Stopped there today, fish & chips good but they forgot to put the cream in my malasadas!! I got them to bring home to Hilo and all I had were hunks of sugar dusted bread. Not good at all read more

Stopped by Tex Drive In on the way to Hilo. Quiet unassuming place that didn't have a line. They have big rectangular shapes opposed to the familiar round ones. I chose chocolate filled because they didn't have haupia. Other selections they had today were flavors like Bavarian cream, apple, and guava. Was okay and they have other food like local plate lunch fare. read more

Tex Drive In - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

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We were on our way to kona from Hilo Big island Hawaii. This is a must try, they are famous for Portuguese style dougnut. We tried regular and Pine apple. I'm telling you this is the real deal. They put American dougnut to to shame. Its amazing. Great people. I saw them making the dougnut. It was a gentleman and he was the kindest. Middle of hard work he took time to smile at us and wave. Truly an island gem. Great place to sit and eat or Togo. Must try if your in Big Island. read more

Tex Drive In - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Burgers were good. Was disappointed the fried fried donuts sold out was wanting to try them.

The reason for the bad review is because the hamburger steak plate the meat was rancid (how can you cook it and not know) my daughter said my hamburger taste funny so I tasted it. It was outrageously nasty. My second daughter had started her so I checked it it was also rancid. I didn't go back to the counter because I was fuming decided to leave before I lost it. Don't eat food there just the Malasadas. read more

Make sure to count your malasadas before leaving because they shorted me 3 today and it's like $3 for one...

Did the Waipi'o overlook take your breath away? Stop by Tex Drive In to take a breather. They're a 15 min drive away. We stopped by here after taking in the views of the valley and ocean. Initially, my friends and I came here for the giant square-shaped malasadas, stayed for the loco moco. They have a good variety of breakfast plates, lunch plates, burgers, sandwiches and salads (if you tryna be healthy on your vacay). Yes, it's a touristy drive in. They have loco mocos with multiple proteins to choose from. Burger patty, spam, kalua pork, mahi (mahi mahi if you really hungry), chicken, and a few others. They have about 8 flavaflavs of malasadas fillings to choose from. I went with the guava, mango and the Bavarian cream. I wanted to try more but them things are giant. Like twice the size of the average malasadas and/or Leonard's. One Tex malasada can feed a whole family, lol, jk, not really. They're filled to order, so my box of 3 was nice and hot. You can actually see the workers prep and make them behind the counter. I ordered a small loco moco with pulled kalua pork to pair with my dessert. The malasadas came out first, whilst the savory food took a hot minute to whip up. All orders came in to go boxes and flimsy plastic utensils . My loco moco looked small but it was quite filling and came with Mac salad on the side. The kalua pork was Smokey and good, but not the best loco moco I've had. It's definitely comfort food that'll send to straight into a coma. The Mac salad was ehh, alright. I've had better mac. After a few sips of water, it was time to dissect the malasadas. I went with the guava first (my fave flavaflav). It was jam packed with guava jam. Like I said, these things are massive, so I barely ate half of one. I had to save the rest for later because my stomach was at max capax. It took me 2 days to finish the rest. The mango one was very mango-y and didn't taste artificial. The Bavarian was good as well. My flavor rating from great to good--Guava, Mango, Bavarian. My friends got similar flavors so I was able to trade and sample. Chocolate creme and pineapple would've been included on my list if I had to stomach for it. If you only want malasadas, you can use their drive through. They have indoor and outdoor seating, two restrooms outside and a gift shop. Overall, good stop over to get your savory and sweet treats. Reasonably priced food and good malasadas. Employees were nice. Check this place out if you're in the area! read more

We came here twice. First time, we arrived at about 4:30pm on a Saturday and they were sold out of malasadas so we bought the curry beef stew. This was good. The meat was tender, but the curry flavor became a little overpowering after a few bites. We came back on a Tuesday at about 10:30am and were able to try the malasadas. The lady behind the window was frying them so they were pretty fresh. The malasadas were quite large and we would have been fine with ordering 2, but we ordered a total of 4 - 2 plain, 1 with pineapple filling, and 1 with chocolate filling. The pineapple filling was my favorite and had good pineapple flavor. The chocolate filling was not as chocolatey as I would have preferred (almost tasted like ovaltine flavored pudding). Tables are available inside and outside. There's also a drive-thru window. Tip: when you first arrive in the parking lot, you'll arrive to the rear of the restaurant. Drive around the building get to the front entrance. read more

