Kona Grill

Wait staff was excellent. Very accommodating. Food was excellent. Loved it there

Gluten free menu was fairly limited. The sushi was the best part of the meal. I had the filet and it had a strange after taste. Not sure if it was marinated or not, but was not a fan. Steak was cooked correctly. My wife had the salmon, which was overcooked but thankfully not dried out. Service was spotty. All the staff seemed to be running around but did not see anything being accomplished, just seemed to huddle up in different places. This was our second trip to this restaurant and honestly not sure I will return to it if I come back to Baltimore.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Staff understood gluten & I felt fine after eating sushi rolls off the GF menu They have GF soy sauce

Pretty decent selection of gf sushi and a few salads. The yellowtail roll is outstanding.

Gluten free menu is really good. I do think I got cross contaminated, which is partly my fault I shouldn't have eaten where they prep with gluten.

Food was delicious but I felt sick to my stomach for a couple of days. I had filet mignon, mashed potatoes, carrots, crème brulee.

Celiac friendly?

No

I tried it twice, asked all the right questions, ordered off the GF menu, and still got cross-contaminated pretty badly both times. I'm not sure how - I ordered the burger (no bun) the first time and a salad the second time, so it's possible that the pans they used or the grilltop are not clean enough. You're probably better off getting sushi or salad with no meat.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Sushi was average. Service was slow. Have a gluten free menu but not many choices for sushi. Disappointed.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Great place to go in Baltimore for someone with celiac disease or an intolerance. The sushi was fresh, gf soy sauce was great, fresh pickled ginger yummy. We really enjoyed the kona salad too. Dedicated gf menu makes things easy. Would be great if they offered gluten free buns instead of without options. Overall great place. I recommend it.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Delicious food, wonderful presentation. They have a dedicated GF menu that even includes a dessert! The fish is incredibly fresh. They are well known for their sushi (which I did nothabe), and there are several selections on the GF menu. They have a vegan menu, as well. Felt very safe eating there.

Great sushi and gf soy sauce! Really good happy hour deals too!

So happy we came here! Separate GF menu, GF soy sauce (!!!!!!), fantastic sushi (it really worked for me because I am a tuna freak, so I might be a touch biased), and knowledgeable staff (Austen was wonderful and ready to accommodate with some sashimi items that come with premade sauces!). I had the Houston roll, spicy yellowtail roll, and 2pc octopus. Houston roll was so good I split another one with hubby. Hubs had the avocado eggroll (not GF but smelled incredible), yellowtail sashimi w/ jalapeno (not GF, but pretty), and we shared the passion fruit creme brulee (amazeballs). Even the blackberry iced tea was great (actual tea, not tea with blackberry syrup). I am one happy, happy pregnant lady with a tummy full of deliciousness.

Puny gluten-free menu. The waitress told me I couldn't get GF nigiri, since it wasn't on the menu. What I did get was the worst sushi of my life and I live in Iowa!

Celiac friendly?

Yes

The food was excellent. I had the ahi tuna and yellowtail tuna sushi. They were both amazing. The staff was very knowledgable. They had GF soy sauce for the sushi!!

Good selection on GF menu. Food was delicious. Great service and atmosphere. Kid friendly.

Everyone I talked to understood my gluten free needs. There are a decent amount of choices on the gluten free menu (yes, they have a separate gf menu). The food was absolutely delicious! I will definitely be back!

Sushi was good. Salad was ok. Knowledgeable staff.

Good experience here. Knowledgeable and caring.

The food was good, service was friendly and knowledgeable to our issue. You just have to ask for the GF menu, as it's a separate sheet. Knowing I could not eat the fries, the waiter offered me a salad. It came with 2 croutons. He offered an apology and to replace the whole salad. As I'm not super sensitive, I just removed them. This will not keep me from eating there again, but I will be sure to ask for no croutons.

How confident are you that this establishment takes safety precautions against cross-contamination?

— Not very

On Safety

Menu isn’t labeled & options are very limited.

Is there a gluten-free menu?

— No gluten-free information on the menu

How much of the menu is available gluten-free?

— Not Much

How would you rate the taste and quality of the gluten-free food you tried?

— Average

Celiac friendly?

