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Classic meets comfort (food), this okazuya gets me excited every time! Staff is all about Aloha, the line is consistently out the door, and the kitchen is always jammin', like a well-oiled machine. This place opened post WWII and is a landmark to this day! Really am soooo glad to see okazuyas thriving. The smells and flavors take me back to my childhood. It will always have a special place in my heart. My go-tos: maki sushi, shrimp tempura, nori chicken, nishime, shoyu pork, corned beef patties. You can't go wrong!
There were a lot a positive comments about getting boxed lunches at the Kawamoto Store, so we stopped by to check it out. The line was about six people deep, so we just waited our turn, in this older part of Hilo. The foods are predominantly Japanese and Hawaiian type foods and fairly inexpensive. I love historical businesses for their character and this is no exception. I felt like a kid again in the restaurant which was running out of prepared foods by 10:00 AM. Pro-tip is to order days in advance if you're a traveller, and if it's a Holiday meal, a month or two in advance would be best. We heard them turn down a local for the Christmas celebration two weeks ahead of December 25th!
5 stars. As a local Kawamotos has been a go to spot for as long as I remember. Make sure you go early right when they open to get everything fresh and hot. The okazu spread is always so good. I usually get tempura shrimp, fish, sweet potato, hash, Korean chicken, and the teriyaki beef. Honestly everything is good so you won't go wrong with anything they serve. Portions are great and the prices are fair especially with everything being so expensive. I love the staff as well. If you want good food and good service Kawamotos is the place to go.
A must try if you are in Hilo. The reviews are not kidding when they say to come early. I came about 20-30 minutes after opening and the line was out the door! It was worth every minute though. Our favorite items were the tempura shrimp and ono. So crispy, flavorful, and cheap! They also sell cookies - would recommend the corn flakes and coconut cookies.
Quintessential Hilo. I grew up coming here and I have no idea how I haven't written a review- it's like 20 years overdue- and it's a requirement any time I come back home to visit. You google it and wonder why they open at 6am? Well there's gonna be a line. The later you wait, the longer it gets. And if you wait too long, they'll be out of all the best! Everything is made daily at the crack of dawn and no matter what you choose- it's gonna be good. My top favorites are the Mac salad, tempura fish, long rice and bbq teriyaki.
Came here early in the morning at 6AM to pick up some bento boxes before driving up to Volcano National Park. The service here was great and fast! The employee was very friendly and helpful. As I was not a regular customer, he patiently walked me through the various options as he took my order. Although not exceptional (as you might expect of deli food), the food was still quite good and very affordable! The prices in the deli are a little less if you buy them in person versus online. My smaller bento box was only $6.50 while my bigger bento box was $9. Of the proteins, my cousin and I enjoyed the breaded Ono the most. This is a little Japanese deli that is pretty hard to spot even when you're looking for it. I wasn't able to find any designated parking lot for customers so I parked on the street in front of the store.
First time and had a long lune. They take phone orders for pick up so planning ahead and calling in an order is probably best. But then you miss the fun of what might be freshly made or new for the week/day. Food was ono - our favorite was the korean chicken - super crispy with a great sweet shoyu sauce that soaked right in (best fresh). The cone sushi are the old style we always loved, a bit sweeter than I usually like (I prefer a bit more rice vinegar) but yummy and moist with some bits of carrot mixed in a nice big/thick tofu skins. The fishcake was yummy and other stuff was pretty good too. The interior feels like a timewarp to 20th century Hawai'i in a good way - great food, great service and people, though you are still paying 21st century prices.
Im never NOT coming to Kawamoto store when I visit Hilo. In fact no trip is complete without it. The food is reliably amazing, the service is always friendly and I have not once been disappointed by my experience here.
Sometimes in this life you come across a hidden gem that you still think about every now and then...this is that place! Imagine a non-descript and inconspicuous deli in Hilo...and you have no idea what to expect. We walked into a bustling shop lots of locals already in line and lots of beautiful women cooking in the back. We were there for breakfast and while we loved the posted menu we didn't know what to order. The kind gentleman behind the counter sensed our first timers confusion and kindly offered to put together 2 boxes of a mixed variety of items. We tried everything...from the noodles, musubi, Korean chicken, fried fish, fried veggies, everything was seriously AMAZING! We took all of this and had a nice picnic at Rainbow Falls! A definitely unique and memorable restaurant...I just wish we lived CLOSER!!! Thank you for existing!
