Had to make a stop at Punaluʻu Bake Shop because you can't drive past that place and not give in…read more.. and yeah, zero regrets. Walked in and it's like instant comfort--sweet bread smell hitting you before you even figure out what you want. Grabbed a few items and every single one delivered. Soft, fresh, just the right amount of sweetness without feeling heavy. One of those spots where you take a bite, pause, and go "ok yeah... this is why people talk about this place." What I liked most is it didn't feel like a tourist trap--it felt real. Good energy, quick service, and plenty to choose from whether you want something sweet or just a quick snack for the road. Definitely one of those must-stop spots when you're cruising the island... just don't plan on leaving with only one thing.

My wife and I stopped by Punalu'u Bake Shop on a Thursday afternoon around 2:30 p.m. and almost…read moreeverything from their menu was sold out. The only items in their pastry case was two types of turnovers, bread pudding, normal malasadas with no fillings, and "Bismark" malasadas, malasadas filled with white cream and topped with chocolate. None of the fruit filled malasadas available. Like most of the guests in line, we were frustrated at the availability, or lack thereof. At the register, we overheard the woman behind the counter confirm that most of the store's inventory had been cleared out by locals who had placed large phone-in orders beforehand. In my opinion, this shortage could have been avoided: if large orders are placed well in advance, it seems like they could have planned better for their in-store guests by making more inventory? In any case, the sugar covered malasada ($2.29) I had was fine, but not mind-blowing. Definitely not something I would go out of my way to try out, nor something I would wait in a line line for. The malasada had obviously been sitting around all day in the case and didn't taste especially fresh. If anything, the malasada was a little on the dense side. Out of curiosity, I also got a block of their bread pudding ($3.29), and my goodness, that thing is a brick. The bread pudding here is dense! The bread pudding is loaded with raisins. If you're a raisin fan, you'll absolutely love the bread pudding. For everyone else, the raisins make the bread pudding a bit too sweet. Overall, my visit to Punalu'u Bake Shop was pretty disappointing. I would unlikely stop by again if I'm visiting this part of the island.

We arrived shortly before closing, but the staff were very kind and took our order for our late,…read morelight lunch. We enjoyed the mushroom ginger soup, which was flavorful and and a soup and fresh green salad combo. Everything was delicious, flavorful, and just right. And the pricing was affordable. Woo hoo! Seated amidst the interesting and unique art of the gallery, with views outside to the gardens, it was a calm and peaceful dining experience.

After what felt like a long half day at Volcanoes National Park nearby, my husband and I were…read morelooking for a little pick-me-up before heading back to the park after dark. We found Cafe Ono online, but realized it was closing soon. We decided to stop by anyway to check out Volcano Garden Arts, if anything, and we are so glad we did. The staff working at the cafe were so kind and still hooked us up with some caffeine, even though they were technically already closed - we really appreciated that. We got our coffee (good but nothing extraordinary tbh) and a snack, chatted a bit with the owner, and then decided to explore the grounds instead of sitting indoors the entire time. It was so fun to wander through the little shop (with their "please touch" policy) and gallery, check out the outdoor dining areas, meet one of the famous NZ bunnies (I think there were supposed to be 2 though..?), and walk through their forest and gardens. Even on a slightly rainy and damp day, the outdoor walk was enjoyable. The space is whimsically decorated with art, sculptures, and local products for sale, and at times it gave off an Alice in Wonderland vibe. We're not sure when we'll be back in this area or on Big Island in general, but if/when we are I'd love to return and explore again.

Amazing mochi donuts, my fav is the taro Haupia…read more Also, the guava cream cheese turnover is so good! Love that this little bakery is so close to home.

From the moment we walked in, everyone was kind and welcoming. All of the baked goods looked…read moreextremely fresh and inviting. We tried pineapple cream cheese croissants, raspberry Danish, stone cookies, butter rolls and all were delicious. We will always stop on our way to or from Volcano National Park. Mahalo!

In other places, this would be a four stars but on Hawaii and near Volcanoes National Park this is…read morea 5. The woman behind the counter was very friendly and kind which can be difficult to find in this busy tourist town. Thank you so much! We were there Nov 10. The ambiance is casual. The seating area is outside underneath an awning. There are world maps outside so you can pin the location you're from. The food is very good value especially for Hawaii. I paid about $12 each for a sandwich that was packed with fresh ingredients. It can be hard to find good value meals around Volcano. This sandwich came with packets of mayo and mustard on the side. I appreciated they didn't add this to the sandwich beforehand. Honestly, if you're on the Big Island, you probably know by now how expensive fresh veggies are. These veggies were delicious and good quality. I've had trouble finding such good quality veggies even at higher price points. I hope they never change their selection because I thought the fresh veggie sandwich was great for the value. It was big and very filling. Again, I wish I had caught the name of the young 5'2ish woman serving me. Someone on the Big Island offered me a job because they said it was hard to find someone reliable to show up for a job at a gas station. They thought I was a local. Well, this woman was very helpful and friendly despite the long line of customers. Hope someone gives her a raise if she's an employee, because it sounds like good employees are tough to come by and she was definitely great.

