This is my first time going to Kuhio Grille since they moved to their new location. Got takeout for 4 of us. Overall it was pretty good and the portions were large (and considering the price, they should be). My biggest gripe is that the food is way over salted. The Oxtail soup was so incredibly salty that someone in our group had to dilute their soup down with hot water for health reasons. I don't blame them, it tasted like straight up salt water. Unfortunately, the laulau was also really salty, although the kalo leaf and meat were cooked well and were moist. It's just hard to taste any flavor beyond salt. Miso soup and baked fish dish were good. read more

In search of local flavor in Hilo, Yelp guided us with its invisible and benevolent hand to Kuhio Grille. Nestled in the deep confines of Kuhio mall, the décor is sort of a diner cum Maneki Neko (lucky cat) store cum Cracker Barrel - it's not much of a looker. But to a pair of diners from New York City, this was truly exotic. To our untrained palate, the famous 1 lb lau lau, or Kanak Attak ($16.99) - steamed pork wrapped in tender taro leaves - was on the very salty side, but meaty, porky, and hearty. A side of even more kalua (steamed) pork, poi (taro porridge), rice and lomi salmon turned this plate of food from merely an overindulgence of pork to a smorgasbord of Hawaiian favorites. Another local favorite, saimin is a veritable United Nations of noodle soup, incorporating ingredients from multiple cultures from around the Pacific Rim. Kuhio Grille's version ($6.29) is a bowl of Japanese kamaboko (fish cake), Chinese egg noodles and cabbage, and American spam which are plunked into a bowl of hot chicken broth. It's a cheap, filling, complete meal of proteins, carbs, veggies, though on the slightly bland side. However the best part of the restaurant, is the people. After a quick scan of the dining room - families happily chowing down on saimin, old folks sharing an early bird special of lau lau, and serious looking surfers, I relaxed, sunk my shoulders and tried to blend in. Exceptionally cheery service helped lighten the mood. Full of lau lau, poi, and saimin, for a brief happy moment... I *was* a local. read more

See all

Kuhio Grille is one of the only restaurants in Hilo where you can always get Hawaiian food. Definitely try one of the Hawaiian plates, which give a good variety of food. The Hawaiian food is good, but not like how your aunty would make it. I love when they have the korean chicken/fried rice special. Delicious, savory, and generous portions. Service is always good too. read more

Pretty good eats. Went here once last year while visiting family. I had the 1 lb. Lau Lau plate that my uncle encouraged me to get. ONO!!! Ate a little of my cousins leftover chicken katsu too! I'll give it 4 stars for now, being that I only ate here once. Good food but next time I wanna try a "trickier" dish. Either way, the place was packed with Locals, so that's always a good sign. * Bonus* Got to meet Jason Scott Lee (Dragon, Lilo & Stitch etc), who was eating outside when we left. read more

Great food at Kuhio Grille!! We were really happy that they serve their full menu during breakfast. I got to try their 1lb laulau with fried rice. SO good! We also had the taro corned beef hash which I'm trying loco moco style next time! My sister said their fried rice loco moco was great too. Everything was delicious & service was ok. Hopefully we'll get to try their crunchy peanut butter mochi next time. read more

See all

Laulau was ok but everything is overpriced for the quality of their dishes... lomi salmon didn't taste fresh. loco bowl's hamburger patties are as thin as mcdonald's hamburger and had a purpleish color to it. didn't like the gravy 1 extra star for good customer service. read more

Generous portions of food with friendly service and customers. I really liked the dressing in my side salad. For dinner, I ordered the combo with fried shrimp, teriyaki chicken, and spam fried rice. It was enough for two meals. My favorite was the dessert with coconut and taro. I took a picture (posted) but didn't bother asking for the name. For me, this dessert alone is raising the rating to 5 stars. It was my favorite in the Hawaiian islands. read more

Kuhio Grille - Dessert with haupia and taro - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Any time of the day, this place is a good choice. I love to come here for the 1lb Chicken Laulau!! It's a great laulau (lot of meat, lots of greens, and very minimal fat). The plate comes with rice and either toss or mac salad. I usually get the mac salad because it goes really well with the laulau. They also have chili pepper water for those who like a little extra flavor, like me! I always leave with my belly full and happy :) I also like their peanut butter mochi that they sell at the register. Really yummy! I haven't had a bad experience yet, so i'll be back! read more

