server tonight was Branden and for the many times I come here, tonight stood out tremendously. Within a minute we were seated, Branden had already came and took our drink orders. When we came back with our food, he was there to take food orders from the menu. Needless to say, my drink never was empty because Branden was there with another to replace or refill. He constantly came to check on us even though he had many other tables he was taking care of. Thanks Branden for treating us like VIP's!

    (5)

  • Lorilynn L.

    Hmm, this place was ok at best. The buffet food were not the most healthy selections; however, a lot of it. I ordered butterfish off the menu and it was soaked in oil. They also failed to mention we hadonly a short amt pf time to get food, after paying full price, smh. A second visit is highly unlikely.

    (2)

  • Tim C.

    I came back.... Huge mistake. Did not get seated for 45 minutes. Server said he "simply forgot". I left and went next door for a steak an beer.. It was cheaper.

    (1)

  • Chuncha T.

    Excellent food, and service is great. My favorite place to go with friends and family

    (5)

  • Traci R.

    Makino Chaya. You hear this restaurant name being thrown around and everyone seems to say how horrible it is. Yet after all these years, it's still in business. Something must be going right for them? A lunch buffet for $13.95? (If you're a senior citizen with a newspaper coupon, it's $9.95.) I'm pretty sure some plate lunches cost that much! My aunty and uncle wanted to dine here for lunch on a Friday (observed holiday for July 4th). I mentally prepared myself for some awful food. It's been at least 5 years since the last time I came here (and at that time, I told myself I'd never come back). We arrived just before 11:00am when they opened and people were already waiting for seats. Parking wasn't a hassle at the time, but I know how crowded it can get. FOOD: My expectations weren't high. You shouldn't expect very much when you're only paying $13.95 for an AYCE. Shrimp and vegetable tempura, beef gyoza, chicken teriyaki, miso butterfish (with bones), salmon (with bones), teppan steak, and a variety of sushi/nigiri were the "highlights" of the buffet. The quality wasn't quite there though. But, it didn't taste like complete garbage at least! The shrimp tempura didn't seem fresh and looked as if it were cooked in old oil. Majority of the butterfish pieces looked very dry and overcooked. However, if you did find a good piece, it didn't taste all that bad! The steak (apparently it was ribeye but I don't know my cuts very well) was pretty good and cooked to order (this would be where you get your monies worth). I only had the kamikani (imitation crab) nigiri which was pretty good. You can't really screw up imitation crab and sushi rice. There's also a ramen station, which I didn't try. My Aunty ordered 2 bowls of ramen and immediately regretted it after the first bite. There's a crepe station but it didn't look that great when the person in front of me ordered it. The cakes looked generic and dry. They did have fresh pineapple, which I ate an entire bowl full! The frozen yogurt (chocolate and cheesecake) was very runny and melted. You can only get one serving of frozen yogurt per person per trip. The cakes are limited to 4 pieces per person per trip also. Even at $13.95, I don't think I ate my monies worth. I wish I liked steak in general, but I don't so I only ate a few pieces from someone else's plate. So for the protein-lovers and meat-eaters, go get the steak early! People line up waiting for it! SERVICE/ATMOSPHERE: You walk in and your nose is immediately tickled. I'm not sure what it really smells like but there's this odor to the restaurant that made my nose twitch a little haha. After that, you check in with the host/ess. Damn, the hostess is grouchy. Lighten up a bit will you? I guess my smiles and attempted small talk didn't help. Eh, whatever. Our server was incredibly friendly though. She talked to us about plans for the weekend and came by several times to clear our dishes, refill drinks, and to chat. Overall, if you're just looking for somewhere cheap to get full with a variety of food but you don't care so much about quality, you should come here. Now if you want some quality food with the applicable price tag, then go somewhere else like Hakone or Tsukiji or Hawaii Prince Court. Personally, I probably won't be back unless it's an obligatory event held here.

    (2)

  • Aubry A.

    I haven't been here in a while, but it was good! The buffet was huge, assorted with all types of food from seafood to asian dishes. I kept going back for the crab which was so addicting! They also have other sides of this restaurant with sushi, teppanyaki, and desserts. They have a variety of sushi to choose from. I was a bit disappointed because they were out of ikura, which was one of the highlights on the menu. The teppanyaki line gets really long, so be prepared to wait quite a while! For the desserts, you have a choice whether if you want a crepe, frozen yogurt, or chocolate dipped fruits. Not sure why this place has two and a half stars, but it was a good experience! I'd definitely come back.

    (5)

  • Chesten V.

    Not a very good experience. I've eaten here before and kind of knew what to expect as far as the food choices go, however, the service this time around wasn't too great. After being seated it took over twenty minutes for someone to come by to take our drink order. By the time I got my drink I was already half way through finishing my food. Not too sure but from the looks of it they were understaffed. The same person that checked me in at the front ended up being the one to bring my drink as well. Also, I didn't receive any of the food that I ordered off the menu. Other then that you can expect a variety of ok food that doesn't give you a reason to be ecstatic. On the plus side they do offer military discount

    (3)

  • Sunny L.

    Dear Owner, Susan, our waiter was absolutely amazing. In my opinion she should be promoted to "Training Manager" and teach all the other and new waiters how to behave. Her service alone made the experience great. Anways, onto the actual review. On Father's Day, I expected the food to be fair, considering it is a Holiday and that it is a seafood buffet in Hawaii and how seafood is expensive... Yes it was pricey, but between kids pricing and Military, it isn't too bad. They had Lobster tail, fresh Oysters and both King and Snow crabs, and Steak and scallops... And yes All was great. I liked the other foods too! Sushi was mediocre, except for the rice part. It was hard because it was kept cold. The kids loved the desert bar! Tips? It is always a good idea to bring 1 dollar bills to buffets as they will have someone cutting, cooking or in this case breaking open oysters and would be great if you tipped them. All in all, it isn't a place I wouls go often, but I'd go here again. Thanks, v/r, Sunny the Yelper

    (3)

  • Joseph Joel B.

    I remember back in the day when Makino Chaya first opened up in Oahu, and they had restaurants in Mililani, Aiea, and Honolulu. All 3 locations were always busy, and food was really good... But those glory days are long gone!! Fast forward to the present... Makino Chaya in Aiea is the only one that's open now. For some reason or another my parents still like going there. Maybe because it's still pretty cheap for seafood buffet, and they don't have to drive too far. But for whatever the reason is, I'm here more often than I want to be. I can easily point out all the negative things about this place, but I'll hit on the positives: 1. The Grilled Steak Station: One of the better things they got going for them. Fresh grilled steak with or without bean sprouts. 2. Snow Crab Legs: This is where you get your money's worth!! I usually wait until they bring out a new hot batch of legs. 3. The Crepes Station: Freshly made dessert crepes with your choice of multiple fillings, including Nutella, fruits, ice cream, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and powdered sugar. 4. The Chocolate Fountain: Dip fresh fruits in a fountain of molten milk chocolate. The other food is pretty much hit or miss depending on what day you go. You can easily eat your money's worth here, especially if you love crab legs... But overall, the quality of the food has gone down over the years. If you want a cheap buffet, this is the place to go, but you get what you pay for.

    (2)

  • Jenny G.

    Came here for a party and had my expectations set low (to avoid disappointment haha...) and I was very surprised to see how good it was! Don't get me wrong. It's not amazing so don't expect 5 star food and service but it's perfectly average. Food is acceptable and the service provided was on point. My favorite parts of the meal was the teppanyaki and crepe stations. The teppanyaki guy works so hard for so long without a break. I wish I had cash to tip him. I was worried about my steak being overdone but it was almost perfect! Juicy and well seasoned. The crepe station was manned (or wo-manned hahaha) by a very nice girl who smiled at everyone and made me feel welcome, not as if I was inconveniencing her. Sucks that ice cream isn't served anymore and they have mediocre frozen yogurt (4 choices). Overall, I left pretty content. It's not amazing, but it's not bad. However... I would not return if I were the one paying $30 a seat.

    (4)

  • Yamato T.

    Hey not cool. Was trying to make a reservation but the girl kept me on hold... I would've uploaded the '10:00' minute pic but got upset and hit the end button instead of screen shot.

    (1)

  • Jessica M.

    My boyfriend and I love this place! If you like crab and sushi its a great buffet. $20 for the early bird. They have tons of sides like yakisoba...fried rice....roasted potatoes. They have a saimin station...a grill for steaks. I love the tempura shrimp!! The crepes for dessert are so yummy! Service is friendly.

    (5)

  • Trish N.

