| Location |
| 825 Russell Blvd. #20A, at University Mall |
| Hours |
| Sat.-Wed., 11:30 a.m. - midnight |
| Thurs. & Fri, 11:30 a.m. - 1 a.m. |
| Phone |
| (530) 750-1888 |
| Established |
| October 2007- April 2015 |
| Payment Methods |
| Cash, Credit Cards, Other |
| Menus |
| Menu List |
Ohana Hawaiian BBQ is a Hawaiian barbecue restaurant which replaced Teriyaki Express at the University Mall.
Ohana's offerings include a $6.50 combo plate which consists of a meat entree (your choice of barbequed chicken, chicken katsu, barbequed beef, etc.) and a side of rice and macaroni salad. They also offer smaller $4.50 plates which consist of meat, rice, and mixed veggies.
They offer a variety of fruit smoothies. The fountain drinks often suffer from a peculiar smell and taste. Luckily, they have a refrigerator with a decent selection of juices and sodas.
One ongoing problem that continues to be pointed out is their credit card failings. It has been stated by several wiki members and Davis citizens that they frequently double and triple charge credit cards used in their establishment and that the process of obtaining refunds or even contacting the management/owner for this purpose is near impossible. They are linked on the Business Fraud page for this issue and seemingly have done nothing to alter their course or correct this issue.
In the News
•The California Aggie gave Ohana a favorable review, although comments below don't seem to concur with the Aggie opinion.
See Archive Page for comments prior to 2008.
2008-01-22 17:47:09 Alex, Why would you go to a BBQ place expecting it to be vegetarian-friendly? Your logic doesn't make sense. —BrandonMinow
People barbecue vegetables all the time, so I don't think its insane, and I don't know enough about Hawaiian food to know if there is any such thing there. Nevertheless, I am not a vegetarian, so I love this place anyway. —NickSchmalenberger
2008-02-23 10:41:30 I like the food but the service lacks. One time I asked for a shake, but the forgot to make it. So i had to wait longer than usual. —Johnkenny
2008-02-26 12:26:05 I accidentally ordered the "Hawaiian BBQ Pork" thinking it was kalua pork. The pork meat was good, but the sauce wasn't that great (I thought it was gravy until I took a closer look at the menu online, later). After I ordered, I noticed a sagging poster away from the counter that advertised a "Laulau Combo"...that's what I would've ordered had I seen it (next time!). Aside from the Hawaiian kalua pork and laulau items, the menu here is probably best described as "multicultural diner foods of Hawaii." —DukeMcAdow
2008-03-04 17:04:47 I enjoy many of the menu items, and I think they are worth it. The staff is polite as well. —AnnaF
2008-03-14 00:00:00 Went here a few days ago and was completely disappointed. I got the BBQ Chicken, fried shrimp and Mahi Mahi combo (#2). It tasted alright, but half my chicken was skin. The others...eh...your typical fish'n'chips kinda food.—ClaytonRehmus
2008-03-16 19:12:59 The only I like here so far was the chicken katsu. The overall food is greasy. I would only eat here if i had to. —AlexN
2008-05-03 17:28:50 I think the foods pretty good and fills you up, but it is expensive relative to bay area prices. If there's a long line expect to wait a while for your order, there's usually only one or two chefs at a given time. —Noobster123
2008-05-10 23:21:09 Theres a bunch of these around the bay area, I find that this location is about the same. Its great when I dont have cash for teahouse, and they accept cards. The prices arent outragously overpriced, but arent cheap either. The bowls are cheaper than the katsu plates, a bit smaller but it still fills me up when Im looking for a quick bite. —JimL
2008-05-22 00:46:33 i tend to eat here every now and then because of the lack of food in my apartment and the convenience of its location. hawaiian bbq is over priced, fatty, greasy, and sloppily done. It's a shame. Teriyaki express or whatever the old place was, was excellent. Cheap prices and pretty good grubb. Overall, this place is probably one of the worst places to eat in davis. not worth it. make the extra trip for some quality food. —film
2008-05-29 12:49:54 I like the food here and the fact that they stay open pretty late. One time they "ran out of fries" but yet wouldn't refund my money when I asked for money back (I paid for the fries). They ended up giving me like half the price of the fries back, which was pretty shady. Otherwise, I eat here all the time. —Loccster
- Thats more than just shady, its down right illegal. -MattHh
2008-06-01 21:25:31 The service pisses me off. I go in there, order my food. The group of people behind me orders their food, and talks to the cashier in what i presume to be cantonese or something. Then the group of people all got their food before me, and I end up waiting for 40 minutes.
