The Hidden Nene
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Wow, what a great place. Our drinks were a masterpiece. Fun place for a cocktail and friends. We were visiting and were brought here by a local. Staff is great.
Hands down the best bar in downtown Hilo. The cocktails are so creative, each drink is an adventure. My husband ordered the Spam Dram which is reminiscent of a Mint Julep with butterscotch undertones. The Advice was fruity, herbaceous and smooth. The Ko Cane is a spirit forward rum cocktail. Staff are super nice.
This was the coolest cocktail bar I found on my trip to the big island. It had a lot of creative craft cocktails, many of which utilized local flavors and Hawaiian made spirits. It had the nice ambiance you'd expect from a speakeasy, and even had live music. The drinks were pretty good and unique but I found a few of them a tad too sweet for my tastes, with the Spam Dram and Moonlight being a bit syrupy. To me it felt like the sweetness hid some of the unique flavors in the drinks. This is the main reason I have rated 4 instead of 5 stars. However, I'd highly recommend the Iwakaluakumaha, which I found perfectly balanced and as of writing, is available for $10 during happy hour!
As a senior General Manager and sommelier of a large restaurant group, the hidden nene was by far the highlight of our Hawaiian vacation. Char's service and drink menu blew me away and left this sommelier beyond impressed with a camera roll of beautifully garnished drinks that I couldn't have imagined ever creating myself on my best day. I know the next time I come to Hawaii, I will for sure be back to see Char and company, and to be honest I can't wait!
After a day up on Mauna Kea & our last day back home we decided to go our favorite bar in Hilo to top off our trip! Kinda want to keep this place a hidden secret so shhhhhhh. Took my Gf & her brother from Maui 1st time in Hilo and at hidden nene for him. My GF's brother is also a bartender on Maui! He was very impressed with the selection of drinks and of course the ambiance of the bar. We all agreed hands down the best bar and happy hour. Ambiance and speakeasy vibe is our type of bar with the hidden bar. The creativity of the drinks, live music and pop up events make this bar very unique Shoutout to our bartender Tasha!! She was awesome! Made our visit pleasant and welcoming! My gf's brother was amazed of the preparation and presentation of drinks! Tasha and staff sets the bar high for sure! We originally found this spot after seeing my friend Keoni Payton (Pain killers) (Farmers Market Hawaii) post story on IG a while back now officially our third visit. This place is bomb kinda don't want to share it but keep this place in business! Mahalos Tasha & Hidden Nene! Can't wait to be back!
Amazing experience at this gem in Hilo, it's like stepping into another world, and the cocktails are seriously next level! Excellent service, beautiful interior and lighting, I live on Maui so I will be visiting sooner than later!
Menu has changed a bit since last visit. They have a full menus with bites and cocktails. My group just got cocktail. They still have some of their classics and some new additions. Still a great place to get a drink before dinner reservation. This place is spacious and cozy, if that makes any sense. Servers are attentive and everything was delightful. There was a mix up on our bill but they were quick to fix.
This place is the cats pajamas! Definitely stop by for lunch, I tried the hummus wrap, YUM! Great portion size, wonderful accompaniments of sweet potato chips and pickled asparagus. Service was great from Crystal and the owner Char herself! The cocktail list is so creative, you'd have to come back to try 1 of everything! The place itself has such a cozy, speakeasy atmosphere. Definitely the ultimate hidden gem in Hilo. Everything was 10/10. This will be one of my stops every time I am on island.
Incredible speakeasy with excellent food and service. The drinks and delicious and made quickly, the food is also delicious but can take a while since there's only one person preparing all of the food orders. This is a beautiful little place conveniently located in the center of Hilo. I went twice during my stay and had the drinks Figment and the drink with the impossibly long name that started with an i. Both were phenomenal and unique - you can't find anything like this anywhere else. Additionally. I had the ahi melt, the carpaccio, and salami wrap and I enjoyed every bite of each. Wish I could just live at this place and was sad when I had to leave!
stopped by a happy hour and had the best time! We ordered 2 happy hour drinks and got a charcuterie board and it was amazinggg! The staff was so fun and kind, restaurant was clean and trendy, highly recommend!!!