    Hadn't eaten here in at least 3 or 4 years--b/c we've been doing more high-end buffets recently--but Mom really wanted to go here on 12/21/14, and I must say...I was VERY impressed by the quality of food & service! Might've been that they're particularly on-their-game b/c of the holidays & they're totally booming...but all of our water glasses were refilled regularly, empty plates cleared promptly, & all of the staff was super professional & attentive. Our main waiter (young Asian kid with glasses, didn't catch his name) was awesome, and this was one of those rare occasions when we gave a full 20% tip at a buffet. When we first got there at 5:30 pm, the restaurant wasn't even half-full, and special-order items were brought out VERY quickly...but later on, when the restaurant filled-up, it took forever. For our last order, the waiter came by 3 times to apologize & tell us it was still coming, before we finally cancelled...so I'd say go early if you want any of the special-order stuff. Even so, we appreciated that our waiter was on top of things, & we were actually pretty full by then, so it wasn't a big deal. More than anything, I loved that the buffet trays (ie crab legs) were constantly refilled; almost everything I tried (ie crab legs) was totally delicious; and the lines never got long--even when the restaurant was packed! ;D Admittedly, I only ate like 5 things (aside from crab legs) the entire time I was there. 0=) And really, for the most part, I just ate massive amounts of: -- SNOW CRAB (yay!); all large legs, perfectly-cooked--NOT overcooked, salty, or dried out like some much-pricier buffets!--& the melted butter was perfect, not separated or watered down like aforementioned-pricier-places. For New Year's, we actually went to a seafood buffet that was more than double the price, and I found myself longing for the crab from Makino Chaya, go figure! -- MISO BUTTERFISH; perfectly seasoned, cooked just right, with lightly charred skin...totally competes with most of our Japanese restaurants here; I don't understand how Makino Chaya can afford this! -- TEPPANYAKI STEAK & BEANSPROUTS; I'd say this was "steak plate" quality--meaning it was actually decent--& the medium-rare preparation & seasoning were spot-on! Early-on, I also tried these dishes, but didn't get seconds (or third or fourths!) like the items above, b/c it wasn't worth the tummy-space: -- Chinese steamed fish; pretty sure this was basa, but I actually like the taste & texture of basa, so it was good for me, though a tad spicy...it just couldn't compete with the top 3 items above -- Teppanyaki scallops; not large enough to get a good sear, more like stir-fried...& scallops themselves were plump but didn't have much flavor; not bad but not great -- Lobster halves; random mayo & cheese sauce baked on top...would skip that unless you simply must have lobster; and if you do get it, I'd remove the topping & dip the 2 bites of tail meat in the melted butter from the crab -- Stuffed crab shells; eh, not horrible; at least it was mostly seafood rather than all breading, which is a plus -- Clams; super disappointing; their Chinese-style sauce was very bland, & clams themselves were tiny & didn't have any flavor at all After gorging on my "top 3" items for about 2 hours, I had just enough room to finish up with some dessert. Others in my party tried the cakes (meh, it's just cake) or choco-covered fruit (looked good but I wasn't in the mood)...while I went straight for the chocolate froyo & a choco-banana-whipped cream crepe (which was expertly prepared!). That totally hit the spot!! When all was said & done, I was shocked at what a great time / meal we had at Makino Chaya, and I wouldn't hesitate to go back again. I'm not sure why this places gets such low reviews--unless, like I said, it's due to inconsistency--but so far I'm a fan...hope the next time is just as good!

    (4)

  • Crista P.

    I read all the reviews before coming to try this restaurant, and I honestly hesitated but I couldn't say no because it was my grandmas birthday dinner and my family set up reservations so I couldn't get out of it lol. Food: Everything LOOKS hot and fresh, but once you take it off the buffet you go sit down, you dig in to eat and your food is already cold. It wasn't tasty it wasn't anything it was just BLAH. I also ordered 2 udons one for my husband the other for me, and no joke it took about 45min to come out. The waitress didn't apologize or anything, by the time it arrived at the table I didn't feel like eating it. Oh I also forgot to mention that the "DONBURI" is a absolute joke! Lol I wish I took a picture. It was literally 2 pieces of poke on about 1 tsp of rice lmao! The dessert, I originally wanted to try the guava cake, but of course they didn't have any. The only thing they had left was chocolate & red velvet. I did end up having a crepe which was probably the best tasting thing all night. Not much to go on place is a little run down looking, I saw a few cockroaches on the floor and yeah it kinda grossed me out. Don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon.

    (1)

  • Mark P.

    Crab Legs! On the way here, I bought a cheap pair of pliers. Now I'm ready for next time.

    (4)

  • Ellarie W.

    OVERVIEW: Do not ever go here! Save your $20+ and get some good food from Cheesecake Factory or Tsukiji or elsewhere. The food quality SUCKS really badly. The only reason why I chose to have a grad party here was to accommodate a family member for lunch hour since they open till 2pm. Even though I read the reviews prior to coming here, I still gave them a chance and thought, "ehh food is food and i'm sure it can't be that bad." But oh noooo, the food WAS BAD. I just have to emphasize to NOT EAT HERE because I care for you guys that much. This place really deserves to shut down because they're sucking in people's hard earned money and serving us crappy food and bad service. FOOD QUALITY: The main entrees tasted bland, salty, and generic. Seafood was too fishy. It seemed as if the food heater wasn't working at all because the fish was cold. Deserts were equally generic, bland, and overly sweet. The blueberry cheesecake was just a bland sponge-like layer on the bottom (cake), with a thin layer of cream cheese mixed with something to make it blander, and a blueberry spread that seemed very preservative and not healthy. I was looking forward to the crepe station most of all because I use to recall it being good (but that was many many many years ago. The batter was bland (what's new right?) and the banana was ok, the strawberry was preserves. The chocolate syrup was very little so I can't even judge the taste based on what I had. CLEANLINESS: From the outside entrance to our seats, the place was smelly...like dumpster smelly (gross). I was embarrassed to have my guests eat here and none didn't mention how the food tasted because they were too polite to say it was horrible. On more of the disgusting note, there were flies flying around, the area was dirty, and more importantly, the PLATES WERE DIRTY. I had to at least dig down 4-5 plates until I found a semi-clean plate. There was a worker in front of me watching me move plates around to find the cleanest (spot-free) plate, and she gave me some sassy looks. SERVICE: The workers weren't welcoming. Our waitress was polite, but was sweating profusely because of her duties to help the rest of the restaurant. She was always rushing through our orders. She came twice to clean up our plates and once to refill our cups. There's no desert bar that you can help yourself to. You have to wait in a long line that services ALL DESERTS. And mind you that there are 1-2 helpers in that area that takes forever. Servers have to multi-task by making frozen yogurt, crepes, and plating the cake slices. These two girls were pretty horrible at service too. They weren't greeting. Once you arrive to the counter, they look at you like they're already waiting for you to order. Questions should be held back because they will definitely give you some sass. Sass must be an employee hire requirement here. Lol. So service was very poor considering our not-so-present waitress and ESPECIALLY the rest of the staff.

    (1)

  • Sol R.

    Unfortunately, my last visit to this place may just be that... my last visit. The sushi was not fresh, it felt dirty, and the place gets really crowded to a point where i could not enjoy my meal. I guess that's what you expect from a buffet... but for the price?

    (1)

  • Tabatha P.

    This is, by far, my favorite buffet on Oahu. I tried to forget about it for awhile because I had sad memories linked to it. But once I got closure on that, I started coming here again and even brought my friend here for his birthday, and he was stoked. What I love about buffets typically is the variety of foods. This place has a lot of options. People have tried telling me, "that place is so expensive, I can't believe you eat there a lot." Actually, it has a very decent price for all the seafood and sushi and crepes and all that they offer! Try going to a place like that with authentic Japanese food in Las Vegas, you would probably get charged near $60 for dinner. They charge less than half of that! The place is big enough for large parties, we once had a party of about 50 people roll up in there and they were very catering. I have never been sick after eating here, I leave energized and full. I have tried going a couple times between lunch and dinner and was disappointed to find them closed, luckily there are many other food options in the area. It's nice that they have a grill to freshly cook beef and lobster, and I love the little stuffed crabs they serve, sooo good! I really like getting my crepe after, which is usually hard to stuff down but I manage. I always leave feeling like my belly is going to pop. XOXO Makino Chaya!

    (5)

  • Emmanuel M.

    13FEB2015 Pro: our waitress. Bri-anne. She was wonderful. She made sure our plates were cleaned, water filled, and kept a continous supply of lobsters headed my way. Cons: makino is a shell of what it used to be. Gross floors. Filthy kitchen. No paper towels in the bathroom. Food was old tasting. Salty crabs. I wouldn't eat here again unless it was free. Even so, maybe not. Unrelated or not, our trip home to ewa was horrible. I don't know if it was the countless lobsters and crab or the medium rare beef. But I felt as if the devil himself was trying to crawl from under my ass. It felt as if lava from the big island was leaking. Pele herself was slipping through my guts. Every speed bump was bad. I turned the music down. I shhhd my wife and kids. Sweat began to drip down my brow. I was in panic mode. I screamed at my wife to find a plastic bag. I unzipped my pants while driving on the freeway. Public safety out the door. Bag under me, left hand on the wheel. Richard Simmons would be jealous of how tight my ass was. Clenched like a disturbed clam. Ewa exit. I'm lifting one ass cheek now. hands are cold. I'm shaking now. Should I just shit? What if my wife tells everyone? She will. Fuck.. I'll just close the windows. Suffocating her. Too bad. Ewa zippys. Yes! Almost home. Shit. Satan is back. He's prying my cheeks apart. Oh no!! Jesus take the wheel!#! I can see my drive way now. But I'm about to crap. I've got leather seats. I can shoot it down. Thankfully makino was looking out for me. I made it home. Destroyed my toilet. Now I need a plumber

    (3)

  • Gina M.

