So good!!!! I got the macadamia nut pancake with bananas and coconut syrup! Came with three pieces of Portuguese sausage and a good sized fruit bowl! My wife got the basic breakfast. Everything was amazing. Especially the fresh squeezed juice! read more

Island Lava Java - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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TIPS: Amazing sunset views from the outdoor seating Laid back atmosphere, shorts/flip flops perfect attire Plenty of food served, definitely enough to share with another. We went to downtown Kona last evening to walk around and shop a little. We were looking for a place to eat, and this place got our attention because the outside seating, and perfect sunset views. So not only did we have amazing seating for the sunset, the food was so tasty! Not a fancy place, just a good little place to eat. I love it when a restaurant can take something ordinary and make it into something special with their own slant. In this case, it was the blue cheese burger. So awesome! The service was prompt and the server was very courteous. One more thing making this a relaxing and enjoyable meal was that there was a guy playing his saxophone along with some music played on a speaker set up there out front. I thought he was very talented and enjoyed his playing very much. I would most definitely recommend this place again. read more

It was a very disappointing dinner today at this restaurant. Calamari was flavorless. By far the most disappointing we ordered a fish and chips and Toscana pizza, the pizza was good, but the fish and chip were burned to a crisp. I got my servers attention, and we sent it back to be remade she was very nice about it, but apparently, when we got the remade fish and chips, the manager brought it out to us with and attitude and asked us to taste it and stated to us "just so we know the fish we asked our waitress to remake there was nothing wrong with it"and stood at our table and demanded us to taste the new dish to prove he was right ,we don't normally speak up but this behavior from a so called manager is unacceptable. I am ashamed for you to have this attitude representing your restaurant. We asked for our check after being so rudly dismissed. The waitress was super nice and extremely apologetic for his behavior. She should not need to apologize for her manager. This person should not be in a role to manage anything. read more

Amazing food, friendly staff, expansive views of the ocean, and, if you happen to visit in the evening, a gorgeous sunset too! This place offers everything one could hope for from a restaurant in Hawaii. Have been here 4 times now and it never disappoints! read more

Greatly improved interior from previous location, friendly staff, good choices, even organic coffee

My favorite place to eat while in Hawaii. Both locations were phenomenal. The Big Kahuna breakfast was my favorite and never disappointed me. read more

The menu indicates a veggie burger but they do not have one. The Poke is the vegetarian option. -- Editing my review for full details with the rest of our experience there. Updating to 1 star from 3 as it became worse. The vegan poke is poke without the fun and any dressing. The tofu is grilled and had such a strong fish taste I couldn't touch it (and I am not usually picky). I would double check if they grill / fry it in the same pans / oil as the fried calamari. We had a free beer for our trouble but it really doesn t make up for the poor experience. - the menus you find on their website and social media are all different. None is accurate and identical to the restaurant menu. All show a version. of a veggie burger though. - the server took my order for veggie burger but brought the meat one. When asked she almost blamed me for ordering wrong! Her and another server confirmed they never had a veggie burger and blamed me. I had to ask for the menu to be brought back to show her the veggie burger! - my husband ate his dish while I was waiting for my replacement and then watched me it because he was done by the time my replacement came - I politely informed the 2 hostess at the front of the restaurant that there is an issue on the menu with the veggie burger. They said thank you but clearly did not care and did not even open a menu to check what I was talking about. I also asked how the tofu was grilled and if it was in the same oil as they fry calamari and they were not helpful or able to answer and did not care. I told them they were misleading to vegetarians and vegans but I think they don't care about these consumers. Someone from the restaurant reached out privately being surprised the veggie burger was not available yesterday but I wanted to reply publicly to make it helpful to everyone. I was clearly told by multiple servers there was never a veggie burger in this restaurant. read more

Pretty big disappointment. Ordered a medium burger and I'm not exaggerating that it was raw...barely cooked on the outside and cold and raw on the inside. I asked that it was recooked, and it came back medium rare to rare at best...I ate a bit around the edges, but that's all I could stomach. It also had zero flavor...no spice at all, just a beef patty without taste. Interestingly, a woman sitting at the next table had the same experience, and said her medium burger "moo-ed" when she bit into it. Also had a disappointing fish taco...this is the first time we've really been let down food-wise on the Big Island...too many other great restaurants, I'd skip this one! read more