Yes

When making the reservation for our dinner, the hostess asked if anyone had dietary restrictions. I appreciated them noting that. When arrived, the hosted reminded us to let the waitress know we needed gluten free. Menu was clearly marked with gluten free options. Waitress confirmed what my son was ordering would be gluten free. Manager brought food to him and reassured us it was cooked with no gluten. Was very happy with Kona Grill and the service.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

I had the Yellowtail sushi and yellowtail roll. Both Nima tested safe and delicious!

Celiac friendly?

No

Kona Grill doesn't have any gluten free options any longer. They used to be one of my favorite places because they had an easy menu to figure out but they don't support the gluten free folks anymore.

Celiac friendly?

No

I went this past year and the experience was HORRIBLE! The waitress had no idea what celiac meant or gluten free! Another waitress came to take the order told us the food was safe, as the food started coming out the manager came running over to remove ALL the food we were told was safe to eat. We left hungry and have never been back! I have email correspondence with the owner and head office. was a disaster of an experience.

Ordered a GF labeled meal and made sure to say it was “gluten free allergy”. The server came back and said that part of the meal(the side)would have to be changed out due to the sauce and replaced with white rice. While I am definitely glad they came and told me I was a bit confused as to why it was GF labeled on the menu and shared that with the server who did not really get it or care. I did not get sick from the meal which is good. So beware when eating there that things labeled are not accurate

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Not a ton of GF options, but my fiancé and I ordered sushi and they let us build our own rolls, as well as provided us GF soy sauce. Knowledgeable of GF, and no issues with cross contamination. The sushi was pretty tasty, too!

Celiac friendly?

Yes

The staff was very good with helping me find the Gluten-Free items on the menu and they automatically said that the preparers would change gloves

Celiac friendly?

Yes

UPDATE: they have changed the menu and removed the salad below. There is not a separate GF menu now. There are a limited number of items marked GF on main menu. The Cilantro-Lime Chicken is amazing and the staff has always seemed to make sure it’s marked GF. So I will keep the 5 stars for now. But I would still like to have more options for their sushi rolls. No flavor in any of the choices. There is a separate GF menu ( as well as vegan). It is limited but there were good options. The server wasn’t super educated in why things weren’t GF or if they could be altered to be but was willing to go ask. I ended up with the Chili Lime shrimp salad which was perfect for a lite lunch. Expensive for a salad ($15) but tasty. And I didn’t have any issues with it after. I would like to have more options for the sushi rolls.

Celiac friendly?

No

No longer have a separate GF menu and although there are some GF options listed, I got sick even after confirming with the server I am celiac and that I needed GF soy sauce and NO sauce on the one roll I ordered.

My server was not knowledgeable of the menu and gluten free accommodations, or even what Celiac Disease is. She did go talk to the kitchen, but I did not get a response for a very long time. It took over an hour to get our food. The prices are definitely too high for what you get and the quality. The menu does have GF labels on it, but there were not nearly as many options as I expected based on previous reviews.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

We ate here for Mother's Day, they're sushi is really good, no gluten.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Great sushi and appetizer options. Wait staff is very well trained on gluten free, and will bring out the soy sauce bottles on request and pour it at the table. Great place for even extra-sensitive Celiacs! They recently added new menu items that are gluten free and amazing as well.

They had no idea what gluten free is. We walked out when they kept saying just tell us what u want and we will make it !!

They put a proprietary seasoning on their sushi rice that has wheat in it. That makes no sense to me. The wait staff was not very helpful in explaining that we could order sushi with plain rice. I only learned that as we’d already decided to leave the restaurant and I complained to the general manager. He explained they have other options but by then we were already too frustrated to enjoy our meal so we left. To enjoy your meal, I suggest you ask for the manager first. He was helpful. I post this so that maybe Kona Grill will change the way they go about making their proprietary rice. Crazy.

The staff was wonderful and the food was terrific!

They no longer have a gluten free menu. They do have a few items marked as GF on their new menu, but options are very limited. No longer worth going.

Has been one of our favorite places to eat but with new menu, had no entrees that were gluten free. The jambalaya that was very spicy , which we normally like, was not eatable.

They said GF when I called but there were so few options to choose from. Including most of the sushi. Which is what we wanted. No dedicated fryer or space. Very disappointed and frustrating since it took a while to find it. When I called I said I flew into Phoenix and they should have mentioned that they were in a mall inside the food court. We left.

Need more GF vegan options. Was stuck with a salad. Service was iffy

I was surprised at the limited choices for GF food. I had edamame and the salmon salad which was excellent. I just wish they had more options besides the sushi which I don’t eat.