This happened to me 4 times (yeah I counted), but I still continue to go there, I dont know why. —jchau87
2008-06-10 15:06:19 Good food. The people who work there are nice, also...but you have to wonder about their service sometimes. They took my money, gave me the receipt, and forgot to place my order with the kitchen a few months ago. Not the most business friendly lapse in judgment to make. —sososharp
2008-07-10 15:36:15 horrid food!!! the only thing i liked was the white rice. I got bbq chicken first time i went there. it was a thin piece of greasy chicken, flavorless macaroni salad and a ton of rice. wth? i vowed never to go there again. but i did go, i was hungry that day and i decided to order something different thinking that maybe i just didnt order the right thing first time there. i got "seafood". it was shrimp and some other fried fish. but tell me, where was the fish at? it was like giant breading hiding tiny tiny pieces of shrimp and fish w/ a bunch of oil. its not completely bad i guess if ur starving, but the teryaki place that used to be there was better and a lot faster. food is very flavorless at ohana's.
i hope i dont get real hungry again and go for a 3rd try. i'm such a sucker. —KimberlyMiller
2008-07-30 14:50:54 It's not gourmet, but it is authentic. We just got back from a vacation on the Big Island, where we fell in love with cheap/fast plate lunch places (eat like a local, I say), so we thought we'd give Ohana a try back in Davis. In both format and taste, this is right on the mark, although their gravy & sauces could be better. And you get a lot of food for the price. My husband and I could easily have split a plate. For the real deal, skip the soda fountain and go for the Hawaiian sodas in the refrigerator. Lilikoi and Lychee! Yum! —CynthiaCCC
2008-09-11 11:11:00 Now I'm the type of guy that enjoys some fatty food once in a while. I would order the Guadalupe burger with chili cheese fries at Carl Jrs, which is in my opinion one of the most fat-filled fast food restaurant there is. But after eating their Chicken Katsu, I even feel nauseous. The first few pecies tasted delicious because of the breaded part on the outside and the creamy, lean meat on the inside. After those few peices, you will no longer be flavored-shock to the nasty fat and its texture just under the bread. Ooh, it's texture is a horrible experience. I imagine the fat layer is thicker than the breaded part. I threw away the rest of the food. I'm having migraines right after eating Chicken Katsu, and I'm never going to order that again.
But this place isn't without its good food. Try the volcano chicken combo or the loco moco bowl. Volcano chicken is like the spicy version of Chicken Katsu, and either there is less fat, or you don't notice it as much because of its good sauce. As for Loco Moco, I prefer the loco moco bowl for $4.50 over the $7 combo. You'll get the sunny-side up egg, steak, vegetables and deliciously steamed rice underneath. With the combo, half of the takeout box (they serve their combos like this whether or not you order dine-in) is filled with steamed rice and a sorry-excuse for vegetables. The vegetable side for Loco Moco combo is refrigerated macaroni that is coated with a thick layer of mayo sauce.
