Cafe Il Mondo in Honokaa town is probably the only restaurant for a demanding palate and desire for good Italian food normally found in Waimea or Kona. Honokaa is a cute little historical town on the East side of the island of Hawaii (Hamakua Coast). Cafe Il Mondo is the best restaurant in this town for a meal that rivals NY, LA, LV Italian food! It's not what you expect from a little sleepy town but worth the drive from anywhere on the island as a destination for a nice lunch or dinner outing. Some days they have a casual guitar player singing in the background while you dine in a nicely decorated, clean, and updated atmosphere. They have a nice bar with quality beers on tap as well as an open kitchen where you view a giant pizza oven and friendly staff and owner (Dena). I've eaten everything they have from the Calzone, Waipio Pizza, Greek Salad, Fresco Paradise Pizza, Roasted Chicken (great twice baked potatoes), and great fresh desserts like a Brownie Sunday to a Tahitian vanilla ice cream with coffee toppings. Peroni beer and Samuel Adams on tap! They have much more that I will continue to try but those were my fav's. read more

20 mins to have a seat (1/2 restaurant was empty)... 45 more mins to get two soups... 1,5 hour to get a pizza... Great food -POOR services. read more

A great lunch on a rainy day after visiting the Waipi'o Valley- their hours differed than what was listed on Yelp- they were open from 12-5 pm today on a Tuesday. Really cute interior with a sweet (but very damp today) covered patio area. Pro tip- arrive here early and try to get served first if you are hungry, which we were! We were first seated and first to order, but they only had one cook, a hostess and one server and by the time we left there were at least 6 parties there, and only one was getting their main course at that time. We ordered at 12:10 and got a chef salad and one large margarita pizza and we left at almost 1pm. So, wait was long, but food was delicious- the pizza crust brick oven baked and very light and crispy- great sauce and fresh basil. Wonderful and gracious service!! Super clean!! read more

Found this hidden gem after visiting Waipi'o Valley. The live music was so beautiful but not overpowering. The ambiance and stonework were beautiful and the food was delicious. We had their daily special of Fettuccine Alfredo with Mushroom and Chicken and also a Calzone. Both had amazing taste and the side of marinara tasted like they made it right before handing it to me - drool worthy. The calzone was also beautiful with obviously fresh made crust and perfectly done in their stone oven. Would come back again in a heartbeat! read more

Awesome Greek salad and Calzone on the Hamakua Coast. It's also the only place to get a Greek salad this Hamakua coast side of the island. Support Local Businesses read more

Decent pizza for the location! Service was glacially slow, 15 minutes to take the order, and 45+ to receive one pizza...at 1:30 pm! Would eat here again, as there are few choices. They were out of bread. read more

Excellent food and service. Food here is always top notch. Their lasagne is some of the best I have ever eaten. The lemon drop martinis are the best on the island. read more

Once again made it to this cute little town. Cafe El. Mondo what can I say? Had the Canta Napoli pizza. Being half Neapolitan I went with it. Pepperoni, sausage, peppers and onions. The crust was delicious. The toppings fresh and tasty. This is the best pizza on the Big Island. Big island pizza is good but this is great. That being said, bring your own wine. They charge a cork fee whatever that is. I opened my own. They did give me a glass. Bring cash because they have not discovered Square. Would have been 5 stars if not for the wine and cash thingy. read more

Cafe il Mondo - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

I grew up here in Honokaa and Cafe IL Mundo has always been one of my favs. The new location is gorgeous. Beautiful stone work and craftsmanship! The food is still delicious and the owners are always so friendly and welcoming The Waipio pizza is my favorite, I love the fresh veggies and the yummy crust! The lasagna was hearty and comes with a house salad and bread. Perfect on this rainy day. The special today was spaghetti with meatballs with a house salad and bread My boyfriend loves spaghetti and was definitely a fan! The chicken calzone was filling (somehow my mom managed to finish the whole thing!!). We went around 12 and it was busy, we waited a while for our food but I didn't mind. You can tell a lot of love and preparation goes into the food. Will definitely be back next time I visit home! read more

