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.

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.

Came in because of the reviews and for a quick dessert. Firstly, the woman was a little rude and…read morealmost acted as if we were interrupting her even though there were no customers at the time. We ordered three hot fudge sundaes when she told us she couldn't give us hot fudge because she didn't have enough and would just give us regular chocolate syrup. We obliged and got the sundaes with the chocolate syrup. Nothing special about the sundaes. Cute little shop.

On our way to the Waipio Valley Lookout, we decided to stop in Honokaa for a quick snack. We tried…read morethe key lime fudge, and it was pretty good. I don't think I've had key lime fudge before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I really liked the texture of the fudge.

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.

My family came here and ate a wonderful meal family style. The owners are so sweet and easy to talk…read moreto, you feel like your mom is cooking for you in her own kitchen. All the food felt very clean. I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

Bought out by Minute Stop. No Aloha, employees have serious…read moreattitude problems. Unusual policies, and personal conflicts with customers over unjust practices. Since being asked to have my Drivers License scanned to verify my age as they say, (I am over 40 years old), I have received Hundreds of Spam emails, advertisements, and other unsolicited responses. I would suggest if you can avoid this place to do so. I personally will not support a business that tries to retaliate against customers that have supported the business for 20+ years, only to see a corporate company take over, and treat customers like the trash! I will not do business with this branch until they change Management, policy, and attitude, as they treat their customers like they are the enemy! Avoid this place if you are able.

Good is made there or there is gas station like snacks as well. You can get a lot of household…read moreitems too if you need. Gas is reasonably priced as well. Friendly staff. East location to get to. Quick stop in and out.

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.

Nice little cafe! I got an Americano with oat milk for hubby, a latte with oat milk for myself, and…read morefudge sample pack to go... I enjoyed every drop of my latte thank you very much! My family and I enjoyed the fudge samples as well, especially the Lili koi one with macnuts on top. Service was very responsive. I was in and out of there in about 5 min.

My husband and I have visited the big island many times and I was looking for things we haven't…read morealready done. When I found this, it looked interesting. It turned out to be fantastic. The food was incredible. It was interesting to hear how they use vanilla. I almost never order a grilled chicken sandwich because they're usually dry and boring, but this one was not. It was one of the best meals I've had this year. The tour portion was incredibly interesting. I learned so much about vanilla. All in all, I highly recommend this!

This is my second time doing this tour that includes a lovely meal. The last time it was about 8…read moreyears ago when it was family run and a smaller operation. Now that the family's owner's kids have grown up and moved away. They have lucked out by hiring an incredible do- everything- tour guy named Zach, who is just so filled with knowledge about the history of vanilla and the botany and post harvest detail details of the vanilla. He gives a fabulous tour that is very engaging for everybody. Zach is also incredibly jazzed up about cooking with vanilla and he and his family live on the property and he has been on board with the Hawaiian Vanilla Company since 2023. The have just become so immersed in the vanilla. He shares his recipes and findings with you via email after the tour if you're interested. He also serves up the luncheon which for us included either a vanilla black tea, unsweetened, or a vanilla lemonade or an on Palmer of the two and a starter of a vanilla, gee infused popcorn, followed by a Kristine with vanilla Gar masala and some other vanilla spices with the shrimp and then the main courseteriyaki chicken thigh, marinated in a vanilla a brioche bond made with vanilla and a holy, made with vanilla a salad topped with a balsamic vanilla dressing and a bunch of candied vanilla pecans. After you do the vanilla tour return to the main building and enjoy coffee with vanilla and Kareem and vanilla ice cream for dessert. I had been using the other sauce of the vanilla starter kit that I purchased the last time I talked about 10 years ago and I was very happy to get more beans and some tips on starting a new batch. They have a huge variety of extract made with different types of alcohol that you can smell and they also sell of course they are double strength extract, which is the bomb, but I prefer to make my own cause then I gotta tell everybody I made my own from their beans. It did rain when we were there but they provide umbrellas and if you don't feel like walking about 3rd mile on the hill too the vanilla growing area you can't get a ride in that six seater gator back-and-forth. I highly I recommend this tour!!!

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.

Had great ready to eat stuff, but we found less fresh fruit and veggies. Maybe becuase it wasnt…read morespring time yet? I would recommend the Koma Farmers Market or the Kona Grocery Store over the Farmer's market at Hamakua for fresh veggies and fruits.

Great farmers market in a beautiful location. There is fresh produce, local goods, and great food…read moretrucks!