I enjoy coming to Ponds for a few drinks. I love the Prime Rib French dip for lunch and the Teriyaki steak as an appetizer! I really enjoy the service I receive from Shawn the waiter/bartender. He always does a great job and makes great cocktails! I love sitting at my table, enjoying drinks, good food and a great view of the water and Reeds Bay. read more

A definite favorite of mine and certainly a gem in Hilo. The clams and delectable broth dish is a must. Enjoyed it so much I went twice while on vacation. read more

Amazing service and amazing food. We stopped for dinner with reservations last night a party of six. Our table had been given away by accident from the staff but they were super apologetic to us and we didn't mind hanging at the bar talking with the bartender who was super cool. Great drinks and great conversation lead to a new table and a super sweet waitress. Baked scallops with Brie, Hoisin duck and shrimp scampi were all amazing. We loved trying each other's plate and being amazed at everyone's dishes! They had a local musician there playing guitar and singing who was awesome! The music was terrific and I hope he liked the beer I bought him. Highly recommend as a must stop for Hilo! read more

A hidden local gem of a restaurant out of a way place but the locals know about it. Off the main road across the street from an industrial area. But on their side of the road is a paradise on a Lagoon and a Koi pond. Besides the great scenery they have fresh wonderful entree's. Very pleasant atmosphere. The staff is very friendly add knowledgeable! A wonderful dinning experience! read more

Ponds is a very nice, quaint restaurant with a charming view of the pond. Great spot for a romantic dinner for two or to celebrate a special occasion. The food was really good, we both had fresh fish, and the dessert tray selection was fantastic! It's a bit pricey for everyday dining, in my opinion. It was my husband and I and we each had an entrée, dessert and 3 beers between us and our check was about $85 without tip...so yeah, we will go again, but only for a special occasion. read more

We were in Hilo for a week and the first bartender we had told us about The Ponds. We tried it out that night and we were not disappointed!! It was Mexican Monday and the food was exceptional! The service was outstanding and the prices were reasonable. We ended up eating here two more times!! Each time was awesome. All of the dishes we had were superb, the drinks are indescribable and the desserts... There are not enough descriptive words in the world!! It literally sits on a koi pond and the window seats are the best! We will be back! read more

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I luckily travel to Hilo on business for a week every month. It's been a pleasure sitting at the bar with Hilo's finest bartenders, Dale, Crystal and Zana. Ponds is the best place to have an ice cold martini after a long day... I am always dining alone so it is so nice to chat with them, and they always make me feel welcome. The pesto Mac nut pasta is delicious. I love to add shrimp for an extra treat. The clams, fish and chips and Crab crusted fish is great too... This is a great classic style restaurant that offers a true aloha feel. Wonderful live singers on most nights as well... Ponds will always be my favorite restaurant on the island!! Amazing view during the day as well! read more

The best thing about Ponds is the view over the koi pond below. The entertainment was nice and low key. I like the casual ambiance, even though the furniture does look a little worn and dated. We were there on a Friday night for my father's birthday, hoping for a nice dinner to celebrate, but were disappointed. My father and I both had the evening special of sirloin steak and coconut shrimp with garlic "smashed" potatoes. Unfortunately the steak was tough and chewy, the shrimp were overcooked and tough and the potatoes were not very appetizing and didn't finish them. However, the salad, although small, was very nice with a tasty house papaya seed poi dressing. My husband had the lobster scampi special with Tahitian crab soup and he really enjoyed them. As someone else noted in a review, the rolls they served were very stale and dry. We had dined there a couple of years ago, which was also a disappointment - the reason we hadn't been back sooner. We thought we would try again, but we definitely won't go back again. read more

Ordered take out , the prime rib sandwich w/ au jus and fries w/ turned out good .. While Waiting for the food I sat at the bar and crystal the bartender was just awesome!! read more

I took my mom to dinner we had the macadamia linquini and she had the teriyaki steak and they were delicious and the price wasn't bad either. We will gladly come again. read more

Ponds Hilo - Hawaiian Near Me - Hilo, Hawaii

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Went to dinner with my wife for our 15th year Anniversary. . Had a some Maitai's. Ate some prime rib with lobster tail...Thank you Leslie our (Waitress ) ,very professional and excellent customer service. .. we had a great time... thank you for the picture. .. read more