Cafe il Mondo - Hearty lasagna. Definitely hit the spot on the rainy day! - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

I'm a very tuff critic when it comes to pizza being from the east coast. I tried to find something good about this pizza with sausage and hamakua mushrooms and olives. Dough no crunch ,sauce minimal and too much cheese. & parmasen in little packets. read more

Cafe il Mondo - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Came for lunch on "Shop Small Saturday" in Honokaa. Had the daily specials - the potato rosemary soup with toasted focaccia was amazing! Not too much herbs, jussssst right with some cheese and onion - seriously delicious!!!!!! Also ordered the cheeseburger pizza special and I AM IN LOVE! The sautéed onion topping with olives hamburger, tomatoes and cheese....... you just need to try it! read more

Cafe il Mondo - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

See all

Love this place Very worth the 56 mile drive from our home. I ordered the Greek Calzone. The dough was perfect, not hard and dry like some other restaurants I have previously dined. At the first cut the ingredients oozed out slowly and I knew this was the winner! The wait was well worth it for the calzone was made to order. My husband ordered the dinner salad and soup of the day which was zucchini chicken soup. He was well impressed with the soup as well. We will be back again for sure. If you are expecting to dine in a restaurant expecting quick fast food this is not the place. The food is made fresh to order and I appreciate that. read more

See all

Great ambiance & friendly staff / patrons. Good pizza... combined with decent wine = an awesome place to go enjoy lunch!!! read more

Cafe il Mondo - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

After an active day of visiting the local farmers' markets, we stopped in Honokaa to get a great lunch at Cafe I'll Mondo. One of us got a luncheon salad e we hole the other two had a fish sandwich (salmon today). Everything was delicious, as expected. Highly recommended for good, fresh food in this part of the Big Island. we'll be back! read more

We've eaten here twice before and had great experiences. We decided to enjoy lunch there for my birthday yesterday and was very disappointed with our experience. We got there and there was one other party of maybe 6, and a party of 2 already seated. We sat down and ordered salad and bread while we decided what mains to order. Meanwhile others were being seated and the restaurant started to fill. We saw one table that came after us order before us. Then we ordered. We enjoyed our salads and bread and waited for our pizzas and pasta. Then we waited and waited and waited. During that wait, two other tables that came in AFTER us had ordered, gotten their food, finished their meals, paid their bills and left! We still hadn't gotten our food!! I understand they were busy, but I don't understand why others got served before us when they came after us, AND the server made NO attempt to explain or apologize for any of it. It was simple unacceptable and I don't think we'll be going back any time soon. As a couple of side notes...the pizza, salad and bread was delicious. I wouldn't say well worth the wait, but delicious. Also, the server messed up the pizza order for my husband, and took that pizza off the bill. She also messed up my son's order. We didn't say anything about it because we were just so fed up. Sorry, Cafe Il Mondo. We used to be fans. read more

What a wonderful place. If you are in town, you have to try this place! The pizzas were very good and the atmosphere was exceptionally welcoming! Deja was our server. We wanted for nothing! We spoke with the owner (20 years) and just felt so well taken care of and 'at home'! Mahalo!! read more

See all

Beautifully decorated restaurant. Quiet during lunch on a weekday. The calzones are tasty! But wish I tried the pizza. read more

Cafe il Mondo - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Tip: don't come here here if you're in a rush. The chefs will NOT move any faster no matter how busy. I have been here twice- once very fast and once a very long wait. It's worth it- SUCK IT UP! The pizza cannot be beat. You can tell they only use fresh, quality ingredients. The sauce is just heavenly and it always has the right amount of cheese and toppings. Nothing overpowers the other and it becomes a harmonious masterpiece in your mouth. Our favorite is the Margherita style with fresh basil on top. We ordered the $9.50 meatball sandwich as well which was definitely worth the price! It's the cheapest thing on the menu with entry of bite in the meatballs. Just delicious. What surprised me the most was the caprese salad. I've had my fair share of this dish, at other places, and I've never been a fan. It's always just edible, not my favorite and I only have a bite to try. However, Cafe Il Mundos caprese salad is the best I've ever had. I found myself wishing I had my own plate lol. I don't know what made it so different, maybe the mozzarella they use. I will definitely order this again. The extra plus is it comes with their homemade focaccia bread. That bread is so fantastic *drooling*. Shout out to our waitress who held her composure though customers, my table included, were questioning about the wait of food. We did have to wait an hour though so I understand. It's still worth waiting for as I said. Can't wait to come back next year! read more