    Food is tasty but doesn't replenish fast enough for its customers. Atmosphere is noisy and dark. Would be better if it looked cleaner. It does beat driving into town if time is short.

    (3)

  • Jade A.

    The only reason im giving a star is because i liked that seafood crab thing. Other than that, its a no. The service there was rude for the most part. We asked what type of drinks there were and the waitress looked rather irritated. Then I went to get a crepe. I was about to grab a plate they put in front of them & the lady making the crepes told me in an unpleasent tone that she already had plates in front of her. As if i can see whats going on there. Anyways, I asked for whipped cream but they ddnt have any so i asked for the frozen yogurt instead. The lady told me that they had only 3 flavors. Great. I saw the flavors available on a paper they had put out in front of the desert stand & i wasnt sure of one flavor, so i asked the lady "what does ____ taste like" and she tells me "Its there on the paper", making me feel stupid. So what am i supposed to do? lick the paper and find out ? Like seriously makino chaya, tell your night shift crepe makers to learn some common courtesy & customer service skills. The crepe wasnt even good. You need new chefs with better attitudes. I hope you find better and NICER employees. Stop hiring just "anybody". They wont get u business.

    (1)

  • Joan A.

    This was only my second time here and my first time was years ago! They are located on the second level of the Westridge mall across of Bed, Bath and Beyond. I went here a couple of days ago for a party. The food was okay but I wouldn't pay to eat here. Lol I had salmon nigiri but that's all from the sushi station. I gave up meat so the teppanyaki station was a no no! They had slabs of whole fish on the counter of the ramen station that I thought should've been on ice...kind of unsanitary and not safe temperature wise. I did enjoy their dynamite crab and miso butterfish though...those were the only two I really enjoyed. Our waitress was awesome though! She always made sure our drinks were filled and made sure we were okay!

    (2)

  • Amanda G.

    First time to this place, and I will NEVER go back. I'm sorry to say it but this just was not a good experience. 1. Food Quality - food was sub par and the buffet was not stocked, there were several dishes that were empty and continued to be empty throughout my visit there 2. Cleanliness - dirty plates left on tables for over a 1/2 hour + bathroom reeked 3. Staff was unfriendly/inattentive - when asked to break up our check (as we had a party of over 20 ppl) we were met with attitude and were told we needed to make sure we paid the whole bill!! RUDE

    (1)

  • Pamela L.

    So I remember this was called Buffet 100 and I had my birthday and graduation here. Looks like they are under new management and it has now gone down. The early bird happy hour price was not bad because it was under $20. However the appearance of the restaurant looked cheap, the line to cook your BBQ was long and slow, and their variety of desserts sucked. The only thing I enjoyed was their tempuras and fried rice. I don't think I would go there again unless they clean up the place and clean up their servers because ours wasn't very friendly except for the girl who took our plates and gave us water.

    (2)

  • Sunshine J.

    Food is junk here. Most of it was empty... They can't keep up to restock the food. never coming back here again. Utensils not stocked. Unhappy. Worse buffet ever

    (1)

  • CC R.

    Good service for drinks, clearing plates. Asked for table change directly next to buffet line to window area; as my Aunty+Uncle are seniors. Totally denied! Told that area was reserved- observed entire time we dined, remained empty Food definitely NOT as good from last year- Less variety, Lower quality. Overly thin teppanyaki steak now marginal. Sushi lackluster. AYCE buffet means just that- except @dessert bar! Mediocre, bland petit four sized "sponge" cakes w/different frostings (red velvet, chocolate mouse, coconut...) "guarded", placed limit p/person and crepe maker balked and rolled her eyes at me when I wanted frozen yogurt after my crepe!! FroYo was also chintzy portion Recalling our overall dining experience writing this, 3 star lends generosity. At least early bird (530-630) $19.95 pricing was reasonable. We arrived at 530. They made us wait in line for 10-15 minutes... Upon sitting at our table, barely one third *1/3* of restaurant was filled. At one time, amazing food for bargain pricing. Now just okay food, okay price, haphazard service by some.

    (3)

  • Brandi F.

    This is only the second review I've EVER written (just cuz I'm normally too busy stuffing my face and passing out from a full stomach afterwards). This place is the exception though... Simply put -- DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE! I'm normally quite complacent and, as the saying goes, "if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say it at all", but in this case I must. This place is absolutely NOTHING like the other Makino Chayas that were in town. The quality of the food is far from good with gritty sandy clams, soggy ramen noodles, and little-to-no seasoning on dishes (amongst other things). The food servers don't wear proper food service clothing (no hairnets or paper chef caps), in fact the dessert station server was wearing what looked like a Diamond Supply Co hat with high top shoes. The dessert station is set-up on the side almost as an after-thought with one person manning the soft-serve, crepe station, and the smaller individual cake portions which creates a large line to wait (I actually feel really sorry for that man). The waitresses are nice, you can tell the people working are trying to do their jobs, but I think the problem comes down to refining processes and regulations to look more professional. Little things like giving the dessert area a proper set-up, having the teppanyaki guy ask what temperature is desired from the steak per customer, wearing proper attire -- it all adds up to make a restaurant look clean and inviting. I wonder if this place will stay afloat, but we'll see.

    (1)

  • Marni T.

    First and last time coming here. The people here are not friendly plus the food is awful. I could make better food than this, and it would be cheaper. I came here and it seemed fine, once I started getting food I regretted everything. Nothing was good, the sushi was so gross I threw it away instead of eating it. The waitress refilled our drink once and I never saw her again. They really need to step it up, especially the food or this place WILL be shut down soon.

    (2)

  • Sunny D.

    Just had lunch here since my mom wanted to use the "senior" lunch coupon. Senior is 55 or over and was $9.95 with the coupon whereas the regular price is $13.95 and if you want a drink other than water it's $3.25 for what looks like a 28 oz. cup. We got there just after 11:00, there were lots of tables and most of the customers were seniors. There is an area near the entrance where you can get made to order noodles or teppanyaki but we did not partake in either. Near the windows is a sushi bar with a decent selection of pop in your mouth sized sushi such as spicy ahi, California, Tamago, shrimp, etc. The dessert bar is next to that, you can get flavored yogurt, mini slivers of Mango, Haupia, chocolate and Guava cakes, and also made to order crepes. We tried all four, meh...they were okay but nothing out of the ordinary. Across the room is the long buffet with a decent sized selection. There are several types of fish such as salmon bone, butterfish but they looked sort of dry. I find that fish at a buffet needs to be in some sort of sauce otherwise they do tend to dry out. Veg salad, noodle, fried rice, even fried sushi which imo had no real flavor, but mom liked it. Shrimp and veggie tempura, teriyaki chicken and a bunch of other stuff. Honestly, the lunch buffet is mediocre to okay. The only thing I went back for was the fried noodles which I thought was pretty tasty. The batter on the shrimp was bland and unfortunately the dipping sauce was bland as well which didn't help at all. Okay, the spicy ahi was pretty good, but overall I was unimpressed with lunch. There service was fine. The place really does need an overhaul as it looks sort of dingy and dark. Both mom and I thought it was mediocre.

    (2)

  • Sethsmom 1.

    Must be new management or owner. WORST experience ever! I have been here on numerous occasions and I can't believe the people working here! RUDE! Our waitress, Nastasha (the only way we knew her name was on the receipt). First of all, She acted like she didn't want to work, from the moment we walked in. We were told by another waitress as we waited that a 11 year old was good to go as far as being charged for a kid instead of adult because of their ridiculous height chart! How can they get away with discriminating a child's height?! After getting the check we asked Natasha about the charges for the 11 year old and she made a scene and actually said she with an attitude "We have to measure you". Upon paying we addressed the height issue again and the Manager came out and told us it was policy. But we were told on the way in she was good to go! He than said "I deal with a lot of HAWAIIAN & SAMOAN kids" WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? HOW CAN A RESTURANT DISCRIMINATE AND STEREO TYPE PEOPLE!!!! NEEDLESS TO SAY, It wasn't the money it was the principle! WISH THERE WAS A NO STAR! ONE STAR WAS BEING GENEROUS!

    (1)

  • Marina M.

    I used to love this place but the taste went down. Sashimi used to be fresh and now it's dry... I only come here for the crab legs and the lobster which I have to keep getting up and go to the teppan to get a lob one at a time. Service is ok. Price is kinda high for the quality of food.... Not too clean either. Carpetting is sticky as hell.

    (2)

  • Barry R.

