Excellent char siu fried rice and great portion. I order with extra pork. Have not eaten much off the large menu but the Chinese food is good and to go service is fast! read more

Very cute place Fast service fresh veggies Friendly Singapore rice noodles good Orange chicken generous Correctly cooked rice nice macaroni salad Good value! Large menu! read more

This review is for their Musubi only, which was the best we have had on the Big Island after trying at least three other places. We tried the regular Spam and Portuguese Sausage Musubi: 1. The meat-to-rice ratio was good - of course, we wished there was a little less rice but it wasn't bad compared to other places we tried. 2. Sauce was tasty and plenty - unlike other places that used non-traditional sauce or had too little sauce. 3. Lots of variety to choose from - the Portuguese Sausage ones were really good too. 4. Very reasonably priced. $11 for 4 Musubi is a bargain! Our only feedback was that the rice was just slightly too hard, but it didn't take away from how delicious they were. Lovely and polite people working behind the counter too. read more

Waited a while for our food.. many came in after us but we still didn't get our food.. after awhile of waiting, the guy comes up to us and tells us that the brown rice is almost ready.. Really!! Shouldn't they have their brown rice ready already?? It's 12:12pm and the lunch rush is in.. Damn we come in here hungry and we had to wait so long.. That's what make this a 3 star review because the food isn't bad at all.. read more

The best local spot for delicious food! Specifically the salt and pepper fish. If you are just visiting Kona, go right away, or else you will be saying, "Why didn't we come here the first day?" The service is warm and friendly, very kind. Takes cash and cards. Ambiance is very low key. Love this read more

Rainbow Cafe - Salt and pepper fish and my 85 year old half sister. - Cafes Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

My husband and I stopped here before hopping on our flight and we ordered the roasted pork and garlic fried shrimp mixed plate. Everything about our meal was perfect and delicious. The shrimp was battered and different than the garlic shrimp we were used to, but it was still very good and a nice change. The macaroni salad was creamy and flavorful, by far the best we had. We had some really nice meals throughout our trip but our meal here was easily our favorite and helped us end on a good note. There was one other person eating inside but it was quiet and clean and customer service was fine. We'll be back if we get a chance to return to Kona! read more

The salt and pepper shrimp was not "salt and pepper" as described. It was red pepper beer battered shrimp. Not impressed at all. I keep being disappointed at this restaurant. read more

Super good quick pick up food before the beach! If you get there right when they open they make the best airy fluffy pancakes as they use the skillet throughout the morning and the skillet heats up they cannot make them. read more

Fav food is Chinese food. Im always looking for the best duck or beef broccoli. All I can say is that the roast duck is hands down the best than any other duck I have had on the island. I love crispy duck and this is the only place that was legit crispy duck! Plus the lady at the counter was so nice and welcoming. read more

I came here out of desperation after being up since 4:00 AM, and having my first meal of the day at 3:00 PM! Wow, what an extremely rough day! I was working in Kailua-Kona, and things didn't go too smoothly for me that day...........after finishing up a job, my coworker & I were forging around for a place to eat when we came across a joint called - Rainbow Cafe. Rainbow Cafe in located in the Kaloko industrial area, near the Costco & Home Depot. The restaurant is actually just next door to a candy store. There's lots of parking in the private parking lot, and being that we came here during a down time (between lunch & dinner), there was lots of parking, as well as the restaurant was totally empty. Rainbow Cafe is like your typical L&L Drive Inn kinda of place where you walk into the restaurant, place your food order at the ordering counter, then look for an open table to sit down. When your food is ready, they will call you, and you go back up to the ordering counter to pick up your food to eat. Rainbow Cafe makes local plate lunches, & Chinese food...........after looking over the large wall menu, I decided to get a BBQ Chicken & Fried Shrimp combo plate. My coworker got a Roast Pork & Fried Garlic Shrimp combo plate. What can I say about the grub? When you're hungry, everything suppose to taste good! In my case, the food was just alright. It wasn't bad per se , but to be honest I've had better at other plate lunch joints. The BBQ Chicken didn't have the best flavor, but at least my Fried Shrimp came out super hot with a tartar sauce. My coworker also said the same thing..........he told me it was like "L&L quality", not bad...........yet not outstanding either. The food may have been average, but the bottom line was............... Rainbow Cafe filled our belly when we were hungry, and since we were pressed for time, this cafe was in the perfect area, as it was close to our job site that day. read more

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Service was good: we brought our own ice tea drink and they provided us cups with ice. Food was delicious especially fried rice was comparable to the good ones I got in San Francisco bay area. In addition, the portion is big and reasonably priced. All in all and 4.5 rounded up to 5. read more

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The food impressed me. Had beef chow fun definitely yummy. Good service, fresh food large portions.

