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    Lehua Restaurant

    4.5 (119 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 3:00 pm, 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

    Lehua Restaurant Photos

    LEHUA RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Dogs allowed

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    Recommended Reviews - Lehua Restaurant

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    New Zealand mussels
    Mike S.

    For the money, I felt the experience could have been a notch better across the board. Our waitress was great but as we dined at 5pm there wasn't much going on either. By 6, the place was filled and a nice guy was playing single guitar Hawaiian songs without being intrusive with volume. As noted by others, finding this place was a challenge. There definitely needs to be more street signage directing to the location and appropriate parking. I had to loop around several times before just guessing where to park legally. A small drink menu, we tried the Ali'i Mai Tai. The description promised a special experience but turned out not to be particularly tasteful or potent. Changed over to wine; again not much of a list. Had the New Zealand mussels and they were great! Each shell opened and the meats were good sized. Went then to the chef's special entree of Mahi Mahi with a great mixture of sauces and vegetables. Very tasty. Look forward to visiting again!

    Dessert Menu
    sharon t.

    The food and service were great. I ordered a Mai Tai. It was very different from what I'm used to... it was less sweet but still potent and tasty. I would order it again. Just don't expect it to taste like a sweet Mai Tai. For lunch we ordered the fried kalo. It was delish!! It was served in chunks. Coated and deep fried then had a garlic chili oil and fresh herbs! I didn't know if I would like it, because I'm not a fan of poi. But this appetizer was great!! I had a hard time not scarfing it all down. It really tasted like fried potato chunks with the oil and herbs. Then we got a hamburger which we shared. It was perfectly cooked and very yummy. Served with French fries and ketchup. Then we ordered the salted carmel Mac pie which we requested to go since we were both full from the meal. Overall a great lunch!

    This is literally the best drink EVER! Ask Francesca to make it! Spicy pickle mango martini
    Leona T.

    Sat at the bar with my beautiful niece on a Monday night. They didn't answer the phone earlier for reservations but they took us right away. The service from the Hostess and Bartender was just amazing. No high makamaka attitude here! Super friendly and helpful. They had really good live music from a solo artist, playlist on point. Food was beyond my expectations as well! The calamari and pork appetizer are a MUST!

    3 lb Opakapaka steamed with watercress and other fixings
    Haley F.

    Our fave place to go for a more upscale date night dinner! Located at Imiloa, Lehua's provides a lovely atmosphere filled with warm ambience and local music with live performance. Menu is on the smaller side but they're all hits! Their specials are also always creative, the staff do a great job at describing the dishes and give great recommendations as well. If you're stuck on deciding a starter, highly recommend the tinono and crab dynamite skillet. Large party? Can't go wrong with the whole fish, we loved the fresh watercress. Finally tried the lamb recently, melt in your mouth goodness.

    lunch menu
    Gordon C.

    The staff were excellent and attentive. music in the background, clean environment. the food was great, we liked the fried taro and kimchi hamburger very much, tried the mai tai it was very pineapple forward or yummy.

    Interior
    Melody D.

    Lehua is a nice option for dining in Hilo. The location is a little away from the main part of town, but really easy to get to with plenty of parking. The service is polite and attentive and the staff is friendly. The food is good, and some of the dishes could use a little refining. I recommend whatever the fish special is. I have never been disappointed when I have ordered this. I like to order both their Gyoza Ravioli and Calamari appetizers when I dine here. The calamari can sometimes be overdressed, but I just scrape off the excess sauce when needed. The pasta is my least favorite dish. It does not have much flavor and was oily when I ordered it. This dish could be improved. I appreciate that they have live music after 6:00pm and it's always been tasteful and beautiful. It really is a nice experience and I recommend trying it out.

    Review N.

    It was follow the map and see where we end up! Let's just say we thought we was lost at first, but follow the road and you'll end up at the cutest little restaurant! As soon as you walk in your greeted, the place is beautiful with some live music going! We order the poke hoard to start!! 10/10 It had spicy poke, fresh poke!!! Kim chi crab, super juicy, and the pipikaula so yummy!!! Ribeye- 10/10 cooked perfectly to temperature, served on a bed of mash potatoes and asparagus.. We also got the fried fish!! It was huge, served so pretty with veggies. 10/10 there was absolutely nothing left of that fishy!! From. Walking in, to being seated, to taking our orders, to serving us EVERYTHING and EVERYONE was just AWESOME!! We are definitely coming back!

    Ohana style fresh whole fish fried
    Jake N.

