Walua Social

Great spot! We came here for dinner tonight and everything was excellent. We were sat immediately by the hostess with no reservation — it was a pretty full house by the time we left which is very telling for a Tuesday evening. I would argue that this is the best Italian food in Kona. Honestly, I don’t even know of any other Italian place off the top of my head. We had the Smokey old fashioned which was a fun visual treat with the infusion of smoke in the beginning. The drink itself was a hint of sweet with the smokiness and very tasty. My parents shared the Caesar salad and I had a taste — it was delicious! Crisp greens and very pepper-forward with the perfect portion of dressing. For entrees, we ordered the chicken Milanese, arrabiatta and rigatoni bolognese. All delicious and well done! For dessert, we tried the tiramisu and the lilikoi donuts. Both were great but the donuts were SO good and had more Hawaiian influence that I appreciated. Unfortunately, we ordered the white bean dip but it was never ordered for us. Perhaps we will be back to try it. Great service besides this.

Delicious Italian food a truly memorable experience! We absolutely loved everything about our visit, from the warm and inviting atmosphere to the attentive and knowledgeable service. Our server guided us thoughtfully through the menu since we were looking for vegetarian options. She recommended the Arrabbiata pasta, which was perfectly cooked and had just the right balance of spice and rich tomato flavor. Alongside it, we ordered the Kona mango panzanella. This dish was a standout, the juicy, sweet mango pieces paired beautifully with the fresh tomatoes, basil leaves and crunchy croutons, creating an unexpected and refreshing twist on a classic Italian salad. We also tried the white bean dip served with focaccia toast. The dip was smooth and flavorful, with a subtle earthiness that complemented the warm, pillowy focaccia perfectly. It was something I haven’t tasted anywhere else and felt truly special a unique dish that really pleased my palate. To end on a sweet note, we had the dark chocolate budino for dessert. It was silky, rich, and deeply chocolaty, yet not overly sweet an absolutely delightful way to finish our meal. A heartfelt appreciation to the chef for crafting such thoughtful, creative, and beautifully balanced dishes.

We really enjoyed this place. Everything on the menu was very interesting. We ordered chicken wings and kona kanpachi fritter to start and the chicken wings were really amazing. Both of the pasta dishes we ordered were perfectly cooked with unique chef’s touch. They were decently priced for the quality of the food they serve. Highly recommended!

The food is absolutely delicious and full of flavor. We walked in and were seated right away without any issues, though the inside can get a bit noisy. However, everything else was perfect—both the food and the service were amazing. The oysters, in particular, were a standout for me. Thank you Chelsie( idk if i got her name right)

Che buono! We thoroughly enjoyed an excellent meal at The Walua Social Club. They have just opened a week ago and I am impressed with how smoothly the opening service went. Our server Chelsea was a breath of fresh air. The food came out fast, hot, and delicious. It was just two of us and we ordered extra dishes (8 total) so that we could try more and we ended up eating everything LOL. Every single dish was flawless. The Kanpachi collars fritto were fantastico. They reminded me of the katsu that I love so much from Japan. The Kanpachi crudo, was very fresh and perfectly complimented with the lilikoi and jalapeño. The white bean dip was so good we took a second order home. And finally there is great pasta in Kona! Fresh, homemade Italian pasta. Yay! We had the oxtail parpadelle and the agnolotti. Both were cooked perfectly and the flavors...boom! I recommend you do not skip dessert. We were pretty full but could not resist the zeppoles with mochi. The lilikoi dipping sauce is addictive. This with the sticky toffee pudding was a great way to end the meal. I am so VERY happy that we finally have an impressive restaurant in Kona. I can't wait to share with all of our friends and visitors! Note: They are currently allowing BYOB while they are waiting on their liquor license approval. I recommend contacting them to see if this is still in effect.