Sunday brunch is so delicious with opakapaka Benedict and the mimosa special! Atmosphere is pleasantly on the pond where you can view koi fish and locals gathering together to swim. Ordered the opakapaka wrap- ingredients were so good, fish was a bit dry. read more

Went there for my husband's birthday.Called in a couple weeks early for reservation and told them it was his birthday. I asked if I could bring a cake or something but I was told "no worries" they have complimentary dessert etc. I knew this because we have gone there for birthdays before and they come out and sing happy birthday etc. Being that this was my husband's 71st. birthday and it would only be us I wanted to make sure he was sung happy birthday to. everything went well when we got there. We got the window seat we requested and the food was good. when the waitress asked us about dessert I told her it was his birthday and I asked for the dessert etc with singing. She responded by asking if I had a reservation and tbirthday. I said yes and to that she responded that "NO ONE TOLD HER", not giving a damn and not even going to check and do the birthday thing. Spoke with manager Reuben-he did not seem very concerned. well now I am telling others and we do not plan to go back. There are other places less expensive and food is better. read more

Had a very nice meal here. It was very close to our hotel so we decided to stop in. The restaurant was right above a little pond that had koi fish in it and we were sat right by the window. It was a very nice view. I ordered the tuna salad and it was very good. It was one of the top tuna dishes that I had while on the island. If I ever make it back to Hilo I would come back to this restaurant. read more

So SAD. My family and I have eaten at Ponds for many years now and my parents are regulars. We have never seen such poor service in Hilo, nonetheless at Ponds. So many issues tonight. We had a reservation for 7, got seated at 7:40 and menus a bit after 8. My grandma has a gluten allergy and she notified the waitress and requested a gluten free menu. 20 minutes later, my dad got one by walking to the front himself. MUCH Later, they also brought my grandma a salad, with croutons. During our entire visit, all of the tables around us were vocally upset and we almost walked out. People were complaining of what we were experiencing, Over cooked food, long waits, non attentive staff, just about everything was going wrong. Thankfully, our favorite waiter Ruben was there and he was courteous and attentive as he could be, and took time out of his own shift to help our "waitress". We finally got our food (which most of the items on the menu were out!) at about 845, and the meal was terrible. No fresh ingredients, crap quality overall. No food/allergy safety, no customer service skills and no remorse from anyone but Ruben. Again, we've been here so much and are just heartbroken at this point because something is obviously wrong. read more

I enjoyed the speed of service from sitting almost immediately after walking in, getting our order in and continuously getting our water refilled it was great. I also enjoyed the table next to the fish pond, my daughter was able to feed the fish in the fish pond. I appreciate the crayons and coloring paper to keep my daughter busy and the cute style high chair for the baby. Very unique touch eating next to a fish pond. I ordered a Shrimp Chardonnay Fettucine which was satisfying. My boyfriend had the 10 oz prime rib, he was a little disappointed because it was medium - medium/well instead of medium-rare and didn't have much taste. I ordered my daughter the prime bites I was not expecting it to be served as like a stew? I was a little confused when I got it. She didn't care for it, I tried it and I didn't care for it either. Overall, service, live entertainment and environment 5 stars. If the food was spot on I could rank a complete 5 stars as my review. read more

Fabulous restaurant. Great views, cozy. Windows overlook pond with beautiful Koi. Go on lobster night! They even have a tiki bar.

We went to Ponds in Hilo for Mother's Day Brunch. The food was great, but the live musician really ruined the gathering for us all; his music was way to loud. We asked to be moved, nope, too busy. Could he turn it down? Nope he always plays that loud. Neither of my parents could hear the attempted conversation. Even my husband snd I could barely hear each other. For that reason, our experience rated one star. read more

Lovely dinner! Great fresh fish, senior/kids menu and fun drinks. Great beginning to our visit in Hilo.

