In past years when I did the circle island tours we always came here for lunch and it was always…read moregreat, so when I planned a family trip I reserved dinner here as I knew we'd have a good view of Kilauea. The food was good overall - but you are paying touristy prices. Things my party tried: - Kona kampachi and lobster - this was my pick and it was great! The fish was perfectly cooked and loved the sauce. They include ginger and Japanese pickled veggies, which I love, but it may not be everyone's cup of tea. The lobster tail half was also a good size and hit the spot. My only gripe was I didn't have a small lobster fork, so had to dig into the lobster with my fingers. - my BiL devoured the rib eye and said it was good. - my brother really enjoyed the stuffed chicken. It was my second option.. and I won't lie it looked really good. - my SIL for the pesto pasta and added steak. The pasta was meh, but the steak was great. - the kids menu were hits. The mahi mahi comes with fruit, but the hot dog doesn't. It was just odd that fruit wasn't available for all kids menu options. - shrimp scampi pizza was pretty good. Nice flavors. All in all a great family dinner spot with great views. The staff was really friendly too! Would I come back - definitely!

We went there last minute while visiting during a live episode. It was crowded and packed. Parking…read morewas difficult, so be patient if there is a live episode. Be nice to the staff, they are working fast and the best they can. You need to make reservations ahead of time for the restaurant. There is a walk up option at the bar with a limited menu, but still good. Again, be patient. The staff moved fast and got us in quick. Our wait was not too long for walk up at the bar, despite how packed and busy it was. Food was good and came out quick. Staff is friendly and shared some suggestions to visit locals places as we were visiting from the mainland. No matter if you eat in the bar or restaurant, you will have amazing views of the volcano. There's an outdoor area for photos and the amazing views. There's a gift shop. Please be sure to visit and support. There is beautiful art of the volcano in the lobby for you to view and enjoy.

Great views of the volcano…read more The taste of Hawaii menu is loaded with food and is great to share amongst a small family. Friendly staff, good food, but the view is what I'll be writing home about.

DISHONEST PEOPLE! Unfortunately there's not much as for choices for eating when visiting the…read moreVolcano. Unfortunately this restaurant decides to be dishonest with its customers in not only providing mini portions at high prices, which I consciously decided to accept, but the menu clearly states for 8+ people there is a 20% mandatory tip. Our party of 7 was charged their fee and when paying amd decoding on a tip my wife saw the fee already on the receipt (which they didn't even tell us, asking for a tip as well) I asked why and they just said "because you have more people". I don't mind paying a tip, but don't eat here if you dont want to support dishonest people.

Our respite stay after a full day of chasing Volcano Craters and remote petroglyphs…read more Ten minutes from the park exit, just had dinner in the park. Works out great , self check in. Old fashioned but just right for the Area.

This was a great fond for us. We have never been on this island. Literally 3 minutes from Volcano…read moreNatl Park. We stayed in Rm 9. Convenient path to car and hot tub. We used the hot tub 2x and it was perfect temp. I thought it was crazy for a gas fireplace in room. We used it 3x because it was rainy here. Staff was helpful by providing us ice and utensils and glasses that we could leave in room. They don't want you drinking the water so they provide a 5 gal jug of water. Good to bathe in but not drink. They provided a small fridge, coffee maker, toiletries. The room was big enough that they could have added a coffee table by fireplace to set your drinks on. No TV but we had our own electronics. WiFi was on point. Ample parking. They don't do daily room service unless you ask. The sound of the birds at night is amazing. They communicate right away via text for anything you need. I would definitely stay here again.

On our last few trips to Hilo, we stayed at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel and haven't been disappointed…read more For convenience, the hotel has two restaurants in the lobby. Wai Oli is also two businesses in one - it serves as a morning/brunch cafe for coffee and pastries, then transforms into a casual evening restaurant for dinner as well as live music and a bar space. On our first night we were too tired to go out in the rain, so we tried the Red Rice with Chamorro spices and sauces, and a Club sandwich with fries. The food is excellent, prices about what you'd expect in a hotel. The tap list is also pretty good with macro lagers and locally brewed selections from Big Island Brewhaus and Hilo Brewing Co among others. Service is good, with friendly servers. The view is also excellent with clear views of Hilo Bay right outside. They also have outdoor tables on the lanai.

Great restaurant bar to grab a bite and a beer at. They now have live music everyday.read more

The Bartender Gregory all round great personality…read more Himself is ideal customer service attitude

Showed up Friday afternoon to a gathering of a bunch of angry white dudes that for the entire time…read moreit took me to finish a drink complained about illegal border crossing, fentanyl and justifiable wars etc. I eventually just put my ear buds in. The drink and service were fine but Friday must be a hangout for people to air their grievances with life.