On another note, their steam rice is the best rice I have ever tasted from any restaurant. Someone mentioned they were speaking in another language to each other. A few of the cashiers and the manager were speaking Mandarin, and I believe they brought a little of their rice cooking tradition into the mix. —WengFF
2008-09-25 07:19:52 Bring back teriyaki express. I got the mahi-mahi, was super hungry, and the first bites tasted so good. About the 4th bite or so, I just starting tasting salt. It even overpowered the natural "fishiness" taste of the mahi-mahi. I was extremely hungry, but couldn't even finish my plate; it was like munching a paste form of soy sauce. —DCWine
2008-10-12 10:31:59 Fried meat with rice, so healthy. —feichu-huya
2008-10-24 09:51:19 I miss Teriyaki Express too! The food here is just too greasy and fatty for me. I also loved the steamed vegetables at Teriyaki that you could get place of rice. Does anyone know why they didn't reopen at a different location? —LokiAbbi
2008-11-15 13:33:00 This is obviously not a gourmet or health-conscious restaurant, but if you are very hungry and are not overly concerned about your waist measurement it is a great place to go. The dollar:food ratio is excellent. The Hawaiian Barbeque combo is especially good. Since the portions are fairly large, I often eat half there and have the remaining half for dinner. —Xenophon
2008-11-15 17:52:41 I came here a while back with some friends. I don't remember what my friends got but I had ordered the bbq mix combo. I have to say that it was actually good. I, of course, regretted it for many reasons, but not for taste. The chicken had a slight greasy taste, but was perfectly cooked and juicy. The bbq beef was quite saucy (just the way I like it) and the bbq ribs were ever so tender. Now its not the best bbq I've had but I thought it was quite decent for the price. Since I don't actually know what "Hawaiian bbq" is supposed to be like, I assume this is it. Of course, though, it is a bbq joint, so the food is gonna be quite unhealthy and not at all make you feeling like you're doing your body good. I sorta wish they had options for the type of bbq they used for everything instead of using the same one for everything. The only two complaints that I had were that it seemed to take well over 25 minutes to get my food (I'm assuming that's because they cooked it fresh, but somehow I don't think so) and the macaroni salad thing was super wet, not at all saucy like mac salad should be. Otherwise, if you just need a quick bbq fix, this is the place to go. If you're looking for a better idea of bbq, drive to Woodland and check out Ludy's. —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-12-07 13:40:10 Despite the mixed reviews, our group of six friends needed a place to eat that was within walking distance and decided to forge ahead and try Ohana for the first time. We followed the advice of reviewer EmilyTung and got drunk beforehand (this was by far, the most useful recommendation of the comment section). We got the Volcano Chicken x2, Spam Mocho Chocha, Shrimp Taco, and Gravy Chicken with an egg. Here were the results: 2 people puked up their meals during the night (Spam + Shrimp Taco), 1 person pooped 4x times in the next 8 hours, 1 person felt constipated 12 hours later, and 2 people felt full of greasy food and gross but generally okay 12 hours later. Consensus opinion was that this vomit-inducing, digestive system-screwing, not-worth-the-money-even-though-it's-gotta-be-the-cheapest-food-by-weight-in-Davis-ing restaurant will not be visited again. —DavisResident
2009-01-26 23:13:16 if you have little money and don't want to spend a lot on a meal then STILL DON'T GO HERE. just eat your money. it's probably less likely to make you feel sick then the shit they serve. —film
2009-02-11 16:22:29 My apartment is really close to the U Mall so I come here a lot. The BBQ chicken is quite good. Can't say anything about the wait or the customer service because I usually call in and order before I walk over. It's always done after the 7 minute walk. I've never gotten sick after eating here, either. My housemates and a lot of my friends like it here, too. —fszeto
