Downbeat Diner and Lounge is a late night diner/lounge with a full bar. It’s in the heart of hipsterville Downtown. This place gets a lot of foot traffic after the bars/clubs, art houses, and the business district closes. It’s also the hub of where all the hipsters goes to get their grub on. The whole menu is vegan friendly, which is why all the hipsters are there. It’s a great place to have a few drinks, listen to some hip hop indie remix, and EAT!
The interior is clean and minimal. The vinyl booth seats has a great pattern with musician superstars like Hawai’i local boy, Bruddah Iz (Isreal Kamakawiwo’ole). The walls are bare except for one wall with a projection screen playing hipster like things. On the day I was there, they were playing one of those cheesy skateboarding videos. You know the ones that you watch the skateboarder do these awesome tricks at a public location, but all you are thinking is…I hope you eat it. Of course, they never do. It’s not THAT video.
Everything about this place is super casual. Our waitress (who I secretly wanted to be) had an awesome half buzz cut/half bob with hipster eyeglasses and bold red lip. I regret not getting a photo of her, but I didn’t want her to get creeped out and kick me out.
I had to try out one of Downbeat’s specialty cocktails. I felt like being hip, so I got myself the Spiked Ginger Brew #7. The drink is made up of ginger, citrus, and spices. I spiked mines with vodka with the recommendation from my waitress. If you like ginger, you’ll love this drink. It didn’t taste like ginger ale, but tasted more like real fresh ginger. There is a slight fizziness, but not much. There was no strong alcohol taste, which is dangerously awesome.
The Sampler ($8)
My friends are vegetarian, which was the main reason why they choose this place. I couldn’t even take a picture before my friends started digging into our appetizers. The vegetarian friendly sampler plater came with 3 pieces each of fake chicken buffalo wings, cheese sticks, and jalapeno poppers.
Buffalo Wing
The texture of the wing was chewy, like all the other fake vegan stuff out there in the market. It tasted like chicken, which is the easiest taste to recreate. Or maybe sometimes we don’t know how to describe the taste, so we instantly say chicken. Well, this stuff tasted like spicy chicken. The rest of the platter tasted great.
Greek Salad ($7)
The greek salad is filled with fresh greens, tomatoes, red onion, kalamata olives, feta cheese, cucumbers with a red wine vinaigrette. It’s the typical traditional greek salad. It was yummy, salty, and feta-tastic.
Chili Moco (Vegan Style, $9)
On Yelp, mostly everyone raves about their Loco Moco (a specialty cuisine from Hawai’i). They have a couple variation of the Loco Moco. We tried the Chili version. It’s vegan patty, vegan chili, downbeat gravy, two eggs over easy on top of brown rice. The chili was hearty and spicy. I don’t remember if we asked for potatoes or if it comes standard. The eggs were cooked perfectly and when eaten together, it was a mouthful of heat, robust tomatoes, and (fake) meaty goodness.
The Pile ($7)
The Pile is the best drunk food to have. The only thing that is missing is my drunkenness. The Pile is home fries (more like country potatoes) topped with cheese and 2 over easy eggs. Breaking the yokes is key. It’s all good and I don’t have to describe how good potatoes, cheese, and eggs can taste together.
Downbeat Diner and Lounge is a great place to go with a bunch of friends and have an easy casual meal. The prices are descent and the portions are generous. Service was great and the place looked clean. I must admit, it’s a small place, so the booths fills up pretty fast. That’s were the bar comes in. Relax and have a drink, most likely a booth will be opening up soon.
Downbeat Diner and Lounge
Hours:
Mondays: 11AM-2AM
Tuesdays – Thursdays: 11AM-3AM
Fridays and Saturdays: 11AM-4AM
Sundays: 11AM-10PM
Parking: not on site. Like all Downtowns all over the world, parking is a premium. Try to find street parking, if you can. If not, I would recommend parking at the public parking garages.
Family friendly…well, that’s in the eye of the beholder. I feel that it is, but then again, I’m not a parent.
Sounds like a fun place to try. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet and those meals are making me drool.
@Rachel: HAHA. I hope this post inspired you to make something great for breakfast!
I only went there once, when my friend had her art show opening downtown! I had the gravy fries (those were good) and the chicken loco moco (which was meh). The chicken was tough and rubbery, boo. I was really surprised at how little bit people they had working. It was full when I went and there were only two people — taking orders, serving food, bussing tables, and working behind the bar. We were wondering if they were cooking the food too! Haha.
@Tiera:
I was eyeing out that Gravy Fries! Was it really fries or was it country style potatoes? I was thrown off by what they called as “fries”. That’s too bad the chicken loco moco was not good. I hate when chicken is rubber, too. It’s so hard to screw up chicken, but when you do…whoa! LOL
When I think about it….I only saw two people working at the time I went to. LOL I wonder how they do it.