WOW!!! This place is something different. a first class dining experience like no other. I am doing my best to try every dish before I leave the island! They oysters are smaller than where I'm used to on the main land, the slaw on top was different, but tasty. We had a Caesar salad one night that was a great starter. On another night, we had a salad that focused on tomatoes, mangos and fresh mozzarella, so fresh and delicious. The Bone In NY Strip is mouthwatering. I normally don't sauce my steak, but the sauces and salt that accompany the steak are irresistible here. The Kanpachi was lightly and perfectly seasoned, beautifully cooked fish. The pork chop was also pretty exceptional. The desserts currently are the Tiramisu, (this one is different, you have to try it!) Chocoate mouse, (I'm not big on Chocolate, but this one was very rich and tasty) and Mochi balls with a caramel sauce. (Light slightly crispy, and a perfect dipping sauce.) Every dish her is well planned and set for over the top experiences.

We had an amazing evening last night at Walua Social! The food was scrumptious! We tried many dishes that were all great- we’ll be coming back for the ribs, pork chop, pasta and pizza! And oh my goodness- the desserts! Out of this world. I highly recommend this new restaurant: amazing food, friendly and attentive crew and free parking! Mahalo to all involved in bringing this treasure to Kona!

YES! Very fresh, new and authentic Italian experience here in Kona! They just opened December 2024 and we hope they'll stay for a long time. The pastas were amazing, we got ribs for pupus/appetizers and topped it off with tiramisu and malasadas.

Absolutely loved this place! The food was incredibly delicious — fresh, full of flavor, and beautifully presented. The service was warm, attentive, and made us feel truly welcomed. And the view… just breathtaking! Dining with a stunning ocean view made the whole experience unforgettable. Highly recommend for a perfect Italian meal with a view to match!

Last minute walking into this seemingly Italian restaurant was a definitely excellent choice for three of us. This a la carte menu is a combination of Italian and local Hawaii fusion that offers unique dining experiences. We had two small plates sticky peppers pork ribs with unique source my favorite and crunchy amberjacks wild caught fish Fritos that is juicy and tender. For main dishes, we had my Kona kanpanci fish again, oxtails pappardelle and smoked pecorino. Each of them offers beautifully presentation and rich flavor taste buds. We had tiramisu for desserts- the best I had. This memorable meal left me lingering over all the details and makes me want to visit and try other dishes again.

I recently visited the new Italian restaurant in Kona, and it was a fantastic experience! The food was exceptional, featuring a delightful mix of traditional and innovative dishes. The pasta was perfectly cooked, and the flavors were vibrant and fresh. The atmosphere is cozy and inviting, making it a perfect spot for both casual dinners and special occasions. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable, enhancing our dining experience with great recommendations. If you're in Kona, don't miss this culinary treasure! I can't wait to return and try more delicious offerings.

Chef Chad works wonders! The pastas shine ✨ split the light playful agnolotti contrasting with the bold, hearty ox tail pappardelle for a lovely course. We started with the white bean dip and the ribs which were both so fun and flavorful and the carrots were very nice. Highly recommend the zeppoles for dessert! Loved the focus on the food and the relaxed atmosphere, service was super quick and attentive

Amazing food, and amazing service. So nice to have a finer dining Italian restaurant that’s in town and not a far drive. The mushroom risotto is to die for (and everything else, honestly). Excited to see this place grow and become a regular spot for us!

Went here celebrating wife's birthday and it did NOT disappoint! Friendly service from everyone. Delicious food and great ambiance! Definitely will be back.

Had an amazing birthday dinner last night. The staff were friendly knowledge and made our night special. Isaac our server was friendly and attentive and provided some of the best service we’ve ever had in Kona. The sticky ribs were the best ribs we’ve had, but everything from the white bean and focaccia to the bolognese was fresh and amazing. This place is hands down one of the best top tier restaurants that Kona needed and hope it sticks around for a long while time.

