Donnie’s Barbecue Soul Food Express

Absolutely delicious, very friendly service as well, thank you,, Beef Tip delicious, bbq Baked Beans n Mac n Cheese delicious.Thank you Appetite satisfaction

Im sorry I don't like writing negative reviews but this is an honest take.The order took so long to make, and usually that means it's fresh right.. they are cooking it to order. I stopped here after school and picked up a plate for my son who has been dying to try this place. We ordered the Donny plate and also shrimp and grits. Those 2 plates were like 52 bucks, and the order took about 29 minutes. We get the food my expectations are high... the plate was a mix of a few different bbq: ribs, brisket and pulled pork. The ribs were cold like they forgot to microwave it. Weirdly enough some stuff was cold some was warm, I don't get it. The shrimp and grits however those were pretty good. Good flavor, came out warm. I just can't get over the cold ribs like fresh out the fridge. I would have been a bit more forgiving had the price been lower but not when I'm paying close to $25 a plate at a to go spot.

This was my first visit to this establishment and while waiting for my order I was tempted to cancel it. The front of the house is very dirty. Floors look like they have not been swept or mopped in a days if not longer. The area behind the counter is messy and disheveled. It weighs on my mond what does the kitchen look like.I did end up getting the Gumbo. Which was $23 for a small portion of Gumbo and a heaping scoop of rice. The taste was OK at best. The one plus was the staff was very pleasant and friendly

The employees were nice from the moment we walked in. They offered to help make a decision after discovering it was our first time. When you walk in, it kind of gives you a cafeteria vibe. Nothing fancy but ok to sit and dine in.The food was priced high, but portions are big and with inflation makes sense. The brisket sandwich was bigger than expected. Mac n cheese was great probably my favorite of all the things we ordered. The fried okra had some salty pieces as well as some that tasted and looked burnt. The only complaint would be that they go heavy on the bbq sauce. Next time we eat/order from here we plan to ask for sauce to be on the side.We will definitely give this place another try.

Honest opinion on the way! Unfortunately, although the food looked delicious and the workers were nice and personable, the food was TOUGH and extremely SALTY... there was so much food wasted. **SAD FACE!!!**We tried 2 combo plates, referred to here as 'Both Sides of the Track'. 2 plates and a side order of gizzards ran us at almost 100 bucks!!What we got:Catfish & Brisket combo w/dirty rice & baked beans(Upcharge for Brisket)Pork Ribs & Fried Chicken w/mac & cheese & slawMedium order of Fried Gizzards The portion of the combo plates was basically two full plate portions in two separate containers. Good for those who can eat a lot of meat, but a bummer for those like me who want variety at a reasonable cost. Most times you order a combo plate, a restaurant will pull back on both protein portions to give you variety at slightly higher cost than a 1 choice regular plate. But here, you get 2 full portions in 1 plate that runs about $35-40. Not quite what we were going for, but we were down to give this a try. Sadly, the fried chicken was fried to death. The dark meat was so dry, there was almost no moisture left when I broke into it, also super salty. The brisket was also very dry. It was covered in bbq sauce which tasted okay, sweet and quite salty, but the sauce will never make up for the beef being dry from the get-go. No pull apart, fall apart here.... Catfish and pork ribs were good, but also salty, and the ribs were not tender. As for the side dishes, the baked beans were the only thing my wife enjoyed, although this is also prepared on the saltier side; dirty rice was like ground beef and white rice, no trinity flavor whatsoever. Mac & cheese was yummy and cooked very well, however, there were parts that packed a punch of salt because it wasn't mixed well. Cole slaw was good. Favorite item of the meal was the fried gizzards. Salty, but I guess these fried goodies are meant to be, and it went perfectly with the hot sauce they provided. Probably the saddest part of our meal was when we bit into the cornbread hoping for a sweet recovery from the salt overload. This thing was NOT FRESH! It tasted like it was baked 4-5 days prior and left out on the counter. Sadly, it had almost no smell or flavor.. the only "flavor" it had was like cardboard and butter. It was trashed as well. Super sad about that!Lastly, the food took 40 mins. For takeout or dine-in, I feel that's just too long. We obviously know everything is not prepared fresh from scratch, so I'm not sure why it took so long with us being the only people waiting.

We walked in and were greeted immediately and had our order taken. We took a seat and proceeded to wait for our food. I was fore warned to be prepared to wait while they cook your food, which is fine by me as fish isn't something you want cold. This place came HIGHLY recommended so I was prepared for some good soul food. Our food was brought to us in a to go container which wasn't a big issue, as I said they were kind and accommodating to what we needed (silverware, condiments, etc). The portion size of the fish was nice (we asked that it be fried hard), I got fried okra and red beans and rice as my sides and it also came with cornbread. The fish was good - I was a little concerned because when asking that it be fried hard this was fried to where I would usually expect fish to be fried - I ended up taking a piece how with me and making g a sandwich later on. The cornbread is on the sweet side and is a nice portion as well (it's sliced like a piece of cake). However the sides were lacking today. The potato salad which I was looking forward to trying was soupy with big chunks of egg in it, the okra lacked any seasoning and I took two bites of the red beans and rice and just kept telling myself "maybe this is a Hawaiian version cause this isn't what you would ever get in the South" as it was sticky rice with kidney beans that lacked flavor. For as much as we paid, I should have gotten the catfish poboy as the fish was great and that's where I should have stopped at. Maybe it was an off day as I have had numerous people tell me to give this place a try but today just wasn't a good day.

We were on our way to Kapolei to do some shopping. I wanted to stop at Donnie's to try the catfish. We decided to dine in. There was another couple dining in. A 2nd person waiting on a pickup order. The tables needed to be cleaned. I conveniently wiped the table before sitting down. There's a tv to watch while you wait for your food. Hubby ordered the smothered pork chops with rice&gravy. Beans with Mac and cheese. A slice of cornbread on the side.We also had the mason jar sweet tea for $13. Total Bill was over $50 for 2 people. Considering I was really hungry. I was getting anxious about the long wait for the food. I could see Chakeva in the kitchen working on the order. It took about 25 minutes to finally get our order. Everything was hot and well seasoned. Hubby talked less and ate more. We had leftovers for the night.

I have been wanting to try to place since I moved back home and it didn't disappoint. I got the smoked pork with Mac n cheese and collard greens.I love the Mac n cheese!! It's soo good. This is the best southern food on this island so far that I have had. I am definitely coming back.

Definitely worth it! The food was giving everything that it needed to be on top of the menu covering all bases.Service was on point with a warm welcome. Overall, you can for sure tell everything was made with love.

Kinda pricey. I paid $27 for a rib plate with Mac n cheese and potato salad. It says two sides and corn bread with plate food but they had no corn bread today.