Cute little place and good happy hour with some snacks. Strong and delicious drinks. Don't get upset as these drinks are a work of art and does take some time so when it gets slightly busy it'll be a wait.
Good Help (Is So Hard To Find) [Official Video] - Death Cab for Cutie A good cocktail is also hard to find, so when I saw this place online prior to arriving in Hilo, I was bent on going, it did not matter that it was 12 noon on a Friday afternoon! Happy hour 12-2 PM on Friday when we went. Just a few blocks from the Hilo Farmer's Market and Pineapple's. Right across the street from KTA. Shady guy on the corner, kept looking at us and I kept looking at him. I see you, bud. Descending into the depths of the quiet darkness was soothing. There was no greeting, so we just sat anywhere. There were two ladies behind the bar, one was mixing up drinks and the other was filling up bottles and ice and such. There were 3 other customers in the bar besides us - two on the couch and one at the bar. It wasn't crowded at all. It took a while before the mixologist came up to us and took our orders. She was nice. The Tea - $10 happy hour price ($16 reg price). A cute drink. The ingredients are listed on their website but it's not easy to read as it scrolls really fast, but without having to list the fancy ingredients like Suntory Roku (gin), matcha, orange blossom, mamaki, lemon, lime and wasabi, the flavor was very straight-forward, not complex at all. It tasted very nice but mostly citrus, strong citrus. The lemon and lime overpowered everything. I could not taste anything else. The presentation was beautiful with the dried mamaki leaf and the white orchid. Buzz factor 2/5. Smoky Bear - $10 happy hour price ($16 reg price). A sweeter drink made of bourbon, birdseye pepper, sugar, wood smoke. My husband said it reminded him of something he's had a kid, like Easter candies. The presentation was really nice, with a charred rosemary and a white orchid. Strange mix of sweet candies and smoky smoke. Buzz factor 3/5. Service: here's where it gets knocked down one star from a 5. The lady mixing the drinks was doing 99% of the work. We felt bad for her. The lady stocking things was just bustling around without being aware that another group had walked in, and was sitting in the corner and waiting awkwardly. I kept looking at them looking at her. They were waiting a long time. She finally saw them when she went to stock something else in another room, got their orders on her way back, and gave the order to the lady bartender. We didn't want to keep waiting for another drink, so we left cash with tip at the counter and left. Return factor: not sure. Would like to try the other drinks in the future but only if we had hours to spare (or waste).
I had The Hidden Nene bookmarked when I was planning out my trip to Hilo and I couldn't be happier with my experience at the speakeasy. My wife and I stopped by for pre-dinner drinks and we absolutely loved the drinks that we were able to try out. I started out with a cocktail called the "Spam Dram", a crispy Spam fat-washed barrel-proof bourbon, combined with seared Spam and nori syrup and topped off with a spam musubi garnish. As one might guess, this drink was presented in a spam musubi tin, and atop the bed of crushed ice was an *entire* spam musubi. The drink was a perfect representation of spam musubi in a glass -- sweet, savory, and full of umami. Props to whichever bartender put together this creative drink. The next drink I ordered was the "Smoky Bear", another bourbon based cocktail. This one had bird's eye chili essence in it, and was much closer than your traditional Old Fashioned, except it had an incredible amount of smokiness and a punch of heat to it as well. If you enjoy stiff drinks with complexity, look no further than this cocktail. While we were seated at the bar, we overheard somebody close to us mentioning a password special that had been posted on the Instagram page of The Hidden Nene. We checked their latest story posted two hours earlier and the password special for the day was a "fizz me baby one more time", a strawberry and yuzu gin fizz. My wife ordered this cocktail as her second drink and loved how refreshing the drink tasted. Overall, if you consider yourself a cocktail connoisseur, you owe it to yourself to check out The Hidden Nene if you're in Hilo. read more
The coastal town of Hilo hides the fantastic speakeasy, The Hidden Nēnē. Head down the stairs by the green door, and it becomes less hidden, and you can see the sign for the basement level bar. The underground space is low green lighting, a long bar, and green velvet bar chairs. We went during the day, so they were not busy, and were able to sit at the bar. The service was quick, relaxed, and friendly. The cocktails are upscale priced, but well made. They do offer a full food menu, we did not order any food on our visit. read more
27 days ago