For broke da moufth GRINDZ, Kawamoto Store is da place for da local kine GRINDZ!!! I used to commute to the Big Island for 16 years (for work), but how come nobody evah told a Bruddah about of this place??? Thanks to all my Yelp buddies for posting their AWESOME food pics, & reviews of Kawamoto's, now Bruddah man can proudly join the club of folks who have come to Kawamoto's for da local kine GRINDZ! So da last two weeks I've been working on da Big Island to help cover some work for my coworker, as he's been out recently, due to illness. . Da FAMOUS Kawamoto Store has been around since 1947. Being around for the last 77 years tells you that da Kawamoto's sure knows their okazuya! I guess my Yelp buddies weren't kidding when they said to go early, otherwise da GRINDZ is gonna run out. Like a dummy, I show up @ 11:00 am, thinking it was fairly early enough. Guess what? Bruddah Fran was left wid' da scraps! Buwahahahahahahaha! But even wid' da scraps, I must say what I did scrounge up, da scraps was ONO!!! Lol! I wen' score some Cone Sushi, Korean Chicken, & Shrimp Tempura. What can I say about da grubbage? Da Korean Chicken was spectacular! When I come back here in da near future, garans I'm gonna order more of this! The Shirmp Tempura was very light, and they did it in a way that the dish was not oily. A well made Shrimp Tempura. As for da Cone Sushi, we'll, ya gotta have some starch when eating Frrrrrrried food! Lol! If you like old skool local GRINDZ, when in Hilo, this place is a "MUST"! Thanks to all my Yelp buddies! If I didn't see your check-in's & pics, I would have missed out on a good thing. :D
Real ones know. Kumamoto Store has the best cone sushi and maki on the island, period. The bentos are also the best--fresh, classic, and done right. Heads up: they close at noon, so don't show up late. The staff genuinely have aloha, and the nostalgic vibe feels like old Hawaiʻi in the best way. If you know, you know.
Good choices okay style Service hood as well Old style so normal on ambiance Parking was scarce, bring a driver and you can jump in and out if you call ahead
Yes, line is long! Though there are multiple people serving and getting your order ready, it's still slow. Even during non peak hours, expect to wait about 30-45 minutes, unless you call in. If you call in your order, it is based on what they have in the moment and NOT what they will have by the time you pick up. Food, there was good variety to pick from and they were tasty. Was everything equally tasty? Nope. Things like seaweed chicken were too dry. While the pocket sushi could be too sweet depending on your taste buds. Best thing to do is just get one of everything or two of everything and share. It was enough for our brunch by getting about 75% of what they have available in twos. If you want to make it easy, just select from their menu of bento boxes. Get a couple and you'll get a good sampling.
1 year ago
3 years ago
I've visited Hilo many, many times and finally got a chance to stop here. We took the first flight out from Oahu, and this was our first stop. We ordered nori chicken, musubis, cone sushi, Korean chicken, hash to name a few. They were all superb! My favorite was their shrimp tempura, airy and crunchy, just perfect. I normally expect the same soggy okazuya shrimp tempura. But here it wasn't! Tasty food, great service, and unbelievable prices. Our box was stuffed with food and it was under $25! Mind blown! I did a rough calculation and it seems like everything is $1 a piece! An okazuya box like this on Oahu would be double maybe triple that price. If you're in Hilo, this place is a must try! read more
4 years ago
Best lunch shop menu food ever. I know their only open early morning but if you can make it there this is a must try on Hilo side. All the local lunch food you can get. We had the bbq meat, spam musubi, Korean chicken, shoyu chicken. I love their coconut cookies they cook in house. If you have time to get here do it! read more
Small mom & pop local shop. Great place to stop to pick up a snack or a solid lunch/breakfast/snacky dinner. Staff was amazingly cheerful, helpful and friendly (wish I got the name of the man who helped us out-he was wearing a head scarf and had earrings). Went to pick up breakfast and it was perfect. Got 6 items to try in total (ended up being about $6-7). I loved the Inari!! Really nice that the prices are still humble even given the tourist traffic they get on the daily. read more
5 years ago
Kawamoto Store was the second of the okazuya we visited this trip. The prices were so affordable! I appreciated that Kawamoto had a system where the staffer takes your order while you're in line, tells you which register to go to, then makes your box(es) of food. Highly recommend phone orders in advance if you're in a rush. It took about thirty minutes from getting in line to leaving with the food. Verdict: Kawamoto Store has much better tempura than the competitor we went to (see my other reviews). If you like sweeter sushi rice, you will like Kawamoto's sushi better than the competitor's. Corned beef hash was non-traditional; it looked maybe breaded and fried. If I were to come back, I'd come back for the shrimp tempura and I'd love to try the Korean chicken. The nori chicken was really nice too. Cone sushi was juicy and well-packed, but a bit too sweet for my taste. read more
