16 Incredible Restaurants in Hilo, HI You Need to Try
Hilo is the largest town on Hawaiʻi Island and one of the rainiest in the country, with about 126 inches a year at its airport. The restaurants cluster around the bayfront downtown, along Kamehameha Avenue, Keawe Street and Kīlauea Avenue, close to the Hilo Farmers Market, which is busiest on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The town is credited with the loco moco, rice topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg and brown gravy, first served here in 1949 at the Lincoln Grill. Tsunamis in 1946 and 1960 wrecked the bayfront, and earlier homes of Cafe 100 and The Seaside were lost to them.
This guide covers 16 places, from a wood-fired pizza kitchen in a 1912 concrete landmark and a fishpond restaurant run by one family since the 1920s to a kitchen at an astronomy center led by a James Beard Award semifinalist, a 6 a.m. okazuya and the drive-in that helped make the loco moco famous. Ratings and review counts come from each restaurant’s Google listing in October 2026.
Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine
Pineapples Island Fresh Cuisine is at 332 Keawe Street in downtown Hilo, about half a block from the farmers market. It calls itself the only open-air restaurant in downtown Hilo, and the tables sit close to the sidewalk, so the room feels like part of the street. The family-run restaurant has been serving island-style cooking here since about 2012, and live music is a regular part of the evening.
With 4.6 stars from more than 5,700 Google reviews, Pineapples is among the most reviewed restaurants in Hilo. The menu runs from local line-caught fish to steaks, pasta and burgers. Try the Hilo local plate, which pairs kalua pork (pork cooked until smoky and tender, traditionally in an underground oven) with Korean short ribs, pineapple salsa and mango chili slaw. The island-style onion soup and beer-battered jumbo shrimp are other regular picks.
Reservations are suggested but not required, and they are taken by phone only, since the restaurant does not accept requests by voicemail or through Google. Happy hour runs from 3 to 5 p.m. in the bar, with local beers and cocktails. The restaurant is closed Mondays. Live music is advertised on most evenings, so come after dark if you want a lively table, and check hours before you go.
Address: 332 Keawe St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: pineappleshilo.net
Moon and Turtle
Moon and Turtle is at 51 Kalākaua Street, down a quiet side street a few blocks north of the farmers market. It took over the space of the old Full Moon Cafe, and the room seats only about 40 people, bar included. Owner and chef Mark Pomaski grew up in Hilo and trained under a sushi chef in Eugene, Oregon. His wife, Soni, manages the daily running of the restaurant.
Rated 4.7 stars from more than 700 Google reviews, Moon and Turtle cooks with Hawaiʻi Island fish and local farm produce. The menu is short and changes often, with a handful of tapas-style plates and about three larger plates each night, meant to be shared. Smoky sashimi is the dish that keeps returning, and reviewers also mention wild boar fried rice, eggplant pork and the mac and cheese.
Dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday, so check hours before you go. Reservations are recommended by phone, and if no one answers you can leave a message and the restaurant will call back to confirm. Seats at the bar are the best bet for a walk-in on short notice. Free street parking is about a block away. It is a mid-priced to pricier dinner by Hilo standards.
Address: 51 Kalakaua St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: facebook.com/moonandturtle
Lehua Restaurant
Lehua Restaurant is inside ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, at 600 ʻImiloa Place on the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo campus. It opened around the end of 2023 and is co-owned by chef Keoni Regidor and Brandon Lee, friends since they were 14 who grew up in Honokaʻa. Regidor was a 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, one of 20 named nationwide, and Lee raises Berkshire pigs for the kitchen at his farm.
Its 4.7-star rating across more than 200 Google reviews comes from cooking that treats local ingredients with Korean, Japanese and Chinese influences, and the kitchen cures its own meats. Start with the fried kalo (taro) with garlic chili oil and the crab dynamite skillet. The crudo is a daily raw fish selection, and mains include ahi katsu with Japanese curry, a ribeye, confit chicken and a whole fresh fish.
