Kuhio Grille

Fantastic authentic food. Large and varied menu, excellent service and incredible entrees and desserts. You won’t regret a stop at this fine restaurant. Large portions! In fact, it was as good warmed over the next night for dinner as it was the first time around. 2 meals for the price of one. Outstanding!

Best Laulau i have ever tried. Nice sized portion, freshest poi, straight from kuhio valley!
Service could have been a little more attentive to customers. The food was the most important and did not disappoint.

After a long day of sightseeing at the Volcanoes National Park, I was hungry for dinner. Searching on Unilocal,I found Kuhio Grille that was still open at that hour. I ordered their oxtail soup while my husband ordered their fish sandwich with fries. My oxtail soup was delicious and the meat easily fell off the bone. Their oxtail soup used Chinese Nappa cabbage unlike other oxtail soups I’ve had on Oahu where they use mustard greens. The soup was not oily and clear. I appreciated the waitress giving us a bottle of their chili pepper water with garlic to add to my soup. My husband liked his fish sandwich and I helped myself to his fries which were crispy and mealy. I saw that Kuhio Grille touts that they make one-​pound lau lau and if my husband was up for splitting one we might have tried it. I didn’t get to take a picture of this, but their wall behind their cash register is lined up with «uku-​million» good luck cat statues. There’s lots of seats and we didn’t have to wait long to get seated. Our server was very friendly and she checked up on us frequently. There’s lots of parking in the shopping center.

Ate here earlier tonite. Had the oxtail soup but fell in love this chocolate-​macadamia nut cream pie!!!

It was so yummy. It was a lot of food for the reasonable price. My son & I should have shared a plate. But we had food to take home & that was fine. I will definitely go back again.

Upon arriving into Hilo, this was our first meal spot to start our 9 days of vacation. It was in a strip mall area of Prince Kuhio Plaza, smaller place than expected. I had scoped out their good reviews beforehand and had anxiously been awaiting their fried chicken skins as a starter. I didn’t see on menu but asked our server, she went and checked with the kitchen and then came to say it wasn’t available, UGH. Ok, so then hearing how wonderful their signature Kuhio fried rice was we both ordered it in our entrée. I ordered the Original Kuhio fried rice Loco Moco and hubby ordered the Teriyaki pork Loco Moco but upgraded it to fried rice requesting his gravy on the side. The meals came out fairly quickly. I kind of expected it on a big plate but instead came in a bowl. I’m not sure what to say here as the local who come here love the fried rice and the Loco Moco. All I can surely say is that it’s no fried rice I’ve ever eaten in Chinese restaurants but need to remember this is Hawaiian style. It was more like sticky rice versus actual fried rice, different texture/​flavor. I expected garlicky full flavor rice with the goodies but it was more of a sticky rice with sweetness and very mild in flavor. Luckily my hubby asked for the gravy on the side as it has to be packaged dry mix which was surprising knowing how much gravy they are using yet so artificial tasting. Overall my egg, beef patty, so-​called fried rice and gravy was edible but we were also very hungry. Hubby didnt use his gravy and instead ended up getting teriyaki sauce and then felt his meal was ok but pitiful portion and cuts of pork. Lets just say we wont be return customers.

Love their Yakitori Chicken and fried rice. Their Mac salad is always good and they are known for their fresh Lau Lau. The service is good and everyone is friendly. Parking is convenient and it’s right next to the mall.

Great place to stop in and order laulau or even saimin. The portions are good IMHO. More than enough for my family and I. Service is a little slow, but when we went it was a little busy. This is my 3^rd time here. First review. The menu has a variety of local dishes. I recommend the 1 pound laulau. I couldn’t finish it. Way to much. But had the LOs for dinner. I recommend this place if you’re looking for a plate lunch style lunch. The environment is clean and welcoming. Enjoy.

Love oxtails soup with ginger. I tried this dish from other places and I like it from here the best. Not too much fat on the oxtails. Just enough for the taste. They are generous with the portion too. I always have left over for later.

Food was sooo ono! Our waitress was really nice. And didnt have to wait long at all for food. This place is really a hidden treasure. We are just visiting from oahu and ate here our first night. Definitely will be back.
Mahalo!

Nice food eatery. Very friendly staff. Good selection of food. They give big portions, you can share with someone.

Great service with aloha. I ordered the special — short rib stew. It was ono. Just like a hearty home cooked meal which hit the spot. Also, loved that our waitress made us a special sauce she uses at home for pupus. We wanted to try crispy chicken skin and her sauce was winnaz. Definitely would not have enjoyed eating crispy chicken skin without it. Overall great service, plenty parking, a lot of food to choose from.

Awesome awesome awesome place for Hawaiian favors or for popular dishes as well. Great prices, super service, and awesome food! Need a place to eat that’s not a chain restaurant or over priced over hyped, this is it!