2 years ago
2 years ago
4 years ago
This is a popular spot in Hilo of you're craving some okazuya style food. They have great selection. Parking is limited; street parking. My only concern is that the food is not hot. I wish they have warmers to keep the food hot. Great spot and somehow whenever I'm in Hilo, we always go for okazuya at Kawamotos or Asami. read more
7 years ago
First time here. Assorted okazu was good. If anything, the noodles was a little bland. The service was smooth and efficient. Anna the girl that helped me was excellent. Most items were at a good price point. A few items I thought the if item size were larger would have earned them another star. I was there early about seven o'clock. I heard that they run out of items fast. Go early. read more
7 years ago
Liked this hole in a wall Okazuya in Hilo . So many choices to choose from sushi to chicken and Tempura Tasty food and affordable set up was very efficient you stand behind a white line until you get called than the server will Box your selection and will be your cashier as well . I will be back read more
3 years ago
Yummy food!! By far my favorite place to stop by before headed to the beach. The food is always great & I have been going here for a long time. read more
4 years ago
2 years ago
2 years ago
3 years ago
Such a valuable find! My favorites were the nishime and sweet potato tempura. The cone sushi is large size. I'm sad the nori chicken ran out! Recommend calling your order ahead to reserve your treats and for faster pickup instead of waiting in line.The staff were so kind. Highly recommend for affordable Ono lunch. read more
3 years ago
3 years ago
3 years ago
It's a small shop but mighty in taste and selection. Everything there was very affordable and we needed food for both lunch and so we ordered a lot to try. The person who was helping me was very patient and kind and was happy to explain how to order or what something was. Everything was tasty, not overly salty and also not greasy. Would highly recommend the Korean chicken, nori chicken as well as the cone sushi. The cucumber salad was refreshing. How to order the cold salads- they break it up into how many servings you would like. Pictures show two servings of each salad. Total for everything was 33 dollars. This place also was well stocked at 11am and in hawaii time- that's very late to order okaZuya- most other places ran out of everything or already closed for the day so this place is well stocked- does not mean they don't sell out- I think they are just better equipped for larger orders and there were still plenty of people calling in orders or coming in after me. read more
3 years ago
2 years ago
3 years ago
Never heard of this place but my husband suggested we go here for lunch on our way to our lava boat. This place is probably over 50 yrs old and the food tastes just like they used to make it back in the day. The spam musubi is great. We ordered 10. we should have ordered 30. We ordered ONO NUGGETS, panko and tempura style. Who even does this anymore!!? Real ONO NUGGETS! Should have ordered more of those too. We also ordered shoyu chicken and those little cute corned beef hash patties. We had a ton of food and then our bill came out to $20 for all 4 of us. Just like 50 yrs ago. Love it. The next morning we tried to call in our order but the phone was busy off the hook all morning. When I finally got through, they had already sold out of the spam musubi, nori chicken, ono nuggets...so don't waste your time, get down here first thing in the morning. read more
3 years ago
4 years ago
Do you want musubi? Do you want delicious Korean fried chicken? Do you want to try all sorts of delicious fried food? Kawamoto is smaller than most places, and it's live-in is a little less than promising. Don't let appearances fool you, though. It's a gem of a place, where you can grab a quick authentic bite, for cheap. I went back twice in three days for the spam musubi, the panko ahi, and the KFC. Both times, it came to $12 for more food than I could finish. The people there are friendly and they're able to answer all the questions you might have. They're also quite helpful in choosing items if you're unsure. It's all fresh, better than 7-11, and you'll be glad you tried it read more
3 years ago
More info about Kawamoto Store
784 Kilauea Ave
Hilo, HI 96720
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(808) 480-8735
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http://www.kawamotostore.com
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