2009-02-23 13:02:34 Way too greasy for my tastes. —LokiAbbi
2009-03-10 13:07:13 prices are too expensive....nice people...manager has bad hygiene....geez —foxylee
2009-05-01 13:10:39 that cashier name michelle gives good services... —foxylee
2009-05-04 16:44:21 The prices are a little high. I had to wait a long time, probably more than 15 minutes, for my order. The food is yummy. I like their BBQ mix. —thtly
2009-06-11 02:22:35 i like ohana cuz its delicious. it is the best. —timisgay
2009-06-22 18:23:02 the smoothies here are amazing —aro4474
2009-07-14 20:27:16 I got a really bad stomachache the first and only time I ate here...don't want to experience that again! —davisgirl10
2009-08-09 20:40:39 This is a great place to eat, the food is very tasty, especially their BBQ dishes. —IdealParadigm
2009-08-16 14:28:23 the food is meh, i find a lot of fat dangling on my meat than meat,if you look behind the cash register there is a big tub of MSG! msg is bad for people, yet that probably makes their food tasty. One of the cashiers seems to always be texting or making phone calls instead of working. —lajolla4joya
2009-08-20 14:28:23 I ordered my food, threw away the receipt as I headed out, and then I went home. After I saw Ohana forgot the sauce, I went back to get some. I repeatedly told the cashier what the situation was. It seems the cashier forgot my face from 5 minutes ago. When I finally got the sauce and went back home, my food was all cold and unappetizing. If this were to happen and I were the manager, my policy would be to give extra sauce on the house. It doesn't end there. The sauce was vomit worthy. —WengFF
2009-09-17 22:37:04 Wait, did I order the Salt with Chicken? I meant to order the Volcano Chicken. :( —Ansel
2010-02-17 17:34:48 went here for an early dinner today and got a combo plate + a spam musubi for later...didn't check the order at the door and just biked home, but when i went to eat it, the container where the musubi should've been was full of macaroni salad. definitely checked my receipt and was charged 1.60 for a musubi...instead got a giant lump of macaroni and mayo. blech. if it cost more than $1.60 i would've biked back, but the 1.60 wasn't worth the almost 20-minute bike ride again...
the actual combo i got was alright though. —KTFreeman
2010-03-13 10:21:49 Be on the lookout if you pay with credit/debit card. Management double charged me for my meal. Didn't realize it until I checked my bank statement. Went back to the restaurant and they said they'll "work out the problem with the bank". Been three weeks now.... —Respect
2010-04-01 21:20:29 Love the Chicken Katsu here. I always order 2 Mac 1 Rice since I LOVE their creamy macaroni salad. :) Really big portion I usually can only eat half for about $7, two meals instantly. —MissAmyQ
2010-04-09 18:50:31 The employee with the wig gives really good service. —lifeismediocre
2010-04-09 18:51:08 but there is also one employee who is short, her name starts with a J id remember but she is really slow —lifeismediocre
2010-04-13 19:22:34 This is the WORST business ever. I went once after by boyfriend talked me into going- disclaimer... I don't even LIKE Hawaiian BBQ but whatever. I got a salad and it was crap. The one year old I nanny could have made it better. I was charged $5.75 for my stupid little salad and checked my bank account a few days later and I was charged TWICE. I called and asked for the owner who is evidently NEVER EVER there and asked for a call back from them. In the meanwhile I called my bank and had them reverse one of the charges since I only went there once on FEBRUARY 26. She was able to look up on my account how it was ran the second time. Apparently the owner decided to run my card number by hand after it was already processed and approved initially. Pretty effing sweet. I log on to my bank account today and have another charge for $5.75. Called Ohana and shockingly enough, the owner isn't in. Gee, imagine that. I'm calling every single day until this crappy place talks to me and tells me what the hell keeps going on. It's been a month and a half and I'm STILL dealing with this crap.
