Nice venue for conferences, weddings, birthday parties, and more! Wonderful service from the staff while here for the Hawai'i Macadamia Nut Association Annual Conference. Delightful fresh breakfast during registration and check in, with iced tea, water, and coffee throughout the day. Filling and tasty buffet lunch to meet every palate. Huge screen for slide shows and power point presentations. Good microphone sound system. Lots of space for vendor displays, and large round tables for attendees. Restrooms were ample albeit a tad worn, and the toilet seat covers did not dispense easily. Nonetheless, this was truly a beautiful setting for a business meeting among colleagues. read more

See all

Beware if you have an event. Run with a tiny staff, mediocre food and staff that's hard to find. Not worth the price.

Cindy was responsive, reliable, flexible, understanding, and easy to work with. She understood my situation and granted accommodations to meet the needs of my family. We are grateful for her! read more

This is a cute garden. It does need some TLC but the staff is super nice. Most recently a shabu hot pot restaurant opened here. It was a bit to warm of a day for me to crave hot pot. Back to the garden.... It is under new ownership and they are slowly working to revive this location. With that said even with the water features off this was a great walk to see all the plants, trees, flowers. It is worth the stop especially for the price. We had the whole garden to ourselves as we wonder through. read more

See all

Don't come for a Mother's Day Event! Super unorganized & elderly waiting in waiting in rain for over a hour to be seated and then once in and seated no drinks and no pupus for. $130 + per person ! Feel bad I took my mom here. Can't rate food cause haven't gotten any yet and it's 12pm and was here since 9:30am read more

Nani Mau Gardens - Line way in the back another long line to wait in 12 pm and still no food - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

This event was our fourth time we had an event planned and executed at this establishment! The past three were also planned a year in advance and event went very smoothly and our family and friends were very pleased attending!!! This most recent event left much to be desired!!! Covid probably played a part of their situation but it is just speculation! In just a matter of one year this place underwent new ownership and of course new management!!! First coordinator we encountered was very open and so helpful in suggestion of available amenities of the establishment and ideas for our menu, entertainment, Photography, etc. we had good vibes!!! About four months passed then we tried to reconnect to go over and ask more into details of event! Well to our surprise that coordinator was not there anymore and new owners took over with all new staff!!! So all previous arrangements were lost and we had to make new ones!!! Thank God we still had the date locked in!!! Arrangements were made with new staff and we discussed the menu and pricing of that, desserts, liquor, and appetizers!!! Nothing was finalized yet!!! Event coordinator had all our information but nothing was recorded even though she said they would email me what was agreed upon! The event date came closer so it was crunch time!!! Trying to get in touch with the staff was pretty much impossible, you leave messages but no one returns your calls! We had to always physically go down there to talk with someone only to be met with the staff is in a meeting and you should have made an appointment!!! We waited to see them!!! The party commenced and when certain food ran out we were very disappointed but that's the chance you go through because at this point it's "Murphy's Law"! You try to resolve at the issue but to no avail! Days after the event we need to finalize the bill and they mentioned nothing about our Deposit! Again we physically have to go down to talk with the staff and of course they are in a meeting so again we waited to see them! My wife mentioned to me well this is the only way we can talk to the staff!!! We finally discussed what happened with the food running out and it pretty much took an act of congress to come to an agreement and get a partial refund and our deposit back!!! It was a big headache to go through this but the person that was supposed to email us all the information of what was agreed upon but didn't is not employed there anymore!!! Oh well! We had to accept the final decision and just know we had a celebration for our family at the least!!! This event was nothing short of an eye opener at the effects of what the Covid pandemic did to our society!!! We have to look at it like this due to what transpired!!! Hopefully future events will get better as we heal from this!!! read more

very nice ,Japanese garden lots of fruit trees and pretty flower would come back ag da I read more

Nani Mau Gardens - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

See all

I would not recommend their Sunday brunch to anyone. Limited fresh fruit, coffee tasted like instant not brewed, juice was watery, no fresh waffle station, crab legs had off taste (served Ala carte meaning an extra charge), shrimp tempura didn't seem to be made fresh but rather from packaged frozen tempura. Dim sum was most likely also frozen fare. First buffet that I've been to that I did not wish to get more of anything. After the disappointing meal, my family took a walk through the gardens and I was saddened to see how much of the area has been neglected. The picturesque water features are all non-functional. What still has water appears to be stagnant. I can still remember what the gardens used to look like and the many weddings that I have been to when the gardens were in it's prime. read more