How wonderful to have this option as a vegan/vegetarian! It must be frustrating when vegan/vegetarian menu items just aren’t appetizing, but these look totally “normal”. Hope that doesn’t offend anyone
@lisa: I agree. I’m not a vegan/vegetarian, but my friend is. So, I always try to make an effort to eat what she eats. It’s not like she would be offended if I ate a hamburger, but I just feel weird to do that to her. Anyways, the texture is always off, but as long as it taste good, I don’t care if it’s meatless. I agree, sometimes vegan.vegetarian food doesn’t look appetizing.
Oh my…I can’t tell you how jealous I am right now….eating at a veggie place in Hawaii!! My husband and I went to Oahu for our honeymoon (cliche, I know….but best decision we ever made!!) and I fell in loveeeee with the North Shore! As a vegetarian, I looked up all the restaurants we could eat at. I never went here, but we ate at a bunch of veggie places in Honolulu. My favorite was the Peace Cafe…they made the best sandwiches on THE BEST BREAD I’VE EVERRRRRR had! I dream of those sandwiches lol. Ohhhh, what I’d do to live there…you’re very lucky!!
@Diary of a Mad Crafter: HEY!!!! I love the North Shore, too! It’s the perfect place to see an “old school” vision of Hawai’i. I’ve never been to the Peace Cafe. I’ve heard the same thing about their sandwiches. I have to go now! Do you remember which sandwich you had? I want to taste the best bread ever! LOL
You should come back and visit! Maybe for an anniversary?
I got the avo-veggie, which is still on their menu…can’t rememember what my husband got, but it was similar. If you like avocados, you’ll like it…but like I said, my favorite part was the bread! Lol ahhh now I want one!
Oh we will SO be coming back for a visit!! If not an anniversary, than just because….it really is paradise…and everyone was so nice! I’m not going to lie…for about a month after we came back I couldn’t stop lookin at houses and jobs in HI on Craigslist! Hahah I was obsessed…..still am a bit..lol
@Diary of a Mad Crafter: I’m totally going to try the avo-veggie sandwich! I love avocados. I could bathe in it. LOL
I’m going to try to go this Monday, since I don’t have any classes. We’ll see…hopefully they are open on MLK day.
I hope your dreams of moving here comes true. I think some people are born to be in Hawai’i and I think you are one of those. If you ever find that opportunity, I say do it! It’ll be a great adventure for you and your family. If you do come down to visit, I need to show you guys around. I feel like it’s my duty.
We can do a blogger’s eating tour, we can eat our way around the island.
Let me know what you think if you go, and enjoyyyy!
) we come, you’ll be the first to know! I love seeing places the way locals do! I enjoy the touristy things to an extent, but that usually bores me after awhile! I’d SO rather go to places “off the grid”!
Ahhh I love you for saying that….I too think I was born to live there! And I will neverrr give up on living there one day! Whether it be 5 years or 30….I have a feeling it will happen one day! And when, not if, (
Oh and btw, I got the best drink at the coffee gallery in Haleiwa called hibiscus nectar….I loved it so much I recreated it so I can drink it at home!! If you like hibiscus, honey, and lime….either you have to get that drink or try making mine (it’s somewhere on my blog) …it’s to die forrrr!
Now I have to go watch the descendants…I’m SO missing Hawaii!! Lol
@Diary of a Mad Crafter: It’s true! I know a lot of people who moved here, who is more local than I am! LOL I like to be around those types of people, because it reminds me of my roots. I’ll be the first one to say that I have “rock fever” and often feel like I need to run away. Yes, there are times where I resent the island for having $6 gallon milk. It’s people, like you, who makes me realize that I got it pretty good down here. I know in my heart that I may have to go away for my career, but I know 100% this is where I’ll grow old.
Trust me, when you get here, I’ll take you guys around. It’ll be fun. Plus, it’ll give me an excuse to play tourist too. That’s so much fun! I’ll be sure to add a lot of “locals only” places.
OOOH, hibiscus nectar. I’m going to find it on your blog and check it out. I’ve seen “hibiscus nectar” coffee bags (don’t know if it’s the same) in the stores, but I never pay attention to those kinds of things. In Big Island, there is this new style of Kona Coffee called Ka’u. It’s supposed to be the up and coming thing. *shrug shoulders*
$6 milk?! Wow! See, everyone said it was so expensive, so I was prepared for it, but I honestly didn’t notice the food being that expensive….I mean of course on the resort we stayed at, the restaurants were expensive, but that’s anywhere. Whenever we went out to eat though (usually at vegetarian places) I didn’t find it to be crazy….and I payed attention…we even went into grocery stores to see, and we even saw some stuff that was cheaper there than here! I don’t know if its maybe because I’m used to spending a little more on food because I try and get organic, but the first thing everyone says is how expensive it is!
Now I want to come visit like ASAP, which totally won’t be able to happen, because we just went away last sept. gotta start saving!!
The hibiscus nectar drink I make isn’t coffee based, but that sounds interesting! When my husband and I came, we got this coffee from waialua at the old sugar mill…I fell in love with it so much, we order it every now and then (because with shipping its expensive). I don’t even know if that’s considered good for Hawaiian coffee, but I loveeee it! I’ve never heard of Ka’u, what makes it so special?