Today that it was our last day on the Big Island we came to eat to enjoy our last breakfast the pancakes were undercooked and the service was really bad. We had enjoyed our last 2 visits here but today was definitely really awful read more

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Came in today around 10:30. Was seated promptly in the front with a beautiful view of the ocean. I decided to order the Lava Java breakfast with an "Island Style" waffle. That waffle and the fresh fruit was mind blowing!!! My only gripe is they forgot to bring out my eggs and I had to ask for them about 15 mins after my plate had arrived. I'm hoping to return before my flight back to Seattle. Mahalo! read more

I wanted to give this place a better rating, because our server Ali was awesome, the location was great, and the food was tasty, but we had a bad experience due to the male manager cursing and demeaning one of the male servers right near our table loud enough so it disrupted our meal. Upper management/ownership needs to address this issue so that no other patrons have to have this experience. read more

Friendly service, good portions, wonderful location definitely recommend. I will definitely be returning here. read more

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

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Happy hour menu updated since last time I was here but still good. Will definitely be back for breakfast!!! read more

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

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Came for dinner on someone's birthday on my group. Everyone loved the night view of the beach. They told us the fish of the day and explained some questions we had, great service! The fish and chips were great, I also got to try a slice of Tuscan pizza and everyone loved it, i will try more pizza next time we come. read more

Island Lava Java - LJ-s Fresh Catch*-n-Chips - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Walk in is ok but we prefer to call in and reserve since were never sure how busy it can get on Alii drive Lunch: 1230, Thirsty Thursdays Drinks: Pono Mai Tai Lilikoi drink (i forgot the name) Water Catch of the day: Ono Meals: Fish&Chips (Sweet Potato Fries) Fish Tacos w/Sweet Potato Fries Portions were generous and fulfilling. Catch of the day was tasty, not quite melt in your mouth type of fish but still ONO-licious! Fries were tasty, seasoned, crunchy exterior, light&fluffy on the inside. The sweet potato fries were perfect and cooked to perfection. Service: waitress was on point, she greeted us, served us well and in return a nice token of appreciation was given read more

Island Lava Java - You already know we coolin.. - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

Food: The food was ON POINT and exactly what we needed. The serving size was the perfect amount on each plate for brunch. As a table we also split the pineapple upside down stack of French toast (which was amazing ) but, our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. Ambiance: Of course the view is exceptional-- who can complain about the Pacific Ocean as a dining companion!!?! Then the live music was theme appropriate and he even sang a few Happy Birthdays (which was jovial and a nice touch). Service: Upon entry the hostess was Friendly and efficiently while she entered my info on the table waiting app. Once seated-- the waitress was sweet. She was efficient and even helped suggest which mimosa to pick from. The additional waitstaff that brought food to the table were helpful and nice as well. All in all; the experience was one we would love to duplicate sometime soon!! read more

Island Lava Java - Passion fruit Mimosa - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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We love visiting island Lava Java whenever we visit the island. They have a laid back atmosphere, unparalleled views, and consistently good service and food. Well done! read more

The worst possible restaurant in every way possible. Rude server, terrible food and even coarser manager. The waiter poured water on the table and while wiping the water off the table, she put it on my daughter, it was a mistake, which is ok. But not a single a sorry. We ordered the cauliflower truffle soup, which was the only edible food for the night. We ordered pan seared catch of the day, already late server came back to convey, "Ok, we are out of fish" again with total indifference. When we were going through the menu again, server was like, " you want to order something or not" and was getting impatient. So we ordered edamame felafel. Our daughters burger came overcooked, the bun was burnt and cheese was leathery and bitter. Some of the fries were cooked but they were soggy and rest of them were cooked. The came the felafel, my wife complained after finishing the 1st one that it tastes funny, i took half of the 2nd one and it was raw inside. It tasted like soaked edamame, pretty much. To confirm we took a bite from the 3rd one and found it was the same. Shud have spitted it out. So we complained about the felafel from the beginning the server assumed that we wanted to get comp'd, we couldn't even get to the point that it was half cooked. We asked for the manager, she was equally indifferent and rude, hence playing the same notion of they are not going to comp because we ate 85% of it (thanks to your math or lack there-off). The manager was saying if you returned it as it is, they would have taken it out. Again, how can you tell if a felafel is uncooked inside without trying. There was portion of two uncooked felafel was on the plate. And who wanted comp, we wanted to have properly cooked food with some level of service). We clarified we didn't want comp again. She pushed that there was nothing wrong with the felafel, she had tried it that night and it was ok. As if all the felafels were fried in the same batch, it was not soup!! The manager said they have taken the kid's burger off the bill, because it was clearly bad. Then when confronted with the fact that the fries and felafel were terrible too, she suddenly flipped and conveyed that the bun was not burnt it was grilled (as if you keep the bun in the grill long enough it wont burn) and some people tend to enjoy. I suggested her to eat that and soggy fries. Then she said she can comp a dessert (again who wants comp!!!). We denied, yes by this time, I was not polite, I clearly suggested that we had enough with her kitchen and staffs. Dont want anything to eat from this restaurants kitchen. In last 15 years, there were only two restaurants where we didnt tip, today it became the third one, on Xmas even, we are generous tipper. Deserves a 0 star. read more

