When a store is the only game in town for goods near a tourist entry point, one would expect/accept…read morehigh prices. Instead, Keaukaha General Store (within easy walking distance of the Port of Hilo) provided a great selection of sundries, some souvenirs of Hilo, and a small menu of Hawaiian favorite dishes at prices that were the lowest I've seen in Hawaii.
My wife and I came here twice: first while walking into town, when we picked up souvenirs and an unexpected loco moco plate. It was a lot less crowded then, with us being the only ones there...allowing us to have a completely different experience. When we came back as we headed back towards the ship, other cruisers from the ship had discovered this place, and were stocking up on various things.
It's a large modern space inside, with things organized displayed very neatly. There was no sense I needed to check for expiration dates. There was a portable ATM machine right by the door. A decent selection of alcohol at good prices were displayed (e.g. $8.81 for a bottle of Barefoot Cab or $18.99 for a 12 pack of Budweiser). I took the opportunity to get something I've not seen elsewhere: a bag of dried clams (aka Asari) for $4.19. Ended up finishing it that night...was really good.
It has an all day menu, and was able to order a Loco Moco for breakfast. The all beef patty was very thick and dense, definitely from a frozen patty...good for Salisbury steak or Loco Moco, but wouldn't be great for a burger. The brown gravy was served hot and hadn't congealed, and the 1 egg had been cooked over easy, just as requested. It was obviously freshly made. It was packed to-go, with condiments and utensils available near the registers. There wasn't much space to eat inside, but because it wasn't too busy, found a space to sit in the back. I scarfed it down (probably too fast) while my wife finished her shopping.
Also in the back, there are gourmet coffee machines and a chest freeze full of hand scoopable ice cream. There is a Pepsi self serve soda machine, along with various sizes of chips.
My wife initially bought a couple of t-shirts as requested souvenirs for our travel mates ($25 a piece), and bought another one as we were heading back. On the 1st trip, she also liked a perfume body mist...the tester was the last one so the attendant sold it for half price ($14). For us, she bought a Hilo waterproof sticker for $2.75. And her favorite part of the store was the small portable Pokémon card machine, that dispensed random Japanese Pokémon cards for a quarter. She kept changing out dollars for quarters and ended up getting $5.75 of them...and a couple of them were hollos that we like.
They do charge a 3.25% credit card fee, so cash is preferred when possible.