    First of all, I've been a chef in many high class restaurants here in Oahu and i am currently a chef at Benihanas now. When i seen the 2.5 Star rating here on yelp, i did not wan't to go to makino chaya. I had no choice though. My family had come down from Washington and Vegas so I was to eat out with them. When i got to Makino Chaya at around 5:45, we were sat immediately. It was only the 4 of us and we had a party of 8. Server brought out 8 glasses of water even if they're were only the 4 of us at the time and to me, thats great service. The main attraction seemed to be the SNOW CRAB. Once the crab ran out, the kitchen reloaded/restocked the crab instantly. I was amazed! Food selection was massive! food and taste is excellent for the price you pay ($20) for an ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT restaurant here on OAHU. Sushi was dry but i was expecting that because I KNOW that SUSHI SHOULD BE EATEN ASAP. If sushi is in an all you can eat place, the sushi will dry a little because it was sitting out for a bit. Same with all the other food. The longer food stays out, the more the food will dry up and the quality will go down. My advice is to go to Makino Chaya During dinner just right when they open up. You won't be disappointed. Everything will be FULLY stocked, food will be at a perfect temperature and the service will be better (only one server was serving the whole restaurant)... Steak quality was not the best but was cooked right in front of your eyes on a iron teppanyaki grill. I cannot complain about the steak because I KNOW the price is still right. My advice to Makino Chaya is to Have 1-2 more servers walking around because drinks DO run out fast. Props to that one lady server with the tattoos though for working hard and trying to service every one on her own.Staff was freindly, Ice cream and desert was awsome!! Food was awsome, everything was awsome for the (PRICE)...I belive that Makino Chaya deserves more then 2.5 stars on yelp so ima put a (5 star review to help bump up they're ratings) I would say that the over rating to me would be AT LEAST 3.5 stars for now. I recomend every one to come here ONLY at "HAPPY HOUR" (5:30-6:30pm) Anyways, Im sleepy from allllllll that food. I hope this review helped you guys out alot. God bless :)

    (5)

  • Kris F.

    "Hello, please hold" For 8 minutes I was put on hold, I can hear all the background conversations, kids crying. Decided to call with a different phone "Hello Makino Chaya!"I proceed to tell her that I am still on hold on the other line for 8 minutes. Her tone changes and she states "What did you need". I do not get an apology and a what do you need instead? This was at 12:30pm

    (1)

  • Silvia M.

    Food was meh. I wasn't impressed with the lobster, it was crazy salty as well as the oysters. When I was at the sushi station, the sushi roll had a long black hair. I decided to skip it. Then I went to the crab and grab a bunch of legs but they didn't have utensils to break the crab legs and I almost injure myself trying to eat my food cause I couldn't break the legs easy. It sucks getting frustrated with your own food. The only think that saved the night was the teppanyaki, they make it right in front of you and you also can get scallops. The crepes were good too!! But avoid the sushi!!

    (3)

  • Cheryl E.

    This is a restaurant that used to be fair on their better days. We had dinner there a few weeks ago, and I must agree with other reviewers that this place has dramatically gone downhill. ALL the buffet items were tasteles and blah. The crab legs were boiled to death and extremely salty. The young gal who was doing the dessert counter was extremely surly and uncooperative and had no idea how to cook, so it's a mystery as to why she was making the crepes. She plopped a heaping cup of batter on the grill and then immediately flipped it over and then immediately took it off. I mentioned that the crepe was raw dough and undercooked. She gave me a very dirty look and asked what flavor ice cream I wanted on it. !!!??!!! The restaurant was not clean and I had to search for a clean plate in the rack. They were all tacky and dirty. In addition, their was a large party next to us, and that's fine, except that the children in that group were running full speed, pounding the windows, knocking into our chairs and screaming at the top of their lungs. None of the waiters or management said or did anything. We had a very unpleasant time and I will not go back here again. There are too many other good places to eat on this island.

    (1)

  • Veronica L.

    Now, I can't say for sure whether or not I feel Makino's has received fair reviews. I could be blinded by their unlimited WARM crab legs - the way to my heart is through my stomach with crab. I have been frequenting Makino Chaya for probably a decade now. It has been a staple for me here in Hawaii. Why you ask? This is the only place I have found on the island with all-you-can-eat warm snow crab legs at lunch AND dinner for a decent price. They almost never disappoint. To be perfectly honest, I rarely eat the other buffet items because when I am going to eat crab, I am going to eat crab. The service, okay, is a little lacking sometimes. More times than not, however, the servers are pretty good. The hostesses are sometimes not the friendliest but I only have to deal with them a minute amount of time in the grand scheme of things. My mom's complaint has always been the lack of cleanliness of the bathrooms - but on my most recent visit (on my birthday) I noticed that they renovated and cleaned the bathroom. Yay! So now I don't have to listen to my mom complain about that. Haha. I will continue to come back frequently...there is no doubt. They have the best crab on the island for all-you-can-eat and a pretty great price. Note: they no longer offer free birthday meals on your birthday - it's half price. But if you're over the age of 65, it is free. Also, they now offer 5% discount to retired military and 10% to active duty. They used to only offer discounts to active duty. Enjoy and crab on!

    (4)

  • Shane S.

    This is a generous rating...seriously...much better buffet choices out there...this location used to be Eastern Garden and that place was worth going...sad it is gone...not worth going here...

    (2)

  • Chanel V.

    Making Chaya used to have an awesome selection of food in their buffer lines. And over the years they slightly were becoming a place where I didn't want to eat anymore. But I still had little visits now and then for parties and to eat lunch. But now it seems Jay they are bringing back more good things to eat and a great selection of food once again. Their sushi/poke bar has gotten better where they serve poke now and poke bowls. The main entree line has more interesting foods from rice to noodles to fish chicken shrimp and can't forget the CRAB LEGS! Which taste so good! They also have the different soups towards the end of the line. But what I enjoy most is standing in the steak teppanyaki line. The steak is serve and cooked right before your eyes and the cook will ask you how you want it and if you want veggies or some days are different they'll serve the steak with scallops or fish. Depending on what you want. Also they have a noodle bar where you order what kind of noodles you want and you pick your ingredient on what you want inside. Last but not least they have the dessert area. You can choose 4 different types of cakes and they have a crepe line as well. You pick what you want in your crepe and they'll make it for you. And they also have some items in their menu for dinner that you can order. Like they have oyster and lobster too. Overall they have improved over the pass and would recommend people to try it out.

    (4)

  • Peter L.

    Filthy. Can't stress enough how badly this place needs a deep clean. The carpets smell like a locker room. The bathroom was unusable. Disgusting. Really.... The food, well... It got two stars because it was edible and abundant. It's clear people visit for the volume of food. None of it was great. The staff was disinterested and uninspired. It's a buffet. Not sure what I was expecting...

    (2)

  • Kat A.

    I don't know if it's just me.....but this place has really turned to crap....u pretty much pay to eat crap...not worth the money....service was bleh....environment was bleh.....kids running around and crawling on the dirty carpet not wearing shoes.......bathroooms were dirty...buffet was lacking..lots of stuff empty....dessert station lacked a lot..... the plates weren't clean..silverware was dirty....dirty dishes left on tables for a long time....staff just wasnt on it......they hardly had any fruit for the chocolate fountain...basically go there to eat the steak n crab legs...other than that i wouldn't waste your time or money...i remember Makino Chaya being somewhat better than this years ago.......never again.....i don't see how this place is still in business...maybe we just went on the wrong night..

    (1)

  • Azteca Q.

    I would minus stars if I could!!! This place is a mile past disgusting! There was a big nasty sig burn/ brown and yellow stain on our table cloth under the plastic that was bigger than the size of the plate. The crab legs were super tiny not even 3 inches long. And they only brought out a refill once in the hour I was there. None of the food was replenished before it was completely dried out and disgusting.

    (1)

  • Iris C.

    Came here on 08/08/14 with a party of 30 for a welcoming dinner for one of my aunts. Arrived just in time for their happy hour (Monday-Friday 5:30-6:30 50% off) We've been here many times in the past, however the lack of freshness in the stopped us from returning in the recent years. I'm glad that we somehow found our way back. The food was hot and fresh, lots of selection, the buffet line was never empty, and the made to order steak was superb! They have really changed up their game since we last came here. I was quite impressed! The cakes were now in glass cases and ordered through the person at the dessert station. Which is good because they limit 4 pieces of cake per person (I guess to minimize food waste) The only thing that I didn't like was how they made a switch from tub ice cream (meadow gold) to those soft serve yogurt type of ice cream for their crepes :( Our server cleared our tables and filled our drinks quiet often, good job guys! All in all, our visit to Makino Chaya went better than expected and will definitely come back for more.

    (4)

  • Donna Lyn B.

    So in my last review a year ago, I said I would wait another three or four years until I came back again. Guess as fate would have it, I went back just a year later for another party at Makino Chaya and this time it was at lunch. Amazingly, those ugly Word doc signs I griped about last time are gone and now the buffet looks neater with nicely frames signs for each of the food items. For the hot foods buffet, it offered steamed fish, beef gyoza, shrimp and veggie tempura, butterfish, that seafood dynamite in little crab shells, oily chow fun, crab legs, roasted potatoes, and I'm probably forgetting a couple more choices. There were a few other things at the cold foods bar, but I didn't get a closer look. I walked by the sushi bar across the way by the windows and nothing looked fresh, so I skipped taking anything from there. I was bummed there was no roasted ahi head (aka the Thelma's Special version with fish) like I had a year ago. I also tasted the steak from the teppenyaki station from my husband's plate. The only thing I really liked was the butterfish, but it was really bony. The flavor was great, but I had to sift out the bones and it was like just scraps of meat from each piece I had. The steak was really chewy. I didn't have much of an appetite for dessert after, but the crepes that the other party guests had looked okay. Honestly, I'm glad the place LOOKS better with the framed signs for the buffet, but the food still is lackluster to me and there's still nothing for me to rave about or crave for. It was just okay. So again, it's still a solid two stars.