Wow, what a great place. Our drinks were a masterpiece. Fun place for a cocktail and friends. We were visiting and were brought here by a local. Staff is great. read more
Hands down the best bar in downtown Hilo. The cocktails are so creative, each drink is an adventure. My husband ordered the Spam Dram which is reminiscent of a Mint Julep with butterscotch undertones. The Advice was fruity, herbaceous and smooth. The Ko Cane is a spirit forward rum cocktail. Staff are super nice. read more
1 month ago
This was the coolest cocktail bar I found on my trip to the big island. It had a lot of creative craft cocktails, many of which utilized local flavors and Hawaiian made spirits. It had the nice ambiance you'd expect from a speakeasy, and even had live music. The drinks were pretty good and unique but I found a few of them a tad too sweet for my tastes, with the Spam Dram and Moonlight being a bit syrupy. To me it felt like the sweetness hid some of the unique flavors in the drinks. This is the main reason I have rated 4 instead of 5 stars. However, I'd highly recommend the Iwakaluakumaha, which I found perfectly balanced and as of writing, is available for $10 during happy hour! read more
18 days ago
20 days ago
Super cute speak easy in downtown Hilo! Creative small bites menu and original drinks. Bartender was pleasant and friendly. Smelled a little damp. read more
2 months ago
As a senior General Manager and sommelier of a large restaurant group, the hidden nene was by far the highlight of our Hawaiian vacation. Char's service and drink menu blew me away and left this sommelier beyond impressed with a camera roll of beautifully garnished drinks that I couldn't have imagined ever creating myself on my best day. I know the next time I come to Hawaii, I will for sure be back to see Char and company, and to be honest I can't wait! read more
Business owner information
Charlene M.
Careful… you’re going to give me an ego. Seriously though, thank you…
6 months ago
After a day up on Mauna Kea & our last day back home we decided to go our favorite bar in Hilo to top off our trip! Kinda want to keep this place a hidden secret so shhhhhhh. Took my Gf & her brother from Maui 1st time in Hilo and at hidden nene for him. My GF's brother is also a bartender on Maui! He was very impressed with the selection of drinks and of course the ambiance of the bar. We all agreed hands down the best bar and happy hour. Ambiance and speakeasy vibe is our type of bar with the hidden bar. The creativity of the drinks, live music and pop up events make this bar very unique Shoutout to our bartender Tasha!! She was awesome! Made our visit pleasant and welcoming! My gf's brother was amazed of the preparation and presentation of drinks! Tasha and staff sets the bar high for sure! We originally found this spot after seeing my friend Keoni Payton (Pain killers) (Farmers Market Hawaii) post story on IG a while back now officially our third visit. This place is bomb kinda don't want to share it but keep this place in business! Mahalos Tasha & Hidden Nene! Can't wait to be back! read more
5 months ago
Amazing experience at this gem in Hilo, it's like stepping into another world, and the cocktails are seriously next level! Excellent service, beautiful interior and lighting, I live on Maui so I will be visiting sooner than later! read more
Menu has changed a bit since last visit. They have a full menus with bites and cocktails. My group just got cocktail. They still have some of their classics and some new additions. Still a great place to get a drink before dinner reservation. This place is spacious and cozy, if that makes any sense. Servers are attentive and everything was delightful. There was a mix up on our bill but they were quick to fix. read more
This place is the cats pajamas! Definitely stop by for lunch, I tried the hummus wrap, YUM! Great portion size, wonderful accompaniments of sweet potato chips and pickled asparagus. Service was great from Crystal and the owner Char herself! The cocktail list is so creative, you'd have to come back to try 1 of everything! The place itself has such a cozy, speakeasy atmosphere. Definitely the ultimate hidden gem in Hilo. Everything was 10/10. This will be one of my stops every time I am on island. read more
3 months ago
Incredible speakeasy with excellent food and service. The drinks and delicious and made quickly, the food is also delicious but can take a while since there's only one person preparing all of the food orders. This is a beautiful little place conveniently located in the center of Hilo. I went twice during my stay and had the drinks Figment and the drink with the impossibly long name that started with an i. Both were phenomenal and unique - you can't find anything like this anywhere else. Additionally. I had the ahi melt, the carpaccio, and salami wrap and I enjoyed every bite of each. Wish I could just live at this place and was sad when I had to leave! read more
Business owner information
Charlene M.
