Hicraft Kitchen - Honolulu

I tried eating here... I heard great things. We went there too early, was told they 'll open in 30 min so we walked around, went to down to earth and H mart killed some time. Went back 15 min or so after they opened and we were told it 's a 45 min wait due to online orders. There were 2 people in front of us that just ordered and nobody else in the restaurant yet and nobody behind us either. We were in shock that we were in a sense turned away. Seems like it would have been quite possible to squeeze us in depending what we were ordering or give us a coupon for our next visit for turning us away. Now, I do understand that once you let one in, you may have to let others in and it becomes very tricky to make it fair to everyone. I do not look Japanese but speak fluent Japanese and the 2 that were in front of us were Japanese speaking Japanese with the staff that spoke Japanese. I heard the lady talking in Japanese to her friend wow you must be a super regular here ... seemed impressed of something. At that time I thought nothing of their conversation and maybe it is nothing.... But it could have meant that they were welcomed in to dine without waiting that long? Not sure... or maybe they actually chose to wait 45 min... I could be overthinking it... but they sounded excited that being a regular made some kind of a difference. I truly get it, I get special treatments with multiple establishments that I frequent as well but if you have a storefront I would suggest to control the online orders because I truly believe, and practiced in most good restaurants/stores, your clients that are physically visiting your store should be your first priority. -A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush I will go back to try their food for sure, hopefully I will have to revise this review for the better!

Vegetarian sandwich Beet me up Scotty was awesome! Would love to go back again and try other items. Wonderful customer service too!

Delicious sandwich on amazing fresh bread the star of the lunch was the perfectly crunchy shoestring truffle parm fries. I could come back every day for those. Very friendly staff as well :

The owner or manager is extremely rude to non Asian customers and also ridiculously unprofessional to her own staff. She should learn customer service etiquette, especially in such a diverse state as Hawaii. What unawareness. Needs a cultural diversity class ASAP! Wow!

Happy National Sandwich Day! Days like this does make the process of elimination easy as HICraft Kitchen been on my radar for quite some time and I guess the location did give me some hesitation which is ridiculous...why!? Well they 're located on the corner of Keawe St and Pohukaina St in the building right behind Down to Earth. Parking entrance is right on Pohukaina St across from HMart 's parking and the like all other SALT 's parking the first hour is free!! It 's super easy but you know you 're there when you see their front door filled with images of their menu items which did mind tricks on me as I had made a decision...walking pass that trap I approached the counter where I was so delightfully greeted and got briefed of the Fish of the Day and The Stack . I couldn 't waste any more time as I had a dentist appointment in a few minutes (hehehe! so just ordered what I wanted...The Italian Job!! How fun is that name! This beauty has Prosciutto San Daniele, Mozzarella, Arugula all on Mushroom Paste and basil aioli topped with chopped Roasted Red Peppers all in a cute baguette. The bread is solid but not crusty at all just perfect to hold it all in though I will admit that I ate it as an open face sandwich since having it after my dental procedure it was too much for me but that Sammy held up perfectly!! I was curious of what the Mushroom Paste was a peeked under the layers and noticed there was another sauce which turned out to be a Basil Aioli which I love but wasn 't noted on their menu but I found on their online menu. All sandwiches comes with chips and I didn 't really ask if it could be subbed for another option but they do have Mac 'N Cheese and French Fries which all could be bougied up for additional cost and even soup of the day which was New England Clam Chowder today...not my thing. Seating went all the way back of the restaurant with both tables and a long counter bar in the cool industrial vibe where you can see your items being prepared in the open kitchen...need fresh air they do have few seats available outside where it is labeled for each individual establishment. They are basically a lunch nook as it 's 1130-330 Tu-Fr with the only exception on Saturdays 1130-730, follow them on Instagram @hicraft_kitchen for their latest specials so there 's no fear of being left out...next time Truffle Fries!!! Thank you!!