Jeremy Iwanski
Google
I’ve been to Hawaii several times over the years, and RumFire has been a regular stop for me on nearly every trip. This time, I went with my wife and three kids, and honestly, a few things really caught me off guard.
When you walk into a place like this, you know what you’re getting; vacation vibe, scenic views, elevated pricing. That’s fine. I expected to drop a decent amount on dinner for the five of us. What I didn’t expect was to be hit with a mandatory 20 percent gratuity. I want to be clear, I’m not against tipping. But forcing a tip on a standard family-sized table feels unnecessary. RumFire forces a "service charge" on parties of 5 or more, whilst the rest of the island (from my observations) is 8. Tipping is meant to show appreciation, not to be mandated, especially when the service doesn’t reflect that level of effort.
They call it a “large party service charge,” which is clever wording to make it sound like something other than a forced tip. At least the waiter pointed it out, which I appreciated, and yes, that earned him a little extra and a positive note here.
What made it worse is the fact that our server came to the table a grand total of three times: once for drinks (mostly water and two adult beverages), once for the food order, and once to check how the meal was. For that level of service, a required 20 percent feels steep.
The food itself? Pretty underwhelming. The steak lacked seasoning and the braised rib my daughter had was just as bland. It’s disappointing to see the quality slip, especially with the prices climbing year after year.
To end on a good note: the atmosphere was, as always, outstanding. And the waiter’s transparency about the tip did not go unnoticed.