The view is really nice. I will say I really enjoyed sitting and watching the ocean waves crash on the rocks. Came on a Friday around noon. However, the food was pretty terrible- probably the most disappointing meal on this trip (and we purchased pre cooked food at the grocery store) None of us tried the coffee so it might be really good - don't know. We did try and order an iced coffee but they never brought it. (And they did take it off our bill) The service was a bit slow but overall they were all very nice and attentive. Sorry for the two stars!! Great view and nice service but the food and price for the food was no great. We did see some folks just relax and grab coffee while enjoying the view, so certainly something to do! read more

Wow, one of the best breakfast in the town. I tried fresh catch of the day. It was cooked as requested and waffles plate for my wife was so good, she loved the food. It was worth the wait time. And great service too. Ocean front breakfast which we will never forget. Thanks for your service. read more

Place was busy on a Monday night but the wait was only @ 20 minutes. Funny thing was that the place was maybe 50% full so not sure what the wait was about. Got a table on the second floor, with a nice view of the water. Our server, Calvin, was great. Food was pretty good. Very interesting take on fish & chips which were shaped into large sticks. Pretty good, although not what I was expecting. Overall a good experience. read more

I got the Daily Fish Benedict and it was great. Fish was seasoned perfect, sauce was delicious, and being on a croissant made it easy to cut through and made it even tastier. Would go here any day. read more

Came here for breakfast. We were the 2nd ones in the door when they opened at 7:30am. The man ahead of us was a local and his canoeing club meets there every Thursday for breakfast so you know it has to be good. I had the bagel with smoked salmon which had a generous portion of salmon, cream cheese and capers. Husband had the "Drag it thru the Garden" which was an egg, ham, and fresh greens and tomatoes which he loved. One important tip..get up early and get there when they open. By the time we left, all tables were full. read more

Very nice. FRESH FOOD. Nui ka 'ono o ka 'ope huamoa lau'ai me ka waiūpa'a kao a me ka pesto makekemia. Bonus: A homeless man showed up and they gave him a coffee and a meal. Good people. read more

Great breakfast spot. Nice view of the ocean early in the morning and they had entertainment. I had a great meal? read more

Island Lava Java - Yummy! - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

What a delicious breakfast! Grilled ahi cooked to perfection, a mound of rice and all the right condiments. Attentive, friendly service in a beautiful open air environment looking towards the ocean. Definitely returning. read more

Island Lava Java - Yum!! Perfect ahi breakfast! - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

We had Breakfast at this place with an amazing ocean view ! I had veggie roasted omelet with macadamia nut pesto which was delicious 5 star for it. My husband had fish taco which was good to. I would highly recommend this place. Reserve ahead of time as it gets busy ! read more

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This place is amazing. The breakfast is the best on the island. Super high quality Kona coffee. The banana mac nut pancakes with coconut syrup melt in your mouth. Not heavy or gut bomb but the best quality ingredients and view. Service is fantastic with white linen table cloths. The ultimate in outdoor dining with the the sea wall in your face. read more

Island Lava Java - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

If you're hungry then this is the place to fill your empty stomach. Having to listen to live music while eating was great. I didn't know they have their own parking lot, but I found one on the street. The view was also great. The menu was straight forward. Their macadamia pancakes was incredible with coconut syrup. Our waitress was friendly and always there if we need anything. My kids loved their fruit bowl and Portuguese sausage. We will definitely be back here before we head back to the mainland. Mahalo.. read more

We stayed just a stone's throw away from this place, and ventured here for lunch one rainy day. The view of the ocean is great if you have a good table, and it looked like several large parties had a good time. A few negatives ... no easy place to park, and the only bathroom is not close at all, which is a big negative when you have someone with you that is a little disabled. I wouldn't make a special trip to come here, but if you are close it is a solid choice. read more