    Walking away from the meal at Lehua, the main descriptor of the meal would be too expensive for the quality of food. The food ranged from delicious to terrible to just bizarre. Firstly they are playing live music which is lovely except when it's too loud so you can't hear anybody you're talking to at the table. The most bizarre things we are were the appetizers. We had the gyoza ravioli which is bizarre as a starter because it is just one ravioli. Why would you make an appetizer one ravioli? Sure it's big enough to cut and share but that's a terrible item to share because now you have to cut it up and divvy it out. The ravioli was good but it was such a pain to serve it fell apart as I was eating it. Next up was the mussels cataplana which had such a delicious sauce it rested it. Too bad there aren't enough mussels to supplement eating the stew. And it's way too hard to serve the stew when you just have a plate. The best way to eat it is with some bread as our waitress told us which I agree but it isn't served with bread. We had to ask our waitress for another round of bread for this. The dish should just be served with bread and maybe some harder bread as well. We shared the ohana style fresh whole fish fried and it was pretty good. The fish tasted fairly good but the highlight was the Hawaiian water they offered with the meal. It was a spicy sauce that definitely helped improve the fish's flavor. The worst was the fresh catch we got which was some ono. This fish was the most overcooked and dry fish I have ever been served. The severe lack of sauce made this a dry, unflavored, mess of a dish. Desserts were adventurous and delicious. The kulolo lumpia wasn't something I'd ever had before but the mix of the hot kalo and the ice cream was delicious. The look of the dish was much less appetizing as it looks like just some goo. The macnut chess pie was much more approachable and also good. Had this been a meal costing about $20-30 a person I wouldn't be so outrageous but the worst fish I've ever had was $38. The meal came closer to $40-50 a person and for that price you expect great food. I see the vision in some of the dishes but some of the failures are too much to recommend this place.

    The ribs
    Armond H.

    One of the better restaurants in the Big Island located in Hilo. Nice ambiance semi formal with Hawaiian vibe live music very modern. Best Mai Tai ! The food was very good the service as well. The ribs were delicious. They offer crispy fried whole fish.

    Pork
    Helen H.

    TLDR: A quick search told us Lehua might be one of the best restaurants in Hilo right now and we were pleasantly surprised by our experience. Dishes were unique, food was tasty, and portion sizes were reasonable. Highly recommend the fresh whole fish and the tinono. ------ FOOD: 1. Fresh whole fish (5/5): We got one of the snappers, deep-fried (just using oil, no breading). Came with a large, well-dressed salad and 3 banchan on the side (tasty, though very small servings). Fish was delicious (beware of bones) and the whole thing could easily feed 2-4. 2. Tinono (5/5): Really liked the acidity of this dish. Overall was packed with flavor and went very well with rice. Pork was ever-so-slightly chewy but I kind of liked the texture of the charbroiled meat. 3. Short Ribs (4/5): Meat was tender, rice was soft, flavor was good. Felt like an upscale loco moco, though felt like the rice to meat / egg ratio was a little off. 4. Macadamia Nut Chess Pie (4/5): Tasted just like a pecan pie but with a slight macadamia nut flavor. Was delicious but was too sweet for me and wish the crust was a little more buttery and less grainy. Whipped cream was light and wonderful. ------ SERVICE: * Really liked our server! Overall had great and efficient service. * Easy reservations online through Resy. Lots of availability so was able to reserve day of. ------ ENVIRONMENT / AMBIANCE: * Nice ambiance but I wouldn't call it "upscale". Live music added to the atmosphere but made everything feel more casual. * Cool that this was in an astronomy center but you wouldn't know it inside the restaurant. Felt pretty standalone, which is totally fine. * No views from the panoramic windows, but they decorated the restaurant to feel more festive.

    Kyle K.

    Literally the only one in town where the dishes are more relevant to the rest of the world. The service was friendly, professional and yet attentive. The ambiance was vibrant, warm and welcoming.

    Chuck M.

    Amazing dinner. Comfortable, relaxing atmosphere. Amazing wait staff. We started with the crab dynamite and the calamari, both if which were delicious. I had the chicken con fit, which was moist and better than expected. The rib eye was also a hit. The desserts and drinks are amazing! See photos.

    Surf N Turf Calamari Calamansi Rita
    Lina Y.

    Our server was amazing, house manager stopped by, great kanikapila, 'ono food. Sis even brought the chili peppah watah shots Calamansi is the word...Ribeye surf and turf But great company can't be beat

    Oriental salad

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    2 months ago

    Delicious dinner! Great and attentive wait help! Music was a wonderful addition to the ambiance.