Dinner was great. The food and atmosphere are the best we have experienced in Kona. We can absolutely recommend this place a nice dinner experience. We will definitely come back

Such a tasty menu of fresh and delicious dishes! Everything we had was amazing. Particularly loved the Kampachi Collars, Ribs and Wings from the app menu. Salads and pastas also on point! We will have to come back to try more of the entrees! I’m sure they are great as well with the quality of ingredients the chef is sourcing. Just little things, but there could have been some nice music on. The room is a little acoustic so all the loud talking and laughing could have been smoothed out with the right music. There could have been nicer lighting in the bathroom. The front of house staff could have been a little more proactive with greeting, saying goodbye and knowing the menu, bringing share plates etc. Highly recommend! It’s great to see a restaurant in Kona with more of a chef’s personal touch instead of just the usual tourist fair.

I’ve heard that this is the best restaurant in Kailua-Kona and I believe it. We ate here twice during our stay. The menu is not huge, but everything on it is very well executed. I particularly liked the Kona Kampachi entree, the agnolotti with pumpkin and pork ragu, and the root vegetable salad.

Gotta love watching a Kona sunset with great food and cocktails. Our first time here and it was worth the visit. Our server Jenelle was excellent. We ordered the Mushroom Risotto and Arrabbiata- fresh and so flavorful. We will surely be back!!

Modern design, FREE/easy parking Delicious Italian pastas, veggies, and dessert Fancy presentation We got the risotto (creamy), arrabbiata (spicy and pasta cooked al dente, perfectly), rigatoni bolognese, children's pasta with ragu sauce (daughter ate it all up) broccolini, perfectly charred (no bitterness, just smoky loveliness) dessert: malasadas, mochi, light and fluffy NOT oily, like pillows. lilikoi caramel sauce, yummy!! recommend that if you are in the mood for Italian, great service (hostess, servers, team) definitely eat here big island prices... 20% gratuity for parties of 6 or more.

Amazing food. I'd give it a Michelin star if I could. Order all the appetizers and any Kanpachi dish they have. The tiramisu is to die for and the latte was unexpectedly good. This place is very underrated, despite its currently high rating.

Delicious food! Head right to the upstairs - the atmosphere is intimate, cozy, cool. Micah was our server and showed a level of professionalism rare to downtown Kona - the hand crafted cocktails were perfect. A gem.

Celebrated my 50th bday. 9 of us. Absolutely the best ribs I have ever had. The service, from start to finish was absolutely fantastic. We enjoyed the experience from start to finish and will recommend to anyone that will listen.

Had a wonderful dining experience at Walua Social! The Italian cuisine was delicious - everything we ordered was flavorful and well-prepared. What really made our visit special was our server Chelsea, who provided outstanding service throughout the meal. She was attentive, friendly, and made sure we had everything we needed. The combination of great food and excellent service made for a memorable evening. Would definitely recommend and look forward to returning!

Had a reservation and sat us immediately. Good gluten free details - server had to find out if some dishes could be made gluten free. Had the hanpachi crudo and smoked dip to share - both excellent. Mains were the risotto, bolognese and pumpkin stuffed pasta and side of sauteed chard - we loved them all! Might be the best risotto I've had! Extensive wine list!

We wandered in without a reservation and were lucky enough to get a seat at the bar as a party of four. Ryan the bartender was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the menu and really knows his cocktails. I was very impressed with everything start to finish from the ambience to the service and of course the food. The mushroom risotto was a 10/10 and our whole party enjoyed the ribs app and happily would have eaten four more orders. We will definitely be back it was a great experience.

We absolutely loved our dinner the four of us. We are here on Friday night of the ladies Iron Man. Highly recommend the tables upstairs if you can get one with the view of the ocean, and the breeze blows through. The bartender upstairs, Mikah, is very welcoming, knows the menu inside and out, and is a great cocktail maker:-). We are in from the San Francisco Bay area and we certainly have our share highly rated Italian restaurants. The Walua Social Club, is on par with any of the best in San Francisco. Not kidding seriously. The chef is amazing. He has the full pedigree. He has worked at another places, I believe, including the Four Seasons and Merrimans. He came to meet us after dinner and what a nice young guy he is, although he looks 15 years younger than his actual age. The chef prides himself on having really small “tight” menu where every dish he produces is the best. I encouraged him not to change and not to expand his menu because there’s enough variation for all customers and all of the dishes were well thought out and way above what we would expect. The pastas were all amazing, I highly recommend the pumpkin agnolli pasta with a pork ragu sauce, the sticky rib appetizer was amazing , the fresh kampache fish was cooked perfectly and the desserts were over the top delicious. Best restaurant by far in Kona, not even close.