Best breakfast so far on the big island! Grilled fish with eggs! Big side of bacon, and sweet potato fries. Order and pay all on your phone. Fast and friendly service. read more

Arrived for breakfast on Monday morning (~8am) Views: 5 (beautiful from the water) Ambience: 3 Food taste: 2.5 (bland and not fresh) Food presentation: 4 (pretty but looked a little old) Food portion: 4 (slightly hungry afterward) Service: 3 (avg, nothing over the top. She did just enough) After trying fresh local food throughout our visit, this was probably the biggest let down. Although the food looked amazing, it just didn't have much flavor at all. I ordered the big kahuna fish breakfast and a mango strawberry smoothie. It looked like the food was sitting on the plate for a while. There was no salt on the fish at all and it seemed a little dry. The scrambled eggs were also really dry and solid. The pineapple slices didn't have much flavor and the smoothie wasn't sweet. I really wanted to like this place but it was a miss for us. SHORT SUMMARY: In short, go somewhere else. Our experience so far, all the food further inland tastes better. The ones along the shore are way too touristy and just not fresh. You're better off taking it to go and having a picnic at the beach. read more

The top shelf Bloody Mary is fantastic. Can't wait to return to Hawaii and get another one.

So came back for second breakfast and it was a tale of two servers our first server was amazing but today was worst service,. Jovana was so bad I had to go fill my own coffee and water I usually tip 20 percent not for her. Food was still amazing read more

They'll have me back because they have one of the best spots for watching the sunset (in which we missed!). The Pulpa (grilled octopus) was tasty but a bit on the chewy side and a tad dry. It was priced at Market price and the sheer size of it was well worth it. All my family's food I sampled was good. Not great but more than hit the spot after the 12 hour trip from Maryland eating snacks and airport food. The case of pastries had a fly and a gnat flying around in it but I had decided I didn't like the bland choices they offered anyway. Not mad at them for it is an outside cafe and bugs happen. read more

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Stayed in Kona for a month in Jan/Feb 2021 and ate out about 16 times with this being our least favorite. Great location but that almost should give it away. Just a CLASSIC tourist trap. Only enduring qualities was a reasonably priced wine list (nice bottle of stags leap Chardonnay for 28 bucks) and the location. Service was basically non existent. They've adopted the Red Robin approach of trying to use devices to order food and therefore avoid all human interaction. Only real interaction tonight was when she came by and asked if we wanted a chiller for the wine. We said yes but never heard from her again when it was as time to pay. Food was equally bad. Mahi tacos were pretty good hit everything else was very average (at best). "Scratch made" should read more like "Sysco made" read more

Arrived earlier this morning, was told there was a wait. So we waited about 10 minutes and we're seated. After we were seated, we sat there for 15 minutes and no one even looked at us or came to take a drink order. So we left. We weren't in a huge rush, but we didn't have time to sit around and wait all day. They probably have delicious breakfast, but we will not be back. read more

It was a nice sunny day day in Kona and it wasn't as voggy. I was itching to eat out with my parents and finally, they said yes to going out for brunch. They love to cook at home and this is my first time treating them out since I wanted them to experience a nice brunch out in the fresh air. We walk in to the establishment and I asked a lady how we can go about being seated. She was cleaning tables at the time and it wasn't busy as there were plenty of open tables. She asked for me to walk to the front to grab menu's and to be seated anywhere since there wasn't a wait at the time. I agreed and helped my parents find a comfortable seat outdoors. She sounded very rude at the time but I thought I was being too sensitive. My parents and I sat on the table towards the front and the same lady asked us to move since our tables couldn't touch the walk way. I was already pretty upset as we were told to sit anywhere at the time. We looked for another table already feeling skeptical about giving this place any business. Thankfully, our server was super nice and was very friendly. My dad had ordered the Local Eggs Benedict which thankfully tasted good to him. My mom and I ordered the Island Style Belgian Waffles. We were both hoping that the waffle would be more on the crunchy side and the waffle lacked any taste what so ever. The fruits tasted fresh and it was the only tasty thing on my dish. Sadly, I will not be returning to this place on any of my future trips or bringing family and friends here. First impressions makes a huge impact and sadly that first impression left a bad taste in my mouth along with the food. (Two Stars for our lovely server) read more

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The breakfast was excellent. The waffle was different - chewy but very good. Food was hot and waitstaff was attentive.