Very poor customer service, it's a pastrami sandwich - I personally love pastrami sandwiches, but this was greasy - way too much mayo (I feel fat after that), nearly $10 . On a cheap take out flimsy plate (almost lost it to the ). I'll be sticking to my fav place down the street Aulani read more

This place is as good as a local Italian restaurant gets. And it is on The Big Island of Hawaii! Fantastic menus of pizza, calzones, and Italian entrees and just superb service. This is the place where everyone knows your name and actually cares about you. Could not recommend a restaurant more enthusiastically. Enjoy! read more

Very Cool restaurant in the middle of a small town on the far side of the Big Island of Hawaii. Restaurant is beautiful inside looking very high end but price aren't. Had the pizza and a couple of cold Corona. All the staff are very friendly and good service. Arrived right at 2pm which is normally when they shut down after lunch to prep for dinner. Head chef waved us in anyways which we appreciated. Not a lot of nice restaurants that we could in this side of the island so this place is definitely worth stopping in at for lunch or dinner if you visiting the historic town of Honokaa read more

Came here after a beach day with my mom and auntie. My auntie said this was one of her favorite restaurants in Honoka'a. We came in and were immediately seated. Our waitress was very friendly and had recommended some things. I got the scampi, my mom got the lasagna, and my auntie got the calzone. Mine was so yummy, my mom didn't really like the lasagna, and my aunties was so yummy. I tried some of both of their plates. There was live music, I believe by the owner which was so nice. My moms favorite I think was when he played The Girl from Ipanema. Overall a good experience. Would definitely recommend. read more

Cafe il Mondo - Scampi was yummy, Lasagna could have been better, and Calzone was also delicious. - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Probably one of the best pizza I've had in a long time. We ordered the Waipio and it was delivered in the best possible option. We even asked to replace a few toppings and it was done free of charge. Super awesome place and highly recommended read more

We were so happy that we waited the few extra minutes until they opened on a Saturday. The building itself is awesome! So much to see here, the tile work is amazing! The wait staff was so friendly and happy. We were pleased with our food choices. The pizza was delicious and the salads were great. We will definitely be back here again! read more

Wasn't pleased with the wait for our food including anti pasto as an appetizer, which took nearly an hour. The wait was unacceptable especially when there were just two other parties in this whole establishment. And, there was also a mistake on an order then having to wait for that entrée. However, the staff were very friendly and apologetic. read more

Delicious! Been wanting to try their calzones and finally got one. Delicious homemade crust, great mozzarella cheese inside, fresh pepperoni. The staff (both waitresses and the chef) were very friendly. They even made it to go and put them on paper plates wrapped in wax paper and foil. Inside the restaurant was absolutely beautiful. Will definitely return on our next trip to Hawaii! read more

It was late nobody wanted to cook and we cook for a living. So we took a chance and ordered. Meatball canzone Chicken canzone Greek salad Twice baked potatoes Everything was amazing tender meat, fresh greens and the service is awesome. And the price is right Totally going back read more

It was a very great place to eat. I love Italian especially pizza. I had the Canta Napoli that I recommend. It was so good I didn't get a picture of our food. We also had a calzone and pasta read more

Great little restaurant. They've been serving Honoka'a for over ten years. Great food, good service and moderate prices. Highly recommended. read more

This was a very nice surprise, very friendly and the food was great. The dining room is very cool with live edge dining tables and the owner must own a tile company because the tile work is worth the visit. read more