    (2)

  • Diana G.

    Before going to dinner at this restaurant, I read many many reviews. I still wanted to take my son for his birthday dinner however my expectations were low. I am happy to report that our dining experience was very pleasant. The food was really tasty and hot; our server (Britta) was superb. Didn't have to ask her for anything. The steak/swordfish station was great. Yes- it's not the best restaurant we've ever eaten at but for that price - we were satisfied. We will return!

    (3)

  • Veronica L.

    Mehhh it was just okay. The service was great though! To be honest, the food just honestly did not seem worth the price. They have a big variety and different choices of food, but I would probably give the quality of the food about a 3 out of 5. The food tasted dry and hard, and what really upset me was the dessert. The crepe's were undercooked, and they use frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. The frozen yogurt is already a softer texture and melted a lot faster wrapped in the warm crepe. On too of that, I felt like I was eating a kitchen sponge when I bit into the cakes. The cake was dry and mostly tasteless. Also, the way that this buffet is placed is ridiculous! They have one section with majority of the food, then they have a teppanyaki steak section (steak was chewy/fatty) and the sushi is in the back by the desserts (weird?) and the ramen is in a weird bar looking thing and I didn't even notice it until I was in line for dessert! How disappointing... Overall, this buffet isn't too bad if you go for the Early Bird Special ($19) like the other reviews say to, but definitely not worth the $30 for the complete dinner buffet. If you compare to other buffets with similar price ranges like Tsukiji's or Todai, the food quality cannot compare to the price.

    (2)

  • Tiff S.

    Dirty plates and utensils!!! Some sushi were a brownish color (looked old). Slabs of raw ahi were just sitting on the counter tops of the sushi station (not on ice and only half way covered). The only good thing about this place was the crab...but you even had to wait for that, they couldn't keep up with their guest. All in all I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone, not only did the food suck but the whole restaurant felt and looked dirty

    (1)

  • Faith F.

    Girl! 3 times I eat here with family and each time they have down graded their food. The last time I came here the fried rice ran out twice and they never ever brought more out!!!!!! REally!! In-fact, there were many dishes that ran out and they never replenished it and it was still early. The only thing that tasted good was the friend sushi, everything else was bland. Oh and check your drinks, most all of our cups had oil floating at the top of our soda. So Nasty I'd rather buffet at Chans by the airport.

    (2)

  • Tenari F.

    If there were negative stars thats what i would rate this place at service sucked food sucked all around junk experience

    (1)

  • Ninarae N.

    Yeeks. I came here with my family after a viewing and all I can say is: greasy. Everything tasted like it had been drenched in oil & not drained. We had a variety of food & nothing stood out as amazing. Possibly the walnut shrimp might've been the dish 'o the day, but even so, I've had better elsewhere. Service was okay for an average Asian restaurant. They weren't rude and were very diligent in refilling our drinks. Maybe because we were the only table in there? They seem like nice people, but chances are, I won't be returning.

    (2)

  • Jostin I.

    For the cost to bring our family here and quality of the food I'm never coming back. It ain't worth $31.98 a person sushi sucks they closed the yogurt machine without notice 30 min prior to closing service at the desert and ramen sucks cheese. Now I know why this place was so empty. Employees touching their nose and stuff.

    (1)

  • Mele P.

    Went here for lunch and was pretty happy and surprised that they had some good food out even though it wasn't dinner time. They have many options like steak, shrimp tempura, butterfish, all kinds of sushi, even a crepe and dessert bar with ice cream and fruits. The beer is really pricey during lunch, $7 for one Heineken. Other than that, the price for the lunch buffet is great - $13 for adults. The only problem I had was our waitress didn't bus our table the whole time we were there. She brought us more drinks, but left the old plates behind. It might be how they limit you from eating a lot or they just had shotty customer service the day we went. Either way, Makino Chaya is good for parties, special occasions, or just a heavy lunch. Will return!

    (4)

  • David C.

    The food isn't really that good, but I suppose it's a good value considering the price for the lunch buffet.

    (3)

  • Crystal B.

    I came here for my Auntys 64th Birthday last night. First time I have ever been here. The food was okay. It wasnt to die for or anything like that. We had a really nice waiter and staff seemed very friendly. They did however, seem to be understaffed. My family and I got there about an hour after opening and there was a big crowd of people. Pretty busy considering it was Thursday night. We then took into consideration that it is graduation season and all that so it isnt too far fetched. I have seen other reviews of this place and can agree for the most part with some. This place is good for a family occasion and nothing more. The buffet is okay and nothing much to offer, other than the chocolate fountain, which didnt have good fruit to go with it. I was bummed about that. Overall, its decent for what it is and thank you too our waiter for being soo nice! Sorry I didnt catch your name!

    (3)

  • Shey O.

    The reviews here made me stray away from this establishment, but we got a kaukau card from the boy scouts that made it sound convincing and a 20% off discount for lunch and/or dinner was included. Our server, Branden, was excellent. He warned us about getting the beverages for our discount and was awesome about everything. I didn't get the girl's name from the crepe station, but she was awesome, too. Gave me a lot of whipped cream when I asked her. I just wish I had the genius idea of putting chocolate from the fondue onto my crepe wat before I overstuffed myself. Bring one's to tip out people making your food in front of you. They're amazing. Tiramisu, king crab, lobster, snow crab, made-to-order ramen and kobe steak, sushi and cute little donburi bowls, chocolate fountain, freshly made crepes, quality yogurt and so much more. Some foods were off but you can't expect every single food item to impress you at a buffet. Branden was handling a lotttt of tables so we didn't mind the wait whatsoever. We left cash and a written tip from our credit card, but I guess he didn't see the one on our check. Grrr. He deserved that tip. Hope we can tip him again and sit in his section. Great service!

    (4)

  • Taz M.

    Good food, great service. Except towards the end of the visit, noticed that when they refilled the buffet line that they put the new food directly on top of the old food. So you actually don't know how long your dynamite crab has been sitting there.

    (2)

  • Derek S.

    The extra 2 stars is for our server. I wish I got his name but he was amazing. Came here for a graduation party. The food is not that great most things I grabbed was still on my plate when they took it. The sushi was also bad. The rice was hard and when I went up there was only 3 different type of sushi. Everything else was empty. The crepe was nothing special. I thought it was going to be amazing because the line was so long. But the line was long because there was only 1 person with 1 burner. I think they need more people. I have to say they are better then the last time I came here but still need improving and renovating. Again the reason I'm giving them 3 stars and not 1 is not because of Makino it's actually their waiter. He was funny he laughed with us and he was the only server for our entire party and always kept a smile on.

    (3)

  • Courtney O.

    Flies, and gnats, and bugs, oh my! Where is the department of health? Are they too scared to come here? Quality? No. Service? Nope. Value? Try again. I have no idea why people come here unless they are looking to lose a few pounds from food poisoning. The sushi is not fresh, the prime rib still has a heart beat, overall, a really risky choice if you ask me. I would not wish this as a last meal on my worst enemy.

    (1)

  • Christal C.

    Ok, I'll be honest. I was kind of disturbed the last time I came. But oh my gosh has things changed since then. I am very pleased with the changes they've made. The food is no longer served on weird dirty colored looking trays. They now serve the food on normal stainless steal trays. The tables are covered and looks so much better than before. And most of the food was pretty good. The place looks so much more cleaner and nicer than I remembered. Maybe it was a good thing that those green "pass" cards took into effect cause this place is finally looking decent.

    (3)

  • Kalei A.

    The food is good. Plenty of options. There is also a sushi bar. My only concern is that my daughter and I have been here for about 15 mins now, we have our plates and began eating but our waiter still hasn't brought us our drinks. I will be updating after .

    (3)

  • Randoll C.

    Seafood buffet - $32.95 or free when it's your birthday, or so I was told. Also, there's a senior discount. As for other promotions, you'll have to ask because nothing else pertained to the group (my family) that took me there last night for dinner. Across the street from Pearlridge - there's abundant parking as long as you don't mind walking. If you know the area, you know what I mean. If you don't, find the restaurant, then find parking. Then walk. :-) To the buffet - I'm sorry, but for the price, Eek! Methinks not. For the price, approaching Las Vegas resort prices, I was expecting - hoping for some flavorful feasting. There wasn't a selection that I went for twice. In fact, some I didn't even go for firsts. The made to order items were almost as bad. Lobster with cream of broccoli topping - overdone and tough.The Tempura was soggy on the inside and bland. The sushi was to be expected - dry and tough as it's sitting on display. The Tempura wasn't bad. That's about the extent of my compliments for the place. I take that back. Service wasn't bad. And the complimentary chocolate mousse cake was OK as well.

    (1)

  • Paul R.