This is one of the pricier dinners in Hilo. Reservations are recommended and can be made on the website or by phone, and private dining is available. The website lists lunch and dinner, but lunch is not served every day, so check hours before you go. Live music is common in the evenings.
Address: 600 Imiloa Pl, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: lehuarestaurant.com
Cafe Pesto Hilo Bay
Cafe Pesto Hilo Bay is at 308 Kamehameha Avenue in the S. Hata Building, a reinforced concrete building from 1912 that is on the National Register of Historic Places and came through the 1946 tsunami. The restaurant began in 1988 as a small take-out pizzeria in Kawaihae, on the island’s northwest coast, and has been in this bayfront space since 1992.
Cafe Pesto holds 4.5 stars from more than 2,600 Google reviews. Wood-fired pizzas are the draw, including the Luau pizza with kalua pork, grilled pineapple and smoked mozzarella, and a Thai sweet chili pizza with wood-fired shrimp. The crab cake salad, seared ahi poke and a loco moco with fire-roasted demi-glace are other picks, and the lilikoʻi (passion fruit) martini is praised.
The room is casual, with high ceilings, a full bar and free parking out front and across the street. Walk-ins are accepted, and reservations are taken through the restaurant’s website. A local guide calls lunch the better value, so a midday meal is the way to spend less. Hours can change by season, so check before you go.
Address: 308 Kamehameha Ave #101, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: cafepesto.com
Hilo Bay Cafe
Hilo Bay Cafe is at 123 Lihiwai Street, in a raised building on the water between Suisan Fish Market and Liliʻuokalani Gardens. The dining room and lanai look across the water toward Mauna Kea and downtown Hilo. The restaurant opened in 2003 in a shopping center and moved to the bay in 2013. It grew out of an idea from employees of Island Naturals, a Big Island natural food store.
Its 4.4-star rating across more than 1,500 Google reviews reflects a menu built on fresh, local and organic ingredients. Order the Hāmākua mushroom curry pot pie, made with mushrooms from the coast north of Hilo and offered vegetarian or with chicken or shrimp, or the Maui rum BBQ ribs. Artisan sushi rolls, French onion soup and a warm chocolate lava cake are long-running favorites.
Lunch and dinner are served Tuesday through Saturday, so check hours before you go. Reservations are recommended and can be made by phone or online through the restaurant’s website. Ask for a window or lanai seat and aim for an earlier dinner to catch the light on the bay. Dinner is a mid-priced to pricier meal.
Address: 123 Lihiwai St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: hilobaycafe.com
Jackie Rey’s Ohana Grill
Jackie Rey’s Ohana Grill is at 64 Keawe Street, in the former Hilo Masonic Lodge Hall, a Renaissance Revival building put up between 1908 and 1910 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Hilo restaurant opened in November 2016 as the second location from the couple behind the Kona original. Inside are a hand-carved wet bar and Chinese wood-and-glass doors.
Rated 4.5 stars from more than 2,100 Google reviews, the restaurant focuses on island fish, steaks, chops and pasta. The Ahi Tower, a stack of raw tuna, avocado and crispy wonton chips, is the signature starter, and the mochiko fish (fish in a sweet rice flour batter, fried) is a local-style order. The 12-ounce pork chop is a dinner favorite, and the bar makes tropical drinks with local fruit.
Reservations are recommended and can be made on Resy or by phone. The website lists lunch on weekdays, happy hour from 3 to 5 p.m. and dinner daily, so check hours before you go. A local guide recommends dinner over lunch. Parking is available right outside, and the room is relaxed but polished enough for a birthday dinner.
