The greatest view and love the coziness of this place. Always loved their escargot. Lunch selections are awesome. Great homemade daily soups. For dinner I always enjoyed prime rib and lobster combo. A must go to at least once if your visiting Hilo Town. read more

Went here for dinner with the wife, I had the seafood gumbo and she had a steak. My gumbo arrived with 2 large unseasoned head on prawns, way overcooked which makes a shrimp jerky. Really when you have trouble cutting shrimp with a knife, it's an issue. Not to mention, you have to shell and de-vein the shrimp while it's sitting in a tomato sauce. While I am not adverse to getting down and dirty with a seafood dish, it literally takes seconds to peel and de-vein a shrimp, for the price I would have preferred the chef to do it. And my wife is not a rare steak gal, ordered medium, so of course it showed up rare and surprisingly tough. While the steak did have a good sear on it, it could have benefited by some tenderizing. So, the chef managed to cook the shrimp longer than my wife's steak. Really, 3 to 4 minutes for shrimp after 15 minutes it belongs in the trashcan. read more

We went here two days in a row. First night the food was incredible, the second day, not so much. Gourmet scallops the first day and average fish and chips the next day. Service was always good. I will definitely be going back for another meal. The restaurant sits over a small lake which makes for a great view. They have a cool Koi pond under the restaurant and they give you fish food to throw to them.. fun. The restroom usage was a bit of a problem. They had the a broken door latch taped to make it work but it had the opposite effect when trying to open the door. Also got a dirty look from a kitchen employee who was leaving the restroom while I was entering - odd. read more

Love this restaurant. Great location perched over the ice ponds; beautiful huge koi swimming below. They serve brunch on Sundays. Dinner hours are usually very busy and often local talent will be performing so make reservations. My favorite time to go is lunch. I love their Brie salad, fried calamari, and escargot. Everything they serve is delicious and beautifully prepared. Always great service too! read more

The Ponds Hilo never dissapoints! The service from the Host, to Waiter was on point. We always go for work. We had the Salmon Salad with apples, walnuts, avocado, and this cute bread. My friend had the Seared Ahi Caesar Salad which was ono too. We just love this place. And the view of the Pond with the Koi fish in the Pond below the restaurant read more

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Beautiful open air restaurant sitting over a coy pond. Food was very good. A little expensive but the staff made it well worth it. I would definitely go again. read more

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I really love this place. It is on a boat and there's a singer singing in the night. We order two special, which isn't on the menu, recommend by the waitress. Facts proved that it's very delicious. We almost eat everything. My husband ordered a beer, perhaps named like a big Island wave. It tastes very nice. I don't drink alcohol but l like this beer. It's like some roselle in it. read more

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Visited this restaurant at the recommendation of people in Pahoa. The food is good. The staff is nice. However, don't visit before sunset as the sun will be right in your eyes. The Koa fish pond is viewable from tables just at the windows. You can feed them, but they likely won't take it as they're fed a lot. There happened to be some live music the night we were there. read more

I usually come here for special occasions or just to have lunch with my friends & family. I came for my 11 Year anniversary with my wife & I'm not sure if it's a different owner but the food was okay, not how it usually tasted. The specials they had were like mediocre & I ordered a lobster carbonara which came with half a Maine lobster tail, mushrooms, onions, & bacon, came out to a whopping 72$!!! I'm also a chef & to see this price on my bill really made me disappointed not to mention the lobster tail & pasta was over cooked, wasn't well seasoned, and the PRICE WAS NOT DISPLAYED ON SPECIAL BOARD nor did my waitress tell me either. Really not coming here again after I spoke with the manager about it who wasn't really consoling towards my concern. She just told me "lobster is expensive". I know that.. everyone does but a 72$ pasta with only half a lobster tail is not worth that! Come on! Get it together Ponds, you will be losing your customers in no time if you keep it up. read more

Great find in Hilo. Good food and great staff, near the airport. We had lunch here before our helicopter tour. Had window table and enjoyed watching the koi and turtles while we dined. read more

I ate here yesterday and the service was terrible . We waited over a half hour for our food. We got St Patrick's day special. Lots of meat, but hardly any cabbage. My friend got the lobster soup special and it was cold when it arrived. The restaurant wasn't even busy! Very dissatisfied! read more