A bit hit and miss. When we went there the chicken wings appetizer was great, but the main courses were on the bland side (I had the fish tacos), and weren't as carefully prepared as I've had elsewhere. Prices are high for what you get in terms of quality. It's OK, but there's some better places on Ali'i Drive. read more

Service/staff - excellent! Coffee - delicious. We had breakfast during our visit to Island Lava Java; there was four of us and we all enjoyed the food very much. Totally recommend for the service/food/location! read more

My experience here was pretty underwhelming. It's my first time in Hawaii with my family and I really wanted to like this place; I was excited to dine here after reading positive reviews from fellow Yelpers. Check-in: Checking in was straightforward--I came with my family (party of 5) and were quoted a 20 minute wait during prime time for dinner. Our hostess was friendly and the call-back was prompt. Food: We decided to make it an easy dinner to share by ordering 2 pizzas (Big Island and Seaside Shrimp) along with calamari fritti and a beet salad. Honestly, the food was begging for more. The Big Island pizza was pretty tasty and the pork was tender and flavorful. It was a little on the greasy side but it was still good and my family ate it all up. I made note of the pizza crust because I liked the chewy texture it had. The Seaside Shrimp Pizza was good as well as it was very light and full of veggies, though I felt it would've had benefitted from more shrimp. The calamari was disappointing though. It was cold, very rubbery (from overcooking) and lacked crunch and flavor...and you know what? I STILL ate it because I was hungry. Unfortunately, I've had much better calamari from other eateries and was pretty disappointed about the lackluster calamari we received. The beet salad was a welcome respite from the greasiness/heaviness of the food but it was nothing spectacular or worth noting. -1 star Drinks: I ordered the guava lemonade and specifically asked for an alcoholic version. I was brought the non-alcoholic version so naturally I asked for that to be corrected. A server who wasn't assigned to our table was kind enough to correct the order. - 1 star Service: This was the reason I'm writing this review. It really does take one person to inspire someone to voice one's opinion. Hopefully, he will take note and save himself further trouble. Our server was a young man whom--from the very beginning--I felt did not feel genuinely interested in serving us, let alone be there to work. After we placed our orders and got the food, we realized there weren't any utensils and asked for him to bring some silverware for us. He scoffed and asked "really? You guys don't have any?" and walked away with a slight chuckle. Yes, really....unless you had wanted us to eat salad with our hands? No apology. At the end of our meal, we asked for the check and our server handed us the check and disappeared. No "thank you's" or "hope you have a great trip" or common niceties were exchanged between us lol, just dropped off the check and left without saying a word. - 1 star Summary: It's all right. Kind of a tourist trap, but that's to be expected given its location along the beach and strip malls in the surrounding area. read more

Cinnamon roll = heaven. Yeah, I have a sweet tooth, I have to admit. When I go to Kona, Lava Java is definitely a place I like to frequent. However, I went there once, and they didn't make my fresh squeezed orange juice because they forgot. Booo! I "hear" their food is pretty amazing. My whole review is pretty biased, as I've only had their cinnamon roll. Cinnabon ain't got nothin on this joint. I think they put 10 lbs of sugar into it. Ahhhhh, still good, nonetheless. It's a short walk from most of the hotels on Ali'i, so it's close to everything. FInd me here, when it's time to be in Kona. read more

Yummmmmyyy is the word that best describes my food! Most of my family got the sunset burger with sweet potato fries and it was delicious. Another family member got the fish tacos and she said they were equally amazing! read more