    Uh.... I really don't like talking bad about places... But Makino Chaya needs a LOT of improvement. The place is kinda run down. The food is not very fresh. Just the whole environment is bad. If I hadn't been there for a birthday, I would have just left. The service is pretty good though. The lady would come to the table every once in a while to see if we wanted anything off the menu and was expeditious in getting our drinks. No complaints there. I started of with ahi sashimi. It wasn't bad, but again didn't look or taste too fresh. The crab dynamite or I forget its name had too much of something. The teri chicken was decent. Lobster was ehh.. Steak was ok. Apparently everyone comes here for the crab legs. They have a mountain of legs, and they're good. But they're puny, and cold two seconds after removing them from the heat lamp. My only comfort was "oh well at least this place will be cheap"... wrong.. $27. Which I guess isn't much for a buffet, but far too much for this one.. I.. I just don't like the feeling this place gave me. Would not recommend this place, but if you go enjoy the legs, and tip your waitress :)

    (2)

  • Alice N.

    Went there with two of my friends today Tuesday. They let you sign in early around 1130 but wont seat you until 11:45. They were two mins late for that also. Got our table and immediately I shoot for the hot entrees as couple times I been there things run out quickly and not refilled. There is steamed rice, fried rice, noodles two styles, choy sum, some kind of crab shell thing but does not taste good don't get it. Then fried fish and steamed fish, get that. Vegetable and shrimp tempura get those. Three different types of soup, miso one and the mushroom one is good. There's a tofu one with pork and veggies but that one is more of a dish but watery lol. The steamed dumpling was so-so, wonton so-so. There is a guy cooking teppanyaki steak, get that!!! Opposite side has sushi and desserts. To me the sushi was not really up to par even with Genki. Desserts was crepe with banana and strawberry and they just put in a fondue fountain and fruits. Also in the cold case there are a bunch of different flavored cheesecakes. All in all for about $12 was a pretty good lunch just quality needs to improve. At least it was not too expensive! Side note they forgot two of our drinks till the end and didn't charge us for it. But on the other hand they automatically put tip on the check 15 percent which was weird. They lose out since I usually give 20.

    (3)

  • Julie G.

    I'd like to put zero star if I can. Flies and bugs every where, food not fresh and bad service. Why does this restaurant still exist? I can tell why it's so cheap, but it is not worth even a penny, really!

    (1)

  • Sheryl G.

    what: japanese style buffet~ something good: so since i last came here, makino has definitely stepped up their game, i am so thankful for the clean flooring and dishes! i'm so happy with that, that i don't care that there isn't any crab legs for lunch : ) !! i noticed that they have a few new items like ramen and melona ice waffle for dessert! we were happy eating the dessert ; ) !! something not so good: it could be cleaner, but it's gotten much better from the last time i was here so i think it's definitely headed in the right direction! : ) !! something to try: lunch buffet & dinner buffet

    (3)

  • Lance W.

    Buffet, what do you expect. Mostly went there to fill my belly. As always the food was kind of bland and lack of flavor. Miso butter fish was good, so was the teriyaki chicken. Drowning the crab in what I think was the melted butter, seems watery. At least they stopped putting what ever that mayonnaise sauce on the lobster. But it still lacked flavor. Mark our waiter, did an excellent job in keeping the ikura and unagi comming. Like I said, it wasn't the best of dining, but I did eat my fill.

    (3)

  • Alex L.

    I'm giving this a one star. because the restaurant is just too cramped for my liking and some of the food gets cold. I think it's ok when the restaurant is empty, but when it gets full it becomes more a noisy zoo than a restaurant. It's hard for me to come out of my chair when the place is full. I would raise my star rating if they made the place more open than so cramped!

    (1)

  • Ray A.

    I love buffets but here the food just had a odd generic taste to it. The only thing I actually got extra helpings of was the tempura as it tasted decent to me. I found myself dissapointed also with the lack of variety of food items though at first glance you would think it has a extensive selection. The worst for me was the ice cream at the dessert station. I took a bite of it and I was done. TOO SWEET! The grimace on my face from that first and only bite. Definitely not friendly for those who are diabetic.

    (2)

  • Megan S.

    Pretty cool concept for a buffet! My grandparents and uncle took us here for a Sunday evening dinner. There were several sections of food-main buffet line with main dishes, sides, etc; steak cooking section which was cooked fresh when you order; the ramen station which no one went to because it's been so damn hot, a sushi bar and lastly the desert station with delicious cakes, frozen yogurt and fresh crepes were made. This was nice as it helped with the circulation and flow of all the dining guests...it got pretty crowded but I didn't have to wait too long in any one line. There was also a menu at the table that could order other desirable foods like oysters, lobster, mussels, etc. My favs were the shrimp tempura, freshly cooked steak, crab legs, sashimi, fried oysters and raw oysters...the crepes were pretty yum-licious. The "meh" foods were the lobster tails (sat out too long or just overlooked), sushi rolls (pretty dry), the salmon (weren't deboned)... It was nice to check out and have a family dinner while on Oahu For place where you serve yourself the service was quite good. If I lived here, I could only come back to fill up on steak, tempura and crab legs.

    (3)

  • Joelynn Y.

    I have mixed reviews about this place. To be honest I only eat the Kobe Steak, rice, crab legs and crepes. Everything else on the buffet line doesn't taste that great. Last year when we came for my bfs bday, his meal was free. However we went tonight and they didn't give any discount or free meal for his bday. They said if we get the early bird special then there isnt a bday discount. If we got the full menu then he would get 50% off. Ummmm, when I made the reservation I told them it was for a bday and the girl on the phone said I would get a bday discount. They need to be clear with customers about their discounts and policies. There is a awesome waiter name Brandon. He is super nice, polite, and just a awesome waiter. He attends to his tables always asking if everything is ok, refill drinks, and clears the tables. If I could afford to give him $100 tip I would beacuse he deserved it. I really hope he takes his customer service and waiter skills to a place where he could make more money. This place needs to give him a raise asap.

    (3)

  • Money G.

    I live in Los Angeles and visit home (Honolulu) often. So.. I'm used to high standards in restaurants, food, service. Makino Chaya's service is good, atmosphere cheery, food great. It's not Michelin rated (lol) but it's comfy and tastey. Love the steak, shrimp tempura, and sushi. Tastes as good as pricier restaurants!

    (5)

  • Carrie S.

    Just don't. All the food is cold. Ordered softshell crab off the menu and it came out flavorless and soaked in grease. Sushi was crap - bits of canned tuna inside tons of rice. What's going on with the steak and sprout stirfry? Why not have other veggies out for a nice mongolian grill offering. I mean geez pick just 2 or 3 more veggie options. Just steak and bean sprouts?!? On a good note, our waitor was VERY attentive! He gets 5 stars.

    (2)

  • Kira C.

    So my family came here for my grandmother's birthday party this past weekend, and this experience changed my view and rating of this place. With my extensive experience here, I knew exactly how to hit the buffet line. I made sure that I skipped the big starches and chicken and headed straight for the seafood. I loaded up on clams, veggie and shrimp tempura, shrimp roll, spicy tuna bowls, and tons of ahi sashimi. I also got the steak and scallops with some assorted sushi on the side. I made sure that since we were paying full price, that we ordered off the menu and got some lobster, miso butterfish, and Oysters Rockefeller. Pretty much everything that I got I thought was good, except for the shrimp roll. I thought it tasted weird but everyone else liked it. The oysters weren't as amazing as I had imagined them to be and everyone agreed that the lobster was tough and chewy. I loaded up and ate about 2 plates of crab, which never disappoints, with some butter and rice on the side of course! My husband and I agreed that nothing really was that great, that everything seemed to have lost it's excitement as time had passed, and in the end majority of the food wasn't that good... especially for the menu full price. We had reservation for 19, but 2 didn't show. I called beforehand to try and figure out the financial side of this visit as we were using a 20% coupon and had a birthday and kids and everything. When we got the bill, it only had 15% off the meals and a whopping 20% for gratuity. I was irritated with the fact that now we would have to change how much everyone owed with these new numbers so I tried to speak with the floor manager but she informed me that even though it was my grandmother's birthday and she was well over 65, we couldn't use her free birthday meal AND 20% kama'aina coupon. We could only get 15% off. I explained to her that I called and explicitly asked that same question 2 days ago and I was told that it would be okay, and that we could choose how much to tip our server. I'm glad we could choose how much to give her, because let me tell you, she would have never gotten 20% from us. After taking our drink order, we had to track her down to get a refill on our drinks and had to track her down to order off the menu. She didn't serve us our food, and it wasn't her that was clearing off our tables.... So where in there did she earn her 20%? Even after being able to tip whatever we wanted, the total was still coming up more than what I thought it should be but after being there for 2.5 hours and everyone trying to leave and my son screaming because he was tired I just paid the bill and left. Once I got home and put my son to bed, I finally realized that I was overcharged. Our server charged us for the 2 people who did not show up and an extra drink. The next day, I tried to call before lunch and was not able to get in touch with anyone. After about 2.5 hours of on and off calling, I finally got the GM on the phone and explained I was overcharged. He understood and told me I had to go down to get a refund so they could run the card again. A hassle for sure, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get your money back. The return was relatively simple and quick. I think moving forward, I think I would return BUT ONLY for the early bird special. The extra $8-11 (depending on which day you go) is not worth it. The extra money to order off the menu isn't worth it in my opinion, especially since the oysters and lobster were chewy and tasteless. $19.50 early bird buffet price is where it's at. Load up on the crab, sashimi, and other seafood items and you got yourself and awesome deal.