I was here w my mother (she was here from the mainland). We thought the food was good, the price was right, the ambiance was nice, and a great location. Initially we were told to go to Pesto's, downtown, however it wasn't what we were looking for. We were looking for a little more local flare and not as pricey. I ordered the steak with the potatoes and my mother had fish and chips, we had calamari as an appetizer, very nice crispy w a great fresh taste. Overall it was very good the price was right, we were hungry and the waitress was very sweet . I would recommend this place as off the beaten path just a bit. Menu offers a plethora of options I thought overall it was good and I would definitely go here again for either quick food on the run or a sit-down with friends and a great ambience ~easy! read more

The atmosphere is nice, the live music was excellent and the people nice. Started with a bottle of Chianti. Appetizers, steamed clams in lemon grass, there was no lemon grass instead a very heavy red sauce with bold red peppers onions. Mushrooms. It totally overpowered the very sandy clams, awful. We also had the escargot which was overpowered by spinach, but good. First we were given our dinner salad. We were one of 5 tables in that entire side and after 20 minutes our prime rib arrived. Ice cold with congealed fat and lots of it. I asked to have it heated and it was returned after they dunked into the a ju bucket. It was the worst cuts of rib I've ever been served. It was 60% fat, full of gristle and mostly inedible. The waiter never returned and after 35 minutes of sitting in front of cold plates the bus boy removed the plates. Also the upgrade to the mac nut pesto was a glob of very hot sticky gloppy pasta with mac nuts sprinkled in. Terrible and inedible. Finally after another 15 minutes of no service the hostess brought water, finally and asked how it was. I told her nicely. She left. After another 15 minutes the waiter stoped after well servicing the surrounding four tables and asked about coffees. We even had to ask about dessert. We ordered the warm brownie and the bread pudding. The brownie was hot and had ice cream, ok. The bread pudding was tasty but cold! Overall a horrible meal for $180.00. I watched what others were eating, which they liked, pumpkin soup, fish and chips, no drinks, no wine, no appetizers, no dessert. I will not return, I'm am local, to this place of terrible food. Complete waste of money and no one cared about the quality of our food, especially the nice waiter. UPDATE: Food poisoning! I was up sick all night and today is hell! Horrible stomach pain, throwing up and worse. I have never been sick like this after a meal. I will never go here again!!! read more

I really love their salmon salad, highly recommended very healthy and tasty.We also ordered favorite fried calamari , but no flavor and dry , that is why only four stars . read more

Ponds Hilo - Fried calamari - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

Awesome service and attentiveness. Food was overall below average. My sirloin tips were half grisly. Had a gluten free dairy free diner with us. She had to send fries back because they put cheese on them. No discount for the inconvenience. Service was awesome. Overall 2 stars for an $100 meal. read more

We came here on our last night in Hawaii, and got in quickly despite it being a Friday night. There was a guy playing some great acoustic guitar for most of the time we were there. The atmosphere in the restaurant is so cool, like you can feel all your worries melt away. The staff is so kind and everyone was incredibly patient with our tired kiddo. They even brought him a bowl of cherries because he was going on and on about cherries! The menu was a little confusing, but my friend and I ended up asking for fish and chips even though technically it's only on the kids/seniors menu. The food was great, and we ended up getting desserts too because they looked so good. The creme brulee was TO DIE FOR. And I definitely would have liked to try the coconut flan... guess I'll save that for next time. The most amazing part of this restaurant is getting seated by the window... where you can look down at their Koi pond with HUGE Koi fish and turtles! You can even ask for fish food to feed them!! This was truly a great night and it was pretty unexpected. We shared much laughter and smiles together at Ponds. read more

Ponds Hilo - Creme Brulee - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Unfortunately tonight was our last night here on this beautiful island and hubby and I decided to have a nice dinner over at Ponds before heading to airport and it was a Great way to end our vacation. We got a table over looking the water and there koi pond. Watching the fish and enjoying a wonderful dinner. They even brought food out to feed the fish and there was the cutest little turtle that kept bumping into the fish. So the atmosphere was nice and quiet for us before the heavy dinner rush. Service was nice and accommodating and the food fabulous. Wish I'd taken a picture of the surf and Turf special that was really good. It was a 10oz New York with Blackened shrimp. Now actually that is our least favorite cut of meat so our expectations weren't way out there but we were both pleasantly surprised. It was extremely tender, flavorful and cooked to a medium rare perfection. Would highly recommend! read more

The food at this restaurant was amazing, they had a wide variety of different foods and specials. All of the food was fresh and cooked very well, the drinks were also very good and priced well. The only thing I would have to say about the restaurant is that the service was a little slow, they are understaffed. However it didn't take away from our overall experience overall. read more