The girl I talked to on the phone sounds like an idiot too. When I talked to her after the first incident she responded on the phone, "Uhh yeah, I don't know when you came in but I didn't work that day." Oh really? You don't know when I came in but you know it wasn't when I came in? —Trista
2010-04-14 01:59:36 Ate here for the first time yesterday and felt like garbage the rest of the evening. Initially the food tastes alright but once you begin to get past the flavor of the sauce and taste the meat, it's definitely not fresh and definitely not anywhere close to edible. It was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had.. Even beats the waiting for the dinner that never shows and still pay for it experience I had I IHOP. My suggestion:
If you have absolutely no other choice (including cooking your own food at home) grab a kitchen knife and go hunting outside before going to this place. 1/5 stars just because it at least looked clean upon entering. —WesOne
2010-04-14 08:56:57 seriously... taste good for all about 5 minutes. Then my stomach cramps up and I have to stay on the jon for the rest of the day. —Aaron.Curtin
The food is aight but NEVER use a debit or credit card there. I went in late Feb. and got charged twice for two different days, although I only went once. Then I check my bank account again today (4/14) and I'm charged again for today, despite not going there since late Feb. Shady —NivreGnuah
2010-04-14 14:16:06 I guess I have an iron stomach. For those of you who like the taste but have trouble stomaching the food, you can just grab a bottle of Korean barbecue sauce at Safeway as well as a piece of beef and make it at home. —hankim
2010-04-18 12:31:06 never come to this place again. I ate two of their chicken misubi and had stomachache throughout the day. and what's up with the credit card issue? they overcharged me 3 f**king times. shady manager —lazifocker
2010-04-22 15:06:06 I don't understand why people go to eat here!!! This place is TERRIBLE!!!! The food is definitely not "Hawaiian" at all. This kind of food does not have a good description. I ate catered food from here and they served "tacos": bbq chicken OR fish, what seemed to be thousand island dressing topped with cabbage and tomato on a corn tortilla....EWW.... This is the worst fake taco I've ever had!! This place just should go away. —areli00
2010-06-07 15:37:05 The food was a little rubbery tasting, but not bad. DO NOT use your debit/credit card... this is the second time I've been charged without actually making a purchase. —Wikiturtle
2010-07-08 00:20:28 If you're incredibly lazy and possess both a non-discriminating palate and iron stomach, then Ohana may be a viable eatery. I guess only the nearby hapless cooks and freshmen venture into Ohana because there is nothing special about their "Hawaiian bbq" menu. What Ohana throws together and presents in a square, Styrofoam box (or bowl) is cheaply-bought, fatty meat fast-grilled, placed atop a bed of coarse rice, and adorned with a macaroni salad concoction (or steamed veggies) that bears questionable Hawaiian origins.
Don't waste your college dollars at Ohana. These dollars are better wasted at many other Davis eateries - like its neighbor Old Tea House (I'm not too crazy about OTH, mind you). To Ohana's cooking one can really apply the old saying: "Anything you can do, I can do better." Indeed, go to Safeway, buy a pound of on-sale meat, throw-on some of your favorite spices or sauces, cook some rice, and if you're really hankering for macaroni salad pick some up at Safeway. In less than a hour, wallah, you have recreated Ohana! —blastoff
2010-09-09 13:07:11 I'm surprised by areli00's comments on the tacos. I had a Maui chicken taco recently - corn tortilla, BBQ chicken, shredded cabbage (I believe) and tomatoes with a great sauce (NOT 1000 Island) - I actually thought it was quite tasty!
I've had the Cheeseburgers here, decent with an interesting sauce. The fries can be a bit dry if you don't have sauce, but I LOVE the Macaroni Salad! It's mostly Mac, some carrot, and mayo, but for some reason it is delicious! BBQ Chicken plate and the BBQ Beef plates are also good, although the beef can be salty.
Overall, I like the place. Slightly high for what you get, but it's convenient and relatively quick because they do cook everything when you order.