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We came here to try the malasada and boy were they huge and very filling. We ordered 6 of them for the two of us and we really should've just stuck with one per person but we wanted to try the different fillings. Fillings were a bit too sweet for me. Definitely grab a coffee to go with it. read more

Tex Drive In - Malasadas - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Two of us came here on a "Must Have" recommendation. Ultra fresh Malasadas. Were ordered Bavarian Cream, Chocolate, Pineapple, Cherry, and Apple. We didn't eat them all, naturally, and took most of them back home. They were so fresh that they were still warm. We had a couple of them with a coffee and they were just amazing. It is more of a drive-in style but they also have a full menu of burgers and things. Place this on your "go to" list and forget about the calories for a little while. read more

Tex Drive In - Malasadas - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

It tasted like filled donuts. The Coconut malasada at HICO was much better!! Our tin white paper bag that they gave us for our malasada ripped easily and when my husband asked if we could have a box instead, the cashier said they would have to charge us:-( read more

Such a wide variety of fillings for their masaladas that it will take multiple trips to get through them all.

Loco Moko was good. I enjoyed it. I got the one made with spam. This is the way I generally get it at home. I also got a plain malasada. No filling. I'm not into overly sweet pastries. I loved the malasada. Very ono! Lots of chickens running around outside. Beautiful birds! I come back every time I come to this island! read more

Food was mediocre, spam masubi was just packed with rice. I've had better in California. The macaroni salad was excellent but the service was just horrible! We spent $60 here on lunch for 3 people and my fiance asked for a second set of plastic silverware. The worker refused and only gave us a plastic fork. She said she was not allowed to give anything else out. That was pretty ridiculous as we were not provided with enough silverware for us and the child. My fiance simply told her that does not make sense since there was 3 of us eating with 1 set of silverware. She then began to use profanity towards us, causing a scene and was yelling. She screamed that she does not have time for this and we thought she was going to jump across the counter at us. The ambiance is ok. It's a simple restaurant with a nice Hawaiian feel but I would NEVER return! There are way better restaurants who are capable of human decency. The worker was a brunette with very long hair wearing an orange shirt. read more

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Perfect stop closing a coastal drive, this is a local stalwart. I was brought here by a longtime resident who, like the other local reviewers, says it used to be better. For me, the plate lunch followed by Malasadas and coffee was Nirvana. I'm a brown guy from the American Midwest and I'm not used to being treated like I belong, I found the service here to be just fine. I loved the setting, overeating with a bunch of local families and bold birds encroaching as I slowed down towards the end of the almost endless meal. This would be a five-star rating if only the restroom weren't so .... well I guess "crappy," is the most appropriate adjective. If they ever invent time travel, I'm heading back to the time remembered by the local Yelpers who claim it was better in their childhoods. read more

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Maybe my taste has changed or maybe I went on an off day but I was less than impressed with my most recent experience at Tex. I make a point of ordering a variety of malasadas as Im a big fan but on this trip, they were dense and the filled variety had minimal filling leaving me disappointed. I actually think I've had better malasadas from KTA. They have lost their touch. read more

When visiting the Big Island, we drive to this side of the island for the malasadas! so yummy!