This is a hidden gem! Excellent food, service and clean space. An extensive menu and is a must try!!!!!!

Greasy local joint owned by Chinese. Food was good for the price. Similar to L&L. Definitely a place to get your grind on. Just too many items to choose from if you don't know what you want. Definitely a place to gain good Hawaiian weight. read more

Rainbow Cafe - Crispy ginger chicken. - Cafes Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

The spam musubi was good for 2.25 it's. Ire if a Chinese food place but it was made fresh and it was hot. I also got Portuguese sausage musubi. That was yummy. I added some hot sauce and taste a lot better. There aren't too many places in the island that sells the musubi. read more

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Salt & peppa fish to die for! Always hot, always ono. Never a problem with parking and you can call to order

Best Chinese food. Definitely coming back here during our next visit to the island. Very unassuming place but the food is worth it.

Seriously??? Raw Chicken....said they'll remake it.... got a refund, a smile, and a " so sorry".... guess where i'll be for the next 48hrs.

Great food. Fast and good prices. Good service and the place is very clean. I wish I had known about it sooner.

Great little spot. Food was delicious. We ordered fried rice, shrimp fun mein and the BBQ chicken. Chicken was soft and perfect. It's inexpensive read more

In major need of a complete renovation. It's very dated and kinda depressing with old Asian hanging decor from the 1970's. However, the Tables, floors, windows are clean so are the air registers in the ceiling. Bathroom was filthy and mirror is disintegrating and sink falling off the wall which makes me wonder what the kitchen must look like. The entire place needs a heavy paint job, new flooring and ordering counter area and most definitely, better signage of food items looks tacky all over the back wall. All in all the food was ok for us. I just got a hamburger and my husband got some chicken and rice thing. I'd give a 3 out of 5. Would I come back? Maybe, if I was hungry and in the area but would never make a special trip for the food and lack of atmosphere. read more

Last minute find on the way to the airport. The breakfast pancake was so soft and fluffy with a little chewiness of Mochi. So delicious. And spam musubi for the plane ride was also delicious. read more

Im confused because i ordered beef chow mein and when i opened the plate it was like some angel hair spaghetti type noodles and it was all soupy..i thought the soupy one was called something else? I swear this wasnt how it looked on the menu. Anyways it was edible, very bland, the meat had flavor but nothing else did not even the saucy stuff, and the bamboo shoots were sour. I got a burger from here once and it was good tho. My coworker got char siu fried rice and he said was bomb so i guess you just gotta order the right thing read more

Rainbow Cafe - Beef chow mein - Cafes Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Big menu, food expertly prepared, fast service. A great meal for less than fast food in both time and cost.

Great hole in the wall place just down the street from Costco. Wife loves ginger, so she ordered the cold ginger chicken. I had the won ton min. Chicken wad tender & moist. Won ton min had plenty of different meats, vegetables, & noodles. Great taste, but very little atmosphere. Just the kind of place we're like. read more

Rainbow Cafe - Cold ginger chicken & Won ton min - Cafes Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Aloha all! I ordered and purchased Char Siu fried rice. There were minuscule pieces of Char Siu not enough for this to be a satisfying dish. One year ago the former owners packed this fried rice with LOTS of Char Siu. New people took over and food has changed. I won't be going back. They lost a good customer. Too bad going cheap costs these new owner local customers who would've been ban time and again. Oh well read more

Great house fried rice! Also shared spring rolls which were crispy and delish. We were there just before noon and received our order in about 10 minutes. Will definitely visit them again to try some other dishes. It looked like the majority of their lunch business was call in/ take out. There were six tables open for dine in. read more

We picked up food from here to take it to our flight. We got 2 chicken fried rice and one order of egg rolls. We loved the food. The fried rice were very flavorful and the right amount of spice. Also the egg rolls were awesome. The staff was also very nice. I told them that I am going to eat the food in the flight and they gave me the right utensils and condiments. read more

