Restaurants on Big Island Hawaii

Going to Big Island end of Sept. and staying at Hapuna Prince. We always venture out of our hotel especially when it comes to meals. Hawaii is known for overpriced food that is not neccessarily that good and that is why we would like some suggestions for a good breakfast and lunch/dinner choices. My husband and I are from Chicago so we can appreciate good ethnic food without needing all the frills and a high pricetag. If there are some good restaurants that are worth the money/ambience please note those as we would go for a special occasion. Also please note any restaurants to stay away from....thanks.

Restaurants on Big Island Hawaii

SophJ,

For breakfast:

Check out Hawaiian Style Café in Waimea

U-Top-It in Kailua-Kona

For lunch/dinner:

Big Island Grill in Kona

Bubba Gumps in Kona

Hayama’s in Kona

Check out konaforum.com as TT says.

Good luck and happy travels!

Restaurants on Big Island Hawaii

Based on recommendations provided by various local experts on this forum, we had wonderful dinners at Ke%26#39;ei Cafe%26#39; (south of Keauhou -- maybe Kainaluu is the town?) and Fujimama%26#39;s in downtown Kona. Both are in the moderate to expensive range (depends on what your order, and if you order a bottle of wine w/dinner or not).

I love these two places in Kailua-Kona:

Quinn%26#39;s Almost by the Sea....great prices, maybe the best burger I ever had.

Jameson%26#39;s........they have a special fish dinner called apokapoka which is a very mild, delicious fish. Fancy, fine dining, worth it.

taxi, I don%26#39;t know how often you eat at Jameson%26#39;s but as someone who eats out 4-5 times a week I can tell you it%26#39;s one of the most inconsistent restaurants in town. The meal and service can be wonderful and can be absolutely bad, depending on the day you get there. I recommend you try Jackie Ray%26#39;s Ohana Grill (or ';OG'; as the locals call it) for the best burger in town. Quinn%26#39;s has the best ';Fish %26amp; Chips'; though.

For a ';nice'; dinner, we love Huggo%26#39;s, mainly for the setting/atmosphere. The food was good, but not spectacular. A table on the rail at sunset is hard to beat.

For breakfast or lunch, we really like Aloha Angel Cafe. Good place to stop if you%26#39;re heading south.

Kona Brewing Company has great pizza and beer.

In Kona, 45 min and 30 miles south of Hapuna

jackey Reys. in Kona.... dinner with drinks for 2 will run under $90, Tues they offer a full lobster dinner for $25 . this is where we locals go out for a good meal out of the honkey tonk of Kona... from politicians to cab drivers all flock here...

Huggos is excellent but figure about 130 to 140 on the water and you pay for good food as well as view. It reminds me of ther Chart House in So cal.

Bubba gumps serves food so greasy that I cant eat it.........when they are pushing out fried food. the oil cools and you can get an extra soaked food........ good for a late lunch when the place is empty.. when it is full the food quality falls fast

Quinns for fish and chips and Big Island grill for plate lunch and Loco Moco are each excellent. both about 25 for 2 at lunch

Kona Brewery has good beer but you can get it at any palce in kona, and Pizza is fair.... why however come to Hawaii and eat foods you can get at home....... it is in the industrial park in a warehouse...

Up at Hapuna you will find in Waimea, 16 miles away;

Merrimans Hawaiian regional cusine.. about 120 for 2 and is a wine spectator winner; check out their platter option where they will prepare several entre items on one plate if you just cant decide a Zagat, James Beard, award winner at a non resort price

Many like Roys a noisy bistro that serves fantastic presentations of average tasting food and is now part of a chain nation wide about $140 for 2 more show than go... but the use a sweet chili sayse that visitors have never tasted............. well Mc Donalds serves the same sauce out of the same bottel.. for a whole lot cheaper

Daniel Thibauts has very good french/fusion about 100 for 2 and where the french astronomers here eat when they miss France while working here.

Try stuff like Ono, Chicken katsu, Loco Moco that ya cant get hope

little Hawaiian style cafe is breakfast only, cash 15 for 2 they open at 7 and close when they run out of food around 11

We are from Chicago too! When we went to the Big Island in August, we ate at a bunch of places and I would recommend the following:

Daniel Thiebault (Waimea)

Bamboo (Hawi)

Brown%26#39;s Beach House (Fairmont - Kohala Coast)

Jackey Rey%26#39;s (Kona)

Kilauea Lodge Restaurant (Volcano)

These are the ones that stand out in my mind. The only place I wish we could have gone is Merriman%26#39;s. We just didn%26#39;t have time!

Also we thought Kona Brewing Company, while not particularly gourmet, was a fun place to go. It was very reasonable price-wise, and the Longboard beer was really good.

I found that the prices are comparable to downtown Chicago (moderate to expensive).

There are several websites that you can visit that will help you. Frommers.com, Fodors.com and driveguidemagazines.com. The driveguide site was helpful to us. They list local favorites, best kept secrets, etc. Also the guidebook the Ultimate Guide to Hawaii is very good and gives you a lot of detail. Have fun!

Roy%26#39;s was the best dinner for us.

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