I only have three words to say about this joint - DON'T GO THERE. We were seated at the table with no utensils and water glasses. We waited for a server for 5 minutes. We already picked what we like so ordered them right away. Busser came with water 5 minutes later. Another server came by after 10 minutes to see if we wanted to order drinks. We said 'no' but asked for utensils and napkins. Waited for 15 more minutes then utensils came out. At this point, we knew this is a terrible place to eat so we stood up and left. On our way out, I told our server we had to go. He said no apology, just 'okay' like 'we don't want your business anyway' attitude. In our section, everyone was getting attention from the server and we were the only ones basically got ignored the entire time. I don't want to think the fact that everyone else in the section was hauole could be the reason but you cannot help but to wonder that when everyone else seemed to enjoy their time around you. And all the hauole customers were tourists. Someone wrote that no locals go eat at this restaurant. I guess I saw why. read more

Rude service! Any questions were answered with short answers dripping with attitude... Like when asked why soup and salads came after the entrees... And food was missing ingredients listed on the menu, cold fries on the kids plate... No follow up service for more drinks... Happily find another place to eat next time in Hilo! read more

First time here and definitely our last. We waited over an hour for 2 entrès. As we waited 4 other tables that were sat after us received their food. Our waiter didn't come by once to explain what was going on. After we had to get up and approach a worker to ask what was going on, they were nice enough to bring a complimentary lobster tail. After being frustrated, we decided to take our food to go. After paying our bill in full, we came to realize when we got home they didn't even wrap the lobster tail up. Conclusion: way to expensive for the awful service. read more

A family friend kept insisting that we go to Harrington's for a nice seafood dinner when we were in Hilo so I got on Yelp to find out where the place was and what others thought about it. I find out that it is now called Pond's and that it is nowhere near as good as it used to be. According to the bartender, ownership changed about a year ago and in my experience, when ownership changes, so does the quality. We took the suggestion of other reviewers and went to The Seaside Restaurant just up the street and it was delicious! We decided to stop by Pond's for some drinks and dessert after. The bartender was not happy to see us and seemed like he really did not want to be there, the waitress was nice enough and accommodated our request for a takeout box for the dessert. The desserts looked sad on the tray and were expensive. My tiny macadamia cream pie cost $6 and at it's widest point was an inch and a half. I have never seen a smaller piece of pie at a restaurant, and especially not one that cost so much. In short, unfriendly bartender, small portions, expensive food. we wont be going back. The Seaside is 100% better read more

I wanted to like this place! So I will Put it out there that my experience may be colored by my disappointment. We had friends from out of the country come to stay with us. As a Thank you they wanted to take us out. Being Hawaii, they really wanted to experience a good seafood place. We tried to find something and decided to settle on Ponds. (Local Groan here) The Decore is 70's Italian, dark wooden with a full bar. A place I can imagine having a smoking and nonsmoking section from my youth. I had expected white table cloth and got that really fun nice table setting with plastic slab over it to give you the illusion of a nice table but the ease of cleaning experience. If everything was to follow suit I expected the 10 page menu, you know the small book of options that are all the same dish with minor changes. instead the menu was barely two pages. For a "seafood" restaurant the seafood options were limited. The best fish options actually came from the daily special. The service was not my best experience. I'm fairly certain BOTH of the servers in our section were new, and had not yet developed their own rhythm. On the Up side! The food was great! if I was rating my experience only on food it would be a 3 maybe even a 3.5 stars. we had the tempura mushrooms, and an herb encrusted tuna both were excellent starters. I had the sturgeon over herb mashed potatoes. well cooked tasted great, my only complaint, cause im a picky *@!#!@$ is that it came to the table tepid. Our one friend whom did not order the fish nor the steak had a pesto noodle dish with prawns. The prawns apparently where great, but they were so heavy handed with the pesto (who knew that could be an issue) that he had trouble finishing it. we all shared a desert,your average came to the store frozen thawed cake. It was as to be expected. The price points where good, the food was excellent! The service needs help and the atmosphere need an update STAT! the management was very apologetic, but did nothing to make it right. all and all I liked the food! I may return cause i think every restaurant deserves a second chance. read more

We had a so good dinner and desserts.The steak was very good.My husband had the steak with rice and Salad and I had a pesto pasta and a salad.Mahalo. read more

