Ai Pono Café

Awesome food, plenty riceService was great but we wished they put the specials on the board earlier Wish they sold caps or shirts, ambiance was relaxed vibeMuch Mahalo's will visit again for sure!!!

Ordered the fresh Lau Lau's. The entire thing was undercooked. The meat was rubbah and the leaf was scratchy. Braddah Gene needed to steam for another 2-3hrs. Overall was trash, just like the owners attitude.Gotta stop believing his own hype and maybe live up to the pono part of the name.

Really wanted it to be good after watching the chef years and years ago on Top Chef and how confident he is on his social media posts. But it did not live up to the hype. The beef-chicken-shrimp are actually pretty good, but the rice was cooked very bad. The mac salad was lacking flavor. And the cabbage slaw is just not good, has no place being on any of the plates. I know the other location in Cali has had great success, but I think Vegas is catching up to California when it comes to food. It's a much harder community to serve than people think. It's not the worst Hawaiian spot in Vegas, they just got some work to do. Good luck.

Real good, but more of a three and a half star. First of all, the brown gravy was killer! It was a little cooler, we tend to like our food piping hot. I ordered the daily special consisting of teriyaki pork chop, chicken thigh and beef, and of course rice, macaroni salad and it came with coleslaw(yuck) too, The serving size was definitely shy of true Hawaiian serving size. The poor Hawaiian's sure would be on a diet with those serving sizes(lol). It's quite adequate for normal people but normal people tend to not eat very much. I slathered the brown gravy all over the rice, probably not the most healthy but I don't carr, it was so darn good.

My wife and I were in Vegas this past weekend to help my dad move so we went with my him to check out the Durango hotel and casino. Plenty of eateries to choose from, but something about this place drew us in.We each got an entree and drinks. We bought some desserts for the night and for the next morning.My dad went with a Chicken Teriyaki bowl and a Coconut Water, and he loved them both.I ordered an Ai Pono Moko which is described as "'Ai Pono Made Angus Patty, 2 Eggs Over Rice Covered in 'Ai Pono Made Brown Gravy" and is as delicious as it sounds. I also got a fruit punch. Ordered my wife a spicy chicken plate which she absolutely loved. She had a Guava Lemonade.Portions were enough for leftovers the next morning. The dessert was fantastic at our table and the next morning as well.Great atmosphere in the restaurant with Hawaiian pictures and decor everywhere. Love that you can see into the kitchen and watch meals being prepared also.Everyone working there was friendly and helpful, and we are looking to go back this week for a return visit.

Such a cute island atmosphere! The interior alone caught my eye. The staff was very attentive and friendly. Service was extremely quick. I ordered the teriyaki chicken bowl. The serving sizes are big. The chicken is fried but skin can easily be removed if you want more of a grilled chicken. The rice was cooked well. The pricing is expensive. I wanted to get the coconut water but it cost $7 for a can which I couldn't justify paying. It is located inside a casino so increased prices should be expected though. Overall a solid food choice if you are looking for Hawaii food and around the area

The owner Gene is too self centered and cannot take criticism. He lashes out at his customers saying mean and ugly things when we say his food is bland, no flavor, its mushy not crispy, etc. This is not how you treat your customers if you want to keep them. I'll be waiting to see any responses.

Love the interior and just the whole surrounding area of Durango's food hall. This cafe, in particular, has a cool facade that gives you island vibes from the start.Order at the counter, then they'll bring the food out to you. There are a few picnic tables along with some normal two and four top tables along the back wall.The food was pretty good. The ahi katsu was big. I loved the crispy, crunchy coating. The ahi was a little more cooked than I would have liked, but still fork tender. It came with two scoops of rice topped with furikake and a scoop of mac salad. The mango lemonade was fantastic. I would come back just for that. One of the workers said that you can get refills of the lemonade for half the price of the original drink. There are so many great Hawaiian places in town and while this isn't my favorite, I'd come back to try other dishes.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the mixed reviews, but overall I'm impressed with this Hawaiian street food!Crackhead Chicken: cooked perfectly with the right amount of crisp. However, it was a notch too salty and I could not eat more than half of it.Non-fried Noodles with Korean Short Rib: the short rib was tender with good flavor. I just wish they would put more of it on the plate! The noodles were cooked well and not soggy. If this is on the menu, I believe they only have it on Fridays? Also, I would only order this as dine-in since the noodles will definitely stick together by the time you get home.Da Mento "Fuckin" Bento: This one is my favorite so far, although it is a lot of food! The Guava chili pepper chicken, lollipop shrimp and fish jun were all crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. The beef was tasty, easy to cut and had a good amount of glaze on top of it. Lastly, you can't have a bento without a slice of spam and hot dog! On Fridays they sell Butter Mochi, Stuffed Mochi, and other desserts from kksweets. Sometimes this place is a full house, but you can always order to-go and eat in the food court. I also noticed the music is kind of loud in the restaurant. We couldn't hear them call out our number from the pick up area when sitting at the tables closer to the register. Just keep in mind that yes, it is expensive because of casino pricing.

Location is conveniently in Durango casino, and close to elevator from the parking structure. I loved that lol. But getting to the food. We walked in and it was beautiful inside. Honestly if we lived in Vegas, this would be the spot. Definitely feels like home from the music and decor. Employee at the counter was friendly, and welcoming. We took a bit to narrow down our options but we ended up with the chili pepper chicken, the Korean chicken and chicken katsu. We decided to dine in, but we didn't think. The employee was going to bring our food to us. Just expected to grab it from the window and sit down. So really appreciated that. Although it was getting busy, she would come over check on us and bring our food I actually enjoyed the Korean chicken and chili pepper chicken a lot. I wasn't able to try the chicken katsu. And we ended up ordering the moko to go haha. If Ai Pono was on Oahu, my husband and I agreed it would be a popular place to grab food! And If you're thinking of trying Ai Pono, you might as well. Definitely will be back next time we're in town mahalo for the tasty food and amazing customer service.