TLDR: Lounge area…read morenear the "lobby" of the Fairmont Orchid resort. Since it overlooks the rest of the resort, it's the perfect place to rest and relax during the day. They start serving Japanese-inspired foods starting 5 pm and they have nightly live music starting around 6 pm. Food was fine, nothing special, but the ambiance was wonderful and the nightly torch lighting + conch shell blowing at sunset happens on this balcony. ------ FOOD: * Smash Burger (4/5): Came with two patties and a slight skirt on the meat. Was a little simple though (i.e. no lettuce or tomatoes, though did come with one deep-fried onion ring and cheese). Fries were pretty good! * Luana Roll (4/5): This is their signature roll and I thought it was good but wasn't anything special. Probably not worth $30. * Double Crunch Roll (4/5): Again, good roll but nothing special and didn't particularly love it. ------ SERVICE: * Fine service, though the waiter took a long time to check in on our table. We weren't in a rush so it wasn't a problem, but it was strange. * Note that their kitchen is not located nearby and so the waiter has to go to a kitchen downstairs before bringing the food up. That means that service can be a little slower at times. ------ ENVIRONMENT / AMBIANCE: * Really nice ambiance. It's a balcony right off the main lobby where you check-in, and there are lots of comfy lounge chairs and small tables to match. The lobby and the lounge are both technically on the 3rd floor of the resort, so you can overlook the rest of the resort including the pool, beach, and ocean. * The live music at night is nice, both if you're dining at the lounge or just returning to the lobby area after a long day out. * There's also an indoor bar area next-door to the lounge with a pool table. The pool accessories are in rough shape (only 1 usable pool stick) but anyone is able to set up the table and begin playing. Despite being here during the holidays, this table was surprisingly available for most of our stay. * Every night there's a traditional Hawaiian ceremony where torches are lit at sunset and someone blows a conch in all directions. The conch blowing happens on this balcony, so if you're seated at the lounge around 5 pm, you'll have great seats of the short ceremony.

Ordered take out here recently by placing the order directly at the bar around 7:30pm on a weekday…read more Even though the restaurant was empty the food still took about 25-30 minutes. I did, however, order an old fashioned to enjoy while I waited. It was well-made and the bartender was not shy about the bourbon pour. For the food/appetizers, we ordered nachos, which were great. The light and crispy chips tasted house-made and reminded me of the Taco Light shells back in the day at TB. The hurricane tots were a hit with a generous amount of furikake tots! $18 for the kids grilled fish, rice, and steamed vegetables was a bit steep for the small piece we received but they said it was tasty. Overall, you're paying resort prices here but it's not outrageous. If you're looking for a drink or some apps in the evening, check out Luana Lounge. They are open til 11pm.

Great service. Great food. Nice people. Easy to get to and friendly staff. Menu has a great…read morevariety. Drinks are the best

Excellent dinner experience for Taco Tuesday - our large party had all three types of tacos, the…read moreoysters, the tri tip, the Babaganoush, and more! All was delicious and the drinks were on point! The server took such good care of us!

Amazing views! Casual place to hang out, bring your own meal to sit there or purchase at the…read morelounge. Live music in the evenings.

Friendly vibe. Convenient for guests…read more A couple of Mai Tais and or house wine and or domestic beer is included as part of the daily resort fee that Hilton charges for a stay at this property. Relaxed vibe in the lobby with low key and pleasant entertainment on the Friday evening that I was there. Service was fast, friendly and efficient.

If youre staying at the Hilton, dont pass up the opportunity to enjoy the many offerings here…read more Open air windows and pleasant music greet you in the am for strong complimentary coffee and breakfast offerings. Try the spam musubi, especially if you have that resort credit. Evenings great local Hawaiian music and hula dancers entertain you while you enjoy their special island breeze cocktail. Our party of 4 finally decided to just eat dinner there on a Friday night .. place was packed, but food came out pretty quick. We were all surprised how good it was (Im sober so can't blame that). Prices reasonable service friendly. Margherita flat bread, Kailua pork w cabbage and the pulled pork were scarfed quickly. Entertainment was fabulous on Friday. I recommend this place for casual meal and drinks.

I had The Hidden Nene bookmarked when I was planning out my trip to Hilo and I couldn't be happier…read morewith my experience at the speakeasy. My wife and I stopped by for pre-dinner drinks and we absolutely loved the drinks that we were able to try out. I started out with a cocktail called the "Spam Dram", a crispy Spam fat-washed barrel-proof bourbon, combined with seared Spam and nori syrup and topped off with a spam musubi garnish. As one might guess, this drink was presented in a spam musubi tin, and atop the bed of crushed ice was an *entire* spam musubi. The drink was a perfect representation of spam musubi in a glass -- sweet, savory, and full of umami. Props to whichever bartender put together this creative drink. The next drink I ordered was the "Smoky Bear", another bourbon based cocktail. This one had bird's eye chili essence in it, and was much closer than your traditional Old Fashioned, except it had an incredible amount of smokiness and a punch of heat to it as well. If you enjoy stiff drinks with complexity, look no further than this cocktail. While we were seated at the bar, we overheard somebody close to us mentioning a password special that had been posted on the Instagram page of The Hidden Nene. We checked their latest story posted two hours earlier and the password special for the day was a "fizz me baby one more time", a strawberry and yuzu gin fizz. My wife ordered this cocktail as her second drink and loved how refreshing the drink tasted. Overall, if you consider yourself a cocktail connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to check out The Hidden Nene if you're in Hilo.

The coastal town of Hilo hides the fantastic speakeasy, The Hidden Nēnē. Head down the stairs by…read morethe green door, and it becomes less hidden, and you can see the sign for the basement level bar. The underground space is low green lighting, a long bar, and green velvet bar chairs. We went during the day, so they were not busy, and were able to sit at the bar. The service was quick, relaxed, and friendly. The cocktails are upscale priced, but well made. They do offer a full food menu, we did not order any food on our visit.