Island Lava Java - Burnt bun for the over cooked burger with soggy fries with burnt bitter cheese - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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We we're looking for a place for breakfast on a rainy day in Kona. We walked by a place playing music, decided to go in. A wonderful friendly hostess placed us upstairs with a fantastic view of the bay. Our waitress Amy has so much Aloha, she made us feel so welcome, had great suggestions on what to try on the menu. We ordered pancakes and bacon with coconut sauce, as well as fresh papaya yogurt with home made granola , delicious!! Recommend a stop and try. read more

Good breakfast spot with large portions. The potatoes are really good. Service is a bit slow though, and I had to go up to the coffee shop to try and pay our bill since we were on a time crunch. Our waitress was friendly, but I wish she came by to check on us more (only saw her when we got sat, and then one more time when she walked by to ask if we were ok). They have an upstairs dining area too and when we were there, live music. read more

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We have breakfast here twice in 2 weeks. Amazing pancakes and bacon and eggs and morning cocktails Smaller menu but something for everyone. Excellent service and best view of the bay! read more

9-16-2020, Hostess friendly and helpful! Server to 4 top along rail Oceanside great! Drinks served chilled and presented lovely Waffles out first with smoked maple bacon to the side ñ an orchid upon the center of waffle-nice touch and the waffle was yummy!! Bacon was super nice with additional maple syrup! Dip dip Eggs Potatoes Bacon and that thick sliced bread was super delicious!!! read more

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TLDR: outdoors. Get potatoes. Best to eat near sunset. Tip: look at weather before dining here. Fully outdoor seating--great view of water and has a great sunset view. Can be breezy. Downside is there are six-legged creatures that keep trying to mooch off your plate; two legged creatures if you have the cinnamon roll--so don't look away! Service: wait to be seated, order at the table, check brought to table. Pull Apart Cinnamon Roll: not as warm as you would expect but delightfully dense and fluffy. This is no Cinnabon so don't expect your teeth to fall out for sugar. This is lightly sweetened and the syrup has a nice light tang to it. Fresh Fish Benedict with Ono: comes with potatoes or brown rice. Lightly flavored. Egg is cooked to perfection. Potato flavor is excellent. Ono was a bit on the dry side but tasted fine. Fruit Smoothie: frozen juice that's blended! Not blended ice like most places. Not as sweet as you would expect but it is very refreshing! read more

Food was excellent. We went here for breakfast. I ordered waffle with Mac nuts and bananas with fresh fruit and Portuguese sausage. Are the entire breakfast. Very yummy. Coconut syrup they made in-house was perfect, not too sweet. Waitress was native of Big Island. She was very nice to speak with. She saw to our every need during breakfast. read more

Perfect lunch spot overlooking the beautiful ocean. We ordered two pizzas - both were delicious. I wish the menu was more consistent and wish that it wasn't a "timed" menu. We were seated once their lunch time began - 2pm and weren't allowed to be seated a minute sooner. They use an online menu that you can order and pay from and I thought there weren't many options to pick from on the menu. I found out later on that if we waited about 30min after lunchtime started that the full menu would become available read more

Visited October 2020 on our last night on the Big Island. This place had all the right vibes and food to close out an amazing two weeks on the island. Our server was super nice - he was born and raised on the Big Island and gave us some awesome tips that we'll use next time we visit! We also got to listen to live music while we ate - the singer/guitarist was incredibly talented. The food: Drinks: The Paniolo, Mango mai tai (pictured with this post) - so yummy! The Paniolo had a little kick to it that I loved. Food: Ahi Poke, Fresh Fish Tacos, Macadamia Nut Crusted Fresh Catch - we loved every bite of the above. We got to try a fish local to Hawaii called Monchong - it's not always available but if it is, you should definitely get it read more

Island Lava Java - The paniolo and the mango mai tai - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

The food was good! And the service was also. The view at sunset was great!! I would recommend this place. read more

Super good fish tacos are so delicious and the place is big super good everything drinks are delicious

Shared 2 basic breakfasts. 1st was a decent sized waffle, with 3 pieces of sausage. 2nd. Was 1 egg over easy, 3 pieces of bacon, some potatoes and 1 piece of toast. Everything tasted fresh and good - sausage was a bit spicy, in a great way. Most seats offer a great view of the ocean. Service was ok. read more