Enjoyed a Mother's Day brunch. The prime rib, crab, sashimi were savory and delicious. The other entrees - smoke meat, kalua pig, poke and carved ham were tasty as well. The employees were attentive and friendly. My 4/5 stars was the wait time in the buffet line. But other than that it was beautiful Mother's Day treat. The walk through the gardens was also excellent way to work off some calories. The landscapes and tropical blooms were on full display. Excited for the new owner from San Fran. They seem really intent on welcoming the community back to Nani Mau Gardens. I look forward to attending more events and another chance to eat the Ono food too. read more

During a Father's Day Brunch Buffet, we went to the second shift (12-2). The food wasn't refilled for the second shift. We were first in line. Very little sashimi and poke, short ribs was like it was reheated, seafood boil, crab was dry. They ran out of prime rib, bbq pork ribs, bacon and sashimi and poke. I would think you shouldn't run out of food paying $75 for a brunch buffet. Workers were very unprofessional taking videos of entertainment instead of serving customers. Had to ask for more plates so we could get more food. read more

The staff here is so unprofessional and unorganized. The service was so and they didn't even care. The food was not healthy. Undercooked and bad had to send it back 2x's. Way too expensive and we were all disappointed with it. They need major changes. Something is definitely wrong. Don't waste your time or money here. read more

Nani Mau Gardens is a hidden gem just outside of Hilo. They have a lunch buffet that is reasonably priced and the food is good. The price of the buffet includes visiting the grounds of the garden at your leisure. I've been here for private functions and my partner and I come here at least once a month for the lunch buffet. The staff here is friendly and accommodating. There's nothing fancy about Nani Mau Gardens. It's Hawaiian local style in every way! The buffet reflects that in the dishes. The price of the buffet also includes a craving station with Roast Beef (not Prime Rib), which is good! read more

My nephew and niece had their wedding ceremony and reception here a few days ago and I must say I was very impressed with the food, staff and service here. Everyone we dealt with for setup, preparing for their big day and the wait staff and kitchen staff during the event were pleasant, very helpful and worked really hard to make the wedding event perfect. Anything we needed and requested they pulled through with a smile. From start to finish, they were all very helpful. Mahalo to everyone at Nani Mau. If you are considering this as a wedding or party venue, I think you will be happy. read more

Nani Mau Gardens - Dining area setup for wedding - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

This is one of the best places to have a party whether it is for a wedding or birthday, Nani Mau Gardens has very excellent staff that can multitask and will drop whatever it maybe if you need something done. Super on it with the professionalism and extra attention they give while they cater and attend to the needs of our guest and rascal children. Thank you Nani Mau for the wonderful ambiance and excellent customer services provided! Somehow one of the kids got his shoe stuck in the ledge of the ceiling during the party. They waited for a safe opportunity then used a ladder and got the shoe down. Papa's teeth are pretty much nonexistent so the kitchen grinded up his food and he had the happiest of birthdays. The chocolate fountain took a while to get going and the excellent staff came to the rescue. Providing milk and vegetable oil and making this the best fondue bar i have seen at any party! Aunty needed a bandage for her hand and the staff went out of their way to get aunty her bandage and then some. Just over all THE BEST customer services! Seemless reaction during that event when we broke some glass! They quietly and without drawing any attention away from the presentation cleaned it up quickly. I am in love, love and so very greatful for this venue! I've had my share of planning parties and helping at parties and they truely helped make the party a success. - Helper at the party read more

Excellent service and accommodating for hubby's retirement party, island style! Piilani is awesome and all that worked with us. Beautiful setting, great food, and wonderful people! I totally recommend this venue! read more