This place is a hidden gem. Don't miss it when visiting the Kona area. We stayed in Waikoloa and and experienced many of the recommended restaurants in that area (including a so-called "highly acclaimed" Italian restaurant). WS far surpassed any dining experience we had in the region in terms of service, food and value. The food is the center stage. We had six people in our party -- all foodies. All ordered a different dish including appetizers. All were a huge hit. No mediocre dish was brought to the table. We would reorder all of the menu items tomorrow. The service was terrific. Dan, our waiter, was outstanding, attentive and on-top of all that we requested. 5 stars! And when the bill came, it was as-expected and very reasonable given the top-notch quality of food a service. A good value. I don't review often, but when it's a clear stand-out and worthy to share, I will. Walua Social is worthy to share!

We had such a great dining experience at Walua Social, everything from the food, service and vibe was amazing. We tried the tasting menu with the wine pairing for their anniversary dinner and it did not disappoint. Every dish was unique and flavorful. It was the best meal we had in Kona. I would definitely come back to try more of their menu.

Might be the best Italian food I’ve ever had. Risotto was perfectly al dente, pork chop was so flavorful, each leaf of lettuce was perfectly dressed on the salad with fluffy parm. Wine was delicious and I had a bite of our friends bolognese with the homemade rigatoni, amazing. Oh and the bean dip and focaccia! All 10/10.

Chelsea is the best sever, so sweet attentive and just good at what she does. This is the best food we’ve had in Hawaii (including every island yes, we’ve been to them all) these chefs need a standing ovation. This was NUTS. This meal was legitimately the best we have ever had in Hawaii. The deconstructed lava flow don’t even get me started. I was spun out over this. We’ll be back 3 more times before leave. And another thing is that it’s not even that expensive. This makes the four seasons look like a joke no offense to them

We went to Walua Social Club for the first time and had a wonderful time. Our server, Dan, was very knowledgeable about the food and the wine pairings. The risotto was one of the best risottos we’ve had ever. My boyfriend got a delicious steak paired with two great sauces. We ended the night with the tiramisu which was incredible. We will be back for any special occasion in the future. Highly recommend!!!

To whom it may concern one of the staff members told me everything is good on the menu. Nothing’s bad this is while I was sitting at the bar having a cocktail had dinner there last night. OMG I had the oxtail pasta dish amazing. My girl had the Caesar with the white stuff on top with a golden balls amazing. They turned me on as some special grey. My wife’s wine was amazing. What a wonderful evening service outstanding sat at the bar the bartender Ryan killed it put on an amazing . . They turned me on as some special grey. My wife’s wine was amazing. What a wonderful evening service outstanding sat at the bar the bartender Ryan killed it put on an amazing display. I spoke to the executive chef everything is perfect. Nothing to complain. We’re going back. I wish every restaurant conducted business the way this one dead flawless going back as soon as possible, actually I live 50 feet from the facility. Mahalo aloha

So hard to find good food in Kona! Walua social club was pretty good. We went to carb up before the Queen Liliuokalani canoe race! What we had Focaccia my least favorite thing I had but then I make my own and I didn’t like the flavor from them “crisping” the bread gave it a little burnt bitter taste Ribs were just ok as they were a little on the dry side and the pepper taste was a bit overpowering Risotto w/burrata now this was the ticket! Especially with the burrata. Yea it was a 12$ up charge but really good!! It just added that texture that the risotto needed. I love risotto and have tried it everywhere and usually I am underwhelmed by it -except for what we had in Wellington NZ! But this was very good. Bolognese w/burrata this dish was really made so much better with the burrata. It was good but not as amazing as the risotto. We will definitely be back to try something else and the risotto again!