Address: 64 Keawe St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: jackiereyshilo.com
The Seaside Restaurant and Aqua Farm
The Seaside Restaurant and Aqua Farm is at 1790 Kalanianaole Street in Keaukaha, on the shoreline road southeast of downtown. Behind it is Lokowaka, a 30-acre brackish fishpond that holds mullet, tilapia and aholehole, a small local reef fish. The Nakagawa family has run the restaurant since the 1920s and rebuilt after the 1946 tsunami, reopening in 1947. Chef Colin Nakagawa, the third generation, leads it today.
The Seaside has 4.5 stars from more than 500 Google reviews, and many diners come for the pond-raised fish. The signature dish is pan-fried crispy aholehole, served with grated daikon. The menu also leans Pacific Rim, with sushi, other seafood dishes and land options such as beef, veal and chicken. The old Seaside Club staples of mullet and chicken are no longer regular menu items, though some mullet still swim in the pond.
The restaurant serves dinner only, and reservations are recommended, especially on weekends. Ask for a window table that looks over the pond and arrive before sunset. There are three dining rooms, seating about 175 in all. It is one of the pricier dinners in Hilo. Hours have varied between sources, so call before you go to check which nights are open.
Address: 1790 Kalanianaole St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: theseasidehilo-dinein.square.site
Restaurant Kenichi
Restaurant Kenichi is at 684 Kīlauea Avenue, in the space that held Kay’s Lunch Center before it. Mike Inouye, a former cook at Honolulu’s Side Street Inn, opened it in September 2013 as a ramen shop with a wider local menu. He kept some recipes from the previous owner, including the Korean chicken and barbecue beef. A banquet room can hold up to 60 people by request.
Rated 4.5 stars from more than 600 Google reviews, Kenichi is best known for ramen. The pork bone broth takes 24 to 30 hours to make, and the noodles come from Sun Noodle on Oʻahu. The Kenichi-sized bowl doubles everything for big appetites. Other picks are the Korean chicken wings, mahi katsu (breaded, fried fish), pork chops in the style of Side Street Inn, a sizzling rib eye and kim chee fried rice.
The website lists lunch and dinner Tuesday through Saturday, though earlier reports included Monday, so check hours before you go. Take-out orders are placed by phone. The menu runs wide enough that a group with mixed tastes can find something, and the restaurant also sells food by the pound for catering.
Address: 684 Kilauea Ave, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: restaurantkenichi.com
Cafe 100
Cafe 100 is at 969 Kīlauea Avenue and calls itself the Home of the Loco Moco. Richard Miyashiro, a veteran of the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Japanese American unit of World War II, opened it in 1946 and named it for his unit. Tsunamis wrecked earlier locations, and he rebuilt here in 1962 with a loan, creating Hilo’s first drive-in. His granddaughter, Mari Kobayashi Leung, runs it today.
Cafe 100 earns 4.3 stars from more than 2,000 Google reviews. It did not invent the loco moco, which was first served in Hilo in 1949, but it did more than anyone to spread it. The menu lists about 29 versions, and the classic hamburger loco with an over-easy egg is still the best seller. Other plates include beef stew, a Hawaiian plate with kalua pork, laulau and lomi salmon, and a super mix plate.
Portions are generous and prices are modest. The restaurant has kept shorter hours since the pandemic, with weekday daytime service reported in recent years, so check hours before you go. Its own website is only a placeholder page, so call ahead if you are making a special trip. If the list of loco versions overwhelms you, the classic is what most people order.
Address: 969 Kilauea Ave, Hilo, HI 96720
Kuhio Grille
Kuhio Grille is a family-run restaurant at 80 Pauahi Street, with a lanai that looks toward Mauna Kea and the Hilo bayfront. It opened in 1995 at Prince Kuhio Plaza and moved here in 2020. The business grew out of the Araki family’s taro farm in Waipiʻo Valley, where a grandmother began making laulau, pork or fish wrapped in taro leaves and steamed, for family and friends.
