LA Pizza Rina is probably one of my favorite places to get pizza.

A 13″ medium pizza with two toppings cost $13.00. Not bad. But what is bad is the skimpy ass portion. Today we decided to get a medium pizza, with with three toppings instead of two. Each additional topping is only .60 cents. I had three quarters in my pocket I was planning on saving for drying my laundry when I got back home, but sometimes enjoying your meal is worth went panties. I remember the sausage was phenomenal last time so I ordered sausage, with extra sausage and pepperoni, 3 toppings right? As you can see, my wet laundry wasn’t worth it. There’s barely three pieces of sausage per slice. What a shitty deal.

Oh well, so I got sausage fucked, doesn’t change my love for them. Check out the stringy cheese on these babies. In my last post on them I mentioned the stringiness of their cheese. Here’s the proof. Love it.

We also shared the La Pizza Rina Super Sub, 12″-$.6.95. This is a better deal than Quiznos.

As you can see all three of us were able to get a generous portion. I’m not really a sandwich whore but today the sandwich surprisingly hit the spot. I think I enjoyed it more than the pizza.

Ham, salami, capicola, pepperoni and cheese with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, and La Pizza Rina’s Special Sauce. If you love pizza and sandwiches you should definitely make this you next outing.

Here’s my last review on La Pizza Rina. 

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La Pizza Rina
1425 S King St
Honolulu, HI96814

Get Directions(808) 941-6634

Boston’s North End Pizza is another great place to get some serious grub. With locations all over the island I’m surprised this place doesn’t have a website. The only other Boston’s I’ve been to is Kaimuki on Wailae. Boston’s is the kind of place that no matter which location you visit it will be a good experience.

The place is a pretty basic pizza joint. You walk in order your piece of the pie and wait for them to heat it up. You can order a whole pie fresh but if it’s just one slice your jonesing for then odds are it’ll be premade behind the counter.

This is one slice. I know massive right? This one is the spinach and garlic I think. One slice is 1/4 of a whole pizza and as you can see is the size of two regular slices and cost about five bucks.

Rays pizza slice. Not a bad deal for a filling meal for around $5.00. Oh, and the pizza’s not bad either. Even though it’s not fresh, it’s reheated so it tastes fresh enough.

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Boston’s North End Pizza Bakery

29 Hoolai St
Kailua, HI96734

Get Directions(808) 263-8055

Cruising down Waikiki can be a bit overwhelming. Big name brand shops here, restaurant there, little Asians passing out fliers over there, and more tourist shops here. It’s so much to take in, even for the natives, which is probably why they don’t come to this part of the island, that and they have this idea that we’re taking all their land. I’ve been living in Waikiki for a year now and I’m still uncovering hidden treasures tucked down lonely streets and buried between sky high buildings. There’s a ton of them just waiting to be explored so keep an open eye. I spotted Arancino while strolling through the chaotic streets of Waikiki. I made a turn down a quite road trying to get away from all the commotion and I came upon Arancinos.

Arancino’s is a quaint little eatery. What you see here is all there is, just two small rows of tables. We came here for lunch and as you can see they weren’t very busy.

We started off with a modest loaf of bread. The rosemary on top gives off the illusion of a fresh loaf of bread filled with herbs. It’s an illusion, rosemary was just sprinkled on top, I didn’t taste any herbs here. Ray and I have this one basket rule when it comes to bread but this time I broke it because as you can see, one basket isn’t very much. Ray hated the bread, said it was as boring as bread can be. I didn’t mind it so much with the olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Glancing over the menu I realized that this was one of those places that look small, cute and inviting, but is actually small, cute, inviting and not so cheap. Well that sucks because I really wanted to like this place and wanted to come back. But I guess I should of known, after-all, it’s still Waikiki right? Oh bother, let’s see what to order to fill us up without raping a hole in my wallet. Ah, here we go, The Margherita Pizza, which is just a fancy way of saying margarita pizza. The menu said it was fresh mozzarella, basil, and homemade tomato sauce, $14.25. I have tasted many margarita pizzas in my time to know that this is a sorry embarrassing example of a margarita pizza. I mean, I know the menu said, mozzarella, basil and tomato sauce, but what about the tomato slice on each piece of pizza, and look at the skimpy amount of tomato sauce, and cheese, and basil. You know those pathetic mini frozen pizzas you get at the grocery store for around $1.79 on sale, those were a million times more exciting than the one you see here. Actually those are fucking amazing when you’re a little buzzed and you’re at home watching a game and drinking beer, I know some of you can relate. Anyhow, Ray and I got to talking and it wouldn’t have taken much to make this pizza a little bit more pleasing. This is what I suggest. Cut up slices of tomato and put one slice on each piece of pizza, add a bit more tomato sauce and cheese, chop up some basil so you get to taste the fresh herb with every other bite and also leave the whole ones for garnish in the center. There you have it, a thousand times better than that sorry piece of shit you guys call a margarita pizza.