Very good quality pizza, with fresh ingredients (I had Sergio's with tomato sauce, and tried my partner's Margherita), at a reasonable price. Very friendly and professional service, and nice ambiance; this is a place locals frequent, and the chef often comes out to say hello to patrons. There was live music while we were there, and while we are not usually into that sort of thing, it was actually quite good! The decor is a bit of a hodgepodge -- part Italian villa, part Hawaiian, part Texas saloon (that huge bar!) -- which just makes the place more eclectic, in a good way. read more

Eaten at this place a half a dozen times and have done takeout a few times. The bread, the fresh ingredients and friendly staff makes this stop a must especially if you're driving through to the Waipio Valley lookout. read more

We are first time visitors to the island and while driving around, we stumbled across this little town. We ended up stopping into this restaurant and it did NOT disappoint. Not only was the staff incredibly nice, we were able to give our compliments to the chef himself. The place is very clean and inviting. Drinks were delicious. My husband ordered a pizza which he loved. I ordered the soup special of the day. Potato with herbs. I very much enjoyed that as my appetizer. I also ordered the dinner special of they day which was a salmon and wasabi mashed potato dish with sautéed greens. I eat salmon everywhere I can get it and this is on my top 2 list of BEST salmon dishes I have ever had. I told the chef he should add it to his daily menu. We are already planning to return to the island again and this will be one of our first dining stops. read more

Cafe il Mondo - Salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes and wilted greens. - Pizza Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

A great find on our way from Hilo to Kona. You can taste the love and fresh ingredients. Pizza was yummy! Hope others can find this gem and enjoy the slow paced meal that the island calls for. read more

Such a cool place. We had our company Christmas party there and everything was so great! Ambiance was cool and great live local music too. The bar is so beautiful. Definitely a gem on the big island! read more

This is the place to hit either before or after going to Waipio Valley. Service is leisurely because everything is made to order and it's a small place, so keep that in mind if you are trying to make a tour. Cafe Il Mondo's 4.5 star rating is right on the money. I'll bump them up to 5 because, it's a long way to New York's Little Italy from here. When researching this place on Yelp, Eric C.'s glowing review sealed the deal. What's more when I sent him a thank you compliment, he was quick to get back with a "get the sausage calzone, I just had it again two weeks ago!" Ok sold! And yes he's right it's a great calzone. Stuffed with tons of mozzarella cheese, chunks of mild but flavorful sausage, diced onions, and fresh mushrooms, this was a beautiful thing. I actually would call it a stromboli rather than a calzone since it doesn't have any ricotta cheese. However Cafe Il Mondo has decided to replace the ricotta cheese with even more Mozzarella, so no complaints here. The marinara sauce had a nice tomato and fresh basil flavor to it. The folded dough crust was pefectly crispy on the outside without being over done. While one review here said they are "humongous", I didn't think so. They are still individual size calzones, a little too small to share unless you are a light eater. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Tei3Dnp7rfODt8COZwncIA?select=tK1_BSlne97bEU06zCfn0w#_RanGIabAi3btJEk4N8Pmw My wife had a daily special of spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli topped with sausage, mushrooms, and marinara sauce. This was the same mix that was in the calzone but was also delicious with the raviolil. The ravioli filling was excellent as well. I can highly recommend this dish if you happen to see it on the daily specials list. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Tei3Dnp7rfODt8COZwncIA?select=tK1_BSlne97bEU06zCfn0w#BfOwalM3v0SzntE2p1jcfQ Thinking we were ordering too much food, we ordered a Canta Napoli Pizza and had them leave a few slices plain cheese for my daughter which they were happy to do. You be surprised the problems I've had with other places, when I request a 1/4 pie plain cheese. This had lots of toppings of pepperoni, sausage, onions, bell peppers, and black olives. The thin crust held up well even with all the weight of the toppings. The crust is cooked on a stone slab so it gets nice and firm but not overcooked. They only sell small pizzas if you are dining in and this is a personal size. We had no problem finishing it along with our other meals. 4 star pizza, we enjoyed the calzone and ravioli more. http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/Tei3Dnp7rfODt8COZwncIA?select=tK1_BSlne97bEU06zCfn0w#6Q6ETgAAh6caPC3v6T3K6A CASH ONLY!!! read more