Yes, no, yes, no....¯\_(ツ)_/¯ this place is a 50/50. You either like it....or you don't and it doesn't matter because they've made it on the map as a go to place. Especially for Malasadas. Did we get any, no. But we had a Beef Curry plate and a Kalua pig and cabbage plate. The Beef Curry was very bland like no flavor??? It tasted watered down. My Grandson didn't even want it. He just ate the rice from that plate and he's only one years old. As for the Kalua Pig and Cabbage, it looked over cooked because the cabbage was very wilted and a bit charred. The Kalua pig was soft, so it must've been sitting for a while. As for the whole ambience of the place like OMG! I don't know maybe one day after closing you can get a hose and shoot everything down. It's so dirty and dusty. No one came out to clean the tables or clean the drink area. It was like it was better to stay behind the counter and......talk story. Which is fine but seriously it doesn't make Hawaii or your business look good. There was a lot of tourists that would stop by to eat but this is another great reason to up the ante and be more presentable and act like you actually cared for the business. I don't know, maybe it's been like this for years and because people go for the Malasadas that everything else doesn't matter. As for ordering and picking up our food when it was ready. Well that was actually a 5 star. They were friendly and very patient while we decided what we wanted since we haven't been here for so long and the food was fast when it was ready so thank you for that. The best advice that I can give is that Ace Hardware is right in back of the building and I'm sure they would have a water hose, soap (at this point, anything will do, and a nozzle for the end of the hose to shoot it ALL down! They may even sell microfiber cloths if you feel like going that extra mile on those jealousies of a window. Will I be back? Of course, it's the halfway mark back to Hilo unless I remember to stock up on the ride before deciding to ever go here again. Would I recommend it? Of course.......not read more

Tex Drive In - Too many birds and the floor is so dirty - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

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You've been warned! The malasadas they serve are not your normal malasadas. They are huge with a crazy amount of filling. I ordered three and was amazed how heavy the box was. They were fresh, delicious, and messy! What more could you want. This is a must stop when exploring the big island. read more

Tex Drive In - Giant malasadas. Banana cream, guava, and pineapple fillings. - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

My grandparents lived up the road in Waimea so Tex was a spot we came to a lot! I was very concerned reading the reviews that the quality had changed. It had been almost 7 years since I have been back and let me tell you, they are just as good as I remembered, if not better!! Don't wait to eat them, order and have them outside. Yes, there are birds and chickens but this is Hawaii, what did you expect. Also, don't expect these to taste similar to donuts, they are not the same!!! These are rich in flavor, nice soft chewy bough, with a crunchy sugar coated outside. I strongly recommend the bavarian cream and chocolate, the are an absolute must and fan favorite. Overall the service is quick and the restaurant is classic. If you are driving by or in the area, you absolutely must stop. read more

Tex Drive In - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

If you want a plethora of flavors of filled malasadas, this is your place! We had a hard time finding them in Hilo (every time we went somewhere that advertised malasadas, we were too late to get any), so we stopped at Tex on our way out of town. We tried six different flavors, and they were all yummy, but they were not exactly what we expected. The dough is dense - more like bread and less like a donut. This is apparently what malasadas are supposed to be like, so I'm not down-voting them for it. The fillings were mostly overly sweet, and the fruit ones tasted more like artificial fruit flavor than real fruit. But they were still good. We enjoyed the chocolate-covered Bavarian cream one the most. I also got a breakfast burrito, which was just mediocre and wouldn't order it again. But I would come for another malasada. 3.5 stars. read more

Tex Drive In - Malasadas: cherry, mango, cream, Bavarian cream, banana, and pineapple. - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

As my family and I were doing Heritage Trail drive from Hilo we stopped by at Tex Drive In. It is fairly large, and I was sort of taken back because Honokaa is a fairly small town. The store itself seems like it hasn't gone through renovation or upgrade, kind of reminded me of old Americana. Nothing bad, but almost nostalgic. We specifically stopped by here for their malasadas. They had many food options, but I cannot tell you about those. In terms of fillings, we got banana cream, regular custard cream, guava, and plain. These were some heavy stuff! I think I could have attacked someone by throwing the malasada box! They did not skimp on the fillings for sure. I have to say these were ridiculously RICH, and good. Hindsight I should have stayed eating plain ones, because although the cream filled malasada was good it was too heavy and rich for me. Would I recommend this place? Of course! However, if you are sensitive to rich food like me stick to the plain ones, or just split the filled malasadas with someone. read more

