Such a delicious spot!…read more Made to order juicy fried chicken karaage! We ordered 8 pieces to share, plus 6 wings and 2 side rice. So much food! Rice was made perfectly. Karaage was perfectly seasoned and crunchy. Enjoyed every bite! We were unable to finish it all, so brought it home. And we re warmed it in the air fryer and it was just as delicious! A must try in Hilo!

Last week we were in Hilo and needed a quick lunch before heading back to the airport. We used…read moreYELP to find a quick bite and were not disappointed. First of all; YELP is a useful tool to find what you need when you need it. Five stars to YELP Secondly; if you need a quick bite; look no further than this restaurant. It's a mom and pop style with great service. Very clean; simple menu; delicious chicken. Can't complain. The owners are from rural areas in Japan and moved to the US and later took a vacation to Hilo and fell in love with this Island and its people. And the next is history; they moved to Hilo and set up shop. Let's hope the economy and people continue to visit this little gem so that they can live here a long time. We will definitely visit them again on our next trip to Hilo

What an absolute Gem of a restaurant! In the heart of Honokaa…read more Glad we found this wonderful Italian restaurant! We were walking and decided to try it out. We got a 12" pepperoni pizza and a special pastrami sandwich. The pepperoni pizza was so delicious. It has so much flavor in every bite! The crust tastes garlic, the cheese tasted so good! Definitely try it! Oh my goodness! The pastrami sandwich is one of the best sandwich I've ever eaten! The pastrami was crunchy on the sides and so much flavor. You can tell the sandwiches bread is fresh! The lettuce and tomatoes are so fresh too.

First time back since new owners. What a great surprise to see the same staff! Chef Jeff and Isa…read morewere what made Cafe il Mondo so good before, and no surprise, it is still a delicious experience. Today was a crispy cold Maui Big Swell, can't beat it if you like a good local IPA. We shared a house salad which was generous, fresh, and flavorful. Next up we split an Italian sausage calzone. This is one of my very favorites that Jeff cooks up in the brick oven. Fresh out, it is glistening and wonderful. Such a delicious blend of flavors. Because leftover pizza is always a treat, we ordered up the large Mondo, 1/2 pesto, 1/2 tomato sauce. Fresh and tasty, not much made the to go box. Cudos to the new owners as the food remains fabulous and the service friendly. Will we go back? Of course, and bring friends when we can.

Generous portions of good food. A real working man's lunch spot. Menu varies by the day. I had…read morefish katsu and Korean chicken. Both were delicious.

This place was an awesome lunch stop! We were driving from Kona to Hilo so we went this route and…read moregrabbed some musubi and rolls to go. The spam musubi was probably the best I've ever had. The prices were reasonable too, which was a nice find in an area where everything costs so much.

We came to Honokaa on a whim for some site seeing…read more Decided on a little treat for our drive back home. So we got a dozen original malasadas. They were made fresh, some of the best malasadas I've ever eaten. Their dough was light and fluffy. It wasn't greasy at all. And when we ate it a few hours later, it warmed up well! We will be coming back for these! (For those that are from Oahu, these are much different than Leonards. I'd say from my humble opinion, better)

The very first malassada I ever had was many years ago at Tex Drive In. I just remembered how…read moredelicious these were, and if I ever came back to the Big Island, I'd have to come back to Tex. So it's been about 20 years, and the place is no longer the "hot spot" (maybe because we came on a weekday). There were a few locals having breakfast outside, but we were able to walk right up and order several different malassadas. We tried strawberry and guava filling, and they were quite good. It does make the malassada a bit overly sweet, though. I still prefer their plain malassadas. They are like sugar donuts without the hole. Now that I've had other malassadas to compare to, I find Tex's to be on a breadier side. I've had others in Oahu that were lighter and fluffier, which I now prefer. But no where have I found any malassadas as big as Tex's. So maybe Tex's has lost it's charm a bit, but they still serve up some pretty yummy malassadas.

