Local Dish

What a spectacular find at the «end of the road» in Hawi. The «Cubano» sandwich had pork belly smoked on site. Microbrew beers on tap. Great chocolate chip cookie. Sandwich would rival the best to offer in any big city.

the food was good — all the ingredients seemed really fresh. But, my CLT (chicken, lettuce, and tomato) was $ 12. It was served on sliced white bread. The kind you buy at the grocery store. The meat was good, but not a ton of it. The side of coleslaw was decent, but again… nothing amazing. My friends each got the pulled pork, which was decent but had an odd smoky flavor to it (not smokey as in a bbq, but smoky different… hard to explain). So, three sandwiches (all decent but not amazing) plus 2 beers and a lime rickey (with alcohol). Our bill came to $ 78. WTF!!! If it was 40 dollars or even fifty, I’d say OK. But… way too expensive for what you get. With tip we spent $ 90 on the most mediocre lunch I’ve ever had. We could have packed it with stuff from the grocery store and it wouldn’t have cost us more than $ 30.
All in all: if you want average food at a high price, go here. Otherwise, seek another option.

Food was good, when we finally got it. Ordered three sandwiches and the wait was an hour. At the 40 minute mark I went inside and asked the cashier about them, and said we’ve been waiting 40 minutes. He said «they’ll be out in a minute». No apology. 20 minutes later when my husband went in to check again they finally arrived. Again, no apology, no nuthin’. My sandwich (a deluxe grilled cheese) had bacon on it when I had asked for avocado. I didn’t bother to go back for a new one since at that point we had spent our entire allotment of time to look around the cute little town of Hawi waiting on our midday snack. I hate horrible customer service. Totally inexcusable!

Absolutely AMAZING!!! I’m from NYC, and am obsessed with food, and this was truly outstanding. We had the Banh Mi sandwich, the smoked fish sandwich and the salsa and chips. The fish was smoked in house Ahi Tuna, best smoked fish I’ve ever had!!! Salsa was amazingly fresh, the chef drives 2 hours away to get the freshest tomatoes. Best meal in Hawaii, by far and super friendly staff. Perfection

Fresh and local dishes with very friendly staff. Make sure and try the homemade desserts.

Great, great, great! Outstanding service. Delicious food and drink. There is nothing not worth trying on the menu. If you are in town definitely stop in for some grub! Almost everything is made in house, beer is ice cold and they have a wide variety. Sandwiches and salads are definitely their strong point. Cannot wait to try more!

Had lunch here yesterday. It had been a long time since. I haven’t eaten eat meat in a long long time but have been hearing about the Cubano from people and I’ve never had a Cubano – only read about them. I put the vegetarian in me aside and INHALED the entire Cubano. Holy moly THAT was a delicious sandwich. Every bite took me somewhere amazing and wonderful. Good job Matt. I did ‘pay’ for that, though. My belly was quite shocked and didn’t know what to do with the new protein. My reply to my belly? You go girl, work it out!!! Sometimes a little suffering is a good thing and hopping off the vegetarian wagon can be an exciting ride.

We ambled in late in the day feeling peckish and found these lads up to the challenge.
The cuisine is off the hook using local ingredients (naturally, A MUST!!!) The menu is quirky and fun. I went for the guacamole & chips and the chilled papaya soup. Other half ordered the Elvis Deluxe.
The chilled papaya soup was a delight. It had a hint of something spicy. I couldn’t quite tell what. But it kept me on my toes. It was light & refreshing. The guacamole was perfect with warmed chips. They used local avocado, sweet Maui onions. It was perfect!
The Elvis Deluxe might have been a bit overkill. It was: banana, peanut butter, bacon served on tasted banana bread. It was overly sweet. He’s had other versions of the Elvis, just not with banana bread. It was the sweetness of the banana bread that put his tastebuds in sugar shock. It was a bit overwhelming with the sweetness of the peanut butter and banana combined. Better to go with it on regular toasted bread. Unless you’re really looking for something unusual. Then this is the one! Technique wise, it was a flawless sandwich.

Had the banh mi, was very tasty. Sister had something like a tuna melt and liked that as well. Cole slaw was good because it wasn’t heavy on the mayo.
Actually had a hard time deciding which sandwich to choose! Lots of variety. Gotta come back again to try something else.
And the man who helped us was really nice and helpful and explained everything to us. and to everyone else too.