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    4 months ago

    Amazing service by all of the staff. They were very accommodating and pleasant. Also, they have the best calamari I've ever had.

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    Ask the Community - Lehua Restaurant

    How's the parking?

    Lots of free parking at the planetarium.

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    Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine - Dynamite fish bowl

    Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine

    4.3(2.6k reviews)
    1.5 mi
    $$

    Came as a party of 2 at noon on a Sunday, and we were seated right away! The ambiance definitely…read moregives a nice island sports bar vibe. Only street parking is available. There was also live music with a lady playing guitar solo and singing! Service was amazing! We never had to wait long to order/get the bill. We were most impressed by the fact that the waitress made sure to split our Hilo local plate into two plates to make it much easier to share! We almost thought we had received two orders because of how well-plated they were. - Poke tower (8/10): Solid choice for an appetizer! There were ample portions of poke, and the flavors were nice. Not a super stand out dish though. - Hilo local plate (9.5/10): If you want to taste a wide range of Hawaiian cuisine in one dish, I would highly recommend getting this one! The Kalbi ribs were sooo good! They were juicy, tender, and bursting with flavor. The Kalua pork was pretty good, and both meats paired well with the rice which had an interesting savory haupia sauce drizzled on it. The mango chili slaw and pineapple salsa added a nice tang to balance everything out. - Triple lilikoi pie (5/10): Wayyy too sweet and sugary for our liking, and you can barely taste the lilikoi flavor. We ended up just picking at the graham cracker crust and couldn't finish the rest. It seemed like one of those desserts that are premade unfortunately, and we wish we hadn't ordered this dessert.

    We chose Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine because it's one of the highest-rated sit-down spots in…read moreHilo, but it ended up being just okayyyy. The menu felt very "meh"...nothing particularly exciting or memorable. The cocktails looked great in photos, so we ordered the piña colada flight, but it tasted like there was little to no rum in it. Pretty presentation, but very mediocre overall. Food was just okay. The burger wasn't bad, but definitely not anything special. The fried shrimp dish was disappointing and lacked flavor. The big letdown was the ambiance. We were seated facing the street and parking lot the entire time ...no view...., just sad street. Overall, it didn't live up to the hype. Not terrible, but definitely not worth going out of your way for. The staff were all very nice though. Service friendly.

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    Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine - Bar with loads of fresh pineapples

    Bar with loads of fresh pineapples

    Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine - Ahi poke tower

    Ahi poke tower

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    Cafe 100 - Super loco moco

    Cafe 100

    3.9(655 reviews)
    1.2 mi
    $$

    I planned for my husband and I to grab a quick bite at Cafe 100 before leaving Hilo. With more than…read more2000 reviews on Google and 30 varieties of loco moco, it was hard to ignore. Cafe 100 is a casual, local spot with window (staff) or kiosk (automated) ordering and plenty of semi-outdoor seating (i.e., you are technically inside and covered, but you can still feel the heat from outside). I will admit the menu felt a bit overwhelming at first glance because there are so many options available, but we visited on a weekday when it was not busy, so we were able to take our time deciding. Anticipating larger portions, we decided to share a mixed type loco moco plate along with a drink. That turned out to be a great call, as the portion was more than enough for the two of us, especially since we would not easily be able to take leftovers with us. This is casual, familiar comfort food done well. No complaints here, and I have already recommended Cafe 100 to a few friends :)

    Made a day trip from Oʻahu to the Big Island and had to stop at Cafe 100 -- home of the original…read moreloco moco. As a born-and-raised local, rice, gravy, and eggs will win me over every time, and I really wanted to love this place for the history alone. I'll be honest though -- the hype set the bar high, and I left a little let down. The regular loco moco was just okay. The hamburger patty tasted pre-made or frozen, though the gravy was solid (thank goodness). The beef stew also tasted pre-made and was lighter on the tomato flavor than I prefer. I ordered the steak as well (around $30), and it came out very well done. On the positive side, they offer a ton of plate lunch options, the space is extremely well kept for a local diner, and there's plenty of parking. It's covered outdoor seating only, but it's comfortable and clean. What surprised me most was the lack of visible history. I expected to see more storytelling about the loco moco origins -- photos, signage, staff sharing pride in it -- something that really leaned into that legacy. It felt a little missing. Still glad I tried it for the experience, but for me, it didn't quite live up to the legendary reputation.

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    Cafe 100 - Cafe 100 Menu

    Cafe 100 Menu

    Cafe 100
    Cafe 100

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    Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill Hilo - Brownie roll was ok - the brownie itself was hard and the chocolate chips didn't help.

    Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill Hilo

    4.3(1.3k reviews)
    1.7 mi
    $$

    When we lived in Kona, we would frequent the Jackie Reyes there. The food was good, but for the…read moreprice, the entire experience - not even the old, nonfunctional classic car out front - was worth it. BUT, the Jackie Rey's in Hilo has now become our go-to fine restaurant in Hilo town. The building is classic. An old town Hilo bank, with the vault intact. High ceilings, comfortable tables and decore and an artistic antique wooden bar that would be a gem in the crown of any European city. The management and personnel are the most wonderful people. Always happy to accommodate you in the best way they can. After one kamaaina visit the servers will know your name. They'll make you feel welcome and that you are a part of their experience too, something that is nearly impossible to find in other town dining. They have rewards programs for kamaaina which includes a point system that gives you significant savings on your next visit. The food is first rate, from the pupus to the main dishes to the desserts. Sauced and presented in five star fashion, without feeling pretenious. We will be their peskiest and most loyal customer as long as we are in the area. Kudos to Jackie Rey's Hilo.

    My wife and I went to Jackie Ray's this past Friday. We got a window table and was able to see the…read moreactivity across the street since it's was Friday downtown open market. If you dine here and are not a big person don't get a booth table as it's the most uncomfortable seating I've ever experienced. The seat is way too far from the table and I needed to lean forward and sit on the edge of the seat. I would recommend getting a table its chair so you be able to adjust yourself to the distance from the table. Server was just Ok and with them placing a water decanter on the table for refill they didn't come around as often. The decanter water has no ice so whatever ice you have in your cup to cool the water. Last time eating at this establishment was better and my only complaint was the window seats next to the picture window and the flys that was buzzing there. Only thing is again there were two big flies buzzing the windows and I had to waved them away. The doors are always shut and only when customers walk in could the flys get in. Staff should walk around before opening and get rid of them. We entered about 5:10 PM so it was opened for just 10 minutes and shouldn't have flys. Air conditioning was on but the temperature was a bit warm and a cooler temperature of maybe 10 degrees be perfect. I had the mochico Ono and it was just ok tasting but on the plate presentation was nice. My wife had the pork chops and she really liked it but said was just a little over cooked. I did try a small sample and to me it was just ok also. ambiance in the restaurant is nice and most of the staff were very attentive. The server we had wasn't and I needed to Get his attention to get my bill even though he had passed multiple times and didn't or should have noticed we were done dining. Probably not be dining again at this establishment again and do know of better dining spots in Hilo.

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    Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill Hilo - Clean and inviting. This is a historical bank building.

    Clean and inviting. This is a historical bank building.

    Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill Hilo - Ahi Tartare Happy Hour. Amazing. I could eat ten more.

    Ahi Tartare Happy Hour. Amazing. I could eat ten more.

    Jackie Rey's Ohana Grill Hilo - Passion Flow

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    Sweet Cane Cafe - Kale salad

    Sweet Cane Cafe

    4.3(462 reviews)
    0.9 mi
    $$

    Sweet Cane is a health-conscious, organic, farm-to-table cafe, offering sandwiches, fresh…read morejuices/smoothies, and vibrant acai bowls. My favorite items are the acai and pitaya bowl as they are loaded with fresh banana, granola, coconut flakes. I also chose to get the omega add on for bee pollen, honey, chia, and hemp seeds for extra fiber! I am so happy to see that their bowls are still amazing as always. Highly recommend their fruit juices and bowls for nature's dessert to give you a boost for the day.

    No one at the counter to take our order-- for a while. The only tables available still had crumbs…read moreon them from the last customers, so we cleaned the table so we could sit down. There was a large pile of dirty dishes stacked up in the area where folks are supposed to place used plates, etc. They probably need more staff or this might just be their vibe. I had a spicy kalo burger for $20. The bun on the bottom was toasted (great) but the bun on top was not toasted and was crumbling apart as I ate it. The pumpkin soup with roasted pumpkin seed garnish was delicious, and inspired me to make my own kabocha stew at home. The food is tasty. The cleanliness could use some improvement especially given the prices. All that being said, it is a popular spot. The parking lot was full. The employees looked busy. Just be forewarned that service levels & cleanliness may fluctuate.

    Photos
    Sweet Cane Cafe - Ordering counter

    Ordering counter

    Sweet Cane Cafe - Nutter butter smoothie special, 20 oz...super delicious!  Organic Pecan pie balls

    Nutter butter smoothie special, 20 oz...super delicious! Organic Pecan pie balls

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    Lehua Restaurant - hawaiian - Updated May 2026

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