I live in Hilo and had not been out for dinner for a long time due to Covid. My wife and a friend had the lobster and prime rib. Excellent. I had the shrimp scampi and it also was very good. read more

Went here with hopes of a great meal considering the price but was disappointed with the quality of the food. Braised short ribs were alright, but small portions and nothing special and was served with potatoes and a few pieces of vegetables that had no seasonings. Crab rusted opakapaka was okay but same bland vegetables, and my wife was up sick all night from it, this is the third person I know who had gotten sick from eating here. The service was great and the appetizers were good for happy hour as well, but will likely not be coming back. read more

Started our dinner with a few orders of appetizers. The coconut shrimp was great as well as the salmon which was cooked perfectly. They had live music playing which was a wonderful surprise! Great waitress and servers. read more

Food was good. Very pricey and a very dark inside Service was average We won't go back read more

Worst service and meal in Hilo ever in 17 years. Hardly anyone in restaurant, now I know why? Were seated and waited 15 minutes for water! Slow service to order. Husband ordered prime rib sandwich. There were 3 slices of meat, 2 were almost complete gristle! We could not cut it with a knife or bite off a piece. I asked for the meal to be comped, they refused and offered a piece of Lilikoi cheesecake which was bland and salty. They did apologize but should not have charged us $19 for inedible sandwich. The Mac nut pesto on the children's menu was very good. The Maitais had hardly any alcohol but were tasty. I do not recommend Ponds, I understand that the portions are smaller and they have to charge more, that's not their fault. But the gristle??????? That would have choked a pit bull! Shame on them. Never again, we will not go to Ponds. We've had great food at HBC and Cafe Pesto, recommend those two. Great food and service. read more

Great place with amazing ambiance, food, and service. I loved looking over the water and seeing the fish, people watching, and the beautiful Hawaii sky. Will definitely return! read more

The French dip sandwich was fantastic! Our friends recommended coming here for lunch. Glad we did. They are super close to all the hotels on banyan drive. Close enough you can probably take a nice walk there if it isn't raining. If you sit over the ice pond, you get to watch their koi fish. It was fun watching all the kids playing in the water outside. read more

I've been here in the past and had decent experiences. I've always felt the staff was awesome but the food and price to be a mismatch. I brought my girlfriend here last night and it was the best dinner I've had in a long, anywhere. We started with cocktail shrimp and tempura mushrooms which were good and exactly what you'd expect. They had some great specials so we went with the Rockefeller oysters and bacon wrapped filet mignon which came with some pasta and crab soup. The oysters were amazing and the steak was the best steak I had in a very long time at any restaurant. Of course staff was friendly and always checking on us. Can't wait to come back. read more

More fun at Ponds. With Carol today. The Koi are beautiful as usual. The Service very good. The Opakapaka was prepared just right for my taste. read more

Ponds Hilo - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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:(. Disapointed in the front end personnel. I live on Maui and travel 3-4 nights a week to Hilo. Food is good and service generally is good also. Tonite... well... As i am solo for dinner the normal small table in the corner was open however I was told must eat at the bar which has no seat backs.... Thought only fair to call and speak to a manager as I was on the way elsewhere... to my surprise no Manager was present and was informed that if I wished to speak to the manager i could call back tomorrow aft 11a.m. As a business owner, I know it is important to have a manager on site. Else wise a hostess chases my customers off, just as i was chased off tonight... read more

Nice location right on the water. Service was friendly and quick. Food was good - not great- and large portions. There was live entertainment which was surprisingly nice as it wasn't too loud. read more

We celebrated our 31st anniversary here. It was a really nice experience! My wife was craving prime rib with a baked potato and she wasn't disappointed. I had the opakapaka fish and chips, lightly battered and super ono! Kristen was our server and she created an exceptional experience for us. Attentive, friendly and professional. We will definitely return! read more

Terrible service. Hostess was not friendly at all. We sat waiting for 20 minutes until someone came to get our drink order. After that the wait was another 10 minutes for drinks. Didn't even take our food order after the drinks were delivered. Decided to just leave because it probably would've been an even longer wait for food. When we asked for the check that was also taking 10 minutes. I also noticed a lot of the tables weren't even served yet. Lots of workers walking around and not even helping. There wasn't even a lot of people in the restaurant. The lychee martini didn't even have the ingredients advertised. Definitely will not be going back. So disappointed. read more

