I had The Hidden Nene bookmarked when I was planning out my trip to Hilo and I couldn't be happier…read morewith my experience at the speakeasy. My wife and I stopped by for pre-dinner drinks and we absolutely loved the drinks that we were able to try out. I started out with a cocktail called the "Spam Dram", a crispy Spam fat-washed barrel-proof bourbon, combined with seared Spam and nori syrup and topped off with a spam musubi garnish. As one might guess, this drink was presented in a spam musubi tin, and atop the bed of crushed ice was an *entire* spam musubi. The drink was a perfect representation of spam musubi in a glass -- sweet, savory, and full of umami. Props to whichever bartender put together this creative drink. The next drink I ordered was the "Smoky Bear", another bourbon based cocktail. This one had bird's eye chili essence in it, and was much closer than your traditional Old Fashioned, except it had an incredible amount of smokiness and a punch of heat to it as well. If you enjoy stiff drinks with complexity, look no further than this cocktail. While we were seated at the bar, we overheard somebody close to us mentioning a password special that had been posted on the Instagram page of The Hidden Nene. We checked their latest story posted two hours earlier and the password special for the day was a "fizz me baby one more time", a strawberry and yuzu gin fizz. My wife ordered this cocktail as her second drink and loved how refreshing the drink tasted. Overall, if you consider yourself a cocktail connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to check out The Hidden Nene if you're in Hilo.

The coastal town of Hilo hides the fantastic speakeasy, The Hidden Nēnē. Head down the stairs by…read morethe green door, and it becomes less hidden, and you can see the sign for the basement level bar. The underground space is low green lighting, a long bar, and green velvet bar chairs. We went during the day, so they were not busy, and were able to sit at the bar. The service was quick, relaxed, and friendly. The cocktails are upscale priced, but well made. They do offer a full food menu, we did not order any food on our visit.

Food is great and service was awesome. Love the location, in the heart of Hilo. Ambiance was homie…read moreand inviting.

TIKI DAVE of TIKI DAVE TRAVEL / TIKI DAVE'S TERRIFIC TRIPS highly recommends PINEAPPLES!…read more There is a reason this place has such great reviews. You definitely want to make a reservation in advance, especially if there are cruise ships in port. Otherwise, you're going to wait in line. I would say that the very best thing on the menu is the Teriyaki Flank Steak Appetizer ($19)....this thing is SICK. We ordered the appetizer and it is the most unique Teriyaki steak I have ever had. The teriyaki sauce is rich and just amazing. Just order it. I am still craving it. We also ordered the Lilikoi Hoisin wings and SON OF TIKI DAVE ordered the Lemon Macadamia Chicken ($28) which was delicious, too. They have a full bar and the Mai Tais are awesome. We ordered a couple a piece. Ambience and service is great. And with your receipt, you get at 10% discount at Wilson's Shave Ice across the street. TIKI DAVE from TIKI DAVE'S TERRIFIC TRIPS absolutely loves PINEAPPLES! I will be making a video of my experience so...and here it is! https://youtu.be/yVi4ZEcMw3g?is=0GTf-vESLcn0BX0_ Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/@TIKIDAVETRAVEL And follow! https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565274777775&mibextid=ZbWKwL https://www.instagram.com/tikidavetravel/?__d=1%2F%3Fhidemenu%3Dtrue

Great service. Great food. Nice people. Easy to get to and friendly staff. Menu has a great…read morevariety. Drinks are the best

I wish I could update this in a good way, but they haven't improved since they lost one of their…read morechefs. Took my sister and brother in-law this time. They were highly disappointed, as their second visit, and first was dismal as well. I wish I could report a better experience, but this was the last time, and our family is not going back again. What a shame, as the servers are So nice! I wonder how many people say nothing, because the servers are very nice, but they just won't be back.

We enjoyed an evening eating and drinking outside listening to a live band. Older crowd, great…read moremusic, had to be careful as it was pouring rain and the tarps didn't all cover the eating area. Large selection of beers, including a very nicely priced beer tower. Equally wide selection of foods, their moco loco was great. The real highlight was the attentive service. Our server went above and beyond to ensure we wanted for nothing. She was wonderful.

I was traveling through town and visited the Tavern in part of an experience of Hawaii. The food…read morewas decent but got sexually harassed by a guest musician after his show. The male violinist was polite to buy me a drink and a side of fries but immediately after the show ended and his bandmates left, he demanded I have intimacy with him immediately in his car. When I said no he got very mad and stomped his feet. Luckily I was able to escape without him following me home.He is from Santa Monica and his female bandmate has a gem shop on the board walk. I consider this man very dangerous. Experience April 1 2025.

Friendly vibe. Convenient for guests…read more A couple of Mai Tais and or house wine and or domestic beer is included as part of the daily resort fee that Hilton charges for a stay at this property. Relaxed vibe in the lobby with low key and pleasant entertainment on the Friday evening that I was there. Service was fast, friendly and efficient.

If youre staying at the Hilton, dont pass up the opportunity to enjoy the many offerings here…read more Open air windows and pleasant music greet you in the am for strong complimentary coffee and breakfast offerings. Try the spam musubi, especially if you have that resort credit. Evenings great local Hawaiian music and hula dancers entertain you while you enjoy their special island breeze cocktail. Our party of 4 finally decided to just eat dinner there on a Friday night .. place was packed, but food came out pretty quick. We were all surprised how good it was (Im sober so can't blame that). Prices reasonable service friendly. Margherita flat bread, Kailua pork w cabbage and the pulled pork were scarfed quickly. Entertainment was fabulous on Friday. I recommend this place for casual meal and drinks.

