We tried out this legendary Japanese Hawaiian diner near the end of our trip. It is literally like…read morea slice out of history! Not to be missed! They have a TV showing historical clips of the Japanese immigrants who moved to Hawaii. We learned so much just dining there! The servers were very nice and friendly. They even offer free, hot green tea. It wasn't crowded when we went there for lunch. The server said we could order from the dinner menu too. The restaurant is decorated with a bunch of old family photos. It's not a fancy food location, but a place that is in the locals' hearts. Also, it's not standard Japanese American food, so don't come in looking for rolls and such! Instead, they serve fresh, perfectly prepared Japanese food with a Hawaiian twist, favorites like saimin and shrimp tempura. The large saimin ($16.17) was delicious and really hit the spot. Toppings were Spam, eggs, and veggies. Simple, but tasty! Shrimp tempura appetizer ($14.85) was a pretty large sized dish. The pieces have a lot of crunchy batter and the kids loved it. It was a bit greasy, but that's to be expected. DH got a Oyako Donburi with sashimi ($21.93). Wow, the sashimi was truly amazing! So tender, it just melts in your mouth. The eggs were cooked with bamboo pieces which kinda threw DH off. I liked them, but DH would've preferred it without. The flavor is sweet/salty and pretty mild. It came with miso soup and some pickles. Parking is right in the front and backs into the main road. It can be spicy getting out if traffic is heavy. They don't have a lot of bathrooms, so there might be a wait. Those are the downsides. Otherwise, a wonderful local place to eat!

After reading about the extensive history of this long-standing Japanese/Hawaiian family…read morerestaurant, we had to come check it out. I got the No. 3 Teishoko which comes with Miso Soup, Sashimi, Sukiyaki, Shrimp Tempura, Sunomono, Tsukenomo, and Rice. The tuna was so smooth and melts in your mouth. And I loved the flavor of the pairing of pickled vegetables with the sukiyaki (flavorful and tender). I do wish the shrimp tempura had a little more shrimp and less tempura batter though. Also, we didn't realize that our waitress was the great granddaughter of Grandma Teshima herself. She was so nice to us during our visit! I would recommend checking out this restaurant. Looking forward to trying out their breakfast the next time we come back!

So good Love laulau…read moreThe lady at the counter is so nice! Cute place!!! Was there around 11 on a Friday, had parking and table space to dine in, no problem!

While this roadside spot may seem unassuming, Super Js serves up the best lau lau I have ever…read moretasted. I ordered the pork lau lau on white rice, and I was blown away. The flavor of the pork was amazing, and it was soft and tender. Don't sleep on their homemade mango teriyaki sauce in the black bottle. It brings your lau lau from a 10/10 to an 11/10. The woman at the counter was super nice, and gave many suggestions on what to order.

This ole fashioned local restaurant in the famous Manago hotel is very quaint!…read more Check out my pics for menu! All entrees serviced with beansprouts, pork cabbage, potatoe salad with tuna and peas plus white rice: family style! My friends ordered the Famous porkchops fried in an old cast iron skillet! Large serving with 2 chops and very tender and juicy! I ordered the bútterfish with Miso ($.50 cents more). 1 small and 1 large size but so fresh and flaky! Yummy, would order again! There is a good size parking lot after you drive past Manago Hotel. Check out their little Pagoda garden and waterfall!

I finally got to try the pork chops at Manago Hotel! It comes in 2 different sizes, either a 10 oz…read moreor a 15 oz. I went with the 10 oz and my daughter and I shared it. My husband got the fried opelu. Gravy and grilled onions are an additional 50 cents each. The pork chops were pretty thick and was enough for the both of us. Honestly, it wasn't anything spectacular, but I read and heard so much about it. They bring out 3 side dishes and tonight it was potato salad, a cucumber/imitation crab salad and shoyu long rice. Rice is served like in a Chinese restaurant in a big bowl and you scoop your own into your bowl. The service was very good, local style with her calling us aunty. So Kona, I love it! The hotel itself is over 100 years old and it is very nostalgic. Don't expect too much, it is home style cooking with local vibes. I enjoyed our dinner there and would go back to try something else on their menu.

Got 1/4 lb of a few different pokes to try. We got the salmon poke, southside sweety poke, shoyu…read morepoke, wasabi poke, slippery Hawaiian, and dhawaiian poke. The salmon and tuna were all very fresh and everything was very well seasoned. The names are very accurate in describing the poke flavor. Our favorites were the salmon poke and the slippery Hawaiian poke, saucy and great balance of savory, salty, umami, and a bit of sweetness. The wasabi poke had a very very strong wasabi flavor, so be warned! We also tried their ube lemonade and Mac salad. The ube lemonade was a nice purple color, but it didn't taste much like ube and the lemonade didn't taste fresh either. The Mac salad was a bit too creamy and dense in our opinion. So we'd skip these but definitely get the poke + rice bowl!

Omg the Superman, shoyu poke was da bomb Aunty was so…read morepleasant to talk to Open seating is cool and light breeze

I got the loco loco and my GF got the bow plate. Both off the lunch menu portions were huge and…read moretasted amazing. Place is very clean and the perfect lunch spot after visiting the Greenville coffee farm.