If your in Waikiki and you want pizza don’t come here. Take your money to California Pizza Kitchen about 3 blocks away. I usually don’t support corporate places but at least they know what the fuck is going on. But if you do want Italian, just not pizza and you have the cash to burn stay at Arancino and check it out. The place is adorable, the menu looked mouthwatering and service was done with a smile. Happy eating to you.

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Arancino Pizza and Pasta
255 Beach Walk
Honolulu, HI96815

Get Directions(808) 923-5557

Calling all pizza whores! Calling all pizza whores! There’s a ton of you sluts out there and you know who you are. I’ve struck gold. It’s time for you to drop what your doing and spread it wide open, your mouth that is. I’ve been living on this bountiful island for 8 months now and have been to a good handful of pizza joints. Off the top of my head, Antonio’s NY Pizzeria, Bostons North End Pizza Bakery, Spaghettini, Round Table, Buca Di Beppo, California Pizza Kitchen and Costco. Is Costco a pizza joint? No, but they probably put out more pizza than all of them combined, being in the bulk industry and all. In my professional opinion L.A. Pizza Rina makes the pizza pie that’s supreme of them all.

The inside is a pretty basic joint. See that lady in the red, she was our waitress and I think her husband was the cook in the back wearing red as well. I don’t know if they were the owners or not, but I’m quite certain they were Chinese. All I’m saying is that the Chinese are taking over everything, even pizza joints in Hawaii.

We decided to share a spaghetti with 2 meat balls , $7.00. and a pizza pie. The spaghetti came with garlic bread. First, I want to apologize for the picture. The sensor on my canon was off so I had to make due. Fortunately I went to Canon and got it fixed yesterday. As we all know, spaghetti isn’t rocket science, yet, so many places still manage to fuck it up. This wasn’t one of them. If I had to rate it I would give it a 8/10. The taste was right on. The sauce tasted really sweet, not like they added sugar to it, but like the tomatoes were really sweet and fresh. I loved the way it tasted. However, if your like my little sister, and freak out at the sight of grease, then order a salad, or sub instead. You can’t really tell by the picture because the camera wouldn’t focus, but there was an unnecessary amount of grease that came with the spaghetti. The meat balls were nothing special.

I know this garlic bread looks boring, but I enjoyed it. I know most of you will disagree with me when I say this but I think most places spread way too much garlic butter on bread these days. The bread comes out salty and soggy soaked with fat. Yuck! This way nicely toasted and buttered.

Drum roll please . . .

And here is the moment you all been waiting for. I’m not a pizza whore, but just looking at this picture brings back fond memories of me pulling the stringy cheese off the end of the pizza, tilting my head back, spreading my mouth wide open as I slowly lowering the cheese, sacrificing it to the hungry Goddess. She is pleased, no heart burn for me today. This picture doesn’t serve it justice. the cheese was hot and perfectly melted. It was the kind where every bite left you connected with a string of cheese that led from your mouth to the end of the pizza.

My only complaint is that the toppings were scarce. Oh, by the way we ordered a Two Topping Medium Pizza, 14″ for $13.00. There was like 3 pieces of meat on each slice, but the pieces of meat, oh boy! I mean, just look at the meat on the pizza, that’s what real sausage on pizza should look like, not the puny little slices, but nice hearty chunks.

There you have it, another great find. Lunch cost us 8 bucks each and we had two slices left over. If I had to do it again, I would add an extra topping of sausage and mushroom for .60 cents each. That would of been fucking amazing and I would of been complete.

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L.A. Pizza Rina
1425 South King Street
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 941-6634

Lights, Camera, Action!

Here’s another chain that doesn’t get enough credit. The first Buca opened up only 14 years ago in an apartment basement in Minneapolis. Today there are 93 Bucas nationwide. That’s pretty fucking impressive. Luckily, Hawaii is home to 1 of the 93. Buca di Beppo of Hawaii is located in the Ward Entertainment Center right below Dave and Busters and Edward Cinema. I try to avoid this area in the evenings of Thursday, Friday and Saturday because the area is festering with annoying pubescent teens.

I forgot to take a picture of the inside for this blog. I’ve been to quite a few Bucas before and all of them have the same nostalgic Italian decor. Walls are cluttered with pictures and random flare. Table tops are covered with the traditional red and white table covers. Along with the dim lighting everything seems to flow nicely.