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I gave Pond's two-stars because of the apologies we received, which were many and appreciated! If I was rating for the food only on the night we dined, it would have been a one-star. We stopped by this restaurant at the end of our trip to Hilo on the recommendation of our innkeeper. The day we arrived, the electricity was out due to some nearby accident. But, it looked very inviting, especially with the tables overlooking the Koi pond. We said we would like to come back on our last night for dinner and the hostess encouraged us to make a reservation. But, when I tried to make a reservation for 6pm, she suggested a later time and said she couldn't guarantee us a spot by the window as there is a lot of walk-in traffic at that time and a window table might not be available. Without thinking, I agreed and made the reservation for 8pm. When I walked outside to join my group, I was laughed at for agreeing to a later time and was reminded that the whole reason for making a reservation was to be guaranteed the time/table you wanted. Perhaps they cater to walk-in traffic rather than reservations because I didn't see any other reservations on the books for the time I originally requested. When we arrived the next day, we were excited because it was Sturgeon Sunday. As we sat down, our waitress came up to us quickly and apologized that there were only two sturgeons left and if we wanted to order, she would put the order in quickly so some of us could get the last two. Two of us ordered, only to be told later (with sincere apologies) that some other diner had taken our fish and now only one was left. So, one of our friends ordered another meal. When our four meals arrived, I was excited to try the only sturgeon but as I bit into the meal, I realized it was cold. On commenting to our friends, we discovered that all the meals were cold. They were again apologetic and offered to take the meal off our bill when I said I wanted to send it back. That experience, combined with slow and forgotten drink service (again apologies) were enough for our last meal in Hawaii to be a bust. Hope other diners find a different experience on a different day because it is a lovely setting for a restaurant. read more

The food and service was alright. The location was excellent as it was next to a natural pond and overlooked ornamental carp and other fishes. read more

Our last night in Hawaii. My husband's prime rib was tender & flavorful. My Salmon entree was well prepared & the crabmeat soup was delightful! Nice presentation, good wine list. Casual atmosphere. Attentive service. Soft jazz guitar (live) very nice. Reasonable prices for Hawaii. read more

First off, the food here was very good. The Opakapaka Fish and chips were great, and the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bacon cheeseburger was delicious. Yes, PB&J Bacon Cheeseburger. The problem with Ponds is the service is absolutely horrid. Our waiter did not care a thing about us, in fact, he was more interested in the 2 girls sitting at the table across from us. He served our dessert, and when an older lady from my table was trying to get his attention, he stood 2 feet away, turned his back to her, and focused on the 2 girls. The girls had to tell him that the lady was calling him. After that, he didn't want to have anything to do with us, having the bus boy drop off the check, and didn't come back to pick it up. He is a disgrace to that otherwise good restaurant, and should find another line of work that does not involve customer service! read more

We passed by here frequently and noticed it looked busy most of the time. This is usually a good sign. We went on Sunday when they have regular menu items as well as Brunch specials. We ordered coffee which did not come until the meal was delivered (and never refilled). The entrees were tasty but the potatoes were cold, and the fruit was not fresh Island or ripe! Why serve tasteless strawberries and under-ripe cantaloupe when there are so many other good choices? Oh, and the pepper shaker was not on the table (no big deal) but when we asked for it, it was empty. They just didn't seem to have it together like other places we've eaten in Hilo read more

Ordered the scallop Chardonnay dish with pesto pasta and garlic sautéed vegetables. GREAT dish but a bit pricy. The atmosphere is great. Waiters/waitresses are very friendly and attentive. Always had your water glass full. Waiting time is not an issue at this place. Workers did not rush us out of the restaurant and allowed us to take our time. The brownie with haupia ice cream is a must-try dessert. Talk about yummy, yummy, in your tummy. read more

This place bills itself as "fine dining" but it's anything but that. Took a friend there for her birthday. The place is way passed its prime. Wade through a parking lot of potholes and puddles to a dark and damp-smelling room with worn-out tables and chairs. We were seated immediately but then sat there for nearly 15 minutes before the server came by. It then took another 20 minutes to get our salads which had absolutely no presentation at all, and nothing special in flavors. My friend did say the Ahi on top of her salad was good. That's why I gave it 2 stars. read more

Sorry to say that we listened to a recommendation we received from our hotel. The location was nice but the ambiance inside could have been nicer. The food was well below average, the steak bites appetizer was horrible. The only thing worse then the food was the price. If you are coming from the main land you will be disappointed here. Save the money and eat at Cafe Pesto. read more

Really poor service. I can't eat soy. I asked the waiter what they used for oil and fried in. He said "I really wouldn't know". So I asked him to find out and he came back and said "it's vegetable". I said "but is it soy? Because that's a vegetable". His reply " you better just stay away from any fried food ". He didn't give us any daily specials, the second round of drinks took 20 minutes for one drink to come out. We had to ask for our bread when all the tables behind us got theirs. It was not busy, we were the first table seated. The food was only ok. The meat was fatty. Two of us had the sirloin, one of us had teriyaki which was much fattier than the sirloin. Will never go back. That was the worst tip we have ever left. read more

Terrible food! Over cooked sautéed okapakapa! Bland mashed potatoes, crab spinach dip nasty! Waiter talked about us under his breath....