Dropped in for lunch before exploring the Kaloko Honokohau Nat'l Hist.Park nearby. I had the fish and chips, and it was very good - quite fresh, tasty fish, not just batter fried but also with special spices and a garnish (with macadamia nuts, perhaps?) Served with fries. Not a fancy place, but clean and straightforward Hawaiian plate lunch style restaurant. It looks like the menu offers a wide array of mixed options. The outside sign says "Chinese | Hawaiian | BBQ". I think you could have a lot of variety here and be quite content. read more

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We ordered two wonton noodle soups. Loads of wontons, chicken, shrimp, heaping portion of noodles. On your way to the airport, fill up at Costco, then head to The Rainbow (great candy store next door as well). read more

As much as I hate posting a 2 star review, I feel I must. I have given Rainbows many more than 3 strikes before hesitantly updating my review. I usually eat lunch anytime between noon and 1:30. It is ALWAYS a crap shoot going to Rainbows during this time frame. More often than not, the plate lunch items are gone or only have old crusty scraps left. For some reason, they don't seem to be in a rush to get new trays of food out. I have walked in and walked back out a handful of times because of this. I often choose the plate lunch because it is already made, and I can get lunch and be on my way in a rush. The last few times I have gone, the food had run out, so I decided to order from the menu and wait for it to be made. One time I ordered a fried mahimahi combo, which i won't do again. The mahi-mahi I got seemed like it was put in the fryer the day before and left overnight. Either that, or what I had wasn't really mahi-mahi, but a deep fried tennis shoe. It was crazy how much batter there was, and how fried it was. Fish shouldn't be crunchier than captain crunch cereal. This was. Never again. Next time (next day, actually) back, I opted for the chicken katsu with almond shrimp. Shrimp was ok, katsu was wtf. Me and my wife like to call this skin katsu, cause that's all it was. Skin dipped in batter and Fried. I will post a pic and you can see how shameful it really was. Come on guys, its chicken- the cheapest of the meat. No need to be so stingy! As crazy as it sounds, for as bad as my review has gone down, I will still continue to eat here. I like the people who own it, I just think they need to take the customers a little more seriously and put a little more care in their food. read more

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Great place, comparable to L&L in terms of variety. To many things on the menu. Lovely hostess and servers. Food was hot! For a small place near Costco this was a good stop in a hurry. read more

Decent place if you want quick bite to eat. Nothing fancy but their food is petty good. Don't get their cha mein. The noodles are too thin. read more

Rainbow Cafe - Cafes Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

My go to place to order take outs when there's no time to cook. I recommend fried chicken wings, salt n pepper ribs, salt n pepper fish, ox tail soup, roast duck, stir fry veggies. read more

They do a great job on the roast pork place and BBQ chicken. Great lunch for the price with great customer service.

A perfect hole in the wall run by a humble, sweet family. Food here is solid and the garlic shrimp is AMAZING!!! Easy parking, great location, affordable legit food, and great customer service :) I was wondering why this place doesn't have higher reviews and it turns out they used to be run by a different owner with a different chef. If you're in the area, I would definitely give this place a try! read more

First place we tried when we came to the big island. Their bbq short ribs are legit, best I've ever had. Lots of people recommended broke the mouth furikake chicken, which was good, but if I to choose between that and the bbq short ribs, it's the ribs by a mile. read more

Nice hot simple food when I am traveling and looking for a local place to eat. Good friendly service in downtown kona. They have a lot of seating and Chinese and local food. read more

Rainbow Cafe - Ham and cheese omlette - Cafes Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

This was the second time we've eaten here after getting gas at Costco in our way to our late flight home. The owners/restaurant workers are super nice-- even stayed open a bit late for us. Kid friendly, very relaxed atmosphere. We got lumpia, wontons, lo mein all of which the kids gobbled up. Along with fried rice and spam musubi. Everything tasted good and is fast and filling, And very reasonably priced to feed a family. read more

My family and I came by here after a long day of traveling and it did not disappoint! I got a burger and my sister and brother got the fried rice and it was amazing! My little brother was obsessed with his shrimp fried rice. We are I'll definitely find the time to return before we leave the island. Super tasty and people were kind. read more