Best food so far while vacationing on the Big Island…read more There are variety of food on the menu, most if not all with large portion of protein, palatable, and best of all, it was affordable. Here, you can feed the picky eater with a cheese burger and order of onion rings while dining with someone wanting Chinese or Asian flavor while you have a plate of local Hawaiian dish. It feels like a casual Hawaiian diner. We parked our car on the back, had decent amount of parking. There are indoor and outdoor dining area. Plus, the server was attentive.

Just stopped at South Kona Grindz on our way from Black Beach to our resort in Kona and had a great…read moreexperience. Sit in the backyard/patio and you'll feel nature all around you and Hawaiian music in the background. In this day the weather got a bit darker and cool, so we sat there looking around taking in so much beauty. It was so relaxing! The menu had variety and the prices very reasonable. We had the veggie burrito, fish and chips and bbq sandwich. Everything was fresh and delicious. Too bad they didn't offer alcoholic drinks because I was really craving a Big Wave, but it's ok since I they did have local coffee. The lady kindly served it in a to-go cup and off we went. Great little place with Hawaiian vibes and good food!

Friendly and welcoming staff. Relaxing setting. Seating toward the back of the restaurant offers…read morea tranquil setting. Great place for lunch with friends and family. My favorite place for lunch! Phone orders are quick and food is always ready by the time I get there for my pickup. Some of my favs: Pineapple-Cilantro Grilled Ini Fish Tacos. Poke Nachos and Bel's Burrito.

Who knew the deli serves so many things? You know Choicemart is great for groceries. I recently…read morediscovered the many items available from their deli! There are always big fresh sandwiches stuffed with fresh ingredients. The Reuben is great! There is also a menu you can order from if you prefer a burger and fries.Then there are the plate lunch specials under the heat lamps. And what about all those baked goods for dessert?

I don't know what happened with this pie. The crust is bonded to the pan. I had a craving for a…read morecustard pie. I am very disappointed. The price goes up, but the quality goes down. If I weren't so far away, I would return it. The custard is alright, at least.

This place is delicious and the people who run it are very sweet. Highly recommend. I'd say it's…read morethe best Thai in Kona. Love the Chicken Satay, so good.

The cutest road side stop! Great Thai food, and amazing service! The owner is so kind, humble, and…read moregenuine. The food and is fresh and made with love! The ambiance is great too! Cozy, simple, clean! I will be back to try more as well as post more pictures! This place is a hidden gem

Went for dinner and drinks with the family. Run runner was super good. The new manager is SO NICE…read moreand was busting his buns all through the crazy night. He SAVED the night on more than one occasion. This is one of our favorite stops as it's super close to our house. The views are undeniably some of the best in Kona. They have amazing outdoor patio areas with fire pits. Perfect for gathering.

On our last full day in Hawaii, we decided to finally try this place near our condo for lunch (no…read morereservation - place wasn't very busy). The restaurant is in an unbeatable location with sweeping views from every table, plenty of parking, and open-air seating with good amounts of shade. Service was a little slow to start, but we weren't in a hurry. Once things got rolling, we got our drinks and food pretty quickly. The draft beer selection is limited, but they have a huge cocktail menu and full bar. I ordered the fish and wedges (beer-battered ono with seasoned potato wedges). It came with coleslaw. Fish was 5/5 stars. Wedges were 5/5, too. The coleslaw was 3/5 just because it was underseasoned and not that special. Serving size was generous and I only ate two of the three pieces of perfectly cooked fish. My husband had the kalua pork tacos and he raved about them. The only disappointment was that they were out of the potato mac salad, which he was looking forward to. The sub of seasoned potato wedges worked well, though.

I have had pizza in the People's Republic of China, all over Europe, Africa and the USA. I am here…read moreto testify that Black Rock Pizza in Captain Cook is now my all time favorite. Their homemade sauce and dough is phenomenal. The drinks are great! My favorite is the black sand margarita. The staff is wonderful.. so far we have eaten here twice on our stay.

My husband and I love pizza, so on our last night on the Big Island we decided to grab pizza before…read moreour manta ray night swim. We ordered one small pizza to go and were happy to see how many options they had. Unfortunately for us, a lot of them included pork, which we don't eat. Still, I picked one pizza I was really curious about, and I was pleasantly surprised when they had no problem swapping pepperoni for chicken. That flexibility is always appreciated, and it never felt like we were limited just because we don't eat pork. We didn't dine in, but I noticed they have a really interesting cocktail menu, which fits the island vibe perfectly! To be honest, my husband wasn't expecting much, pizza isn't exactly what you come to Hawaii for, right? That's what we assumed. But wow, we were wrong. About 40 minutes later, back at our hotel (after a shower and everything), we finally sat down to eat, and the pizza was still amazing. Crunchy crust, great texture, and full, balanced flavors. We're no longer on vacation, but we still talk about this place and easily rank it in our top three food spots from our Big Island trip, which says a lot, because we're serious about pizza. If we ever come back to Hawaii (and I believe they have locations on other islands too), we will 100% be getting pizza from here again. Highly recommend giving it a try if you're visiting Hawaii