    (3)

  • Paul C.

    I recall when Makino Chaya first opened and they flourished at the Aloha Tower location. I was still working for a major Japanese tour agency and this was such an easy sell to our guests. We were invited for a FAM tour and had VIP treatment. The food was incredible - - great selection, good quality and service was above-par. I'd even recommend this place for family dinners, business functions and lunch with my peers. Many great meals at this Makino Chaya but those are now great memories of the past. I don't like to travel far but for food, I'll make it an exception. My sister kept on "baiting" me to come here for dinner and declined several times before I finally accepted. What a mistake that was, I should have waited longer. To be fair, I came here to this location twice before writing this review. And the consensus: rating between 1.5 to 2 stars. Food Selection (5/5) Definitely a large selection to choose from. They have a teppanyaki grill where the chef cooks in front of you steak, scallops and veggies. There is also a noodle station where the chef makes ramen and udon noodles. Next to it there was a sashimi and sushi station all pre-made. The most impressive is their buffet line - - several starches, veggies, chicken, fish, seafood, shrimp tempura, crab legs, poke and salad. Once you've had enough you can head over to the dessert station for "ice milk", miniature cakes and made-to-order crepes. Quality (2/5) Don't expect fine dining. Expect dorm cafeteria quality. The beef was not tender. Low grade cuts. Sushi and poke bowls were edible but not my cup of tea. The ramen was undercooked, it was still starchy and could taste raw flour. I walked it back to the cook who made my bowl and advised him he needs to cook the noodles longer. He just stared at me. Not sure if he understood what I said. The shrimp tempura has a heavy batter coating. Waste of stomach space for AYCE. They also had butterfish but it was the tips and ends - - mostly bones. The snow crab legs were decent but some were waaaaaaay too salty. Service (2/5) This is a very spacious restaurant and it was hard to flag down a waitstaff. To get more water, refills on drinks, napkins......or even to have our dirty plates cleared. The second time we went there the hostess took our name and advised a 15-min wait. 30 mins passed and we noticed people who arrived after us were being seated before us. When a large party was escorted to a table and we still hadn't been called, I walked up and asked about how much longer it would take. She looked at her list and had a lost look. Come to find out, the hostess forgot to write our name down!!!!!!!! AUWE!!! I then walked to the tall Caucasian manager (he's the same one who used to work at the Aloha Tower location) to voice my dissatisfaction of what happened and I sure didn't expect him to YELL at his employee in front of us. Very unprofessional. I feel like this is the diner's last meal as you see people RUSHING to get food, especially when there is a new batch of crab. Both times we were seated near the hot station, just next to the crab legs and it was so embarrassing to see people RUN when new crab was brought out. There is also an early-bird special if you are seated before 630pm on Fridays. The second time we dined there the waiter charged us FULL PRICE in error. When confronted him of this error, it took FOREVER to have the bill adjusted. It was more than 15 mins and I started to get a little irritated but kept my mouth shut as I was invited as a guest. Had I been paying? It would have been a different story. As a townie, not worth the drive here from town area. You can get much better food and service with many places to choose from.

    (2)

  • Carol W.

    I don't think this place need another stab in the back, but perhaps with just 1 more bad review that they'll actually do something about it? Wow...it was bad. I haven't been to Makino for at least a year or 2 but I can't believe just how run-down they become. Like another reviewer had mentioned, the carpet is sticky. Not just your regular little-traction-type-of-sticky, but stepping on glue type of sticky. The dishes are dirty, the utensil racks are dirty, even the napkin holders are dirty! I honestly was too grossed out to eat. The cleanest part of the restaurant was the bathroom.

    (1)

  • Mr Blix E.

    My wife and I decided to go to Makino Chaya this evening. Well, it was a toss up between there and Tony Roma's. It's just the wait time was way less at Makino Chaya so we ended up there. Well, it wasn't just the wait time, it was the fact that when we walked into Makino Chaya the first thing we saw were the huge crab legs and the ginormous Wagyu beef stand behind the hostess...The short story on the Wagyu, it's basically Kobe beef, here's the shorter story, every slice is like a slice of filet mignon...Anywho. Are you serious? Wagyu beef for $27!? The beef is EXCELLENT! Melts in your mouth like butter baby! The cook they had on hand was great, personable, and made sure our every serving was medium rare. I've seen places selling this stuff in excess of $80 a person, and that's a single serving. The fact that you can just keep going up to get it is crazy. The food here is generally O-K, but I highly recommend going just for the beef, I think even Makino Chaya makes that statement relatively clear when you walk in and the first thing you see is the grill stand for the Wagyu beef.

    (3)

  • Girleegurl n.

    Somehow this restaurant has gone down hill in the last few years. Many items that used to on the line you now have to order off the menu. I guess it's more fresh but...they take soooo long to get the food to you. You're practically done eating by the time your ordered items arrive. The lines are also slow moving for teppan items (Steak, lobster) since they only have one chef working the line. The desserts are are disappointing too now. Too bad.

    (3)

  • Ray G.

    I was disappointed with some things on my last visit and after reading the earlier reviews I guess that this formerly very good buffet is in a downward spiral. Right now I'd give it 2.5 for "OK". Lunch is still a good value. It's less crowded and less expensive. Arrive at the starting time or before because when something runs out the replacement may often be something less desirable. I eat a lot of food in one visit at places like this and have never been told that I couldn't get more of something or that I had a time limit. Senior and military discounts are available if you ask. I personally haven't seen any rodents but if I did I'd have to get some news of big changes before I'd ever go back.

    (2)

  • Soo H.

    My brother & I had some free time and just randomly stopped by for lunch. It wasn't even open and there was a grip of people waiting so I thought it must be freaking delicious! Well, if you like lots of overcooked fried food, this place is your heaven. And hey I love fried chicken, fried tempura, etc...but I also appreciate some things not soaked in oil. It got old really fast for me. Sushi...maybe it was just the day I was there...but it was inedible in my opinion. The crab legs were okay, but it was just too much damn work to get to the meat. Dessert was okay. yeah, that's all I got. It was cheap for a buffet, I'll give them that. And the staff was nice. But I don't think that is worth $27.

    (1)

  • Alexander S.

    Only go here for the wagyu beef and crab. Not great quality, but decent for a buffet.

    (2)

  • P L.

    ZERO STARS. This place is a disgusting ripoff. Overcooked "lobster", stale sushi, filthy, sticky floors, lousy desserts. Overpriced, for sure.

    (1)

  • Val R.

    We went there because my mom wanted to eat there for her birthday. Horrible...the service was terrible. The food quality was not good either. First of all they have a sign outside saying all you can eat showing a variety of sushi, tempura, and noodles. We get seated and the waitress takes the drink order not even mentioning that all the good food has to be ordered from the menu. We go through the buffet line looking for all the food and can't find it. When we finally realize we had to order it, I finally get a waiters attention and he says "you didn't get a chance to order yet?" Very rudely. Then when I start ordering food he says "I have to tell you I think we may be out of that"....are you kidding me? All you can eat and you ran out of food already? Did I mention we got there at 5:30pm when they first opened? The restaurant wasn't even completely seated and you're out of food? The plates in the sushi line were dirty and greasy. Just gross. Dont waste your money or your time. The amount we paid we could have gone to a sushi restaurant and gotten better quality.

    (1)

  • Brandon G.

    a few years ago this place was awesome to come to but since ive joined the military and fly back every year for 10 days . this place has lost its sparkle , our order was wrong , the lobster tail comes with a cream mushroom sauce on it and its not tasty. id rather spend the same money and put a nicer shirt on and go to WILLOWS

    (2)

  • Alisha G.

    I usually do not review however in this case I felt it necessary. After reading other reviews, I started not to go because I thought that I would be disappointed. The truth was far from it so let em clear up some things: Food: Absolutely the best, it was well seasoned, fresh and a good assortment. My kids even went to the hibachi grill and got steak cooked. My brother enjoyed the sushi and I had crepes from the crepe bar. The dungeness crabs were ono. Great flavor. The only food that I did not enjoy was the lobster (too much sauce). I enjoyed my free refill coke and had a blast Service: Our server was really great, not too much, not too little. The chefs were also friendly as were the other workers there. There were a lot of people in the restaurant so yes it was a bit noisy but not unlike any other restaurant that I have been to. It was mostly the noise of laughter and good times so I am cool with that. Cleanliness: OK so it is not the most pristine white of places but I too am a germaphobe and it was no where near what I had read. I do get freaked out because it has carpet but I figured hey, I'm not eating off the floor so I am fine. The carpet is dark but does not have that dingy filth smell of some restaurants (Buca's, Anna Marie's, etc.). The tables were clean as well as the plates. As a matter of fact I was prepared to go through the plates and silverware but did not have to. I mostly ate with chopsticks but none the less it was average on the cleanliness, only because of the carpet. Overall: as the other reviewer stated, they did increase the price by $1 to 30 but it was well worth it! A great assortment of food. Lots of room, great service and even more affordable because I had the same free birthday plus 20% off coupon from the news paper!

    (4)

  • gabriel d.

