A&W Nago

While staying at the Halekulani Resort, I saw that there was an A&W Drive-In restaurant located up the road in Nago. The last time I had been to one of these A&W restaurants was in a drive across America in the 80’s. Despite being in my hungry, teenage years, I remember that meal as being one of the... worst fast food experiences of my life. The burger was thin and tasteless, the drink mostly ice, the fries burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. But, I thought, A&W in Japan must surely have higher standards than the mid Texas restaurant that nearly poisoned me in my youth. I was wrong. The A&W in Noga has been open since before I was born, and is a popular spot with the locals. I was surprised at how many groups of old people were sitting around inside. This restaurant is a true drive-in of the old type, my mother worked at a drive-in back when they were the thing. But the drive-in area was empty, so we decided to eat inside. There were numerous signs inside saying that A&W served real “American Food.” I was a little horrified at this statement, if it were true, America would never have become as obese as it is today. The items on the menu looked much like what I remember from my youth. Paper-thin burger patties and hot dogs no bigger than string beans. But I didn’t go into the restaurant for the food as much as the root beer. You see, root beer is not popular in Japan, and is hard to find. According to the Japanese, it tastes to them like an unpleasant cold medicine which has been widely used for generations. I have never had this medicine, and, not having a root beer in a long time, I was looking forward to a tall one. I ordered a combo of chili cheese curly fries and a root beer, and guess what happened? NO ROOT BEER! The restaurant was out. Can anyone tell me, for the love of god, how a restaurant built around a particular drink wouldn’t have that drink available? It was like going to the pool to swim only to find the water drained out. So, I ended up having to get a coke instead. The chili cheese curly fries were mediocre, the fries were at least not burnt on the outside and raw on the inside, but the chili seemed to have been made from the so-called “beef” used by Taco Bell some years ago when it was mostly filler, and the “cheese” was some kind of yellow salty concoction which had as much real cheese as Bruce Willis has hair. If you want to enjoy a spectacularly bad meal in a country where food standards are usually very high, you won’t want to miss out on A&W.

Visited October 2021

Ordered a burger combo meal, the chips were Cold and flavorless that reminded me of cardboard and the burgers were pre made and piled up, when we ate them one was cold and the other just warm. If you’re looking for American style food you’d be more satisfied across the road at McDonalds. The best ...part of the meal was the onion rings and the root beer.

Visited August 2019

The food was not very good. My husband always tells me to try the A&W burgers because they are so good. But these were nothing like the ones from home according to him. The burger patty was so thin I couldn’t even taste it. It was more of a messy vegetable sandwich. Yuck

Visited July 2018

We stopped in on our way back to Chatan from Okuma. We just wanted a bit to eat. Yes, that's about all we got. As Americans we're used to fast food. We all had hamburgers. It was a legit hamburger. But there was something that told you it was not exactly what you had in mind. Perhaps it wa...s the mayo? I don't know but it wasn't bad. The sizes are small compared to comparable North American counterparts. But that can be said for everything in Japan. Would we stop there again. Yes, but this time we'd know that we have to specific we want ice in our drinks when they take your order. Everyone is friendly and ready to serve. The place is very clean and welcoming. Although you do have to go back outside to find their restrooms. Kinda weird but oh well. Have fun. There are A & W's everywhere in Okinawa. This was one of the nicer ones.

Visited June 2018

The food is good. The root beer is the same. The floats are just like I remember as a little kid complete with frosty mug. The root beer is all-you-can-drink if you dine-in. All the different ones we went to, none of the staff could speak english. But the menus had English, so pointing and nodd...ing worked out fine. So good.

Visited August 2017