We found this gem on a drive to Akaka Falls. Perfect brunch or afternoon tea spot. So much loose…read moreleaf tea here. I got the Papaya Bowl (I'm not even a papaya person), it was a delightful surprise, fresh berries, yogurt, and almond butter! This a great place to make a great Hawai'i memory, it's a pretty cool stop.

Women is soooo slow. 25 min. For 3 coffees!…read more Had us wait 15 min just to take our order. She waited til she made a whole order (sandwiches and coffees) for someone else, before she even took ours. The 2 lattes tasted like watered down oat milk, and had to ask if there is even espresso in it! AND there was honey in both, when all I ordered was 2 Ice lattes with Oat. Didn't even bother mentioning it, knowing it'd be another 20 min. And the cold brew had way too much cream (when asked for little cream) and the lady gave attitude when said too much cream, brought back another drink and slammed it on the table. With NO cream. Then refused to give a LITTLE cream for it. Saying "I already wasted so much on your last drink." Even though it was WRONG. And there was grounds in the bottom lol Bad drinks,, bad attitude. extremely slow service I recommend passing this one

Service and workers friendly and attentive , food / ice cream great. Ambiance and decor old and…read moreclassy. Loved the Bible verse and Worship music.

Milk Tea Boba. They did not add enough powder. It tastes so watery. The boba pearls were ok…read more Powdered flavors are really cheap but they charge $6.75 for it and don't use much less than the recommended amount. Shaved ice. Wow is it $5 for a small cone now? The lilikoi syrup was nice.

We always stop here on the drive from Hilo to Kona. Known for their huge, thick, dense malasadas…read more These are okay, in my honest opinion. No complaints but I just like my malasadas to be light, fluffy & airy. I can't have too much carbs these days. We usually get the original plain ones but they have some with flavored filling as well. They have a gift shop, my parents found some great shirts, with nice colors there. We liked it. They serve local food as well. Service is always good, served with Aloha Mahalo and Aloha!! Chelle

We finally got a chance to try the malasadas here…read more You know why it's called a drive in? You literally pull your car up to the drive up window. Of course you can pull the car around the corner, park the car, and walk over to the counter service. The malasada is square shaped. So heavy. We got a total of three. We brought them back to our resort. The bellhop recognizes the box, and says it like a loaf of bread. He was right. We had them the next day for breakfast. We didn't think there was enough filling for the size - we got strawberry, pineapple, and guava. We concluded we like the donut shaped malasadas more, like Leonard's on Oahu. These were ok. Our curiosity satisfied. They offer food items too like mix plates but we had already eaten. This place seems off the beaten path, but all the locals frequent it.

What an absolute Gem of a restaurant! In the heart of Honokaa…read more Glad we found this wonderful Italian restaurant! We were walking and decided to try it out. We got a 12" pepperoni pizza and a special pastrami sandwich. The pepperoni pizza was so delicious. It has so much flavor in every bite! The crust tastes garlic, the cheese tasted so good! Definitely try it! Oh my goodness! The pastrami sandwich is one of the best sandwich I've ever eaten! The pastrami was crunchy on the sides and so much flavor. You can tell the sandwiches bread is fresh! The lettuce and tomatoes are so fresh too.

Still love this place. Not the same since Sergio departed (the drop from 5-stars), but still a…read moregreat experience and definitely the best made from scratch pizza and calzones in Honokaa (maybe the island) Apparently it's now owned by another family, but still same staff including the chef. He does a great job. The food is solid. It's just not as lively as it once was. The stage is now storage as is the beautiful bar. There is SO much potential for this place to be hopping with business (live music, karaoke night, bingo night, etc..), but currently it's just good food in a beautiful restaurant. Nothing wrong with that. It's worked for them, but I'll always miss the days when Sergio brought passion and vitality to not just the food, but also the environment.

8/6-8/7/26 - Samples and items neatly showcased in this quaint store. Decided to purchase a couple…read moreof cute omiyage boxes containing 12ea Hawaiian Dark Flower Gems and confirmed markdown price. Was advised by the lady behind the counter system was down and my receipt would be texted to me. The next day, I received a receipt but noticed the discount had not been applied. Spoke with a gentleman who quickly and efficiently handled and texted me a receipt showing the refund. This was confirmed when I received my credit card statement. For excellent customer service, 5 stars! The dark chocolate was good, too, on top of vanilla ice cream (almost too pretty to eat)!

(This one is about the farm tour)…read more There are three ways to experience the offerings from Honoka'a. You can buy direct from their website, stop by their retail store or go all in and do the farm tour. While I very much am not a chocolate person, and no, this tour wasn't going to change that, I am a tour person who is far more interested in how things are made/done than the actual finished product. If you're going to do the tour, head to the below link and chose a date/time/number of people. honokaachocolate.com/pages/farm-tours It's worth mentioning that yes, the price is $95 per person which to me is on the high side. We did several other food-based tours during our time on the Big Island and that number is a... big number. The front half of the tour is at the owner's house where the orchard and tasting area are located. It's not hard to find and the provided directions are perfect. You get to see the trees up close and there is a lot of great information shared by Mike about every step of the process including answering whatever questions there are about anything you see along with several tasting samples. After this wraps up, you make a short drive to the retail store in downtown for a brief look at the production equipment and a few more samples before you're cut loose to buy stuff from the store. As I mentioned at the beginning, I'm not a chocolate person and nothing I sampled is going to change that. I did appreciate one of the samples more than I thought I would (Barrel Aged Bourbon Bar) but the rest were just meh, and the Cacao Tea was...not something I ever want to have again. But that's just me. I bought several bars for gifts and to the best of my knowledge all were inhaled and appreciated. Overall, I appreciate the information provided on this tour and getting down into the nitty-gritty of the germination-fermentation-weather-growing process/cycles-harvesting/drying-etc. Very Alton Brown with going all of the way down to a very molecular level of detail. If you're into chocolate as most people are and if you like to understand where the things you eat come from, this is a good one.

