Nordstrom cafe Ala moana center – Honolulu restaurant reviews

Nordstrom Cafe is located on the ground floor of the Nordstrom department store in the Ala Moana Shopping center. We eat here often, as the food is pretty good. Healthy selections, including very good tomato soup (our favorite) , made to order salads (like the wonderful ahi Nicoise salad), pizza, sandwiches and a good mushroom ravioli.  The menu is short, but they do have enough variety to cover most tastes. Wine selection is very limited but decent. The prices are very reasonable for a casual meal.

However, be prepared. They must hit the top of chart with the strangest way of self service. Clearly they attempted to marry self-service with table side service, but rather clumsily. It is definitely confusing, especially for new customers and it can result in major irritations. You pick up your tray and select your food and drinks. After paying you get a sort of bingo card stand with a number to take with you to your table. When sitting down a “waiter”  asks you what you have ordered and it ends up that you have to state what you ordered two times to different people. Then later, another server or someone from the kitchen brings the food. At the end, when you have finished your meal, the “waiter” asks you if you need something else such as dessert and leaves his/her card for the tip with a couple of chocolate candies.  So, the decision to tip or not to tip is always a big issue.  You do not need to tip at self service restaurants.  So, to tip him for bringing your food seems a little odd, because if it is self-service and that is what you are expecting, then, it is really no trouble to go and get your meal from the counter.  I feel like I am being forced to tip, to be polite, but I equate it to those in-your-face tip jars at the take out places and Starbuck’s….You should not have to tip everyone!…To be clear, I reluctantly tip a couple of bucks and I resent doing it, but I am in America and you are supposed to do that, right?

Plus : pretty good food, nice city type feeling

Minus : SERVICE. GO AWAY…let me enjoy my meal in peace.

Food: contemporary
opening hours : same as Mall

Nordstrom Marketplace Cafe
1450 Ala Moana boulevard
Honolulu
808-953-6100 ext 1610

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