We had the pleasure of being served by Ben. Very sweet and attentive greeting when we walked in…read more We felted so welcomed The fish and chips was delicious - as well as the gumbo- i didn't order either or, but i had to try what my company was ordering. I enjoyed the pull pork sandwich w onion rings. Everything on the plate was fresh and delicious. Their Lava Flow and Blue Hawaii were also super tasty and refreshing. Thank you for the wonderful experience

my Son raved about this restaurant because he had eaten there on previous trips to the Big island…read more. I was so looking forward to dining on delicious BBQ . we had to order our meals as take out online because of young children , so we looked to order at 4:30 pm . so i went online and believe it or not I was incredulous that they were sold out of Every single BBQed Dish pork, chicken, ribs etc I was so disappointed and in disbelief That I called the restaurant and sure enough it was true! shocking for a BBQ RESTAURANT to run out of BBQ! because our hearts were set on having their food , so burgers were ordered by the family and i ordered the ONO grilled with a side of cole slaw and grilled pineapple, and O NO the fish was so tough it was difficult to cut with a knife... it was tastless and chewy ... threw away half of it ! It was not the fresh Ono I expected and love! hopefully this does not happen often !!! I understand that Restaurants have an off night sometimes ... but this was SO SAD !!! in addition there was something (maybe a spice or something on the grill ) on either the fish and/or the pineapple , that I had an allergic reaction to ! my tongue swelled and was extremely uncomfortable!!! I have never had that happen before... it is sad that the cornbread and the coleslaw were the best part if the meal! The burgers were enjoyed so that boosted my score !

Just incredible!!! Broke Da Mouth Grindz is everything you think it will be and more! The food…read moreBROKE DA MOUTH and left me wanting more. Not to mention, the staff were killing it when turning tables! I went with the classic, Spicy Garlic Chicken. For me, it wasn't spicy at all. So, I would greatly encourage those on the fence of which Garlic dish to order, go spicy! It is PACKED with flavor... and did I mention, it broke da mouth! I added the kimchi cucumbers for my vegetable and they were fire. I even went back for the pork belly because dayummm. As always, expect a line. Because locals and tourists love this place! I opted to eat the food by the ocean and in the rainforest at my B+B. So, take the food to a cozy corner of Hawaii and bite down! You will be missing out on a local staple, so RUN to this amazing restaurant once you arrive on the Big Island!!!

Broke Da Mouth Grindz came at the recommendation of lots of people! Food is good, but wait times…read moreare super long. We arrived at the restaurant on a weekday in the afternoon. There was a long line out the door that slowly moved. Once inside, it was uncomfortably hot (no AC). So if you're heat-sensitive, be mindful that you might be waiting awhile. You order and pay at the counter. Upon receiving your number, you wait to be called to pick up your food. All items are served in takeout containers. They have several tables inside, or you can take it to go. The workers are all kind and work hard. Being a popular spot with made-to-order items, it took a while for our food to come out. The ambiance is casual, really not much decor or stuff to look at. My Dad and I shared the Two-Meat Combo. We chose Garlic Furikake Chicken and Pork Belly Fat Adobo as our proteins. Plus white rice as our starch and mac salad as our side. The portions are quite big; this was more than enough for us. The chicken was crunchy and tasty. Depending on the bite, some meat was a bit drier than others. The pork adobo was so good--melt in your mouth with the fattiness! The mac salad was a winner. Broke Da Mouth Grindz seems to be a go-to spot for locals and tourists in Kona. Beware, lines can be super long and wait times can vary. I'm happy to have tried it, but I wouldn't come again during a peak hour. Find them on Luhia Street with free parking in the plaza.