So glad we were told about this place by a local - it was exactly what we wanted - relaxed, non-touristy, friendly place for a pleasant dinner with good fresh ingredients. Great to see a mix of families, couples, locals and visitors, all made welcome! Nice to see they had keiki (child) options as well as kupuna (senior) portions. I thought my furikake ahi was among the best I've had anywhere, and the prices very reasonable compared to what we were paying on the Kohala side! Our server was great, and the music provided by local musician "Sole" made for a perfect evening. read more

I'm from Hilo. Do not eat here. Every local knows not to eat here. Food gross, very small portions, dry, tasteless, expensive. The water is good. read more

Created Valentine's Day reservations for 7:45 for a party of 6, over a week in advance. When our party arrived to check in at 7:30, the enormous crowd of people waiting in the parking lot was shocking. Upon chatting with others who were waiting, the average wait time was 45minutes for reservations for two people. Larger groups, such as ours, were averaging over an hour of wait time past their original reservation. When we initially checked in with the overwhelmed, harried and curt hostess, I specifically asked what the expected wait time would be since our group was perfectly fine with grabbing a drink near by to kill some time rather than stand in the parking lot. The hostess' exact reply, "It'll only be a short wait before we can seat you." After standing in the parking lot for nearly an hour, I popped my head in to make sure we hadn't been forgotten. While waiting at the vacant hostess stand, my husband and I glanced at the reservation list (my husband was a corporate trainer for national, big-chain restaurants) we discovered the problem: the hostesses were simply seating reservations in any order that an appropriate sized table would pop up. For example, imagine the reservation list looked this: 7pm 4 people 7:30pm 2 people 8pm 2 people The hostess simply made the 7pm/4 person party wait until a table of that exact size opened up rather than holding out for two smaller tables to push together to seat the 7pm reservation and then resume with the list. At 8:55pm our party of 6 was seated for our 7:45 dinner reservation after a very kind, older woman (perhaps the owner?) realized we had been standing in the parking lot for over an hour. She instructed the hostesses to push two tables together (I was horrified that this tidbit of common sense even needed to be given to a someone who is a hostess for a living) and we were placed in the middle of the dinning floor, hence blocking all the server's pathways, which made for a bumpy meal every time someone nicked our table and/or chair. At this point, we were simply grateful to just be sitting. We noticed the table beside us, who had been seated over thirty minutes earlier (folks had been standing in the parking lot for so long that friendships had been formed, lol!) still had their menus. Only their menus. No drinks. No appetizers. Just their hungry, parched expressions as they swirled their heads desperately trying locate their server. My group formed a plan to salvage the night - as soon as our server appeared, we would order our drinks, appetizers and meals. And in hopes to make it even smoother, we simply ordered a bottle of wine. Victory was ours! Our plan worked and we received our orders faster than the party that was seated next us, that had a thirty minute head start. Well... some of our order... we had to wait for a soup, a salad, an appetizer, an entree, an entree's side dish, and a drink refill. But from looking around at the other tables (which had become an amusing game by that point) we were the luckiest table in the place. Two group members ordered medium well steak entrees. One was so over cooked, it was eaten with ketchup. The other was bloody. At 11pm, our 7:45pm dinner reservation for a party of 6 was finally over. Ah, good times! read more

Not a fan. Mediocre food, HIGH prices... Caters to the cruise ship crowd. LOUD musician during dinner that seemed to purposely crank the volume so he could sing cheesy Hawaiian music... The food was the biggest turn off: Ordered the escargot and it tasted bland and rubbery. Came out warm and no flavor... Had the rib-eye and tons of gristle, weird butter that had some ammonia taste to it...the sides were typical frozen thawed, sauteed veggies. You know the broccoli, carrots, cauliflower combo. Boring, not seasoning, gross... Others had the prime rib dinner and weren't impressed. No seasoning to the meat, no crust, just a slab of beef. Or drinks were weak at best. Ordered a mojito and came back with WILTED mint leaves that were BROWN! Again, another turn off... Wont be going back, too goofy and yucky for me. Sorry Ponds, but you need an upgrade!! read more

Wonderful ambience. Friendly hostess. Food is good. There's a bar, and a guitar singer. View of the pond is very nice.

