This place is pure gold, highly recommended. Probably the best spot on the big island. Go check it out!

Hilo Lunch Shop is my favorite okazuya in Hawaii. Make sure you order two of everything, and enjoy your bento at Hilo's bayfront. Strengths: - Food - Location - Friendly staff - Accepts credit cards - Cheap Weakness: - Closed during holidays read more

Okazuya's are one of the best things about Hawaii. And the sweet potato tempura at Hilo Lunch Shop is one of the best things about Hilo. read more

Hilo Lunch Shop - Sweet potato tempura - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Absolutely amazing food. BUT YOU GOTTA GO EARLY. They often run out of things because they are so popular. The line moves rather slowly but that gives you a good amount of time to figure out what you want. I highly recommend this place. It also has the hole-in-the-wall feel, which is something that u always desire. If you are looking for local, Japanese-Hawaiian food that's from "grandma's kitchen" go ahead and stop by Hilo Lunch Shop. read more

Hilo Lunch Shop - Plain Musubi, Soam Musubi, Korean Chicken, and a fish cake. Yum - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

The best local grinds in Hilo. If you want a box of goodies to take to the beach this is the place to go to. Make sure you say hi to Trevor, he is as nice as he can be. read more

The best fish cake eva! Go early. They run out. read more

See all

I was so excited to visit and eat at the hilo lunch shop I ordered online pick up the food withing 2min and left with a box of cold food.

Another one of those mom and pop shops that deliver and you don't want to go away. Kind of a nostalgic feel with the old menu signage and cash register. Any who, one of those spots where you can build your own bento. There's all the local faves you can think of...spam, Portuguese sausage, corn beef hash, sweet potato tempura (so bomb). The greatest part is the old school price, obviously they have to keep up with the rising price of goods but it still doesn't put a dent in your wallet. $5 can go a long way, unless you have a deep stomach then maybe you'll need $10. Def a go to breakfast spot whenever I'm in Hilo. read more

You know is good when you take your bento to the airport for your flight and no less than three TSA agents ask if you can share. This is some mega delicious food! read more

The best okazuya lunch plate place in Hilo, bar none. If this place ever closes, my heart will go with it. I have years of fond memories of take out from here. Unfortunately, I usually miss out on this place when I'm back b/c I can't wake up for the rush hour (6-8 a.m.) so when I go I'm either too late and all of the food is gone, or it's closed. Serious comfort food, the best taste, not the best service, but do you want to be busting your butt starting from 3 a.m. or earlier? Me neither. The fact that the food lands on my plate and i'm leaving with all goodies in tact in my paper box makes me happy enough. read more

Wanted to eat here while in Hilo and stumbled on it accidentally. Old school box lunch place with amazing selection. The pohole (fiddle head fern) salad was amazing! The Korean chicken was good. Pick some food up and take it to the beach. read more

Best place in Hilo for reasonably priced local foods! A mixture of all kinds of worldly food mainly Polynesian and Asian. They are only open for the earlier half of the day and even at 0600 am a line is formed of loyal customers who know taste. From a young kid till this very day I always make sure to eat here! Best place east Hawaii for food! read more

A hidden gem for cheap eats, just off the intersection of Hwy 19 and Hawaii Belt Road. We stopped in to grab some lunch/snacks before heading to Volcanoes Nat'l Park, and then once again before heading up to Waipio Valley. We HAD to try the nori chicken after reading some of the other reviews. It was delicious!!! Boneless chicken pieces cooked in a sweet sauce, wrapped in a piece of nori. They all looked like dark-meat chicken; so they weren't dried out. We got 6 of them, some spam musubi, and tried the tuna-tofu patties. The spam musubi was okay ... the rice to spam ratio was high, kind of disappointing. The tuna-tofu patties were interesting -- they look like mini crab cakes; lightly fried and luckily didn't taste fishy at all, but they were kind of dry. We didn't get any on our 2nd trip here. The 6 musubis, 6 nori chicken, and 2 tofu patties came out to ~$10-11. Definitely a good deal. read more

Food was okay...It was very homely, but I wouldn't go in unless you know how to order. We had a large party of about 12 so we were kind of overwhelming, but service was gruff at best. read more

We got the best bento lunch for our day in the park! I could not believe the prices too. Double bonus ono food at a really good price!

Hilo girl, born and raised. Can't go home without stopping by. Nori Chicken, tofu party, corned beef patty, nishime, tofu salad, and ogo every time! read more

the lines was out the door but so worth the wait! coming from maui this spot is always a must when on the big island. my favorite item is the nori chicken! also all the staff is always so friendly + works in such a timely manner that its doesn't even make the wait seem bad. read more

Hilo Lunch Shop - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all

First off, if you come to Hilo and want grab some food for a sit down lunch at a park, this is one place you can stop at and grab plate or even a box. Gotta a lot of selections in Local food and can pick and choose you choices. Watch picking, cause it can turn from a plate to a box shortly. Also you want to get there early, because thing can run out and fast as they make them. Overall service is great and is fast, be able to give your order as fast as they put it in your box or plate. This is another place to stop and grab something to eat. read more

i've been eating here since the 90's and I must say, it never fails me. Highly recommend coming here. However, go there early, they run out real fast read more

Local style Okazuya grinds. Hilo's hidden jem. But not hidden to the locals so get there early cause they get busy. But very worth standing in line and deciding what you want cause it's a Ala Carte style , Build your own plate lunch. You won't be disappointed. read more

Came to Hilo for work, I herd this was a place to try for Oakazu. Selection was okay, but not what time use to on Honolulu. I ordered cone sushi, mochiko chicken, hash patty and chicken soup. Not much to say. read more

Nori Chicken, Mac Salad and Spam Musubi is all I need! Oishi!!!!