2010-10-13 13:40:31 Their manager (and possibly owner) is the rude middle aged Asian man who works the cashier sometimes at night when nobody else can work. He doesn't know how to work the register, and attempts to charge you for things that cost more than what you ordered. He clearly lacks the patience to work in a customer service oriented job, and it was very difficult to resist the urge to scream at him for his lack of professionalism and friendliness. I don't care how late it is or how crappy of a day you've had, if you're working the register you at least attempt to make nice with the people who are paying for your overpriced knock off Hawaiian food. —sososharp
I agree, the manager is loud and rude. —captainnemo
2010-11-06 23:26:04 Was recently charged twice on a 4.89 purchase. Called Wells fargo to have them investigate this place. I cannot get in contact with the manager, and this place is shady. —llamaslyr
2010-11-22 03:45:23 I went here earlier this month for dinner. After I ordered, I stood at the side of the counter to wait. When my order was ready, the woman at the register made me pull out my receipt from my wallet and show it to her, even though I had been standing there in her line of sight the whole time. I blankly said to her, "Are you serious?!" The store wasn't even that busy — there were only 2 customers after me! Something tasted funny about the chicken katsu and they didn't even have katsu sauce. Later that evening I suffered from severe acid reflux and had to drive to the gas station to buy two packets of TUMS. This place has overpriced, toxic katsu and lousy service. There are way better Hawaiian bbqs out there, and Ohana does a disservice to the name. —DaveP
Maybe that cashier forgot the sauce, because they have a WHOLE tub of katsu sauce, and each katsu order comes with a cup of it. Extra is 50 cents each cup. — anon
2011-03-07 00:25:31 Man I will never get chicken katsu from this place again! I've had chicken katsu at other Hawaiian BBQs such as this in the bay area, and never had a problem, but I order chicken katsu to go, and I fell sick. Now i feel queasy just thinking about it, and I'm not exaggerating. Also, one time I asked the cashier to recommend a dish with spam in it other than masubi, and she told me to get the LocoMoco or something like that and just replace the beef with spam. And i was like, ok works for me. So i ordered it and i liked it a lot. So i went there another time, and i told a different cashier that i wanted the LocoMoco but with spam, and she got all confused and said that they don't have that option. And for the longest time she didn't place my order which frustrated me A LOT. In the end i got what I wanted, but i remember her charging me for the spam — hopefully i'll see the other cashier if i ever go there again —Priyanka1
2011-03-14 20:35:28 Been trying their $1 Fish Taco Mondays for the past 2-3 weeks or so, they're really good and I recommend if you have the time to try it out. It's only a dollar, and the portion is a bit bigger than the ones you get from Taco Bell or Jack in the Box. —ClarenceL
2011-06-21 23:57:28 Best place in Davis for fries. Period. Beware of the tall guy with long black hair when he takes your order. He is new at the moment, but i have gone there two times to buy food to find out when i come home that the order was messed up. The second time he messed up, I was wiser and checked, but it costed me the last bus ride (11:10) and i was forced to walk 2 miles in the middle of the night. I had a friend who had their order messed up by this guy too. Make sure you pronounce your order clearly and always double check —JohnathonJosephs
2011-08-22 23:15:58 Also, there is a really cute girl who works there, we like to call her Ohana-girl and we go there sometimes specifically to see her. —bobislarge
2012-06-21 20:18:31 I go here only on Wednesdays to get their Chicken Katsu for $5 because it's the only thing that I eat here. It's YUMMY mostly because of the sauce they give along with it but I haven't trued their BBQ yet.. this girl ordered it one time while I was waiting for my Chicken Katsu and it smelled so gooood! I'll try it next time! Haven't had a problem with their workers because I usually just take my food to go. —Jujubean
2013-07-01 21:55:51 This place is disgusting. A dead cockroach was on the floor (in btw the space of the cashier and the kitchen), and I told the cashier about this. But surprising enough, she didn't clean it and just ignored!! Because I already ordered my food when I saw the cockroach, I just took the food. And when I came back home, I found that she gave me a wrong food. Now I'm trying to eat the food, but I can't stop thinking whether their cold foods will be safe to eat or not. (like the salads, their dressing...) Lost my appetite. I know this place will always be popular, but at least I am not going. —SohMinLee
2013-08-08 17:50:12 I think this is probably the worst food in Davis. I have never eaten anything so....disgusting. You are better off going to the grocery outlet frozen food section than this place. The macaroni salad tasted like plastic. The rice, well that was edible. The volcano chicken....never again. It was a chicken patty of the cheapest quality, I couldn't even tell if I was eating chicken or just mush. Volcano sauce just tasted like salty brine. Do yourself a favor and avoid this place. —exTex
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