Hapa J's - San Clemente

Great Hawaiian food! Affordable prices were surprising given how much food was on each plate. Very authentic and well seasoned. Top 5 Hawaiian restaurants I've been to.

Went for the first time. Sat at a table and realized it was sticky and dirty. Asked the waiter to clean it, after he did he still saw that it was dirty and suggested we move to another table, which we did and it was sticky as well. It took awhile for the drinks to arrive. While we were waiting for our food we realized that the whole place needed a good scrubbing... floor to ceiling. The place just looked old, out dated and dirty. Literally, we did not want to put our silverware on the table. Our waitress was great and so was the food. But, it seemed as thought a bunch of young kids were running the place and that they were not very efficient. I grew up in a restaurant and was taught that if the front of the restaurant is dirty, the kitchen is probably worse. As good as the food was, I don't think I would recommend or go there again.

This place is an absolute gem. Everything we got was so flavorful, absolutely delicious, and the portions were great! We got the pork sliders with the mac salad and the spam musubi with sausage as appetizers. The sliders were packed with pork, served with a generous portion of Mac salad. Then we split the shrimp po boy with fries. The fries were extra crispy and the po boy was served with a slaw and relish that were out of this world delicious. We finished with the bread pudding. It was a huge portion, served warm with strawberry slices, whip cream, and some sort of lemon custard, again all excellent. We went in for dinner on a Monday night and got all the happy hour deals which is the move. They were not busy and their happy hours deals are a huge money saver which encouraged us to try more things and I?m glad we did! It was all spectacular and I?m dying to go back!

This is a bar and restaurant. We called in a made a reservation for 10. When we arrived our table wasn't set yet so we had a wait a bit. We were seated towards the back near the restrooms. There were a lot of choices on the menu from cocktails, beers, appetizers, sandwiches, salads, Hawaiian plates, daily specials and desserts. They even have a kids menu which is a plus. We ordered the da big mixed plate, mixed plate, luau plate, hangover katsu sandwich, loco moco, and 2 kids meals the mac and cheese and the chicken katsu. Portions were huge. Some of us shared entrees since we couldn't finish it by ourselves and didn't want to take leftovers since we were in the area camping LOL If you want to get the fried rice side, it's a $0.50 upgrade charge but they didn't mention that when we ordered. The Hawaiian plates came with 2 sides. Opted for the fried rice and the mixed green salad. The galbi was delicious, katsu was fried just right and not over dry and chicken was ok. Overall a good meal. Restrooms were clean. Service was okay. They have a free parking lot across the side street from the restaurant. If we are in the area, will most likely visit again.

Hapa J's is a must whenever I'm in the area. Their Hawaiian dishes are unique and I've never been disappointed. The gravy on their Loco Moco is the best I've had. Sure you can use brown gravy, but they use something so much better. Their macaroni salad is delicious but I prefer more of a classic Hawaiian Mac Salad. Definitely stop by and try Hapa J's the next time your looking for delicious Hawaiian food.