I am really disappointed to write this review. We have been to this restaurant many times now both for lunch and dinner. Usually the food and service are very good. The employees seem friendly and we normally enjoy our meals here. Well this past Thursday we went in for Lobster Lovers Night. They had a board outside that had 3 or 4 different "specials" that you could choose from. We had a different waitress and she was not attentive at all. She didn't know the specials and rambled on quoting the wrong things. I actually walked back outside to read the board and share the info. with the other guests at our table. After careful consideration I selected one of the specials that was supposed to be lobster in a risotto. After this experience, I would like to suggest that the management prints out "specials" of the day on a piece of paper with the full description and the price and place it in the menu like Cafe Pesto, another local restaurant does. This would take care of the waitress who can't remember the ingredients and for patrons like me who was completely shocked by what I received at the price charged. We all ordered wine, drinks, etc. and our waitress was very slow refilling them or asking if we would like to order another. We are very patient, but we asked for more bread and she never brought it. She was not that busy, it just didn't seem like she cared. I had the soup of the day and it was beef vegetable and it looked very oily. It is hard to decribe, but it did not look appetizing nor did it have a good flavor so I decided to simply wait for my entree. When our meals arrived I almost laughed at mine. There were maybe 4 bites of lobster in my rice risotto. The pieces I did have were very chewy and the risotto didn't have much flavor at all. I did notice other people at a table next to us and they ordered lobster tails and that was probably a much better selection. I was very disappointed in this meal. My husband ordered a steak topped with butter and garlic, there was a crazy amount of garlic on top of it. He had to use his fork to scrape off all the garlic before he could eat the steak. We ordered desserts for our table. Then later we asked the waitress for a box. She came back with a check but no box, we had to ask and wait for a long time before we finally received it. She walked right past us many times so it was frustrating. But all in all we would have chalked it up to a bad night and disappointing service. Then our bill came, I was extremely shocked and upset that they charged me $39.95 for my pasta with a few bites of lobster. I think this was truly taking advantage of the "specials" and I would not have ordered this if I knew the amount of lobster I would receive for this price. We are okay with spending money for a good meal, but I almost asked to have the manager come over or to speak to the chef about this incident. But then I just decided that I should have asked the price if I was worried about it. And again, if there would have been more lobster and better quality I wouldn't have minded the price. I think if this restaurant wants to stay in business and have repeat guests, then they really need to get the service and pricing in line with other restaurants in the area. I am guessing they have different chefs because the other meals we have had were all much better than this one. We will probably not go back to this restaurant after this and it is sad, because the location is nice and we really enjoy the live music they usually have at night. read more

Great food and friendly service. Besides the food, Ponds has an awesome ovelook of Ice Pond in Hilo one of the only restaurants with a close up view. read more

Ponds Hilo - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

We came here on recommendation from the place we were staying at in Hilo. It has a fun feel being on the edge of a pond overlooking a koi pond. The atmosphere was good, live music was not to loud or bothering, and the server was very engaging. We came on a Monday night, and they had some Mexican Monday thing going, so we got a couple of plates off of that menu and 2 cocktails. The food itself was decent, but not memorable, unfortunately. It feels like they are trying to do a little bit of everything which means everything is ok but nothing stands out. Not bad but I felt like there are better places to go. read more

I really hoped to be able to rave about this place, but I'm afraid my review of Ponds is mixed. Me, my hanai brother and his sweetie took my 24 y.o. daughter here last night for her birthday dinner. On the plus side, I really appreciated that the host asked me if we were coming for a special occaison when I made my reservation-they gave my daughter a free dessert, the whole staff (including the cooks) came out at the end of our meal to sing happ b-day, and the host took a souviner photo and gave her a card). Throughout the evening, the staff was welcoming, professional and efficient. Ok-half a star Next, the ambiance. I agree with other reviewers who noted that the decor is dated and could use some refreshing to say the least. However, the breezes from the open windows are nice, and if you are lucky enough to be sitting water side, the views of the koi pond and lagoon are lovely. Live music, too. Ok-another half a star, The drinks-our Lava Flows were really good but kinda small (don't these usually come in tall glasses?), my hanai bro's gin and tonics were appropriately strong, but his sweetie correctly observed that the lilikoi lemon drop didn't have much lilikoi flavor. Half a star. Finally, the food. For pupus, we had calamari and escargot-the first was tasty but rather small for the price, and the second was covered with melted cheese rather than the more typical garlic and herb butter. For entrees, my daughter and I both had prime rib with baked spuds, with good creamed horseradish and nondescript au ju. The rib and potato were both quite good. My hanai bro liked his opakapaka, but the"crabmeat crust" and sauce were unnecessary and not well intigrated components. His sweetie didn't like her salmon-the sauce was kinda meh (but bad on her for not ordering a locally caught fish). Both of them complained that their veggies and garlic mashed were stone cold and not tasty-i tried them and have to agree. So, half a star for the food. Price-way too high for a decent but far from spectacular or memorable dinner in Hilo. One round of drinks, pupu, and dinner for four-Over $150, before the tip! read more