Service was really slow. Lots of waiting for basic steps of service while watching the server stand in the kitchen chatting. Watched other tables get up and go get the servers for what they needed. Didn't seem to click or trigger change. We ordered an appetizer that never came, was never mentioned or realized by the server. Sympathetic to understaffed issues in hospitality, but this was not the case. Saw a manager walking the floor but didn't seem to value add with table touches or support to his team. He seemed to care more about closing the kitchen at 8 pm by tapping your watch constantly than service. Food was ok but nothing to write home about. Great view and location with potential, but falls short. Thank god your toast tab system allows us to pay with a QR code so we can leave after 45 minutes. $80 wasted and most importantly my vacation time wasted. I would have shared this feedback in person, but it was clear those working didn't care and it would have been a waste. read more

Island Lava Java - Guava BBQ Ribs - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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Poor experience from the serving staff and kitchen missed the mark. Hostess was great and shaved head food runner was helpful. 1:30 pm on in a very sparsely sat dining room with 4-5 servers chatting in the server's station, Annnabelle K greeted us 15 minutes after we arrived with an, "Are you ready to order?" Great start. Ordered cocktails, she gave us premium options for the spirit on her handheld, which we appreciated, and we chose Tanqueray 10 for the Negroni. Ordered food at the same time. We watched the bartender making cocktails, looking confused, then makes our Negronis with a different spirit, didn't inform the server, or us as customers paying a premium for the spirit. The server didn't deliver the drinks for another 10 minutes with the food arriving 30 seconds later. We thought we may had been mistaken and watched other drinks being made so my husband, walked to the bar to confirm the spirit, they haven't had tanq 10 in "months." Later refused to remove cocktail from the bill even though the wrong drink was being passed off. Very tacky Lava Java staff... Medium burger(only non-breakfast item) was over cooked by two temperatures, the food runner was the only person to revisit the table to bring silverware and sauces...after food arrived...put in another order for a Medium rare burger to replace the "medium." Second burger arrived, overcooked, this is the first time we have seen Annabelle since the first cocktail. She doesn't ask about the meal, attempts to drop a check while I have a full plate of food. At this point, we first inform her about the mistaken spirit, and the burger. She brings another cocktail, it was better with a different bartender coming on for the PM shift. Drink was made with skill, with a large cube...as requested, and garnished...didn't think we would have to request that. Just going to fast forward past the multiple attempts to get her to clear the table and drop take out boxes(4 times). Now we're ready to go. Both burgers and all cocktails, with the up charge, are on the check. We bring it to her attention, she claims the bartender always used a premium spirit, albeit ones we didn't ask for and refused to acknowledge the food mistakes. I'm not looking for a free meal, I live here and am not trying to cause a scene but this was a pathetic treatment of a customer local or not. We paid the full bill just to leave and be out of the muck of Lava Java. I will never recommend this restaurant and will make it a point to detour anyone from a poor experience. read more

3 times. Breakfast Brunch and a dinner. All 3 times great service and fun staff. Open air dining with a view of the ocean how can you miss. Get to Kona if your here make the stop well worth the drive. They also take reservations so there is very little waiting time. read more

This place is decent but I probably won't be clamoring to go back anytime soon. I got a burger and it was decent but nothing super amazing. The salad was okay. Service was a little slow in the beginning. The fish tacos were overcooked. This place has nice views of the water! read more

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

This place is great if you primarily want to enjoy the view. However, the food and service were subpar. We were told that there would be a 45 minute wait, but it ended up being over 70 minutes. They charge $20 for a ten-inch pizza, which is made worse because it's pretty standard stuff that you could get at Pizza Hut. We requested a substitution on one pizza to make it vegetarian, but when it arrived it still had meat on it. It also took a while to get our food. If you plan ahead and make a reservation to avoid the wait time, there are surely better options in this area. read more

Delicious!!! I luv the ordering & paying via QR! We need this as a standard on the mainland! We had pineapple upside down french toast--to die for! Banana macadamia pancakes---best pancakes I've had in my life!!! Eggs, sourdough, potatoes, and polish sausage. Service was good. Definitely recommend read more

Island Lava Java - Pineapple Upside-down French Toast - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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This is where I go when I want a steak. It's perfect. The view is amazing, the sun kinda gets in your eyes at late afternoon, so pick your table carefully, but the help are nice, everything is always just perfect. read more

The food was perfect. The service was friendly and fast. The reason for the 3-stars is because of the time of arrival to seating. This restaurant is facing the ocean with all open-air seating. The entrance is located fronting the ocean-side. This is important to document as we parked in the ample parking rear of this area. The parking is close and easy to walk. However, upon arrival, no one greeted or acknowledged us as we stood in the sun. Several employees walked by us and never made eye contact. We stood there almost 5 minutes before a woman came and sat us. Our server came very quickly and was very friendly. She offered suggestions with the menu and when our food came out it was perfect. My daughter loved her burger and fries. My pancakes and sausage were scrumptious as well. I would recommend this restaurant simply because their servers and food are memorable. They will not disappoint. read more