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Here starts my ode to malasadas. Just wow, yes I am absolutely addicted and admit I have a problem. We dropped this place on a super rainy morning when we decided to drive around and hike in this area. It was easy to find, had a ton of parking, and also had restrooms woohoo! Of course, we were gunning for malasadas but we came a little later in the morning and thus, they weren't exactly fresh when we came. They also didn't have some of the flavors we wanted aka guava but what can you do? Decided to just grab what we could! We had the haupia, blueberry, and a regular unfilled one. They were all soooo good even though they weren't fresh and warm. The haupia is a coconut cream type filling which is super subtle and yummy~ I actually don't like coconut very much and still enjoyed this! If you are in the area, this place has some great breakfast and lunch options outside of just malasadas so perfect spot to swing by. We did grab some onion rings and hashbrowns which were solid. Bit of a drive if you're staying in other areas of the island, but definitely worth it in my opinion~ read more

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Had the famous malasadas. We live on Oahu, so call me spoiled, but we're used to Leonard's and Pipeline malasadas, which are both divine. When I had the Tex malasadas, I thought they were dry, too doughy, and too dense. The jam was also too sweet and artificial. read more

Must stop if in the area! The malasadas are delicious. Warning: they are a bit dense/filling! I also got a cute dress and skirt in their gift shop. read more

Tex Drive In - Chocolate Malasada - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

A trip to Hawaii is never complete without these Portuguese hole-less donuts famously called malasadas. Dense, squarish, and larger than what I'm used to, these fried dough treats come out warm and fresh with various flavors of fillings to choose from. Their Haupia is hands down the best for me. I want one now so bad! Gauva and Apple were also good but somehow I was longing for something non-filled. Cinnamon sugar perhaps? Nonetheless, we're glad we made the stop for this indulgence. read more

Tex Drive In - Haupia, Guava, Mango - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Malasada break on our drive to Hilo. We've only had the malasadas here on this trip and the trip 10 years ago so can't speak for anything else. They are huge, warm and fluffy like a delicious pillow. Very affordable and it came out quickly. We got a plain one and a Haupia one and both were delicious. They have quite a few tables outside for you to enjoy your desserts. Huge parking lot and the restroom was pretty clean too. Note that these are quite different from Waikiki's Leonard's malasadas. Both unique and tasty in their own way. You just gotta try Tex and see for yourself. read more

Tex Drive In - Haupia cream - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

We drove from Kona to Akaka Falls and found the Tex Drive In along the way. Tex Drive In was really an afterthought, as I hoped to check out Manuela's in Waimea. Unfortunately for us, Google directed us to a random building next to McDonald's and no truck was to be found. The menu had many offerings, but we can only comment on the malasadas. In short, they were mediocre and underwhelming. While I appreciated the green tinted dough for St. Paddy's Day, the malasadas felt and tasted like day old donuts from any random donut shop. We had 5 malasadas for six people (granted one was a baby) and left with three untouched malasadas. Granted these are pretty large -- like square-shaped hamburger buns. Two were filled -- one chocolate and one Bavarian cream. The fillings were very sweet and overflowed from the malasada. If you compare these malasadas to Leonard's, expect to be let down. The malasadas at Leonard's are made to order and are heavenly. Maybe this is a testament to Leonard's greatness and less a criticism of Tex Drive In. Next time I'll just keep driving. read more

Tex Drive In - St. Paddy's Day malasadas - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Stopped off on our way to Akaka Falls from Kona. They have a full menu but we only wanted malasadas because it was early morning. We ordered a bunch along with coffee. We asked for tea but they were all out and no other option was proposed. We asked for cream for the coffee and had to purchase some separately. The place looks a bit worn but that's part of the charm (I think). The bathrooms available were convenient. Overall it was an experience. I'd probably go back if in the area. read more

Good food, nice people, beautiful environment... and lots of birds Tons of lasting memories from that Hawaii trip. Aloha

On the Big Island, whether you are local or from out of state Tex Drive In is worth going out of your way to check out. Moderately busy at times, but most of the wait in line is probably from people staring at the menu paralyzed trying to decide what to get since everything looks good. The main draw here though, are their malasadas. They are epic. Freshly made to order, multiple filling choices (ono!), and each piece is HUGE. I mean, holy smokes. You could tear one in two pieces and one of the halves would still be larger than the average malasada served anywhere else. They must be the best malasada place in the islands. No contest. Go there! read more

