Coming from California, I'd never heard of Okazuya (Japanese-style deli) before. After hearing about Kawamoto Store and how it was one of the oldest establishments in Hilo, I had to go. We went around noon and a number of offerings were already sold out (fried butterfish, mochiko chicken, longrice, etc.) but the sweet guy working the counter gave us some recommendations for our BYO bento boxes and threw in some extra perks for us, like an extra piece of shoyu pork and fried noodles. I also got a very cute piece of Kawamoto Store merch there and now proudly rep it in LA. The food is comforting and reminds me of the deli at Nijiya and Mitsuwa Markets, but with a local twist. It's hard to find fried ono, longrice, butterfish, corned beef hash, etc. over here, so I was happy to get a taste. Our bentos were 'brown dinner' at its finest--so much fried stuff and not much variety in color (lol) but it was tasty and perfect for a picnic at Liluokalani Gardens. Highlights were the shoyu pork (basically a thicker, heartier piece of chashu you get at ramen), the fried purple sweet potato, and shrimp. read more

Kawamoto Store - BYO bento: Fried korean chicken, beef hash, eggplant, shrimp, musubi - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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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

Kawamoto Store - Mixed box with a little bit of everything - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Bento is a Japanese boxed lunch that Hawai'ian Japanese made into their own thing. Food here is great, local taste, but so popular you have to get here early before they sell out. This is local culinary culture at its best, grab a bento lunch for a picnic somewhere on this beautiful island. You might be the only one in line who is not a loyal regular, what's that tell you? read more

Always good, but you have to come early because the good stuff sells out by 9AM and they stop making stuff around 10AM.

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

Kawamoto Store - All the meats I could get. - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Kawamoto Store is a take-out Okazuya place. When it is your time to order, the person writes down everything you want and prepares your order. When your order is ready, you pay at the register and take your order. There is a large variety of different items here. I am sure everyone can find something they love here. My friends really enjoy the nori chicken. I really like their mac salad and their different tempura. When ordering, everything looks so good. It is really easy to go overboard and leave with way too much food, but who doesn't love leftovers right? It is a small shop, so there is often a line outside the store. Parking can be difficult as it is only street parking. The popular items do tend to sell out later in the day, so come early if there is something particular you want to have! read more

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

Kawamoto Store - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Get your okazu fix here. Staff is super friendly and the food is ono. Korean chicken, long rice, Namasu, cone sushi. It s all good. Easy parking out front just grab n go for the plane ride! read more

Service was very friendly and helpful. Enjoyed the sushi and shoyu chicken. Went three times but was not able to get the mochiko or Korean chicken since it got sold out! Crispy cornflake cookies were delicious . Will definitely go back earlier . 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

Kawamoto Store - Bento with assorted items - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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

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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

Kawamoto Store - Musubi Hash Long Rice Fish Tempura - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

This is a take-out Japanese take out place so it's kind of a grab and go stop! Many items to choose from - my husband and I got one of pretty much everything for only $20 between the two of us and was way more full than we would have been if we stopped at a restaurant and paid triple the price. Friendly staff, fast service. You really can't go wrong. I just wish they had a bathroom! read more

Great food! Great service! Best okazuya! Love it. Great workers. Very organized service.

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

Kawamoto Store - Assorted okazu - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Best Okazuya in Hilo period... in my opinion Kawamoto's has been around for as long as I can remember. Business was sold and the current owners made the right decision to keep the original recipes and menu although added a few more delicious items to the menu. Shrimp tempura is in my opinion one of the best! read more

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

Kawamoto Store - Mix Variety - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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

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Came in and got 10 musubi for only $9. Enjoyed them. Guy who served me was very friendly and even though I clearly had no idea how to order (first time), didn't make me feel stupid. read more

Never again I going only order one shoyu pork for my bento or plate. Gotta have 2 or more. Da bugga ono !!!

Food was soooo good - Mac salad made with spaghetti noodles, fish cake, chow mein, corned beef hash patties...all good! Kids loved the spam musubi. Lots of people had picked up orders of all kinds of goodies. Spam musubi looked like a really popular item. It's making me hungry just thinking about all their goodies right now! read more

Service great. Parking, not so great. Their food is very ono but not the hash; too dry. This is a must eat at when in Hilo. read more

Really great place. Classic local style grinz and great service. I go every time. If you need catering kine stuff they get that also.