Island Lava Java - Burger and pancakes with sausage - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

This place was solid! The hostess was super nice and gave us great seats on the top floor with a view of the ocean; 10/10 on the view alone. We went for breakfast and ordered the pancakes and waffle Island style (coconut sauce and macadamia nuts) - they were DELICIOUS! We also ordered the Pineapple upside down French toast and the Big Island Basics. We also ordered POG mimosas, a fruit smoothie and a frappe. Highly, recommend this place. They also do reservations which I would recommend just in case because it always seems to be popping especially on the weekend or brunch hours. read more

Food is fresh, and amazing. Ate there many times during our vacation and everything was delicious. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Love the view. Thank you!! read more

Underwhelmed by the food and the experience we had. We were there on a Monday around 11:30 and were able to get a table. But first, we stood at the hostess stand for awhile before anyone acknowledged us. Once the hostess came to the stand, we asked for a table upfront (note there were empty tables when we arrived and when we left) and he laughed at us and said not unless we have a reservation. I thought this was very rude and unprofessional. A simple statement that those are currently reserved or those are only available if you make a reservation would suffice. Our waitress was nice, thankfully. But, when the food was brought out (not by the waitress) my burger had bacon on it which I ordered without it. She got an attitude and took the plate back. I a minute passes and our waitress said she'll check on my food, I told her it had bacon on it, she said yeah you didn't order it that way. Another minute or so later, the lady brought it without the bacon and blamed the waitress for getting it wrong. Overall food was blah, and the experience was not great. Plenty of other options in the area. read more

I'd absolutely recommend this place. The food is great and the atmosphere is wonderful. I found the staff to be very friendly and they seem to get along well, at least what I could see from my table. The QR code found on the table can open a menu and you can also place your orders through your phone. We chose to use an actual waiter because we had visiting family that preferred to do so. Food: 4/5 Soup was excellent but only a little past luke warm. Mahi Mahi was awesome. I was able to try the fried and seared version and love them both. Location: Easy to get to but google maps will bring you to the wrong location. The frustrating part is that we made reservations over the phone and when we showed up late due improper navigation, they said they were aware of that and just tell their guests to navigate to Fosters. Except they didn't tell us that. In the end it was fine and they still had our table. This doesn't factor into my review, though. I just want potential customers to know. Overall, if I came back to Kona I'd dine here again without hesitation. read more

Wait was minimal, we ate at the bar. The chai was delicious, the lava scramble was good, the waffle wasn't anything special even with the Mac and banana and coconut syrup it was just bland. Everything else was great and the view can't be beat. read more

Ambiance is incredible- right on the water with live music Great place to watch the sunset we were there for about 2 hours. Service was wonderful. Food was just ok. Our party ordered a variety of salads, burgers, guava bbq ribs, and Mac & cheese. Pricey for the quality. read more

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

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This is a good spot for a casual dine-in with family/friends. It does get a bit crowded and loud as expected on Ali Drive. But although it can get really busy, service was still good. Food was pretty good overall; I wish the fish tacos had a little bit more flavor. My favorite was the ahi poke! read more

I don't recommend this place and here are the reasons: 1. Fish tacos - fish was really dry and the tacos were really bland and barely had any flavors 2. Fresh catch Benedict - the fish was not fresh. Eggs were solid, not running. Flavor was bland as well 3. Pancakes - good flavor, soft and not too sweet, and it's the reason I didn't give this place 1 star 4. Waffles - not bad. Pineapples go really well with the cinnamon flavor. But it was dry. 5. Service - service was not good. Waitress barely gave us any attention and one of them spilled water on one of us and didn't apologize, only gave us napkins for us to clean up after ourselves. Overall I don't understand why this place has so many reviews. We waited 40min but found out it was not worth the wait at all. Highly not recommended. read more

Great spot, close to Royal Kona. Love the pancakes and hot coffee! Servers are awesome and do there very best. Dinner is also very delicious and filling! read more

Island Lava Java - Huli Wings and Calamari Fritti - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii

If you can get a table up front at sunset, you won't be disappointed with your view. The food is always so good, so consistent and always fresh. The ahi bites are our FAV and catch of the day blackened sandwich is insane. Ally was so sweet, had great suggestions and made sure we were taken care of. read more

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

I come here every time I'm town and my food is consistently great. I usually go with the veggie omelette with goat cheese and macadamia nut pesto. Killer! One major reason I keep coming back, beside the great service are the large cups of coffee. Already looking forward to my next trip so I can try something else. read more

Island Lava Java - Roasted Veggie Omelette - American Near Me - Kailua Kona, Hawaii