With 4.4 stars from more than 1,400 Google reviews, Kuhio Grille is the place for the one-pound laulau, still made from the grandmother’s recipe and steamed in the restaurant’s kitchen. The Kanak Atak plate adds kalua pig, lomi salmon (salted salmon with tomato and onion), pickled onions, poi (pounded taro paste) and rice. The Fried Rice Loco tops fried rice with a hamburger patty, egg and gravy, and homemade pies finish the meal.
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is closed Tuesdays, according to its website, so check hours before you go. Orders can be placed online or by phone for take-out. The plates are big, and the laulau can be a meal on its own, so consider sharing. Save room for a slice of the homemade pie.
Address: 80 Pauahi St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: kuhiogrille.com
Hilo Burger Joint
Hilo Burger Joint is at 776 Kīlauea Avenue, in a lively room that started as Nichol’s Public House, a small Irish pub. Owner Rhonda Nichols turned it into a burger restaurant, which has been open since about 2009. The burgers are made with local beef, and the menu lists more than 20 of them. A full bar and live music some evenings give it a neighborhood feel.
Its 4.4-star rating across more than 2,700 Google reviews rests mostly on the burgers. The Fatty is the local take on a Hilo gravy burger, a cheeseburger topped with brown gravy, a bit like a loco moco in a bun, with two 4-ounce patties, two cheeses, bacon, pickles, mushrooms and onions. The Nacho Burger and the Patty Melt are other choices, and the kalua pork and cabbage plate suits anyone who skips beef.
The restaurant is open daily from late morning into the evening, according to its website, so check hours before you go. Tables can be reserved, and online pickup is available. Parking and space are limited, so allow a few extra minutes at busy times. Beer and cocktails are served at the bar.
Address: 776 Kilauea Ave, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: hiloburgerjoint.com
Kawamoto Store
Kawamoto Store is at 784 Kīlauea Avenue, where it has been selling food since 1947. It is an okazuya, a Japanese-style deli rooted in plantation days, when workers picked up prepared food before their shifts. Dishes sit behind a glass case and are packed to go, and there is no dining room. The family-run shop opens at 6 a.m., and the selection is best early in the morning.
Kawamoto earns 4.8 stars from more than 300 Google reviews, the highest rating of any restaurant in this guide. Regulars order nori chicken (fried chicken wrapped with seaweed), tempura, cone sushi (rice in a sweet fried tofu pocket), fried corned beef hash patties, Spam musubi (a block of rice topped with Spam and wrapped in nori) and stir-fried noodles. Bentos mix Japanese, Chinese, Filipino and Hawaiian dishes, and manju, a filled Japanese pastry, makes an easy dessert.
Go in the morning, because popular items often sell out around midday. The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday according to its website, and some reports include Sunday, so check hours before you go. Phone orders are encouraged, and walk-ins are welcome. Take the food to a nearby park or beach, since it travels well, and two people can eat for little.
Address: 784 Kilauea Ave, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: kawamotostore.com
Ken’s House of Pancakes
Ken’s House of Pancakes is at 1730 Kamehameha Avenue. It opened in 1971 and built a reputation as the east side’s round-the-clock diner, and it has been owned by the Maiava family since 1990. The walls hold family and celebrity photos. It is a classic American diner with an island accent, and it draws tourists and locals alike.
Rated 4.4 stars from more than 6,400 Google reviews, Ken’s has more reviews than any other restaurant in this guide. Macadamia nut pancakes are the signature order, and the sumo loco moco and sumo saimin (a noodle soup) are named for their size. Other regular picks are omelets, bananas Foster French toast, oxtail soup and a lilikoʻi milkshake.
The diner has long been known for staying open around the clock, but its website now lists daytime to evening hours, so check before a late-night plan. Mornings can bring a line. It also closes briefly twice a year for cleaning and repairs. Portions are large, so share a stack of pancakes if you want to save room for a loco moco.