See all

Great pizza with fresh ingredients. Professional and friendly service. Reasonably priced. This place definitely surprised us in a positive way. read more

While we LOVE the lasagna & especially the greek salad, the days & hours open are not consistent. There is no website to check & no one answers the phone. When we cannot get an answer to make a reservation, usually we save ourselves the hour each way drive & go elsewhere. Two days in a row now, when they are supposed to be open, no one answers the phone. Yesterday we opted for another restaurant but today we decided that perhaps their phone was just out of order so we drove the hour each way only to find the restaurant dark & absolutely NO sign on the door at all. Not sure how we are supposed to know when we can & cannot go when voice mail is never updated, you cannot leave a message & cannot access anyone on a website that doesn't exist. We really love the food & they are always very nice but come on, how difficult is it to update your voice mail when you decide to close unexpectedly???? read more

It turned out to be a real disappointment. We had made reservations to celebrate a Birthday however when we arrived they had no idea what was going on. Thank goodness the place was empty except for 3 tables! Not all of our party had arrived at the same time, so while we waited we ordered drinks and the caprese salad. Well, it took maybe 15 minutes to pour 1 glass of wine and open 1 beer. Soon after, the rest of our party arrived. It took the server awhile to come and take the rest of our party's drink order but our appetizer never arrived. The additional drinks arrived. Still no appetizer. Meanwhile, we had asked our server about our appetizer when the additional drinks had been ordered, when those drinks were delivered as well as when we placed our dinner order. You know, the kitchen staff was there when we sat down & ordered our very simple appetizer of sliced cheese, tomato's & bay leaves so we could only assume that they were on a break. After we see the kitchen to come back to the kitchen, we notice that the server goes to them searching for tickets so we thought that maybe the kitchen forgot to make it. No. Our server forgot to put in entrees for a table who was already waiting for their entrees since before we even arrived! Needless to say, we were really irritated that our appetizer still didn't arrive after our entrees did! So, the server didn't put our order in or didn't care that we were waiting for it. Obviously they didn't understand we were waiting for it when we had asked about it numerous times. When it finally did arrive we had wished it didn't. It was made very sloppily, using premise sliced mozzarella cheese, unripened tomatoes & whole basil leaves tossed on the plate. There was a side of balsamic dressing to accompany the dish. I wouldn't recommend spending the $12 on a dish that tastes junk. I guess you can say the entrees were the same, although they did come out faster. We ordered pizza, salad, soup, pasta & a calzone however the server forgot about the soup (again server doesn't pay attention what's going on). The pizza looked like it was a frozen pizza and calzone tasted like the dough was from a can. The pizza was cooked better than the calzone, which was incredibly watery! As soon as you cut it, all this liquid came pouring out and filled the plate it was on, which made the crust fall apart and gross. Our server, being as slow as she was to put our order in and keep on top of it, she was really quick at getting us our checks. And after having us wait around 45 minutes to an hour for our appetizer you'd think she'd apologize, but maybe we were expecting much. She kept the charge on our check, which only made the dinner even more disappointing. So, unless you can waste all day waiting for food that the servers don't put in & keep track of it's not for you. If you expect great tasting food it's not for you. If you expect great service it's not for you. If you want value for the price you pay, so sorry but again, it's not for you. Hey, Olive Garden, being as gross as it is has better, faster service & is cheaper for junk food than this place is. Don't waste the time or money trying it. read more

Stopped by this little Italian restaurant while driving around the Big Island. Small but cozy place. We were craving pizza that night and we got lucky. We ordered the "Italian" pizza, which was sooo goooood!! It is basically a margherita pizza, thin crust, I requested it be well baked and they did a great job. NOTE: They only accept cash read more