My husband heard that the Prime Rib Buffet opened up recently and so we decided to go and try it out. Long story short! 1. Made reservations for 3 adults 2. Arrived with hassle free parking 3. Greeted by the beautiful staff 4. Showed us to our lovely table 5. Wait staff came and greeted us, served our drinks, informed us of the requirements as well as the menu options 6. We proceeded to the buffet line, ate and ate and ate... Lol 7. Enjoyed everything about our dining experience here = ) 8. GREAT SERVICE, GREAT FOOD, GREAT PRICES, GREAT EVERYTHING!!! 9. I'm already recommending their restaurant to all my family and friends! 10. You will not be disappointed So sorry, I wish I took some photos of the dining area and the fabulous food but I was sooooo excited that I could only order, eat and drink! Hehehe... Next round for sure! Mahalo, Mahalo, Mahalo Pa'ina Nani Mau! We are definitely coming back! Truly, Ululani read more

Very disappointing as we planned this visit with family from the mainland. - FYI if you plan on going. Walked in and were heading out to the gardens. There were 3 people sitting inside and as we proceeded to the door entrance to the garden they informed us it was closed today. I said we don't want to eat just visit the gardens. They then said we are currently only open for private parties. We took it as they no longer let you tour the gardens. If this is the case it should be posted on the website. read more

This restaurant/garden is very bad.. このレストランはおいしくじゃない！ 这一家餐厅不好吃！ The food was very mediocre and the staff are very inattentive and don't care. The food was all too salty and was overcooked. The atmosphere was not good either. If you are looking for an event space or an easy place to eat - don't come here! The space is not nice and neither is the food. As for the garden, it is nice in some places but is overall pretty ghetto and seems like a backyard...if you are looking for a place to walk around and spend the afternoon, there are plenty of other options that are much better. read more

The garden is pretty ghetto. The little ponds in center of the garden have all but dried up and the small pond near the restaurant that had a model of the Hawaiian Islands was overrun by tadpoles and toads when we went. The buffet food is pretty standard, nothing fancy. The staff members aren't too friendly. Neal, who works as the greeter and cashier is friendly and accommodating. The rest of the staff will make you feel uncomfortable. The kinda tall, older haole lady that works in the dining room is the worst. So unfriendly. Avoid asking her for anything regarding your needs as a paying customer. She will snarl at you. Seriously. read more

The gardens are neat. They're a little back yard-y and still tatty in places, but have some really cool specimens and are enjoyable for strolling. There's a shady tunnel full of orchids, some very interesting trees, and manicured expanses of lawn, which make a very pleasant overall experience. You can learn a bit about the different plants and trees via some informational placards, but I suspect a guided tour would be much more informative. The specimen labeling isn't consistent. The gift shop is kinda goofy, but they do have frozen novelties and cold soda, which is nice on a warm day. There's an assortment of jewelry and other random stuff, not especially related to the garden itself. If you visit on a tour package, they might have a buffet luncheon set up for you. Not amazing, but they have thoughtfully included a variety of choices for folks with diet limitations, which is nice. Bathrooms are clean and capacious. NOTE: if you want a really top-flight garden to tour, you might check out the Allerton & McBryde Gardens (National Botanical Garden) on Kauai. read more

Had the buffet lunch. It was very reasonable and good but the food is secondary to the gardens. They are included in the $15 price. Beautiful and expansive. Most plants are labelled so you learn as you stroll. We we on Monday. It was empty. Tour buses brought people for the buffet but they didn't go out into the gardens! We had them to ourselves. read more

I was so disappointed with the lunch buffet since the food at parties there and at our annual luncheon there is very good. Our party of 5 went for lunch on a Tuesday at 12:15. The gift shop where you pay for lunch was locked and the sweet waitress Jessica had to call someone to collect our money. The dining room is big and there were about 3 tables with customers eating. I had a sister from Oahu and one from San Francisco with us. I told them the food was good. At the end of our meal I was apologizing about the meal. The green salad, pasta salad were okay. The cole slaw had no taste. I raved about the fried rice but was disappointed because the rice was hard, not really cooked well. The beef stir fry was okay, tasted good, tender but over cooked veggies. The creamed veggies looked unappetizing, the fish was good but 2nd batch was mushy. The roast beef was so rare and tough, good gravy. The cakes seemed like an afterthought, dry; the pineapple and papaya were hard and sour. Overall, not good lunch. For the same price we could have gone to Hawaiian Style Cafe, Kenichi or even fast food place and walked out happier. If the food at parties and our annual luncheons is delicious then there must be an issue with quality control or inconsistent cooking?? Come on Nani Mau Restaurant, tourists come through daily, us locals come occasionally. Your best advertising is by word of mouth and yelp. Put out good food consistently for $16-17 a head. read more