One reason why I love it here so much is because you have the option to order your dish as a small individual dish or a large family style dish. In the spirit of Italian culture everyone should order family style when dining here. It’s just so much fun to be able to eat what everyone else is eating and talk about it. Here we ordered a large linguine frutti di mare, aka, seafood linguine, $21.99. The large is $31.99. It was my favorite pasta noodle, linguine mixed with shrimp, mussels, clams, and calamari. Yum!

First I want to apologize for the shitty picture. You see, one of the troubles of going to a place with really nice lighting is taking a really nice picture. You see, I don’t have the expensive extras to go along with my fancy camera, so I have to decide, do I use the flash or do I not? Here I used the flash, it looks really bright and I apologize. When I can afford to buy a fancy flash and lens for the camera I will. Anyway, this is the Small Spicy Sausage and Mushroom Pizza, $14.99. It was yummy as always.

Now I know this place isn’t exactly cheap, but if you come here with a big or small group and order a few dishes it could be. There was 3 of us and we ordered two small dishes and there was left overs to be had. I don’t suggest coming here if you plan on being stingy and not sharing, unless you can afford to. Happy eating to you.

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Bucca Di Beppo
1030 Auahi Street #1
Honolulu, HI 96814
(808) 591-0800

Before you judge me on going to another corporate chain, give this place a try if you have not already. California Pizza Kitchen has to be one of my favorite corporate chain restaurants. From what I’ve seen, there’s five California Pizza Kitchens in Oahu: Waikiki, Kahala Mall, Ala Moana Mall, Aiea and Kailua. I’ve been to all but one and every time the food is great. This one is located at Kahala Mall.

It’s not the best picture, but you get the point.

We were asked if we wanted bread after ordering, which we all did. The bread was really nothing special, just plain white bread at room temperature on a white plate with butter. My mom use to give me sandwiches with sugar and butter when I was a little girl and that’s the only way I’ll have plain white bread now, with butter and white granulated sugar. Oh, how buttery sweetness can transform boring to spectacular.

Now I know this place isn’t really cheap, but if you want to eat out all the time, as I do, you really need to find ways to be nicer to your wallet. Ray and I do this by sharing. When we come here we share an appetizer, usually this Avocado Club Egg Rolls and we’ll get one other dish to share. It’s always enough and doesn’t break us. If you like avocado, chicken and bacon, you’ll want to try these. Avocado, chicken, and bacon just go so well together, and in these rolls you can taste each flavor so distinctly. Ray and I love these things, we could eat 8 plates each and be content.

Don’t you want to reach through the screen and grab one? My only conpaint is that we only got four pieces for $9.99, which really is two small rolls cut in half. That blows. That’s really expensive and a rip off. Why, do they have to be so good?

This time we decided to share a pizza. This one is the Wild Mushroom Pizza with cremini, shiitake, portobello, white mushrooms, fontina, mozzarella cheeses, coated with a wild mushroom pesto sauce and garnished with chopped Italian parsley, $12.99. It was available with chicken as well, but instead of that we got sausage. It was plenty and really good. We had one slice left over, which we volunteered Shane to consume.

Yeah, I know, this is a horrible picture. In my previous posts I mentioned that Shane is crazy about the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, $9.99 at CPK. Every time we come here he goes through the menu and then closes it only to order what we all knew he came here for. I had to take a picture as fast as I could since Shane wanted to devour this dish the second it landed on the table. Patience Shanie, patience.

This is suppose to be the Chocolate Souffle Cake ala mode $9.99. I hate it when restaurants loosely names their dishes just because it sounds catchy. Does this look like a souffle to anyone? It looks deflated, like a round chocolate brownie. A proper souffle is enriched with egg yolks and then folded over with whisked egg whites, baked and served in a proper ramekin. When the egg whites expand during baking, it causes the souffle to puff up. A proper souffle should be light, fluffy puffy. The word souffle is the past particle of the French verb souffler which means “to blow up” or more loosely “puff up” — an apt description of what happens to this combination of custard and egg whites.

Here are some pictures of what a proper souffle should look like.

Anyhow, it was still good.

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California Pizza Kitchen
4211 Waialae Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 737-9446

Spaghettini is a fun pasta/pizza joint located right on the main strip of Haleiwa.

All seating is outside, under a shaded rooftop.

Pizza is on display behind a glass window and run about $3.50 per slice. The pasta menu is in picture so you can see what it looks like before you eat it. There’s a mini size about $8.00 and regular size for about $10.00. You also have the option to turn your pasta into a combo meal by adding a small salad and drink for $3.25.