Service was friendly and welcoming, came for the fudge and coffee, both were delicious! However the…read moreMac nut bear claw pastry was the BEST thing I've eaten on the island, BEST pastry I've ever tasted! Cute little down home coffee shop, with tons of options for ice cream, fudge, shaved ice and coffee!

First of all, although Yelp has separate listings, this is the same business as Hamakua Fudge Shop…read more I stopped in based on the generally enthusiastic reviews about the fudge, both here and on other sites. Though it hadn't been my original plan, I ended up getting lunch here, since most other nearby restaurants were closed. This involved a bit of a wait, as when I first arrived the high school kid at the counter said he couldn't make sandwiches, but the owner would likely be in soon -- though he also said she was inconsistent and he couldn't say for sure when. Happily, she was there when I stopped back half an hour later, having confirmed that the only other available lunch options were a food truck whose fare didn't much fit my mood or takeout from the local market. I ordered a turkey sandwich on whole wheat and iced coffee. The coffee was good. The sandwich was barely okay. It was billed as coming with cranberry mayonnaise, and while the mayo had a bit of sweetness, cranberry flavor was not readily apparent. The turkey was weirdly dry and crumbly and the bread was beginning to get stale. All it all it was edible, but that's about it. It came with a small banana, which was a nicer and healthier touch than the chips or pickles you so often get with sandwiches. As I sat there eating, I noticed a sign on the bulletin board, apparently left over from the days when Hawaii had a COVID-19 mask mandate for indoor establishments. The sign used fake language from HIPAA (misspelled as HIPPA -- a dead giveaway) to say, essentially, that they'd just pretend anyone not wearing a mask had a medical reason to not wear one and ignore the public health rule. Why they felt compelled to announce they don't give a bleep about public health a year after any such mandates ended I can't say, but I'm suffering debilitating "Long COVID" symptoms because of the recklessness of idiots like this. So I didn't buy any fudge, tempting as it looked, and instead satisfied my sweet tooth at another business.

Aunty who runs it is the best. She is extremely kind and giving. The store is cute and has good…read moresandwiches, soups and desserts. Definitely should check them out.

We were told the sandwiches would take about 20mins but we ended up waiting closer to 50mins. I…read morehighly recommend calling ahead to place your order, or you may be waiting a while. That said, the sandwiches were excellent. The BLT was the best I've had - the bacon was crispy and overall just delicious. The tri-tip sandwich was also great. There are a few seats outside the store, and parking was easy.

My wife and I scheduled this amazing tea journey while visiting the big island, what an amazing…read moreexperience. The steward of this beautiful land, Taka is not only a tea Master, but also a kind, generous and wise soul. We were lead through the farm on a totally immersive tour that involved all of our five senses. We learned so much about tea and left with so much gratitude. The Senchado tea ceremony was the highlight of the tour, served by a true Zen practitioner. I highly recommend this tour if you're looking for a heart-opening experience and enjoy tea.

We greatly enjoyed the entire experience. Both walking thru the tea plants and participating in the…read moretea ceremony. All was very well done and informative. Would highly recommend booking.

Excellent experience. The food is freshly made while you…read moreenjoy great conversations by the husband and wife that give Aloha. We have been there more than once and send guests to meet them.

Love the couple that runs it. The food is always spectacular. I usually get a homestyle plate. The…read moreconversations are always elevated as the owners are local encyclopedias! I'm Portuguese and my father grew up in Hawaii. Just like Grandma used to make as they say. Oh and the prices are more than fair. Every dish I've tried has been fabulous.

We did the lunch and farm tour. Lunch was excellent. Ian…read moredid a great job providing information about the vanilla plant and industry. Would definitely recommend for adults.

Just wow! What an amazing experience! This review is about…read moretwo different trips to Hawaiian Vanilla Company. Our first trip was in May 2026. We went for lunch and tour. Absolutely incredible mean. Loved every bite. The shrimp crostini, salad, chicken sandwich and southwest potatoes were all delicious. However, that Jimmy Boy drink is in my dreams! So yummy! After the meal we toured the vanilla farm and learned about growing the orchids along with hand pollination. Then headed back to the guest house for ice cream and coffee. Every one was so nice and welcoming on this tasty and educational visit. Fast forward to September 2026, we wanted to go to tea but a hurricane was predicted. Since getting up the mountain could be difficult in storms, HVC closed. The storm did not hit as hard so we called to go to the gift shop. Not only did they open the gidt shop but we had a private tea! We arrived to a beautifully set table with a fireplace lit and local music playing. We started with a Jimmy Boy! My favorite!! We each had a pot of tea. Both were delicious, I bought both blends to bring home. We were served soup and salad, two chicken sliders, savory puff pastries and three small desserts. All were focused on vanilla. Again, the staff went aboce and beyond to make this event incredible. It was such a special experience. I can not wait to return in February 2027. Hawaiian Vanilla Company will be a stop on every trip to Big Island. Adore the people and my belly appreciates the deliciousness.