Local Dish is mostly a sandwich shop, with tasty and original sandwiches and all their ingredients made in-​house from scratch.
We ordered the bahn mi, the smoked fish sandwich, and the roast beef sandwich, with slaw and mac salad as our sides. Everyone liked what they ordered, but the sandwiches were all slightly not-​as-​described. I don’t know if it was a busy day and the kitchen was rushed, but things didn’t seem to come out quite right. Still, they were tasty.
The prices are pretty expensive for a sandwich ($ 12-​$ 15 for most), but when you consider the quality of the sandwich and what things cost in Hawi, it falls back into the «reasonable» camp.
They have gluten free bread, which wasn’t on the menu – which makes me think other things might not be on the menu, so ask if you have any questions.

Thank you Unilocal for a great find. Not much was open New years day, sushi rock was closed and the grocery store with the roast chickens, so this was a limited option but very glad they were open.
Everything is made in the restaurant and the owner was working the register and could answer everything.
I had the jerk chicken and it was very flavorful but not a lot of heat. I was hoping for a little more kick but the sandwich was a good balance of flavors and sweetness.
I opted for a side of cup of the chicken soup with brown rice and it was lick the bowl good.
Next time we visit it will be a tough choice between 3 places now.

Very Very Great food. All freshly made from scratch. Best Ahi ever. Very polite and welcoming staff. I highly recommend this cute little place.

Best banh mi of my life, not traditional but every piece was homemade and so fresh! We also got the bbq pork sandwich which was super tender and flavorful. Really nice people that obviously put a lot of love into their dishes.

So glad we found this place. Everything was fresh, local, and made from scratch. Even the sauces, mayo, etc. was made from scratch. Prices were spendy but everything is in this area. I was just happy to finally find some ono grindz.
Fishwish was amazing. Nothing like the kind you get at micky Ds.
Will be back for sure!

If you try to find it on the Unilocal map it is wrong. The restaurant is along the main drag of shops. Matt the owner explained that he has tried to get Unilocal to fix it to no avail. We caught them right before closing and Matt was great walking us through the menu.
Food was great — we had some of the specials of the day — fresh ahi tuna melt and the ahi fish witch — both were great. We also had his special fresh margarita. Our girls had a naked dog.
Great find after we did the Ditch tour!
Thanks Matt!

Fresh and local. Great food and wonderful food. Must stop! Normally I would say don’t tell anyone. The food incredible perfect. It’s only draw back is that is a small place. However they have both indoor and outdoor seating.

Local beer, fresh fish, and excellent service. All house made and organic foods. Matt the owner/​head chef is a great. He really knows what he’s doing. The atmosphere is very Shaka. A must stop on your Big Island road trip! The Banh Mi is AWESOME! Coming back for sure. Let’s keep this place alive :)

The food was ok but far more expensive than anywhere else on the island. I also never saw a single local the entire time.
What prompted me to write this review the most was the guy behind the counter. I hate being lied to. I first asked about the poke they had listed and was told they only had Ono and no Ahi. No big deal. I then asked if the price was per pound which is the standard way it is sold across the big island. I was told that it was not by pound and not even half a pound. I was then told that Ono was $ 20/​lb market price and that preparing it into poke would be more.
Let me add that I never questioned the price but the guy behind the counter immediately added the comment about «market price.»
I had just bought fresh caught Ono (the filet not the scraps or bone-​in) at the local store for $ 8.99 /​lb in two different nearby municipalities within the last 12 hours!
They either need to find a new supplier or to stop lying to people based on the assumption that no one knows the local customs or market. If your prices are high that’s fine. JUST DON’T LIE ABOUT IT.
Local Dish is anything but local. The food is ok (although portions are small), but the prices and lack of integrity earn it a flaming one star.

*Not super cheap by any stretch (what it is in Hawaii) but large portions and super food
*Kinda got the riot act that I absolutely could not drink my beer on the patio and I had to «chug» it inside which is weird cause you are in a sleepy tiny tiny town with dogs and hippies roaming about but whatever, maybe the ATF was out!
*Will def hit it up next time, tasty food

Everything at this great lunch place is made from scratch here, even the hot sauce.
I had the curry bowl with Jamaican jerk chicken which was really delicious. Two of us had the chicken salad on croissant and said it was the best chicken salad they’ve ever had — I had a bite and can back that up.
The place is small and charming, the guy who runs the place is really friendly, funny — and helpful about explaining anything on the menu.
This is a great addition to the limited choices of where to eat in Hawi, and we’ll be back.