Woo hoo okazuya! I LOVE Hilo Lunch Shop! Especially the nori chicken...soooo good!!! Wide variety of musubis (plain, nori, spam, hot dog), cone sushi, and the normal smattering of okazuya faves. Also recently tried the shoyu chicken, hamburger patty (ooo good gravy), fish cake, omelet, mac salad, fried spam, shrimp tempura and more. Gotta go early before they run out! It's def. worth a visit (or two, or more!!). read more

First off I waited almost 1 hour in line. Then the lady I got stuck with in helping me with my order was so rude! Instead of her waiting till I finished telling her my order she walks away! Then when I go to ask her to add a drink to my order she has the nerve to tell me I need to order my drink the same time I place my food order. I'm sorry but I did try to order it but you walked away before I could. Don't think I'll be going there again. I paid for my things and told the lady if she smiled more her day will be better. This place gets a big fat F! Will be going to kawamoto from now on at least their much more friendlier. The food is good. read more

Food...Ono! Service...hit and miss. Management needs to focus on customer service. Some of these counter clerks are RUDE! They act like you bothering them. If their customer service was better, I would give them 5 stars. I dare you to stand in line and watch the facial expressions of the counter clerks. read more

I had a plan to get some okazuya goodies before my husband and I spent the day at Volcanoes National Park so we could avoid having to spend more money at the eateries inside the park. At the shop, it wasn't that hard to pick out what we wanted from peering through the class case at the trays of musubi, sushi, and meats. The plan was successful because that medium box we filled with a couple of musubi, nori chicken, hamburger patties, hot dogs, Portuguese sausage, shrimp tempura, tofu patties, and shoyu noodles kept us satiated while we drove up and down Crater Rim Drive and Chain of Craters Road. We would just open the box and eat when we felt like it and it lasted us all day. We even had some left over to eat for dinner later. Everything we ate tasted great and for $15 worth of food for two people it was an economically smart plan for us that worked out perfectly for us that day at the park. read more

Hilo Lunch Shop - $15 worth of okazuya goodness in a medium box - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Went there yesterday and the lady dee who waited on me was so rude don't recommend this place the food pretty much taste like the service . Kawamotos I will always be faithful. So sad a place can run a buisness and be so rude.;( read more

For Hilo this deserves 5 stars. One of my favs that only the locals know about. One thing thats stands out is their maki sushi roll wrapped with mustard cabbage. Never seen anything like it before and it tastes damn good. Another thing that's really good is their fishcake. Their nori chicken was pretty good as well. I'll definately be back. One thing to note is get there early because the food runs out fast and you'll be standing in a line that goes out the door. read more

Hilo lunch shop no ka oi! The nori chicken, the shrimp with batter, sweet and sour spareribs are so dear to me! I wish I lived near it so I can go all the time! read more

You haven't visited Hawaii or Hilo without coming here for some great local food.

we got the nori wrapped chicken, but everything else that they're known for was all gone by the time the lunch hour was ending. sigh. maybe i just missed what made them so amazingly yummy... the prices were really affordable. they people working there were super friendly. at closing time, they even gave us a few free rolls that they themselves did not want to take home (they have it everyday!) this is definitely one of those places you grab food and go. read more

There's was really nothing left I got cone sushi and chicken. So go early and the workers don't smile or welcome you really slow service and even worse customer service. Management should change the line direction also and tell his workers smile number one rule read more

Okazuya type place. Good bento. Little of this, little of that. Really busy and long line, but not too long a wait. They close at 1pm, which I do not get as where I am from that is still considered lunch time? The fishcake and nori chicken were my favorite, but everything was good. The service was a little lacking as some of the ladies were rude and huffy to other patrons. The woman who took our order kept rushing us to keep giving her our order and then asked us to repeat it two times. What the hey? Anyway, if the service had been more friendly, I would have rated it higher. Food was good, but not sure it is enough to warrant dealing with service that said "YOU are lucky we are here" and not vice versa. read more

Best plate lunch I have had in Hilo and been back at least 5 times. Fried chicken is not to be missed! The tempura is really good as is the miso chicken and teriyaki beef. Best place to stop and get a plate lunch to take with you to the beach. There is no seating so you pretty much have to take it to go or eat in your car. read more

7/1/10: Two and a half years since my first review and the breakfast plate is still the same price ($2.75)!!! Awesome, how places can boast about their customer service! Hands down, the best okazuya around - thanks for keeping up the awesome food and holding your prices! read more

Best to go place in Hilo!!! Love the musubi!! Must get Ono and Nori Chicken.... everything I tried were great!!!!

The vegetable tempura is delicious, along with the nori chicken and the fishcakes! Get there early to get everything you want. I've shown up at 11 and they have been out of my favorites. read more

I visit Hilo every year and make it a point to grab my food from here. Then we go to Banyan Drive, sit by the water and eat. Very relaxing. Also stop here before leaving for the airport. Very convenient to pick up our food, around the corner we gas up the rental car, cross the highway to Airport road, very convenient. Great sushi too. read more

EVERY single item was yummy! The staff can be a little cold to non locals, as we are less familiar with what different items are . But I will put on some thick skin to eat at this yummy lunch box joint ! read more

Few restaurants get five stars from me, but there's something so nostalgic and enjoyable about Hilo Lunch Shop that I must extend a hand of generosity. From order-by-the-piece shrimp and fish tempura to spam musubi, warabi salad, and fried chicken, Hilo Lunch Shop boasts bento-style foods put into a box for enjoyment with family and friends or just by yourself. Checkout a great review by Corey Masao Johnson: http://thehawaiiherald.com/2014/10/hilo-lunch-shop-is-comfort-food-central/. read more