We found this gem on a drive to Akaka Falls. Perfect brunch or afternoon tea spot. So much loose…read moreleaf tea here. I got the Papaya Bowl (I'm not even a papaya person), it was a delightful surprise, fresh berries, yogurt, and almond butter! This a great place to make a great Hawai'i memory, it's a pretty cool stop.

Women is soooo slow. 25 min. For 3 coffees!…read more Had us wait 15 min just to take our order. She waited til she made a whole order (sandwiches and coffees) for someone else, before she even took ours. The 2 lattes tasted like watered down oat milk, and had to ask if there is even espresso in it! AND there was honey in both, when all I ordered was 2 Ice lattes with Oat. Didn't even bother mentioning it, knowing it'd be another 20 min. And the cold brew had way too much cream (when asked for little cream) and the lady gave attitude when said too much cream, brought back another drink and slammed it on the table. With NO cream. Then refused to give a LITTLE cream for it. Saying "I already wasted so much on your last drink." Even though it was WRONG. And there was grounds in the bottom lol Bad drinks,, bad attitude. extremely slow service I recommend passing this one

Service and workers friendly and attentive , food / ice cream great. Ambiance and decor old and…read moreclassy. Loved the Bible verse and Worship music.

Milk Tea Boba. They did not add enough powder. It tastes so watery. The boba pearls were ok…read more Powdered flavors are really cheap but they charge $6.75 for it and don't use much less than the recommended amount. Shaved ice. Wow is it $5 for a small cone now? The lilikoi syrup was nice.

We always stop here on the drive from Hilo to Kona. Known for their huge, thick, dense malasadas…read more These are okay, in my honest opinion. No complaints but I just like my malasadas to be light, fluffy & airy. I can't have too much carbs these days. We usually get the original plain ones but they have some with flavored filling as well. They have a gift shop, my parents found some great shirts, with nice colors there. We liked it. They serve local food as well. Service is always good, served with Aloha Mahalo and Aloha!! Chelle

We finally got a chance to try the malasadas here…read more You know why it's called a drive in? You literally pull your car up to the drive up window. Of course you can pull the car around the corner, park the car, and walk over to the counter service. The malasada is square shaped. So heavy. We got a total of three. We brought them back to our resort. The bellhop recognizes the box, and says it like a loaf of bread. He was right. We had them the next day for breakfast. We didn't think there was enough filling for the size - we got strawberry, pineapple, and guava. We concluded we like the donut shaped malasadas more, like Leonard's on Oahu. These were ok. Our curiosity satisfied. They offer food items too like mix plates but we had already eaten. This place seems off the beaten path, but all the locals frequent it.

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.

Still love this place. Not the same since Sergio departed (the drop from 5-stars), but still a…read moregreat experience and definitely the best made from scratch pizza and calzones in Honokaa (maybe the island) Apparently it's now owned by another family, but still same staff including the chef. He does a great job. The food is solid. It's just not as lively as it once was. The stage is now storage as is the beautiful bar. There is SO much potential for this place to be hopping with business (live music, karaoke night, bingo night, etc..), but currently it's just good food in a beautiful restaurant. Nothing wrong with that. It's worked for them, but I'll always miss the days when Sergio brought passion and vitality to not just the food, but also the environment.

Do experience the tasting. The chocolate is dark with flavours enhanced with coconut milk, almond,…read moreand more. Very unique blend of chocolate. Locally grown and processed. We loved the cocoa, sent some home!

Experienced the VIP cacao tasting tour and enjoyed every last second of it! Mike was an amazing…read moretour guide. He built his cacao farm from the bottom up and it was amazing to witness his progress ever since 2017. He walked us through the seed germination process, the growing process, the fermentation process and everything before, in between and after that.. from seed all the way to chocolate bar. This tour is meant to expand your knowledge and change your perspective on how you think about, taste, and experience chocolate. At the end of the farm tour, you drive down to the gift shop (about a 3 min drive from the farm) to make any potential purchases as well as taste even more chocolate! What an amazing and unique experience in Honaka'a and 100% recommend adding this tour to your Big Island itinerary. P.S. my favorite chocolate bar is the barrel aged bourbon bar!! Notes of dark cherry with a bourbon finish :)

Service was friendly and welcoming, came for the fudge and coffee, both were delicious! However the…read moreMac nut bear claw pastry was the BEST thing I've eaten on the island, BEST pastry I've ever tasted! Cute little down home coffee shop, with tons of options for ice cream, fudge, shaved ice and coffee!