The service here is ALWAYS great whether a regular or a visitor! Bartenders are fun and friendly…read moreand the food is great! My favorite are the tenders in Nashville heat with mac and cheese (which is AMAZING) or their mash potatoes and gravy! Therefore, I don't understand what Michael L. is complaining and regarding his bartender and her personal beliefs that she's ABSOLUTELY is entitled to; as are you! Unless you believe that freedom of speech is just good for a select few? And while your political views differ, it doesn't give you or anyone else the right to push your own OPINION and BELIEFS on others given actual FACTS and TRUTH about the actual state of things! And I find it ABSOLUTELY ironic that you call her anti-Amercan given that supposedly America is supposed to stand for I higher moral compass and protection of humanity, yet, at the moment let's reassess how things are going right now. Furthermore, learn your history bc I also think it's super F****n ironic that you're in Hawai'i talking about being anti-American. Why yes, of course we are anti-America since they have been illegally occupying our Kingdom for over a 100 years! And of course, like everything else America does it's all for FINANCIAL gain. They don't care about who they hurt! #doyourresearch #hawaiididnotwamttobethe50thState Leave my cool people at Willie's alone! They are professionals and they treat all people the same, UNLESS, you want to push your opinions on them and trash them for their beliefs. #constitutiom #freedomofspeech

I'd like this restaurant because I like the style of chicken in the upbeat snappy feel of the place…read moreas well as the general idea of various levels of hot chicken using chicken tenders having things like macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets on the menu. These are all positives however!! I am a retired restaurant owner and I know something about food, both myself, and my friends have gotten food poisoning and quite sick from that restaurant twice. The first time I called the owner he was extremely nice about the situation offered to leave a tab for me to buy $100 worth of food (which I never did use) and after about two months, I went back and tried the restaurant and nothing went wrong. I continued to eat there with my friends over the next year and a half or two years until a few days ago and both myself and another chef who works at a high-end restaurant here in Kona went there for lunch and within an hour or two both of us were quite sick with what we considered to be food poisoning ---- so although I do like this place I offer a word of advice in warning to people considering going there you can't get sick from the food. They're serving chicken after all which requires intense scrutiny in terms of getting bacteria into the chicken.

Amazing chicken! My girlfriend has celiac and can't have any gluten so having any kind of fried…read morechicken is a treat for her! Most of the menu items are gluten-free with the exception of some Bentos, but can easily be changed to accommodate people with celiac. Highly recommend even if you don't suffer from celiac the chicken was amazing and very juicy. I wish they had a location on Oahu!

Came here for lunch on a Sunday, many places closed, looking for plate lunch but heck, we eat…read moreJapanese too. Tenkatori bills itself as a Japanese style fried chicken, our only other choice in the food court was Mexican (Philippino place wasn't open) so we were open to try. Tenkatori did not disappoint-ordered bento chicken-one was tater tot bento, other was rice and chicken bento, with wasabi and yuzu sauces. Bento came with four softball sized pieces of boneless chicken thighs hot out of the fryer, so fresh and juicy, the juices were literally squirting out between bites. Dipped in the creamy wasabi sauce-great flavor without the head-numbing experience. Yuzu was also creamy, not acidic like lemon, just the real deal. Btw both sauces good with tater tots, but they give you ketchup too. Quite the find, in a quiet marketplace on a stormy Sunday Tenkatori lives up to its ratings. Will be back!

This rating is for the loco moco with fries. Delicious! Loved the gravy flavor and staff was nice…read more We got it with two side salads.

The food is really good, even though the decor and ambient is like a typical dinner…read more I had the ono plate, potion is huge. the mini loco moco is plenty for one person!

This review is for the Haupia pie only!…read more Haupia pie craving! Hit McD's as it was closing - though the doors were closed, drive thru was open. Ordered the Haupia, as I'm a lover of coconut anything lol. Be very careful as this pie was very hot, like burn your mouth hot. But one bite, and the filling oozed sweet coconut with small bite size pieces of coconut pudding? Anyhoo, this small dessert made my evening : )

Have to say we stopped here yesterday to try the new BIG ARCH…read moreItem was on colder side and was not happy w the meal. Sadly about an hour later it hit me With out a doubt it's 1000% Food Poisoning Not only did I get sick but person I ate w got sick that night. Woke up and still burping and taste the dark special sauce Avoid this place If I would have looked at Yelp I would have never stopped here