Puna Chocolate Company is one of my favorite local chocolate artisan shops, conveniently located in…read moreDowntown Hilo. Since my time away, they have beautifully renovated the interior to have a sit-down booth area. I love the abundance of nene decor honoring our state bird, along with high quality chocolates made in Hawaii. The store clerk was very knowledgeable and described how each cultivars of chocolate differ in their taste profiles. We had the horchata 50% milk chocolate bar, and I don't have a picture because we devoured it in one sitting! Overall, Puna Chocolate Co. is an elegant, delightful, and elevated experience that rivals big names like Big Island Candies and Dandelion Chocolates in San Francisco. Highly recommend in stopping by!

Apparently I was wrong about the service! Lol. The owner angrily ranted at me about how there…read morewasn't any AI in his shop, despite the fact that when I visited, nearly every single poster on the walls advertising events either utilized AI generated art or was wholly generated by it. You'd think that as the owner of a small business, he'd want to support the many local artists to create promotional material and consider customer comments with some grace and humility, but I suppose this isn't that kind of place. Genuinely embarrassing for the owner and the company he's representing.

Quaint local restaurant that has a creative menu with a personal flare of the Owner chef. Staff is…read morevery knowledgeable about their menu and makes excellent recommendations. My husband and I sat at the bar and enjoyed the excellent company of our bartender server who gave excellent descriptions of the menu items ...making our mouth water before we even ordered our dinner. At Her recommendation, we enjoyed the ricotta gnocchi's As our shared starter and the pan seared local Opah fish dish which was amazing.. Reservations are highly recommend as this is a locals favorite... so tables fill quickly.. and you don't want to miss this exquisite restaurant in service and food quality!

I usually avoid writing reviews for heavily reviewed businesses, but I'm making an exception for…read morethis one as it was the best eatery my wife and I visited during our nearly week long honeymoon on the Big Island split between Hilo and Kona. We ordered the risotto, fresh catch (marlin), crispy rice, gnocchi, and finished off with the mac nut ganache mascarpone pots de crème. We did share a Lemon peel lemonade cocktail. The Lemon peel lemonade was basically spiked lemonade. Well balanced for being a tart oriented drink, but I didn't care for the floating bits. The risotto which comes in full and half order, was very rich and had chunks of mushrooms for flavor. We're glad we got the half as this was a heavy, rich, and cheesy entrée on its own. If you love risotto, you will love this dish. The marlin was perfectly cooked and balanced out with a locally inspired vegetable succotash. Fried bits of kalo were also added in for added texture. The special and new item, the gnocchi was the star of the show. This is by far the fluffiest gnocchi we've ever had. Crispy on the outside, little potato clouds of fluff on the inside. The gnocchi came over a tasty sauce with bits of fried onion for absolute perfection. The crisp rice was recommended by Yelpers and it was alright, crispy rice with a spoon of poke. Not bad, but did not live up to the hype. Get another order of the gnocchi instead. It's fairly rare to see pots de crème on restaurant menus, specials or not, so we had to get this. It came in a cute little glass jar, with rich chocolate and mascarpone flavor with a hint of mac nut. This desert was an absolutely delicious perfect end to the meal. You can make reservations online, street parking is quite limited, and it can get busy as the night goes on, so recommended to get an earlier dinning time. Staffs regularly checked in on us and were polite and efficient.

Local dive bar for regular Pau Hana's!…read more This place was made for the local aunties and uncles. We came here after work on a Friday Night. Right away Aunty Joy greeted us with her pretty smile! Got us our drinks and gave us pupus! She made her rounds regularly and talked story with us between rounds. So sweet. Had live music playing and had the most fun time with the later waitresses that came in for their night shift. This is a mom and pop dive bar. Less Michelin star and more homey feel. Defs go back and talk story with aunty!

Hottest staff, bar none. The absolute BEST people; period. This place is a hidden gem. The people…read morethere are the epitome of Aloha. They are the absolute BEST.

Terrible place it was like a ghost town. Don't go Here if…read moreyou have vibes that are ecstatic. They lie about their machine working for karaoke

Food is good, service is nice, if they busy be patient. Get one girl that sing good karaoke…read moresometimes.

We had such a great dinner here! We came during happy hour and ordered a bento box, a combo, the…read moresteak fries, and the dynamite roll. Everything was delicious and the portions were huge. You definitely get a lot of food for your money. The drinks were great too. The matcha cocktail was amazing and one of my favorite drinks we tried. What really stood out was the service. The host, bartender, and our waitress were all so kind, friendly, and welcoming. Great food, generous portions, fun drinks, and genuinely wonderful service. Cute patio but you can't bring drinks out there, the bar inside was nice though.

It was a pleasure to discover this exceptional establishment offering a fusion of Asian cuisines…read more Food quality: Everything was fresh, tasty, and good portions for the money. Ambiente: Cozy, clean, and nicely decorated. Price: Priced right, and two people can enjoy a wonderful meal for under $116. Service: Right off the bat, the hospitality felt welcoming, the service was attentive, and our orders came very quickly. Good job!