Jackie's Diner

If you love... HAWAIIAN or PUERTO RICAN FOOD, come and check out JACKIE's DINER located in the Waimalu Shopping Center. The perfect little spot to enjoy... LOCAL comfort food that comes with LOCAL style service. The moment you step foot into this diner, you are welcomed and treated like 'ohana (family). These are my favorites that I enjoy here:PASTELE PLATE: it comes with 1 pastele (mild or hot), rice and beef or tripe stew. Both the pastele and beef stew are very tasty and delicious!SQUID LUAU (side): a good sized bowl that is so 'ono. The perfect amount of seasonings and the perfect amount of sweetness. Yum!So, if you are craving for local comfort food, go and check out JD. You'll thank me for that!

So I had asked a friend where can I get some Bodinki food? She replies "what a Bodinki?" LOL! I forgot, that's old school slang that some of us 80's kids grew up hearing from our parents. Bodinki is Hawaiian Slang for Puerto Riccan. She says "JACKIES!" So that's why I ordered me some pastels from Jackie's Diner. Let me tell you, I was a bit skeptical about it. Yet when I got there, the place was REALLY NICE & VERY CLEAN & NOT AT ALL what I'd thought it would be. Nothing to do with culture. Just in general, it looks recently renovated and updated. I thought it was really NICE! I called in an order over the phone around 8:05pm. They close @ 8:30pm. I made it there by 8:15pm. My food was ready to go. Prices weren't that bad because I got me a Pastele plate & couple extra Pastele on the side. When I had me a taste of the Bacalau salad, OH MAN! Tastes just like my mommy's! And SHE was famous for always making Bacalau salad for our family parties. The only difference is, they added iceberg lettuce to stretch it! But they had the tomatoes, the onion, the watercress and cuttlefish. I think the girl said COD fish tho. It looked and tasted just like cuttle fish. Anywho, it was delicious! Then they had the Gandulle rice with the Pastele. That's why I ordered me the plate too! For the rice with the pastele and the Bacalau salad. Pastele was good! (BEST WHEN SERVED HOT) with the RICE! Oh man... yummy! I must say tho... I think I understand why some said it was a bit dry, perhaps because there wasn't any pork FAT to make the flavor. Still it turned out pretty good! The only thing I was confused about was the leaf they used to wrap the pastele before cooking it. I didn't think you could use ti-leaf. I mean I guess you could, because it works! But I was always told to use banana leaf. Something about the leave its what makes the pastele. But that's not a big deal to worry about. We use to-leaves to make laulaus, why not use them for pasteles.Anywho, it was still delicious! Thank you folks a lot for this delicious experience. I'm glad it wasn't a doozy for me because I would've been so sad had it NOT tasted good. But IT DID! So no worries here! If anyone is looking for puerto riccan food, in my opinion, this place is a good place to go to. The dinning area is well lit and clean and plenty of space and tables. You can order out. They have this cooler with all their ingredients to make specific meals. I LOVE how organized and how clean everything was. It really makes a difference when you see the cleanliness of a diner. Sometimes it doesn't bother me, but at times, it does. Thats why we stopped going to a few places. It just wasn't as clean as it should've been. Anywho, NO DISAPPOINTMENT HERE! Thank you for reading & I hope you enjoy your food as much as I did! Have a good one MALAMA PONO A HUI HOU!

After a long day traveling, it was nice to eat some local food! I used to come here a lot when I was younger, so it's been awhile. I remember I absolutely loved the haupia here as a kid, so I just needed to get a little taste of everything again!I got the Combination Plate ($20.99), which consisted of lau lau, kalua pig, chicken long rice, haupia and rice! The lau lau was juicy and the kalua pig and chicken long rice were nicely seasoned. I found the kalua pig to be a tad bit dry to my liking and the noodles for the chicken long rice could have been cooked a little longer, but the lomi lomi salmon paired nicely with all the meats and rice that it gave a refreshing bite each time! The haupia tasted just as how I remembered, and I fell in love all over again to its sweet coconut flavorMy dad got the squid luau and kalua pig cabbage. He has always been a big critique on where he goes to eat squid luau, but when he noticed it was on the menu, he had to try it for himself. The verdict?: he loved it!Interior was remodeled from the last time I was here and the staff were still friendly It was nice and clean inside and our waitress always made sure we were doing okay!

7-21-24 came for dinner after viewing a movie at Highlands. Usually we phone order and take out vs dining in.Looks like they painted the walls a teal, maroon with lavender trim and got new furniture.Even the menu, daily specials and boards are colorful and new with more variety of items.Noticed individual lighting for each booth area on the wall.Enjoyed the texture of their long rice and their Lomi salmon to me is better than H.I. In Waipahu.The ceiling fans kept the poi chilled- I debated whether to take it home to make poi cocktail like we did as kids with milk and add sugar.I showed the most willpower by giving hubs my haupia cuz it's my favorite part and it looked so white and a huge yummy square of goodness.They were advertising squid luau, daily specials and poke. Something to try next time.The 2 female servers were friendly and I could see one employee washing dishes, wiping the round tray and restacking the plastic cups.

I've been coming here for over 10 years and now the have new owners which that added poke to there menu I haven't tried yet but the food is still ono service is amazing and I love how it doesn't feel overcrowded. I always get the Pastele plate with a side order of Lomi salmon. Heads up it like $9 for a side of lomi

Nice mom and pops atmosphere - friendly waitresses. Food is awesome - pastele is closest to my Grandma's. Hawaiian food ono too! Even haupia was tasty - not the typical watered down at most restaurants. All tastes home cooked!

Went there from a recommendation and glad I went there. The service was great and also the food. I ordered the tripe stew and it really tasted like how my mom used to make it. I ate and drank the soup to the last drop.

Lunch in Aiea, Oahu, Hawaii...My friend and I were looking for lunch. I took her to Waimalu Shopping Center because this strip mall has so many foodie choices: Vietnamese, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, etc.She selected Jackie's Diner because the photos in the window featured Hawaiian Cuisine! Smart move!The prices are reasonable and the portions are generous!The old-school environment with booth seating is quite charming!My friend got the laulau and kalua pig plate. It came with lomi salmon, haupia, and poi (or rice). Her only complaint was that the laulau was too big... LOL!I got the pork laulau and beef stew plate. It included haupia (very creamy and rich), macaroni salad (not my favorite), and poi (or rice). Wow... everything was really good!I'm so happy that we came across this restaurant! I'd bring my mom here and try the Daily Specials and more yummy food - especially because the service was so friendly! They kept wanting to fill our water glasses and asked us how we were doing!Thank you!

Awesome service..very friendly and helpful. They were helpful when helping us choose what to eat. They gave us some good suggestions. There is a good variety of food to choose from. From Hawaiian to Local food, there is something for every palette. I really enjoyed the hamhock luau and mushroom chicken. The place is also very clean and welcoming. If you are in the Pearl City/Aiea area, you should definitely come and check this place out.

What we normally order every time is consistently delicious. Tripe stew, Spanish Rice and mild pasteleService is wonderful. Ambiance. Local people local food.