We had a going away party for my mother in law and the food was great and we had a good time walking the gardens. That being said, the management for this place is by far THE WORST customer service I have ever personally dealt with. They made us pay upfront even though we weren't sure how many guests we would have, they said they would refund the difference if we over paid. We counted up all our guests and only 22 of the 30 people we invited came. They now refuse to refund the $130 difference they owe us. It has been 3 weeks and Susan who answers the phone is rude, condescending and has a complete lack of respect for her customers. You will be made to feel as though you have come to steal, when all you want is a nice lunch with family and friends. I would tell anyone who considers eating here to GO ELSEWHERE. Major management issues!!!! read more

Oh dear. I want to write to the Big Island Revealed team and tell them they should remove this from the book. Maybe this used to be worth stopping in, but when we were there in July 2011 the garden looked pretty pathetic. Fortunately we didn't have to pay the admission fee because a family was setting up for a wedding and said they didn't mind if we walked through. That was good because otherwise we would've demanded a refund. Go to the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden if you want to see a lovely garden. read more

Update from another visit. This place is just great. The entrance fee is a little bit steep but you can spend all afternoon wandering through just getting lost in the feel of the old growth. The trees are huge, as evidenced by the size of the broms and elephant ears growing on them. The orchid pavilion has excellent diversity and is well laid out. read more

Buffet pretty standard fair. Good but nothing special. Someone had booked a party in the main dining area so we had to use the upstairs area. They have been working on recovering the once wonderful gardens. Progress seen in all areas. We visited after most the orchids had bloomed, but some were still blooming. read more

Let's start off by saying the garden was nice, could be up kept a little better, but still beautiful. The garden is probably why I give this place an extra star. Went to a buffet here that was supposed to start at 11, didn't open until after 1130. The lady in the gift shop was working really hard though, because guests kept pouring in. The staff were walking around and yelling throughout the building while getting ready for the buffet. It was really unprofessional. The food was decent, but the dessert looked like left over cake from the night before. They kept saying they were running late because of a party they had, and that people had called in sick, which I thought was TMI. Another thing is when we called to make reservations we were told we didn't need them, then when we got there the lady told us we were lucky because there was one more table that wasn't reserved that could fit our party of 6... Just need to work on management and I think this property/business could be so much better. read more

Well..I haven't gone into the gardens because you need to pay for US $5.00 for admission ticket if you DO NOT purchase the meal from the cafe. I just DONT like the manager over there, Her name is Susan if I'm still remember, we joined the tour to go here, but you can have a choice whether you buy the lunch or not, and when I talk to this manager, Susan, I said I just paid the lunch for my friend, and I will not having lunch here. She told me if you do not buy lunch here, you can't sit here, and you have to wait outside, and she told me i have to buy the US. $5.00 ticket for entry the garden. I just DON'T like her altitude, I know that's her job, but can she talk to customer softly and more respect to her customer. My tour guide also does not like her altitude. Since she treated all her customers isn't that friendly. We are Chinese, and I hope this is not the main reason to cause this issue. If susan changes her behavior alittle bit, that will be alot more better. read more

I highly recommend Nani Mau Gardens. We moved from Washington State 2 years ago and have visited most of the garden experiences on the Big Island and we like most of them. Nani Mau offers uniquely beautiful and expansive views of a large variety of well organized gardens. If you want to see nearly all of the palms that grow in Hawaii and be able to learn their characteristics, you have only to view the detailed placards of information posted on or near the plant. Nearly all of the edible fruit plants are on display. The buffet features a wide variety of freshly prepared and delicious foods. The chef is highly attentive and very friendly and obviously proud of his work. The front desk staff and the servers are friendly and accommodating and they have a well stocked and friendly gift shop. When you buy the buffet, the garden visit is free. Either one is worth the asking price by itself. Some of the reviews I believe reflect the previous ownership and operation. Things look very good now, that's all I can say. The food alone is worth the trip and the garden is a free "icing on the cake". You won't be sorry! read more

The garden is rundown and looks like someone's big, unkempt back yard. Gardening enthusiasts traveling to the Big Island can skip this one.

They took us in for the night during the Tsunami evacuation in March and treated us with fantastic hospitality. Just looking for a venue to thank them. read more