I went here for the first time last week after hearing good reviews (not on yelp) about their lunch menu. Figured that if the lunch was good, then dinner should be good as well, right? I was TOTALLY WRONG! List of everything that was terrible: Escargot - very dry, no butter, just cheese and the cheese was only partially melted. Soup - Tahitian Crab soup? Was disgusting, everyone in our party took one spoonful, then put it to the side. Tasted like the cook dumped half a bottle of maple syrup and 20 cubes of sugar into each bowl. Way too sweet. Oh yeah, and it was also made with imitation crab... Salad - I had to remove at least one fourth of the lettuce/vegetables off my salad plate because it was brown, wilted, or squishy. Produce definetly was not fresh. Prime Rib - totally disappointed. Very dry, no flavor. Ken's pancake house down the road has jucier and more flavorful prime rib (and that's a diner type restaurant!). Scallops Chardonnay - we ordered this thinking it would be similar to the old Harrington's dish. Again, totally wrong. The brie cheese over the scallops was only lukewarm and not melted. The scallops did not tast fresh and the sauce was bland. Baked Potato - Very strange, they were the size of golf balls. It was the tiniest baked potato i ever saw. Rice - kept biting into hard/overcooked/burnt rice. Hard to enjoy your food when constantly worrying about biting into a rock. List of things that were good: - there was good entertainment, live musician was excellent - desserts were good Overall Grades: Atmosphere: A Service: C Food: D- (if not for the desserts, this would be an F) Prices: F (for what you are paying, totally not worth it) For restaurants in this price range, you're better off going to Seaside Restaurant down the road. This once proud location in Hilo known for fine dining, has really taken a nose dive. The Ponds would be a prime candidate for Gordon Ramsey's TV show..."Kitchen Nightmares". read more

We are from out of state. We checked the yelp reviews and decided that since the reviews were good here we should give the place a try. we ordered the Ahi seared tuna, and tempura calamari. Ihe ahi appetizer was good and the Calamari wasn't bad. It just didn't have tempura batter it was just deep fried in some basic cornstarch batter and served with cocktail sauce. The calamari would of been better if it was actually tempura and had some kind of aioli. Then we order the specials for the night which were Lasagna with shrimp and garlic bread and a ahi tuna steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli. The Cesar salad that we got had very stale croutons. The lasagna was cold and sauce was bland and noodles were undercooked and not just Al dente. The shrimp and the garlic bread were the only good part. The ahi steak special was supposeed to be crusted with parmesean and herbs it came seared with unmelted Parmesan and herbs crumbled on top with an insane amount of lemon pepper. It was a rough go for our first dinner in Hilo but our waitress was friendly. I don't think we'd come back to this place. read more

Not good service at this place. Host acted like he was too busy to seat us, told us it was that time where everyone comes in for dinner. Understandable, but aren't we those people to? Got seated right sway by someone else who told him where we would be seated. The entire time we were there, there were still a lot of open tables. Our server took our drink order right away and then we didn't see him for awhile to take our order. Food came out in less time it took him to take our order. Came once to see how our first couple of bites were and then we never saw him again. Currently looking for him for boxes and our check. My meal was to come with a soup or salad but he didn't ask which I wanted. We told the girl who brought us our food about the salad and she promptly brought it. My drink was in a cup weather you couldn't tell if it was empty orb or and he didn't ask about refills. Just asked someone else for boxes. Waiting on our check and have seen our server around but hasn't been by read more

Ordered Keiki Prime Bites and rice was a bit hard. Prime rib (Kilauea and Mauna Kea) although they advised us they were end cuts the steak was a bit tough. Escargot was a bit bland as well as the soup du jour (seafood chowder). read more

We were passing through Hilo, doing the tourist thing, and stopped here for a late lunch. What a pleasant surprise! We love old school places, and this restaurant delivered on all aspects. Great old Hawaiian atmosphere, wonderful views over the "pond", attentive service, fair prices, mellow Hawaiian music,and great food. My partner ordered the teriyaki hamburger with grilled pineapple and fries. I ordered the salmon salad. Both were wonderful. We shared a coconut flan, which was the perfect sweet ending to a delightful lunch. I can imagine how nice it would be at night for dinner. We will be back. read more