Celiac friendly?

No

Generally been good in the past. But recently took a nose dive in terms of food safety. Gave us a gluten dish despite being told about celiac and requesting no gluten.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Kona recently updated their menu offerings and now have less gluten free options - just edamame, one salad option, jambalaya, and a couple sushi options. They are willing to make some of their old sushi options if you ask, but are now more limited than they used to be in what they offer.

Used to be one of our favorite places! Menu change has left only 4 items that are gf. Sad. Had a hard time finding anything for our toddler to eat.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Wonderful options on the gluten free menu. Love their sushi and salads.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

I didn’t get sick! Hallelujah.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

My family wanted to try sushi, they had to gluten free sushi rolls available and we tried the jambalaya as well very very impressed with the quality of the food, but pricey as all things are in Waikiki

Staff very knowledgeable about gluten free. They were able to modify their poke bowl for me even though it’s not one of the official GF listed items. I had asked for the gluten free soy sauce instead of the sweet sauce it comes with, and they knew to also eliminate the seaweed salad because it had soy sauce in it. Delicious and friendly service.

Not a ton of choices offered if you want to feel normal, and staff were not so knowledgeable of gluten the times we dined here.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Excellent sushi and they know to be careful. Menu is a bit small but definitely worth going to.

Extensive GF menu. Wait staff is helpful and food is really good. Steaks, fish, sushi, salads, and more.

They have a separate gluten free menu, fairly knowledgeable staff. Gluten free menu is small but has lots of variety, I’ve eaten the steak and a few of the sushi rolls several times without a reaction!

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Been here a few times now. Staff and managers understand Celiac and do a fantastic job with gluten free food prep!

Celiac friendly?

Yes

My very sensitive Celiac daughter ate there with no problems. Separate gluten free menu and knowledgeable staff. Food was great.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

An extensive gluten free menu, and tasty food, to boot! On the flip side of the gf menu are a vegan and vegetarian menu, for those who need it. They don't offer gf buns for burgers, so it's the meat on a leaf of lettuce, but it's presented nicely. The server was helpful and knowledgeable. Great experience!

Celiac friendly?

Yes

I love the gluten free sushi here, and they have a dedicated gluten free menu - a appetizer, entrees, sushi, and a dessert. I would love for them to expand their menu to include more sushi rolls.

Good menu selection and great service. My salad was fantastic!

very aware of allergies. service was iffy but the manager saved it. Will return.

This is my go-to sushi place! They have a separate gluten free menu with which rolls are gluten free, as well as several other food items. Additionally, they have gluten free soy sauce and are very accommodating. I always get the Philadelphia roll and Houston roll.

Food is good and they are careful with preparation.

I did not think the food was good and I felt the service was. It great either. Also I have been sick since I have been home. I will not recommend this place to friends or family.

They do a great job with gluten here. I have eaten here several times without incident. Sushi!!

Great GF menu and dessert. They are very sensitive to the GF crowd. Highly recommend.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

I loved the food here prior to diagnosis and so pleased that they have a lifestyle menu that is gluten free

Celiac friendly?

Yes

Very accommodating. Great sushi gluten free options and the manager brings out anything gluten free to assure you it's safe. As a Celiac, I trust this place completely. They also had really good service!

Had a great selection of foods! Burgers, sushi, salads, steak, salmon, chicken, etc.

Celiac friendly?

Yes

I sat at the bar and told the bartender I have Celiac's. He explained to me that because they are a from scratch restaurant a lot of the recipes could be modified to make a special dish for me. The gluten free menu already had a lot of great options. He went back to the kitchen to assure that cutting boards, knifes, and gloves were changed out and brought me gluten free Tamari sauce for my sushi. It was really great to not have to ask for this level of service. He understood my situation and knew exactly what to do. A+++

Pretty extensive GF menu, and GF soy sauce available for the sushi items. That said, I started feeling symptoms about 2 hours after the meal (salad) and I'm not typically sensitive to cross contamination. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not.

They have a gluten free menu. Seem to take all precautions necessary to avoid cross contamination. I feel safe eating here with celiac. (And their squash is yummy). They seem to struggle getting steak prepared appropriately on the first try but that ok. Still yummy

Great experience! I told the manager I have celiac. He explained their cross contamination prevention process. He came to check on me once they brought my order. And I felt great afterwards.