I'm only giving 2 stars because the first time I went to Kuhio Grille (since moving back home from O'ahu) their fried chicken skin was so 'ono! However, I just went to order more yesterday as a late afternoon snack. I was so very disappointed. They basically gave me 2 containers with 1 order's worth of chicken skin in them. I had this same amount when I order it the first time! Normally, this is not worth writing a bad review over. The reason I felt it was so bad was the quality of the chicken skin. Many pieces were still soggy in the middle and not crispy at all. It's literally just deep fried chicken skin! I don't know how it was so bad. It was actually inedible. I tried reviving it in the airfryer, it just made a mess and was not worth it. Considering these orders are $7 per plate!! I should not have to airfry my own food I just got fresh from a restaurant! I may try ordering it once more the next time I go, BUT I will open the container to check my portions and quality before I leave the lot. If they do a poor job again, I will have to cross Kuhio Grille of my list of places to go. Others have told me to stay away because they are known for their inconsistency with their meals. I should have listened. It's too bad because I used to love eating here with the 'ohana, but now I rather spend my money elsewhere if I don't know what quality I'm getting each time I go. read more

The food doesn't taste like pre-Covid, the cooks must be different because the food just doesn't taste the same. We ordered takeout burgers for the children, which they enjoyed, but we also ordered saimin, which had no taste and also fried saimin which looked like it was not fried, it looked like it was cooked and most of the water drained, it had won bok cabbage & eggs, and also no taste! They use to have a great fried saimin. What a disappointment, I guess we won't be recommending this place. read more

Yelp 365 Challenge 2015 #73/365 Kuhio Grille is a great place to have any of your three meals of the day. They serve some mean loco mocos, and are known for their "One Pound Lau-lau". We would always come here for brunch after church, and it would be PACKED. They've been around a long time and know what it means to serve good, consistent, local food. If you want breakfast, they have that. They have lunch & dinner as well, and an ever-changing specials menu. As far as service goes, the servers are always polite, and attentive, and the food never takes too long to come out. The prices here are pretty great, especially for the portions that they give, which are huge! You can get a double fried rice loco for 14.99. Talk about a kanak attack!! I myself have actually never had the one pound lau lau, but being that it's one of their staple items, make sure you give it a try! Seems like every time I come home I make a stop at Kuhio Grille, and it's always a good experience. read more

Kuhio Grille - Double fried rice loco Moco with a single in the background - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Kuhio Grille is an extremely local, friendly, clean and convenient diner. Solid Hawaiian diner food at a good price. I have had the loco moco, chicken katzu, teriyaki chicken, and a few of their other lunch specials. It's open till 10:00PM and is a good value. (I have only been here for lunch and dinner, so this review is solely based on that. My experience with the service here is that the food comes pretty quickly especially for a restaurant in this area. I am sure I will be back here when I need a quick low cost decent meal.) read more

Friends visit for the day so we decided to eat dinner here at Kuhio Grill because they have good Specials tonight. We got there after their first dinner rush. A party of 5 and we got seated less than 10 minutes. Customer service was good for a dinner rush. Our waters were always full. She took our orders within a timely matter and food arrived in a timely matter. I didn't get the chance to take our food pictures. But my friends ordered Yakitori Chicken. Others ordered chicken cutlet with their ono/delicious famous fried rice. We didn't make it to dessert. Maybe next time. They have great menu items from traditional food to local foods. My child ate the KG Special Loco with Spam. He ate it all! The last time we ate at Kuhio Grille, we ate desserts first. Homemade desserts! read more

Food and service is always excellent. Best place for local food, with a varied menu. Every trip requires a visit on my part.

I sooo wished I took a photo of the Blueberry Sunday Special @ $9.99!! It's was their cream biscuit with blueberries.. grilled with two eggs of your choice with three sausage patties! So much for a great price!! I'm writing this review a day after and I'm still thinking about that biscuit!! Soooo ono!!!! read more

One pound Lau Lau?? OMG!! A LOT of good taste! A must try. Really casual atmosphere with reasonable prices.

We did take out for Laulau, Hamburger Steak, Sweet Bread French Toast, Fried saimin, ALL were tasty and filling. And courteous service. Definitely will be back read more

If you like LauLau this is the place to go! Theirs does not feature the traditional butterfish but don't let that deter you. It's still delicious. I have yet to find taro leaves cooked this perfectly. It practically surrenders to your cutlery as does the moist pork within. I got a platter with rice, poi, lomi salmon, and haupia. The LauLau alone was more than enough food on its own so we had leftovers. My wife really enjoyed her saimin noodles. I also suggest getting a side of mac salad. This was some of the best Hawaiian food we had on any island. It's as if you're eating out of a home kitchen. Everything was comforting. read more