We stopped here for lunch and were happy with everything we got. My husband got the chicken loco moco with a side of tater tots and I got the mahi mahi plate. We also got guava and mango malasadas. They were much bigger than I was expecting and warm when they came out. Very yummy! Service was pretty fast and they were good about cleaning tables quickly. read more

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Nice outdoor seating. You go to the window to order your food. Always a line. The malasadas are good but not as amazing as everyone makes them seem. The food truck malasadas in my opinion are better. Food is alright as well. Just nothing to get to excited about. I wouldn't say I'd come back but I live in that area so I'm sure I'll be back to try other things. It's fairly busy and loud but overall the ambiance is nice. read more

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TLDR: food was mediocre. Malasada was good. Didn't know there was a hype to this place, and I don't think it really lives up to its hype Malasadas were okay compared to the Leonards in Oahu. More bready, doughy, and dense. But inner cream filling was decently good. Can't really go wrong with the cream. If you like bready texture then this is the place for you. Spam musubi--literally was densely packed rice with one thin slab of spam packaged with seaweed paper. Ratio is off. But if you like rice then it's for you, but then I would think you're off too. Lol. Breakfast burrito, beef bean, side of rice. Didn't expect 2 huge ice cream scoop of rice. They must really love to make rice here. Burrito was okay, it just tasted like a burrito. Salsa tasted like it came out of a tomato paste can. I don't know why I was expecting a pico de gallo salsa but it certainly wasn't that. read more

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We were looking for a quick spot to grab breakfast on the way to Akaka Falls and happened to find this place! They have a pretty extensive menu. We ordered two malasadas (pineapple, banana) and a loco moco with hamburger to share. After reading all the amazing reviews on the malasadas, we were so excited to try theirs. The shell was good but we wish there were more exciting filling flavors. The pineapple flavor was artificial-tasting which was disappointing. We did enjoy the banana flavor which tasted like banana pudding. The loco moco was pretty good and loaded with gravy. read more

Tex Drive In - Malasadas - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

Boooooom!!! Best Malasadas on the island! After a harrowing bout with Death and Waipi'o Valley off roading (crazy road!) we had to stop by since the Malasadas were so well known. Just fyi - a Malasada is basically a donut! Man, they know their donuts!! Sorry Malasadas! They had about 8 diff flavors of filling in a sugar coated large donut. It's big. One is enough for one person easily! We ordered the guava and haupia which is a Hawaiian crème that was out of sight!! Def liked both but the haupia was the bomb!! Def recommend!! We enjoyed them with a nice cup of hot hot Kona coffee and were very pleased. Def a spot to stop by after your Waipi'o Valley excursion!! read more

Tex Drive In - Guava malasada - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii

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Came here to pickup dinner. Everything is Togo style and even has a drive through. We got a spam loco moco and portions are huge. It's two boxes for one price! Also ordered the saimin which was actually really refreshing. They have Malasada here as well so had to try that. It was delicious and you can look through the window seeing them making it fresh. This is a great quick and easy good food spot, I would recommend. read more

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This is works famous malasadas It has much more of a dejection menu too! It is bust. But the food is delicious and smells soo good! It is clean and there are places to sit inside and outside the Bavarian malasadas is awesome and tastes read more

The Malasadas! Order, eat 'em hot surrounded by cute chickens on the patio. Perfect stopping point on the drive from Kona to Hilo read more

Kinda happened upon Tex Drive In by chance while driving around from Waimea to Hilo - I had been looking up malasada places on the Big Island and when we spotted the sign off the road, we had to stop and try it! Malasadas here are HUGE!! And soft and fluffy as pillows, omgoodness. Their savory food looked and smelled delicious too but we weren't hungry enough to give that a try. We definitely bought too many since we weren't able to finish all 3 lol. Bathrooms were open for customer use, parking is easy and tables were set up outdoors. read more

Tex Drive In - Apple, Bavarian cream and chocolate filled malasadas - Fast Food Near Me - Honokaa, Hawaii