First of all, although Yelp has separate listings, this is the same business as Hamakua Fudge Shop…read more I stopped in based on the generally enthusiastic reviews about the fudge, both here and on other sites. Though it hadn't been my original plan, I ended up getting lunch here, since most other nearby restaurants were closed. This involved a bit of a wait, as when I first arrived the high school kid at the counter said he couldn't make sandwiches, but the owner would likely be in soon -- though he also said she was inconsistent and he couldn't say for sure when. Happily, she was there when I stopped back half an hour later, having confirmed that the only other available lunch options were a food truck whose fare didn't much fit my mood or takeout from the local market. I ordered a turkey sandwich on whole wheat and iced coffee. The coffee was good. The sandwich was barely okay. It was billed as coming with cranberry mayonnaise, and while the mayo had a bit of sweetness, cranberry flavor was not readily apparent. The turkey was weirdly dry and crumbly and the bread was beginning to get stale. All it all it was edible, but that's about it. It came with a small banana, which was a nicer and healthier touch than the chips or pickles you so often get with sandwiches. As I sat there eating, I noticed a sign on the bulletin board, apparently left over from the days when Hawaii had a COVID-19 mask mandate for indoor establishments. The sign used fake language from HIPAA (misspelled as HIPPA -- a dead giveaway) to say, essentially, that they'd just pretend anyone not wearing a mask had a medical reason to not wear one and ignore the public health rule. Why they felt compelled to announce they don't give a bleep about public health a year after any such mandates ended I can't say, but I'm suffering debilitating "Long COVID" symptoms because of the recklessness of idiots like this. So I didn't buy any fudge, tempting as it looked, and instead satisfied my sweet tooth at another business.

The sandwiches were simply amazing! Highly recommend!!!! The BLT and the tri tips! The store is…read moredelightful and needless to say the service and staff are wonderful!

We were told the sandwiches would take about 20mins but we ended up waiting closer to 50mins. I…read morehighly recommend calling ahead to place your order, or you may be waiting a while. That said, the sandwiches were excellent. The BLT was the best I've had - the bacon was crispy and overall just delicious. The tri-tip sandwich was also great. There are a few seats outside the store, and parking was easy.

We greatly enjoyed the entire experience. Both walking thru the tea plants and participating in the…read moretea ceremony. All was very well done and informative. Would highly recommend booking.

Such an amazing tranquil and immersive experience! BEST EXPERIENCE IN KONA HAWAII! If you love Tea…read more, nature and Zen. It truly encompasses the magic of tea and the tradition of the tea ceremony! This is Kona's best hidden Gem. As a Certified Tea Master and educator I can truly say that this garden captured the magic and the special qualities of the experience of Tea!

Excellent experience. The food is freshly made while you…read moreenjoy great conversations by the husband and wife that give Aloha. We have been there more than once and send guests to meet them.

Love the couple that runs it. The food is always spectacular. I usually get a homestyle plate. The…read moreconversations are always elevated as the owners are local encyclopedias! I'm Portuguese and my father grew up in Hawaii. Just like Grandma used to make as they say. Oh and the prices are more than fair. Every dish I've tried has been fabulous.

Very interesting I learned a lot about the vanilla orchid and how labor intensive the process of…read moregrowing and harvesting vanilla beans is

On May 16 I finally found another vanilla fanatic to go with me to visit the vanilla farm for…read morelunch. I had bought the 4 oz extract a year ago at the gift shop and still have some, so decided to splurge with the 5 course lunch, with vanilla used in each dish. From popcorn to vanilla ice cream dessert, each course was exquisite. There are two main courses - one vegetarian and the other with a chicken sandwich. While I found the sandwich uninteresting, the "thrice cooked" potatoes and salad, using honey peppered pecans, were amazing. The vegetarian pastry option with red pepper and cream cheese was nice and I will indulge in that next time. And there will be a next time. An inventive, tasty meal using the farm's vanilla in each dish and worth the drive to Pauillo from Kona. We were served out on the lanai, in a casual, pleasant atmosphere. There were about 15 guests. Although I went for the lunch, the tour was very informative. Zach squeezed in more info in 60 minutes than I could possibly absorb, so guess I must go back. He is wonderfully enthusiastic and The shop has great things but the best is the vanilla extract, which is very concentrated so will last a while. At $45 for a 4 oz bottle, it is not cheap, but after learning how labor intensive harvesting vanilla is, it is actually a bargain. I will never buy cheap imitation vanilla again. I also bought the vanilla honeyed pecans, used in the salad, and they won't last the week. Correction. They didn't last two days.....incredibly addictive. I finished them off in two days. All vanilla produced by this company is used in Hawaii, mostly for Roselani vanilla ice cream and for root beer. So the tour and lunch are good value even for a non vanilla fanatic. The company offers a kama'aina discount, and I will definite do this tour and lunch again. One of the founder's sons is sometimes at the Parker school Saturday farmer's market in Waimea and sells root beer floats with this product in both the Roselani ice cream and the root beer. The floats are out of sight. I cannot recommend this tour and lunch highly enough. All my visitors will go to the farm unless they are allergic to vanilla.