Island Lava Java has good coffee and good food. I stopped by for brunch on a Sunday morning and it was packed. The breakfast potatoes were delicious--tender and savory. I also got a side fruit cup with my breakfast, but was a little annoyed at the lack of variety--it was mostly pineapple. I found it annoying that one must pick a size of coffee (8, 12 or 16 oz) and that they charge $1 for refills. I recommend getting the largest they have because the service was agonizingly slow--they may never actually get around to refilling it for you. They often have live music, but that Sunday morning I felt bad for our performer. Hardly anyone was clapping; people were too busy either trying to flag down a server or cramming food down their pieholes as fast as possible because they were so hungry from waiting so long for service. read more

What a nice spot in Kona to start the day! I gathered from other reviews that it is a new location for the restaurant, down the street from its old location. It is much bigger with a bar and sit down table area. It is an open area so customers can be coming from different directions and may get lost to find the hostess. To clarify, the small hostess stand is located on the street side right underneath the store sign. Once we were situated, we found ourselves in a relaxing area with crashing waves and live music. The musician was great putting on some very relaxing tunes suiting the ambiance. Bloody mary was on point and breakfast (the Waipio Stack) was delicious. One star is taken away for witnessing couple messed up orders from our neighboring bar friends. She also accidentally voided our orders so our waiting time for the food was extra long. I forgave her because I was on vacation and not in a rush while enjoying the live music and ocean sound. Overall, I would come back to this spot when I am in Kona for vacation! read more

Island Lava Java - Waipio stack and side potatoes - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

The best thing about our recent breakfast at Lava Java was the musician, who was better than any of the other artists we saw on our circumnavigation of the island. Other than that we were singularly unimpressed....wanted waffles but the machine was broken, settled for a pancake which was fine. Our portuguese sausage wasn't as good as what we had on our flight over. Nice to sit outside and watch the passing parade though. Probably will try other places in Kona before returning. read more

Fantabulous Kona Coffees, super Wraps, delightful Pastries & the location is absolutely top notch.....what a terrific cafe! Area reminds me of a typical Beach Boardwalk - lots of touristy shops & restaurants surround the far superior local establishments ( go local! ), tons of people walking around in sun-glasses & flip-flops & happiness, happiness everywhere b/c after all, you're in Paradise Mocha was molten-lava-hot - burned my tongue - but yummy & chocolaty. At first sip, I was like OMG this is da bomb - towards the end, I almost got that smack-smack-syrupy-bleh but can still say I'd definitely go back every day if I could. Menu items include Pancakes, Waffles, a multitude of Egg concoctions, Fresh Juice, Smoothies, Muffins & Croissants Also indulged in their Breakfast Wrap, filled w/ scrambled eggs, cheese, tofu & shrooms.....you can pick your own 3 egg-companions.......next time I'll be sure to include the Breakfast Potatoes b/c I'm a sucka for taters! Brought back a Cinnamon Roll for the house to share & another OMG - it is so delectable! Ginormous treat that takes up a whole plate....TONS of ooey, gooey topping & white icing sit in the middle of this roll that is somewhat shaped like a little pizza but w/ Cinnamon-roll dough instead of pizza dough So far this is my fav place for fun atmosphere & vibe - sit right outside, watch the water & passersby, a boat or 2 on the water & lots of happy, smiling people all around you! read more

As a local that has lived here over 7 years, I can tell you that the food and service has gone progressively downhill. At the last dining experience there, the ahi on the fish sandwich was well done and dried out, really awful. Any decent cook would not cook ahi well done in Hawaii unless someone asked for it to be wrecked in that way. When I told the waitress, she said, " oh well , next time I will remind you not to order that!" No apology, no offer to refund, don't worry, you lost this locals business. Just being waterfront and well known does not mean it's good. If you want a good fish sandwich, go to Island Ono Grill directly behind it! ( restaurants also need local business to get through low season!) read more

We stopped in for coffee after lunch and had espressos. We were asked if we wanted them in cups to stay and I answered a relieved YES! However, they came out in 12 oz. paper cups. That is a double offense: first, paper, second, too large. When will these places figure out how to serve an espresso properly? It is really not difficult. As for the flavor, it was not great. They are likely using the same beans for their espresso as they are for their drip coffee. That is just amateur and not worth the price. The fact that they have a patio with a great view and fairly nice staff saves them from a 1 star rating. read more