My friend Ona got a slice of Cheese Pizza, $2.85.

Ray ordered a Pepperoni Sausage & Ham, $3.45. If you ask me the pizza here taste the way they look, pretty basic. But in all honesty, I’m not the one to comment on pizza because I am not a pizza whore. I know there’s a lot of pizza whores out there so feel free to leave a suggestion on the best pizza joint on this island. Pizza is bread, cheese and meat. Anyway you put that together is gonna be good. But if I had to have it more than twice a week I’ll slice my fucking throat.

This is my order. I told you I’m no whore when it comes to pizza. I know a lot of people will hate me for saying this, but I’m entitled to my opinion. Pizza is overrated. There I said it, get over it. I saw pasta on the menu. Pictures can be very tantalizing and I weighed my options. Pizza? Pasta? Pizza? Pasta? Pasta it is. I ordered Shrimp Alfredo Fettuccine a regular order for $10.65. There was a few things about this plate that I liked and didn’t like. I liked that it came with bread, I liked the added mushrooms, I loved the pine nuts sprinkled and parsley flakes on top. I didn’t like the amount of onions put into this dish. Don’t get me wrong, I love white onions, and they do add a hint of sweetness when cooked but it was a little over the top. I wish I would of taken a picture because towards the end of my meal was a few noodles and a whole lot of onion bathing in alfredo sauce. Overall, this dish didn’t do it for me. It’s not because of the onions. You know that feeling when you crave something and when you finally eat it, it wasn’t everything you hoped it would be, but your over it and don’t really crave it anymore. That is what this dish was for me. But, it’s a great place to hang out and get fast decent pasta and pizza.

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Spaghettini
66-200 Kamehameha Hwy
Haleiwa, HI 96712
(808) 637-0104

Shane, our roommate and close friend introduced us to Antonio’s. He and Ray are pizza whores. Me, not so much but whatever, I’m always up for a new place. Usually, when we get pizza I let the boys make the decisions; today was no different. If you don’t already know from my previous blogs, I like to order my dessert before hand, so when I noticed a gelato stand my attention immediately shifted. The guy behind the counter seemed as though he had no prior experience in scooping gelato. I don’t remember what flavor I ordered or the price, but what I can say is that it was at par with the pizza, nothing amazing.

The boys ordered Antonio’s Fabulous Garlic Bread Rolls, $3.50. Just one look and I swear my cholesterol went up.

You see what I mean. I’m not crazy about butter, especially when it’s melted but I do like garlic, however, these were actually done really well. They came out fresh and piping hot. In my opinion when garlic and butter are involved, it’s tends to be too salty, like most garlic breads. But this was different, it wasn’t too salty at all and you can taste the garlic loud and clear. As soon as it hits your lips it screams, “What’s up, I’m Garlic Butter. How you doing?” Yep, that’s exactly what it says.

Now, as for the pizza . . . I want to tell you I love it because I’m a little frightened for my life if I give this place a bad review. Have you seen the owner?

This is the owner. Yes, that is a mohawk and a mullet. He likes long walks on the beach, mud wrestling, arm wrestling, little boys, big girls, big trucks, and crushing things like an itty- bitty pimple. Dude, I don’t reckon this picture is helping him get laid. Should I be writing this? Did I mention, I’m a little frighten for my life. Let’s move on to the pizza.
We got a two topping medium with mushroom and sausage (what Ray usually gets). I don’t remember the exact price but I’m guesstimating $15.00.

Most of the toppings were in the middle. Once you eat half way through a slice all you get is cheese and sauce and then crust.

I mean, just look at the toppings. To the naked eye it looks generous but don’t be fooled. The mushrooms are cut paper thin and the meat is like ground beef shavings.
Another thing that sucks about this place is that they don’t give free refills on their sodas. Ray wasn’t aware of this so he downed his first soda when we got the artery clogging garlic balls, and had to purchase another soda when we got the pizza. It’s a good thing I don’t drink soda. Nope, all my empty calories are reserved for dessert purposes only.

Just for the record, I would have stolen the refill.
The ambiance was tables, a couple arcade games and pictures of frightening, deformed muscle heads that are probably going to hunt me down beat me with a metal chair, body slam my ass onto the concrete and them cut me into four equal parts and beat each other with it.

You know, now that I think about it, this place really wasn’t that bad. The artery balls are dangerous. Once you pop, you can’t, you can’t stop. The gelato was sweet and the pizza was hot.

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4210 Waialae Avenue # B 109
Honolulu, HI 96815
(808) 737-3333