Big Kahunas Pizza - Restaurants On Oahu Honolulu, Hawaii

We stumbled onto Big Kahuna's from some article which was listing the best pizza in each of the 50 United States. For Hawaii, that honor went to Big Kahuna's Pizza on Oahu. We normally find that these "best of" lists are complete junk because the writers just look up popular reviews, instead of eating at each place, and end up being way off. Still, we wanted to see for ourselves.

Big Kahuna's location is far from ideal since it's located right next to the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) and thus potentially confusing to find. In this case, your GPS might throw you off if it doesn't correctly recognize the fact that you have stacked streets to deal with (airport entrance / exit road that is directly above a street level road).

If you are driving under the H1 just turn south (towards airport) at Paiea St, go down a block, turn right into the strip mall area.

If you are on the H1 coming from the west (Kapolei / Waianae) then take exit 16 and stay to the far left the entire time, turning left a the first light you come to, and then left again into the strip mall parking lot.

If you are on the H1 coming from the east (Waikiki, etc) you can get off at exit 16, stay to the far right the entire time, turn right at the first intersection you can, head towards the H1 again and turn right (you'll be under the H1 now) and then turn right when you hit Paiea St, go down a block and right again into the strip mall parking lot.

See what I mean about bad location? Once you know how to find the place it's no big deal so don't let the airport freak you out as you won't actually be entering the airport drop off or pick up areas.

When we walked in we were greeted by Dustin who was very nice and went over the menu with us and even recommended some pizzas for us to try. We went with his recommendations which were the Mexican Pizza and California Pizza.

They have 7 inch personal pan and 12 inch larger pan sizes. The 7 inch is plenty for one person and at around $8 is a bargain. Throw in a large soda and you'll walk out for around $10.50 after tax. Truly a deal.

While we waited for the pizzas to cook (which doesn't take long at all) Dustin brought out a 6 piece order of their Garlic Cheese Balls for us to try (for free) since it was our first time there. It's rare that you get that kind of service anywhere, much less a pizza joint. They were delicious and now I will order them every-single-time I go without exception. Brilliant marketing.

The pizzas then arrived and were excellent in every way. Great dough. Perfectly cooked. Delicious cheese. High quality ingredients. The perfect pizza. We couldn't find a single thing bad about the pizzas, not one thing we'd change or want improved.

We then tried to think of anything we didn't like about the experience overall which wasn't easy. Great service, friendly staff, perfect food, excellent value. Then I remembered that they don't take credit cards and that really bugs me. A lot. In a day where my grandmother can walk into an office store and walk out with a credit card reader for her smartphone why don't they take credit cards? Probably to keep costs in check and maybe that's how they keep their prices low. Annoying, but it didn't take away from my experience (and they do have an ATM literally outside their door).

As if the meal wasn't perfect, Dustin then came out with two piping hot chocolate chip cookies for us (free). The food here could have sucked and I would come back because the service was so good. Luckily, the food was outstanding. It was so good that we actually contemplated going back for dinner the same day. No joke. We decided to exercise restraint and wait at least 1 full day before returning.

Is it the best pizza I've ever had? Not sure, it's close. Is it the best pizza in Hawaii? Not sure yet, but certainly my favorite on Oahu so far. Two big thumbs up.

Does this mean they'll give you free food on your first visit? Maybe, maybe not. But tell them you read this awesome review on LookIntoHawaii.com and maybe he'll hook you up as well. And by hook you up I mean getting you hooked.

• Food Types: Burger / Dog / Sandwich	• Food Types: Pizza	• Payment: $ - Cheap - Under $15	• Meals: Dinner	• Meals: Lunch
• Service Type: Counter / Quick