Best fried chicken on the island! I also love their katsu donburi, Teri pork, pork cutlet, and fried saimin. Fried rice is just okay to me. And the Lau Lau is just alright as well. It's not bad but my laulau standards are pretty high. The service is pretty good, the waitresses/waiters are on top of it when it comes to refills and asking if everything's alright or if you need to go plates. read more

Kuhio Grille - Best fried chicken on the island!!! Moist and crunchy! Chicken katsu donburi! I love that it has long rice inside! - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all

Great service and incredible food. My wife got the corn beef Moco loco, And I got the katsu combo. Their fried rice was Awesome. The service was so friendly.This is a great stop in Hilo. read more

Came to Kuhio Grill for breakfast with my family. I can't remember what I ordered, the only thing I remember from here is eating the "Cream Biscuit" It's pretty much cornbread with some cream in it. They grill it so it nice and warm and delicious. That is all. Get a cream biscuit. read more

We were ending the day after a trip to the top of Mauna Kea and stumbled upon this place. The place was packed so that was a good sign. I ordered the Oxtail soup and the wife ordered the mixed plate. The mixed plate was OK and Chris especially like the Korean shortribs. My oxtail soup was actually good and consisted of plenty oxtail. I'd try this place again just to try something new. I need to find out what's their popular dishes are. read more

Kuhio Grille - Tripe stew! - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Love their Yakitori Chicken and fried rice. Their Mac salad is always good and they are known for their fresh Lau Lau. The service is good and everyone is friendly. Parking is convenient and it's right next to the mall. read more

See all

Tried the loco moco and the portion size was huge. The hamburger meat was dry... the gravy at least had some flavor.... then tried the haupia sweet potato pie... super dense and not very sweet... the sweet potato part of it was very natural tasting which was ok but the texture was just too dense and dry. Also tried the chicken lau lau, which was dry. I complained but the customer service person didn't try to give me anything else and said there's nothing wrong with their food and it's my fault for not liking or wanting it... not very helpful or accommodating service. Will not be recommending this place to other people. Plenty of other places to eat. read more

Best Laulau i have ever tried. Nice sized portion, freshest poi, straight from kuhio valley! Service could have been a little more attentive to customers. The food was the most important and did not disappoint. read more

Kuhio Grille - 1 lb. Laulau! - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Laulau rocks Steak plate is a monster Staff is spot on This is the real place for local food that taste great and is cooked as lf your family. No short cuts here. No excessive scoops of oil used just plain old good country cooking. Love this place. Aloha read more

The food has never been the problem for us, it's the service. We were sat and waited TEN minutes just to get water and be "greeted" by our waitress. She dropped the 4 waters on the table in one corner, DIDN'T SAY A WORD, and then took the orders of the table next to us, who was seated AFTER us. Then she turns back to us, no welcome or anything, just "What are you guys having today?" Then throughout the meal, we weren't checked on at all, and never got our waters refilled from the beginning of the meal. Good food, but as for the service, not so much. read more

Very good. Took a while to get a table without a rez, even though there were several open tables. Food came pretty quickly and was good. An 8 out of ten. Nice ambience, but not outstanding. Good family restaurant. Pretty good selection. Friendly faces. Mahalo! read more

Food is constantly good and plentiful. Service is always great. New location so parking is better

Home of the 1 lb laulau! And you won't be disappointed. My favorite is the pork laulau on the kanak attack plate. It seems pricey, but I ate three filling meals off of that one plate, so there ya go. And if you're not local and you want good local-style food, that is #SoOno this is a great place to come. We've never been hungry enough to eat dessert there, but I hear their desserts are great. This trip was particularly good, because despite the fact that it was crowded (it always is) Eunice was our waitress, and she was amazing. She was all over that restaurant, but aunty knows how to keep her tables happy! read more

I like the food selection but nothing really stands out to me and I've tried nearly everything off their entire menu. What keeps me coming back are the daily desserts to choose from. The food in general just okay but some the desserts are so yummy. Service is ok. Ambiance is like a cafe style. read more

The food was good but average at most. Portion sizes were decent and staff were very friendly.