Thank you so much for the kind review and for coming back to see us…
9 months ago
Cute little place and good happy hour with some snacks. Strong and delicious drinks. Don't get upset as these drinks are a work of art and does take some time so when it gets slightly busy it'll be a wait. read more
Good Help (Is So Hard To Find) [Official Video] - Death Cab for Cutie A good cocktail is also hard to find, so when I saw this place online prior to arriving in Hilo, I was bent on going, it did not matter that it was 12 noon on a Friday afternoon! Happy hour 12-2 PM on Friday when we went. Just a few blocks from the Hilo Farmer's Market and Pineapple's. Right across the street from KTA. Shady guy on the corner, kept looking at us and I kept looking at him. I see you, bud. Descending into the depths of the quiet darkness was soothing. There was no greeting, so we just sat anywhere. There were two ladies behind the bar, one was mixing up drinks and the other was filling up bottles and ice and such. There were 3 other customers in the bar besides us - two on the couch and one at the bar. It wasn't crowded at all. It took a while before the mixologist came up to us and took our orders. She was nice. The Tea - $10 happy hour price ($16 reg price). A cute drink. The ingredients are listed on their website but it's not easy to read as it scrolls really fast, but without having to list the fancy ingredients like Suntory Roku (gin), matcha, orange blossom, mamaki, lemon, lime and wasabi, the flavor was very straight-forward, not complex at all. It tasted very nice but mostly citrus, strong citrus. The lemon and lime overpowered everything. I could not taste anything else. The presentation was beautiful with the dried mamaki leaf and the white orchid. Buzz factor 2/5. Smoky Bear - $10 happy hour price ($16 reg price). A sweeter drink made of bourbon, birdseye pepper, sugar, wood smoke. My husband said it reminded him of something he's had a kid, like Easter candies. The presentation was really nice, with a charred rosemary and a white orchid. Strange mix of sweet candies and smoky smoke. Buzz factor 3/5. Service: here's where it gets knocked down one star from a 5. The lady mixing the drinks was doing 99% of the work. We felt bad for her. The lady stocking things was just bustling around without being aware that another group had walked in, and was sitting in the corner and waiting awkwardly. I kept looking at them looking at her. They were waiting a long time. She finally saw them when she went to stock something else in another room, got their orders on her way back, and gave the order to the lady bartender. We didn't want to keep waiting for another drink, so we left cash with tip at the counter and left. Return factor: not sure. Would like to try the other drinks in the future but only if we had hours to spare (or waste). read more
1 year ago
Cute little speakeasy in downtown Hilo. Came on a Friday evening after eating at Turtle & Moon. We had to wait a little bit (they quoted 20min) but ended up being 5 as a couple left shortly after. I got the key lime pie cocktail which was a unique concept! The tequila threw me off a little bit, but it was a fun little drink to try. It's a small space so I'd anticipate waiting pretty long during peak hours. Their happy hour seemed solid for their cocktails -- I would have loved to come back for that! read more
The hidden Nene is a very special speakeasy 'club'. We went here on a whim on a Wednesday evening and was not disappointed. The location is on the bottom of a hotel and such a chill vibe. There was music and the performers were right on. The drink menu is a little out of my comfort zone but the bartender was so nice and helped us decide and made great drinks. I finally gave in and had the Tarta de Lima and tasted just like a key lime pie. The foam was sooo delicious. They had special touches for each drink and was fun to see what the final result was. Drinks were strong. They had small plates too. Not a whole lot of seating but we found a spot at the bar. Loved the decor. Highly recommend. read more
5 months ago