    For the price, the food is excellent! My family and I go here maybe once a month and it never disappoints. "all u can eat crab for around 14.00 pp for lunch" cant beat that deal. If you're not expecting something fancy you'll be happy with the lunch buffett it's an excellent value and the service is always friendly and professional. We will definately be back.Thanks Makinos!

    (4)

  • Kara B.

    For a buffet its not bad but not great. This place is always packed and once you are seated they give your party a time limit. I think you have 2 hours to eat and leave. So with the time limit everyone in there feels rushed to eat. This makes everyone look desparate to grab the best looking sushi so you have to hold your ground and work fast otherwise someones grandma is gonna get the last of the ahi sashimi.

    (3)

  • Waynele Y.

    a lot of people say makino chaya is better than todai, but i beg to differ. i came here for lunch, and the food was pretty good, but i feel like you get better sushi at todai. the prepared foods are a little better here, but who wastes their time on the prepared foods.. you come to these buffets to eat sashimi and sushi. the chocolate fountain is cool too -- or actually was cool until you see all the little kids using it, and sticking their fingers in it. who knows where those have been.

    (3)

  • Albert F.

    Never having tried the Mililani location (its closed now) I heard this is the best of the 3 Makino Chaya's. Its pretty good, great for the price really, but its a buffet. Wish it was more consistant, sometimes they have the lobster tempura, sometimes the prime rib is ribeye, sometimes you get good fish, sometimes not.

    (3)

  • Kione E.

    Ok. First of all. Probably the 4 worst combination to have. All you can eat+Seafood+Buffet+in Hawaii. Normally I don't like buffets, because you never know how old anything is, but, this place is good. I found out that they open only at certain hours so nothing sit around and gets too old. I don't know how this company is gonna stay in business. Shit, if it's there after the first year, then they must have the monopoly on the whole fish market. Eh, and it good fresh seafood at that! And, to make matters worst, they offer part of their menu as the all you can eat. Lobster and Lamb not included. But what the hell order that stuff too, seeing as you're allowed to eat as much as humanly possible on the buffet lines. Yes about 3 different sections. The various sashimi/poki/sushi Section. The King Crab/ Crab from Maine/ Prime Rib/ and Various Meats(Japanese and Korean BBQ) Section. The Dessert Bar. Ridiculous! There were 5 Adult and 3 Children and we still spent less than 2 bills!! It's like there wasn't a mark up to the food cost. The decore is kinda cheezy for a Japanese establishment but the servers ar attentive and they hustle in this fast paced environment. I enjoyed it a lot (about 6 to 8 trips to the various sections) a lot!

    (3)

  • Bernadette A.

    If it were possible to write a review with NO STARS then that would be mine. The carpeting sucked at our shoe soles as we were led to our table. The plate (cafeteria style-sectioned) I picked up on the top of the stack was badly chipped. I tried to hand it to a busboy who just looked at me and tried to walk away. He finally took it from me after I continued to point at the jagged corner and said "broken." Language shouldn't matter when there is a VISUAL cue that something is wrong. The "silverware' was all wet in the bus trays and smelled of bleach. Nearly everything was labeled (helpful) on plain paper posted above each dish. Not every tray had a serving utensil. DO NOT EAT HERE if you have a seafood allergy as it would be impossible to guarantee against cross-contamination. Didn't use the facilities...the sticky carpeting scared me away from that. VERY PRICEY $28.95 per person. I would suggest getting the FAMILY FEAST at PANDA EXPRESS and getting some fresh crab legs to steam yourself. Eat at home: CLEAN. NOT WORTH THE MONEY, CROWD, PRICE, DRIVE, or FRUSTRATION TO PARK.

    (1)

  • Ken M.

    well this past sunday went to makino chaya and well i did not enjoy it too much this time had so much different types of crab that i really didn't care to eat...and i notice now they serve you dessert but than the line gets backup because there is no one there when people want to get the dessert they should have someone there all the time or someone to be there to fill up the sushi or salad when it goes low and that day it was not to bad but the sushi and salad had almost nothing left there and it was like only the start of the lunch crowd ......i hope they improve that area next time i go back there the food that was quite good was there fried rice it taste like they made it from a grill and that went down quite fast when i went to try it hardly had anything left and while i was waiting i did not see that get filled up or with a new batch of fried rice..... i also like there garlic ahi that was not bad and they had this new item i think it was called sushi tempura but i wonder if they used mochi rice because it kinda smell like it was spoil but i ate it and it seem to taste okay..... i wonder how come they don't make some kind of scallop type dish plate i'm sure the crab cost more than the scallops and never had too much veggie dish did not care for their noodles seems like not too many people ate that dish it seems there was quite alot of left also they made this some kind of crab shell dish with the back part of the crab now that did not look to appeling to eat i wonder why they made tha i hardly seen people eating that........but there crab legs was going like hotcakes but i'm glad i don't eat that ....but overall my experience this time at makino wasn't as good the last time i hope to see them improve on there dessert area and the sushi and salad section next time or i will not rate them as i did the last time i gave my eating experience at makino......thank you for the reading this.....aloha....kensan

    (3)

  • Dina V.

    It's alright, a definite step up from Todai. Went at lunch time, thought they opened at 11:30 only to find a gaggle of people sitting outside talking story. Found the door open and went inside to put our names down. Didn't heed the recommendations and get a reservation, even though my dad nagged and nagged me about it. So what! They finally opened at 12 and one by one servers came out to call on parties, no big deal we were seated within 5 minutes and there was only 2 other parties behind us. They seated us by the window, near a huge round table of AF folks. Kind of annoying as we had to squeeze past them everytime. The sushi was very fresh, my favorites being the tempura fried sushi, the shoyu ahi, and the mixed poke!!! Yum. Then it was off to the "hot" options. The whole time I was thinking of the "hot menu", but it's not an option at lunch time, or is it a secret and you have to ask? Anyhow the stuffed crab shell was so YUCK! Full of imitation crab meat. BLAH. All the veggies were UNDER done and hard and chewy. All the fish options were overcooked. My favorites had to be the veggie croquet and the shrimp tempura. But then what can I expect from food being kept warm/ hot by heaters right? I was just expecting more from the reviews here. Oh and a small warning here, the beverages other than water are NOT free. For some reason we thought the "sodas" were free, so we ordered them, when normally we're water with lemon drinking people. Eh, good thing for me I drank up my fruit punch. The dessert section was rather disappointing. Jello, frozen apple pie chunks, white cake, coconut cake, tiramisu cake (all the cakes were dry), random fruits (all of which were sour: pineapples and kiwi), and a crepes bar (but they had to dig someone else from the kitchen to be the crepe maker b/c the usual crepe person was sick). My parents are both senior citizens so their fare was $12.65 eachh, as opposed to my $12.99. The baby was free thankfully! Eh $50, drinks and tax, that would have been better spent getting a bowl of Saimin at Shiro's for $30 cheaper, but at least I know I've tried it and I won't be wondering if it's good or not... b/c it's not.

    (1)

  • Margie N.

    Definitely has the problem that most buffets have - too much food sitting out for too long, so the food isn't as fresh as you'd hope. That said, the food was decent for the price. I love sushi, and the sushi had been sitting out for just a little bit too long, so the fish wasn't as fresh as it could be. I love buffets though, just having the ability to pick whatever you want and as much as you want is great. There was a ton of seafood, as well as a menu to order different items (udon, etc.) if you wanted something special. The staff was helpful, when you could grab them - they seemed to be running around a lot, not necessarily covering one area. Desserts, yum - crepes with ice cream anyone?

    (3)

  • Robert R.

    Excellent food but the service is very bad! The place is a little expensive, roughly $30 per person and you are unable to split the bill. To make it worse, they FORCE you to pay a gratuity for crap service! My waitress gave me plenty of attitude for asking for water instead of soda, seriously??? The food was good but I do not recommend going there unless you do not care about service.

    (2)

  • Topazskye L.

    Yucks. I will never return to Makino Chaya. Just all you can eat low grade food. Greasy, tasteless, boring. Well you pay for what you get. If I am ever dragged back here, I'll be kickin, screaming and wailing!

    (1)

  • Davlynne B.

    love the all you can eat buffet at a great price!!! especially the king crab legs and the chocolate fountain!

    (3)

  • Cynthia S.

    The place to go to indulge in japanese food and seafood! Way better than Todai! I love going to the Aiea location. They seem to have a better selection of sushi, seafood, and desert. I love the chocolate fountain! There are also other locations in McCully, and Mililani. It's about $25/per person but well worth it for the amount of crab that you will eat trying to make it worth $25.

    (4)

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Map

Opening Hours

  • Mon :11:00 am - 1:00pm

Specialities

  • Takes Reservations : Yes
    Delivery : No
    Take-out : No
    Accepts Credit Cards : Yes
    Good For : Brunch
    Parking : Private Lot
    Bike Parking : Yes
    Wheelchair Accessible : Yes
    Good for Kids : Yes
    Good for Groups : Yes
    Attire : Casual
    Ambience : Casual
    Noise Level : Average
    Alcohol : Beer & Wine Only
    Outdoor Seating : No
    Wi-Fi : No
    Has TV : No
    Waiter Service : Yes
    Caters : No

Makino Chaya

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