Such a great deal!!! Huge portions and reasonable priced! definitely a hidden gem and local spot

If you know this place then you know you have to show up early. Best bento place on the big island and the best one I've ever been to. Just looking at the picture is making my mouth water read more

Kawamoto Store - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Yes, do it. Hit up Kawamoto Store for affordably priced, grab and go okazuya food that you can take with you to the beach or wherever your travels take you. This local institution sported 20-30 minute long lines at 10:30am in the morning, which surprised us. After patiently waiting and mentally sizing up all the options in the case and calibrating what your stomach can actually consume, you'll be called to place your order. We held back just a bit, but was glad that we basically got almost one of everything on the menu. For our extensive order for our group, we walked away paying less than $60 - one of our cheapest meals on the island. Before we departed on our cavern spelunking, we opened our lunch box and were dazzled by an array of delectable options. Flavors were saltier and sweeter than we're accustomed to eating, but man was it delicious and hit the spot. Make sure to hit up Kawamoto Store if you're in Hilo. read more

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

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I love the Okazuya here! I try to go here at least once when I visit my ohana in Hilo. Everything is ono here but I usually get the cone and maki sushi, long rice, shrimp, sweet potato and ono fish tempura. read more

So delicious... Great place to grab and go food and affordable. Everything was delicious

If you know you know! Kawamoto is just deliciously the best! Their ambience is still old style which I love. The food is fresh, delicious. It has gotten better with time. You can call in and order for pickup, there is a separate line for that. But you can stand in line, be patient and make new friends while you wait your turn! One thing that means so much to me is that Kawamoto is one of the shops that still make old fashioned, old style Maki Sushi!! No one wants to make old style Maki Sushi anymore!! Everyone wants to make the fancy inside out sushi!!! ARGH! Old style Maki Sushi has history!!! Their Cone Sushi is the bomb too. And their Mac Salad is great! Everything is delicious Korean Chicken, BBQ meat...you name it. Delicious! Their Cooks are dedicated that's why the food is so good. But the Front Staff are busy, stressed but when they approach you they are kind and friendly ready to serve you!! Bravo Kawamoto Store!!! read more

Can't believe the variety of okazuya choices when we rolled up at 1130am, on a Saturday. C'mon now...loves! So lucky and grateful! Thank you Kawamoto Store for filling our lil' family bellies! Definitely be back! read more

So easy to call ahead and order - we called our order in about an hour after they opened and got everything we wanted. Easy street parking in front (we came on a weekday morning). Staff was super friendly - from the person who took my order, the person who rang us up, and the person who handed me my box. Everything was packed very neatly. We were so excited to eat...the shrimp tempura, fishcake, cone sushi, and nori chicken was so good! We ordered a lot of other stuff, but those were our favorites. The noodles were ok...the long rice was way better. Very reasonable prices here...our order was less than $30 for the 3 of us. Would definitely come back again! read more

I suggest that you call in your order to save time. They are always busy. The food is great! The service is excellent. And the store is a kick back to old time Hilo. I love it! read more

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

Kawamoto Store - Japanese Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Definitely a must if you are in Hilo Town. The food is Ono and I mean Ono. The price is awesome and portion size is good too!!! Can't say what I like the best best it was all good!! It's for sure worth the wait if there is a line as it moves fast and the customer service is totally awesome you can feel the local style love which means they put that into the food they make and serve!!! That's a bonus!! Everyone was smiling regardless of how busy they were, like WOW that definitely worth writing about!! I totally recommend this place while in Hilo Town and it will make you do the happy dance trust me your fat cells will be happy you did!! Now stop reading and go enjoy! read more

When visiting Hilo, this place is a MUST!!! Long time mom & pop Okazuya local operation. Everything tastes great! Great friendly service. Catering is also available. read more

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Food is Always a Hit At This Old School Okazu-Ya Joint! Personally I think There shrimp tempura and Ono (wahoo) Tempura is out of this word coupled with there cone sushi, nori chicken or Korean chicken and or all of ther other freshly made choices! The combinations are endless! Service is always welcoming! Fast and friendly and when you walk in the establishment that old school nostalgia and screen window with food take you back to being a kid again! That kind of ambiance is hard to find these days! Always a pleasure to indulge in this style food when in Hilo! read more

So good just like old times when i was a little kid! Fish cakes and coco cookies so ono

Very friendly efficient staff, ono food, affordable, and great service. A must when in Hilo!!!

super cute, super friendly and efficient staff! line out the door so get here early! don't be intimidated if you've never been here before or if you're unsure how to order, they will talk you through it and explain options if you have questions. street parking available, CASH ONLY, plenty aloha :) Ricky is the best! read more

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