This speakeasy in the heart of downtown is the perfect spot to grab a late night cocktail. The drinks were yummy (I tried the happy hour rum and tequila cocktails made with local fruits). The rum cocktail does have a bit of a kick to it. The live music was the cherry on top! read more
7 months ago
I was told this would be right up our alley for cocktails and it didn't disappoint. From the somewhat hidden e trance to decor to the staff to the cocktails to the food was top notch. We tried almost half of the drinks and they were all balanced and provided something g amazing to my palette. read more
3 months ago
Good bar- couple of interesting cocktail recipes on the menu. The bartenders are the real deal and knowledgeable about their craft. I got the hummus plate and it was delicious. read more
5 months ago
Amazing little speakeasy with the most delicious cocktails and small bites. The service was top notch and the atmosphere smooth and pleasant. I will be read more
6 months ago
4 months ago
4 months ago
8 months ago
This year on our annual visit to my wife's mom in Kurtistown, my wife saw this place as we were walking by the Booch Bar. It's a little inconspicuous. We wanted to kill time and grab a drink before dinner at her mom's so we stopped on in to have some cocktails. It's like a cute speak easy with laid back decor. And the cocktails are delicious. Also all the bartenders were super nice and friendly. We are definitely making this our traditional stop when we are in Hilo every year now. read more
On the Big Island of Hawaii in the town of Hilo we were talking with a local over Shave Ice and she told us about a speakeasy. We were intrigued and so one evening after dinner at Pineapple's we walked down a few blocks and found this (hidden) night spot. The Hidden Nene is a very cool little bar in the basement that serves unique libations. We really enjoyed our cocktail and the vibe of this cool spot - and will definitely return next time we're i They have a bar menu as well which we did not try this time, but looked good enough to sample next time we're here. And if you're curious - Nene is the name of a Hawaiian Goose. read more
7 months ago
Found this by searching things to do in Hilo. It's such a cute space with the friendliest staff from the security to the servers. Drinks were very tasty with good happy hour specials. read more
Very cute spot! I had the key lime pie drink and my boyfriend has a bourbon drink that I'm forgetting the name of. This place was crowded but we still had good service. This place has a really unique cocktail menu and is very vibey read more
1 year ago
What a fun bar aka speakeasy. I love the music they were playing. I love their side dishes. I love their charcuterie board. The bartenders were amazing. The drinks were amazing. read more
10 months ago
In Hilo for a short trip and had a chance to check this speakeasy out. We stopped by on a Sunday afternoon and loved it. Had a couple friends from Honolulu recommend after stopping by there a few times and raved how good this speak easy is. Quality of drinks were top-notch, tasty. Interesting, fun, fresh, exciting all of the above. Lovely decor and very friendly service. Hoping one day they open up something in Honolulu but if not, look forward to visiting the next time I stop by Hilo. read more
2 months ago
4 months ago
3 months ago
Business owner information
Charlene M.
Did you not think we check our Yelp reviews too?…
2 years ago
When in Hilo, you just visit The Hidden Nene. If Chris is mixing, you're in for a really special treat. He is incredible at his craft and super inviting. The cocktails were perfect. I wish we had Chris in Tucson. We would be regulars at his bar. read more
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More info about The Hidden Nene
58 Furneaux Ln
Hilo, HI 96720
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(808) 464-4056
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https://thehiddennene.com
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They advertise a happy hour from 5-7 - but what *is* their happy hour? (What does it cover, and how much off!)
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The Hidden Nene - cocktailbars - Updated August 2026
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