So the Eagles Lighthouse Cafe is no more. Let this be a eulogy then. For starters, let's go with…read morethe praise. The food was great. Nice down home cookin', reasonably priced. Now for this. The place was festooned with Bible quotes, Biblical vignettes in the windows, and the three flags of Christian Nationalism garishly out front - the US flag, the Israeli flag, and the nationalist "Plea To Heaven" flag. All paradoxically in tatters and never taken in for good keeping. It did not give off a welcome Biblical vibe though - just one of "agree with us or take it down the road." The kitchen and counter personnel were usually fairly nice people who gave great service. The owners, when they were present, gave off something entirely different. Like you were inconveniencing them by being there. Short tempered and terse if they took your order. If you read the earlier comments, you will hear of them coming unhinged and screaming at some customer about something either overblown, or imagined. They refused to pay their employees properly, with something even close to a living wage. When the Hawaii legislature finally hiked the minimum wage, they stuck out an alarmist notice written in childish green marker that they were sooooo sorry but they "had to" raise their prices a bit because the mean old Hawaii house raised the wage. And of course taxes under Biden, yada yada. In the end, the ELC was a victim of the owners' disposition. It's a very bad business model indeed, when politics, religion and greed actually get in the way of doing business. My best wishes to the employees, I really hope they can find something decent to replace this experience. For the self righteous, sanctimonious greed of the owners and operators - as Jesus said, "Yeah verily, you have your reward."

Big Island Bakehouse is a can't miss when visiting Big Island! We made it over to this place on our…read moresecond to last day and we were greeted with so much cheer and the friendly staff gave recommendations and helped guide our choices. We tried the Bomboloni and Nutella Coconut croissant during our initial visit. The Bomboloni reminds me of a malasada but I enjoyed the creamy filling of this so much more. We ended up going back on our last day and tried some of the savory options - the goat cheese pesto croissant and then sausage roll were standouts for us. Enjoyed this place so much we hardly took pictures, but everyone should add this as a stop especially if visiting Volcano National Park!

Open only 3 days a week, this has become one of my favorite stops on the way to Volcano (from…read moreHilo). In fact, except Madam Pele does NOT necessarily keep to the same schedule as the bakery, would try to time my Volcano drives to coincide with Friday, Saturday, or Sunday! Hahah. Today got a sampling of Mediterranean scones (savory with olives and delicious seasonings), croissants, danish, and my favorite... the ube cruffin. Holy Moly Batman... that one item was worth the drive alone! Since there really wasn't any real estate in our tummies, we split everything 3 ways... over the course of the next few hours. Two weeks later, still thinking about that ube cruffin! Would definitely do a repeat on that as well as the Medeterranean scones while trying other items. And as the nice couple infront of us in line mentioned, will have to return for the sister deli across the parking lot. Heard it was featured in Guy Hagi's food vlog. And if its good enough for Guy Hagi its where I want to be my next mealtime!

When traveling to the neighbor islands, I always look forward to trying good eats at local…read morebusinesses. Found this cute little bake shop with great reviews on Yelp and had to check it out. Cardamom coffee cake was moist and full of sweet spicy goodness with chocolate chips sprinkled in. The cinnamon raisin walnut swirl was large, dense and heavy. I opted for the one without sugar icing on top. The sweet cinnamon goo rolled in the middle was so good and made me feel less guilty than when eating a Cinnabon. The guy at the counter told me he wanted to work at the bakery after eating the ginger molasses cookies, so of course I had to try them! They were big, soft but with density and tasted like fall. Not life changing for us, but good for those who appreciate that size. Because they close on Sundays and I was only there for the weekend, I went a little nuts. Also had to try the Lilikoi pie. It was different from those I've had on Kauai. This one had more of the consistency of a keylime pie which they also offer. It was tart abd good. Portions and sizes here are generous. Their style is more rustic and homey. So glad Hilo has another good bakery for me to visit ! Next time I'll go earlier when they're not sold out of their best sellers! (Oops! Forgot to let my camera eat first so photos show half eaten bags.)