Nice Italian menu! Salads were quite small for the price but delicious. The black pepper ribs and oysters were nice. Good bottle of wine and prices by the glass... didn't try cocktails but the menu was interesting! Visited as suggested by multiple friends and will be back!

For starters the service was AMAZING! Ask for Chelsea, she is the BEST! Just because of her service we will be back. Very genuine, complimentary, and accommodating the entire night! Mocktails were delicious, food was good! If you are visiting - stop by, you won’t regret it! The ribs are the BEST THING on the menu, PACKED with flavor!

Surprised to found out that this restaurant was just opened four days ago! Overall great atmosphere and service. Ingredients are very fresh. The only issue is that the kanpachi fish is over seared for me. The surface of the fish turned black and tastes bitter, so was the green tomato. This dish left a bitter taste in my mouth after I finished it. Had to order a dessert to try to get rid of the bitterness. The tiramisu is quite amazing.

Good solid high-end meal at a decent price. My only salad was suuuuuuper salty or tangy..I couldn't even eat it all. Everything else was good.

Everything started amazing, the cocktails and pasta are very very good. But they got really busy and we got forgotten. No drinks, water, or steak knives for our T bone. My husband and I shared the one butter knife we had. It was my birthday but we left pretty disappointed unfortunately. Atmosphere was lacking downstairs because there was no music.

Really great food brought down by mediocre service. This is a restaurant that is trying to be on the finer end of dining, but misses out on all of the details. This was our first wedding anniversary dinner, and such was stated on our reservation along with our preference to sit outside. The hostess failed to acknowledge the anniversary, which I wouldn't think twice about, but then sat us indoors in a table facing the exit with two additional indoor tables next to the bar that, while not being what we requested either, were still better than what we received. She apologized for not giving us an outdoor table as we requested, but acknowledging that while we're still at the hostess stand rather than walking us up before mentioning it at least to give us an option would have been much better. The cocktails were mixed; my whiskey based drinks were excellent but the spritzer was very heavy handed on the aperitif and not well balanced. My wife had to wait until most of the ice was melted to make it palatable. The food took a long time to arrive, which we didn't mind, but when our waitress acknowledged how long it was taking she apologized and said dessert would be on the house, which is a nice gesture. When we did receive our food, it tasted great and every dish was thought out and inspired. However, my dish though delicious was cold. I don't mean lukewarm; it had sat out for at least 10 or more minutes without a heat lamp. It was obvious what happened - the special that I ordered came out first, and my wife's dish was either forgotten or rang in incorrectly, so it sat waiting for her dish to be ready. At that point I didn't want to wait any longer for my dish to be remade so I just accepted it as is. For nearly $40 a plate, this is really not acceptable. The pace of service was sporadic at the beginning, but once we reached near the end of our meal it was clear the server/bartender wanted her tables out as soon as possible. I started to eat my wife's meal and I was asked no less than *four* times in 5 minutes if I was done with my plate that was still in front of me. We had to make light of how awkward it was that she kept coming over every minute. We ordered the dessert, again it was offered for free, and naturally it was still on the bill when we received it. We were rushed to eat that as well and pay. Other details were off - not a single person who delivered food to our table knew their table numbers. Every person that came up the stairs walked passed our table looking confused, went to other tables, then asked us if this was our food. For a chain restaurant, this is embarrassing but understandable. For a place that I know is trying to be more than that, it's really unacceptable. I know we shouldn't expect fine dining in a busier tourist area of the island, but if you're going to charge this much for meals and present yourselves as a finer dining experience, I have to say - the back of the house deserves a raise, the front of the house needs schooling. If you're looking to spend a special occasion here, look elsewhere.