Food tastes amazing! The only downside was the price vs. the portion size. I was okay with paying $8 for a mini plate + $4 something to sub fried rice -- assuming (‍) I'd get at least 2 pieces of chicken & have some left overs. When I received my plate it consisted ONE palm sized piece of yakitori chicken, 1 small scoop of delicious Mac salad and about 2 1/2 scoops worth of fried rice. In the end, I'm full & very satisfied with the food ...just bummed at the price for the portion they give ‍ read more

We wanted to try some local food so after some research, we decided to give this place a try. We asked our server, Jade, for some recommendations. We chose the Chicken katsu, Kalua Pig and the Kanak Attack. The food was served quickly and well presented. When Jade came back to see how things were, we asked if there was a right or wrong way to eat our meals with accompaniments given. She explained what each was and what it would go well with. Now the food..... OMG!!!! the food was amazing!!! Tender, moist and very flavorful!!! It was so good that my brother wants to come back for his birthday dinner on the weekend With the great service and amazing food, you can't go wrong with having a meal from here!!! read more

my family and i have been coming here for years. nothing fancy but simple kine stuff and always a good bet

Okay, I hate to give this place 2 stars because the waitresses and everyone in there is super, super nice and friendly. However, the service time, quality of the food and price was just totally off. It's been a while since I've been disappointed with a meal so eating here kinda hurt my feelings. The food took a long time coming out and when it did, it was incorrect and all schmegular. It just wasn't tasty to me, just edible. I had the won ton min w/ katsu and it tasted like the frozen saimin you can buy at Costco with egg and spam. The katsu was oily and bland, it definitely needed the katsu sauce but I didn't even want to eat all of it. My kids had the kalua pork which was okay, a bit dry in some areas (like you can tell it was sitting by the edge of a pot too long). My husband ordered the katsu donburri but got the Oyaku instead. He didn't want to turn it back coz it took a long time to get our food so he just ate it, but he wasn't a fan of it regardless. I agree with a lot of other Yelpers that I think this place gets high marks from a loyal clientele, which is fine. But as an outsider looking in, save your money and go to L & L, Blaine's or Verna's. You'll get the same (if not better) food at a fraction of the price and time. Or for about the same price point and convenience of being at the mall, eat at Zippy's. read more

Service was good - it got a little better towards the end of our meal. We asked for straws and lemon for our waters and chili pepper water for our meal. We received the straws. We had to go up to the counter to ask for the chili peppers water and we just didn't bother with the lemon. Looked over their menu and wasn't as enticed by their items as I initially was when looking at their menu online. We did, however, opt for a few things on their specials menu. The ahi belly was pretty tender and cooked just right. It was enjoyable when we weren't picking out the scaly skin and other inedible parts. The squid luau and chicken long rice were pretty on point. We ended the meal with the chocolate coffee mud pie, which was also on their specials menu. It was super frozen. Our spoons could barely dig in so we just took it to go. We ended up taking some other desserts to go. Their oreo dessert is delicious. Overall, okay experience. If I were to return it would be for their pastry. read more

Kuhio Grille - Ahi belly special - some of the skin was left on and was not edible (scaly) - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all

Not bad, but definitely not a place I need to ever go back to. They were half empty at peak breakfast time, which should've clued me in, but grandma likes kuhio grille so we went anyway. Clean and cozy but mediocre food and service Dumb to put the daily specials only on a board outside the door. I had to walk outside again to read it since they didn't have it posted anywhere else. Good variety of classic breakfast food and local favs but nothing stood out as interesting except the taro corned beef hash and eggs. That ended up being terrible - not much corned beef, what little they had was canned. End result was single under seasoned and not crispy enough taro cake. Eggs and side of hash browns were fine. Sweet bread French toast was just ok. Large portion of thick sliced bread that was a little burnt, bacon and eggs. Their coconut syrup is pretty blah and watery compared to the awesome thick coconut syrup at kens. read more

Kuhio Grille - Taro corned beef hash and eggs - junk - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all

I really enjoyed the food at Kuhio Grille. The menu is not extensive but offers a variety of food from Japanese-inspired dishes (sushi, tempura, noodles) to sandwiches to local favorites (laulau, oxtail soup, etc.). Breakfast is also served all day. There is something for everyone here. On our recent trip to Kuhio Grille, I ordered the patti melt sandwich (hamburger with swiss cheese, grilled onions, and special sauce on toasted rye bread) and my husband ate the chicken katsu. We were very satisfied with our food. Lots of food that made us full, all under $20 including tip. The atmosphere is nice inside. Tables are a little close together and it can get crowded, but thankfully they also offer outside dining. You can't miss the huge wall of good luck Chinese cats as you walk in and can't leave without trying the peanut butter mochi. read more

Kuhio Grille - Chicken katsu - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all

Good service. Love that they have chicken skin but needs a bit of salt or dipping sauce. Really enjoyed the chicken cutlet and gravy, fried rice was okay. Mac salad was good. I would definitely go back. read more

Kuhio Grille - Chicken Cutlet Moco - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all