My partner and I finally had the opportunity to try out this bakery, and we were very impressed…read morewith their mini cinnamon rolls. Their mini cinnamon rolls are not overly doughy, have the right amount of cinnamon, are not overly sweet, and are enjoyably soft. We will definitely be ordering these again. I also got their cardamom coffee cake, which was excellent as well. It was very moist and, like the mini cinnamon rolls, had the perfect amount of sweetness. We will be back to try their other offerings in the future. So, if you're looking for a solid bakery in Hilo, be sure to check them out!

We've read about this place in many Big Island guides, so it was a must stop when visiting the Hilo…read moreside of the island. I must say, these are probably the best mochi balls I've had in my life. Every flavor came to life with every bite. It's very tight inside without any place to sit so be prepared to queue outside if the line is long. You can call in ahead to avoid the crowds. This is definitely one of the must visit spots on the Big Island. Even if you're on the Kailua Kona side.

We tried coming around noon on a weekday but the line was long and we thought maybe we wouldn't be…read moreable to get the flavors we wanted so decided to call to place an order to pick up the following day. We came at 10:30am which was the pickup time we asked for and waited about 20 minutes in the phone order line before being called into the store and waited a few more minutes and left with our order around 11. They did give samples in line though, so that was nice. I did wish I knew about the additional daily fresh fruit flavors beforehand though so that I could order those when I called! I didn't see it until I came to pick up. The place is small and only enough room for a few people at a time. The strawberry mochi is amazing! Other flavors are good too, so soft and fresh. I think it's worth going if you like mochi and have the time!

5 Stars on Yelp and it makes sense! The Japanese bakery is…read moredelicious and they do have a few items that are gluten free like the macaroons. Highly recommend their patries! Lady Bug dessert was not overly sweet at all and in the center there is a surprise! Blueberry :) !

Wow, the pastries are amazing and so beautiful and painstakingly put together. We had a curry bun,…read moreCaramel custard, the peanut butter chocolate bar, and macadamia carrot cake. All were amazing. As an example of how carefully these are crafted, the peanut butter bar had a crunchy crust lightly topped with a thin, creamy peanut butter layer, topped by a lighter, almost mousse like peanut butter layer and then a chocolate ganache. We got there at 9:30 am on a Friday and they were fully stocked. We tried again on Saturday at 1:00 and they were already closed because they sold out, so go early.

If you are headed to 'Akaka falls, Mr. Eds is a must stop on your way there or back. This bakery…read moreoffers some delicious, homemade baked goods and even better service. Mr. Ed himself helped my husband and I decide on many pastries to try and none of them disappointed! I only snapped a photo of one, as the others we'd eaten before I even thought to take photos. They were too good to wait! While getting our pastries, Mr. Ed was also kind enough to share some of his story and it was wonderful to hear directly from the shop owner why he is there and his love for the island and the town. The shop is cozy and feels family ran so it was just a lovely stop on the big island for not only delicious baked treats, but wonderful company as well.

Rolled through town and decided to stop and check the place out. Cute store with lots of baked…read moregoods. We ended up trying a bunch of the preserves and mustards and grabbed 2 jars to bring back home to the mainland. The little street is the tourist version of what smalltown Hawaii could be. Not that I am complaining.

The review will be as dry as the cake It looked nice, but I…read morefeel like there shouldn't be a warning on the box already implying if something is wrong with the cake, it's you not the bakery.. it was incredibly dry, and disappointing. I wanted a flavored gender reveal cake and we weren't allowed to pick anything flavor of cake other than vanilla, which I can understand for the frosting it's easier to color a vanilla frosting. But cake? Nothing else ? Not even Haupia ? I've baked cakes for years. I wanted another local bakery to do this surprise for us and such a disappointment, clearly over baked and done the day before. Wasn't fresh. For the price it was a huge miss. Frosting was nice. And yes sadly we will finish the $80 6 " inch around Vanilla on vanilla cake with Ube ice cream. Highly recommend.

This bake shop is attached to a gelato place. There was a small display case of baked goods with a…read morevariety of tempting sweets and my dear brother bought almost half of the items that were encased. In the meantime, I ordered 3 specialty drinks: toasted coconut hot chocolate, chocolate chai latte, Mauka Trail mocha (with non-dairy Mac nut milk), and a Kona Coffee & chocolate gelato milk shake. Every beverage was delicious! The young lady, who made them was very sweet, friendly, and soft spoken. The young lady helping my brother with the sweets was also very nice & friendly. The interior was really cute with a section dedicated to keiki (children). There were tables and a seating area with couches and a little gift shop displaying colorful artwork by local artists all illuminated by interesting lighting. We definitely want to return before we leave to try their gelato. But, we will also pick up more desserts because their baked goods were truly scrumptious, which included Lilikoi pie, flourless chocolate cake, a variety of cannolis, cookies, and Ricotta pound cake. We were on a sugar high but that's vacation in Hawaii for you! Aloha!