Address: 1730 Kamehameha Ave, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: kenshouseofpancakes.com
Hawaiian Style Cafe
Hawaiian Style Cafe is in the Manono Marketplace shopping plaza at 681 Manono Street. It is the second restaurant from the family behind the original in Waimea, and the Hilo cafe opened in December 2012 with room for about 90 diners inside and more at sidewalk tables. It is a big, cheerful, casual room, known for breakfast served all day and for plates built for hearty appetites.
Hawaiian Style Cafe holds 4.5 stars from more than 4,300 Google reviews and is famous for pancakes that can nearly cover the plate. The macadamia nut version is the one to try. Other favorites are the kalua pork hash, the poke bowls and the Korean short ribs from the mix plate. A Hawaiian mixed plate, the classic island plate lunch served with rice and macaroni salad, shows off the portions.
The cafe opens early and serves dinner on most days, but hours vary by day and some days end after lunch, so check before you go. A short wait for a table is common at busy breakfast times. Sharing one pancake is a smart move, and the plates and poke bowls travel well if you take food to go.
Address: 681 Manono St, Hilo, HI 96720
Sweet Cane Cafe
Sweet Cane Cafe is at 48 Kamana Street, in an open-air space with a high ceiling, indoor and outdoor seating and an open kitchen behind the register. The family-owned cafe opened in August 2011 and draws most of its ingredients from its own family farm and a network of local growers. The menu is vegetarian, with plenty of vegan and gluten-free choices.
With 4.6 stars across more than 800 Google reviews, Sweet Cane is the place to try fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, served plain, in slushies and in smoothies. The vegetable burgers are built on patties of taro, chipotle taro or jalapeño ʻulu (breadfruit). A vegetarian poke bowl swaps fish for taro, sweet potato or ʻulu, and açaí bowls, coconut yogurt and vegan baked goods round out the menu.
The cafe is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. according to its website, so it works for breakfast and lunch but not dinner. Check hours before you go. There is parking for rental cars, and it is a short drive from the airport, which makes it an easy first or last stop. Online ordering, curbside pickup and delivery are available.
Address: 48 Kamana St, Hilo, HI 96720
Website: sweetcanecafe.com
Paul’s Place
Paul’s Place is at 132 Punahoa Street, a tiny street at the edge of downtown Hilo, about a two-minute walk from the farmers market. Owner and self-taught chef Paul Cubio cooks in a space with three tables that seat eight people at most, working with a single induction burner and a small counter. He estimates that about 99 percent of his ingredients come from the farmers market, fishmongers and the KTA Super Store.
Paul’s Place has 4.7 stars from more than 400 Google reviews, and the menu is short. The Belgian waffles come two to a plate with local pineapple and strawberries. The Salmon Bennie is eggs Benedict on a toasted croissant with smoked salmon, tomatoes, poached eggs and a light hollandaise. At lunch there is a fish sandwich with that morning’s locally caught ono (wahoo), tomatoes and coleslaw made to order.
With only eight seats, reservations are close to essential, and the cafe holds a table for just five minutes before it goes to the wait list. Hours have been reported as Tuesday through Saturday, from morning to early afternoon, but sources differ, so check hours and the cafe’s Instagram before you go. Arrive on time and book early.
Address: 132 Punahoa St, Hilo, HI 96720
Final Thoughts
Book ahead for the small rooms, including Moon and Turtle, Lehua and Paul’s Place, and call early for a weekend table at The Seaside. Many Hilo kitchens close early, and some close one or two days a week or between lunch and dinner, so check hours first. Save the okazuya and the farmers market for the morning, since Kawamoto Store can sell out by midday. Pineapples, Moon and Turtle, Cafe Pesto and Jackie Rey’s are all downtown and an easy walk apart, while Lehua and The Seaside are better reached by car. Rain is frequent, so an umbrella and a covered lanai or open-air table are both useful.
Planning the rest of your trip? See our guide to the best things to do in Hilo, HI.
Main photo, from left: Sergio Mena Ferreira, Cristiano Pinto and Tabrez Syed / Unsplash