Had a very disappointing meal tonight The Chinese plate special. It was suppose to have won ton roast pork and egg foo young.
Well you would think at a place famous for their fried rice, adding this to the meal would be a perfect choice, no.
It came with plain rice two tiny won tons, three overcooked pieces of dried pork, and a one egg tasteless foo young. A truly disappointment for a «special».
This is the first time this place has fail me. They got one star cause I’m being nice. Where were you normal generous portions? I hope if this is run again this review might improve things
Literally the first time I left this place hungry.

Last night in Hilo and i was looking for a place to sit down and eat (instead of plate lunch kine) that was close by the Hilo Hawaiian hotel. This restaurant perfectly fit the requirements. Party of 6 was seated right away and I was so happy with the menu. It was a mix of local/​japanese comfort food. They have donburi, saimin, tempura and Japanese dishes but also have Lau Lau, Kalua Pig, burgers, They are famous for the 1 pound Lau Lau plate which my aunty grinded and said it was really good. We also ordered Saimin, Grilled Ono plate, Yakitori chicken, and Udon/​Tempura combo. We split the Oreo Dessert at the ending.
Looking around the restaurant you can tell its going to be good because all the locals were here mixed in with a few tourists. On the menu there’s something for everyone. The waitresses were friendly and didn’t hesitate to accommodate my request for my son he only likes Sweet potato Tempura so they gave him a Udon/​Okinawan Sweet Potato tempura combo and he was in Heaven! They must have given him 8 pieces of tempura, very nice of them to do.
The Saimin was okay (although they make their own dashi) I thought it was little bland.
The grilled ono was really good and a generous portion
Yakitori chicken was very tasty and good.
(1 pound Lau lau plate my aunt didn’t finish but it was good)
At the end of the meal they brought to our table a Dessert Tray! WOW I rarely see that nowadays, they have Banana Crème squares, Mac Nut Crème squares, Haupia crème squares, Oreo, blueberry cheesecake OMG heaven. BUT I was too full so we split the Oreo and it hit the spot. I really love places that take the time for home made desserts, reminded me of Eagle Café on Oahu. The Oreo square was like a «dump cake» and had chocolate pudding, whip crème, oreo pieces layered on each other, it was good but a little too rich for me, or I might have just been too full. My aunty came the day before and raved about the banana and mac nut dessert. I“ll need to check it out next time I’m in Hilo.
Great family restaurant, and solid food definitely recommend.

Any time of the day, this place is a good choice. I love to come here for the 1lb Chicken Laulau! It’s a great laulau (lot of meat, lots of greens, and very minimal fat). The plate comes with rice and either toss or mac salad. I usually get the mac salad because it goes really well with the laulau. They also have chili pepper water for those who like a little extra flavor, like me!
I always leave with my belly full and happy :)
I also like their peanut butter mochi that they sell at the register. Really yummy!
I haven’t had a bad experience yet, so i’ll be back!

As much as possible I try to avoid this place but as far as today, I had no choice. Been years since I’ve been here because of a really bad experience. Hopefully today will be a chance at redemption.
It’s always a headache finding places to eat in Hilo especially on a Sunday. It’s either restaurants are closed or just crazy packed! After picking up my cousin from the airport we drove around for 30 minutes just looking for places to eat. We ended up coming here at Kuhio Grille.
We got the Fried Rice Loco Moco, a full order of their signature Fried Rice, and a 2 choice with Teri Pork and Chicken Cutlet. Okay y’all ready for this haha! The loco moco was horrible, hamburger patty was dry and like a hockey puck. The gravy was clumpy and salty, it also lacked that smooth
«ribbon» effect. The Fried rice, nothing signature about it, lacked flavor. The 2 choice was a rip off! Portions were tiny for 13.99! You gotta be kidding me!
All in all Kuhio Grille failed to impress with no chance of redemption. Service was lacking, the food was a big disappointment, our experience, nothing to rave about. 2 stars just because the inside of the restaurant is air conditioned. There’s better places to eat in Hilo, Kuhio Grille left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

It’s taken me almost two months to recover from my amazingly relaxing kick-​ass vacay on the Big Island. Sigh. Now I can finish all the Unilocal reviews I’ve been wanting to do.
Favorite eateries in Hilo: Cousins (take out only) and this place. Now does all the food at Kuhio Grill knock my socks off? No. Do I love it anyway? Yes.
This is an old school favorite of locals. Just take a look around. The Hubs and I went there five times and I’m pretty sure we were the only tourists each time. It’s comfortable, homey, friendly. Favorites from the menu include the one-​pound Lau Lau, the yakitori chicken, the fried rice (pricey but worth it), and the homemade CREAM PIES. Oh, cream pies, you taunt me during the day and when I sleep…
Get the banana cream pie or the chocolate peanut butter cup pie, if available. Heck, get both! So, so good.

My most recent trip staying with family, we came here couple times while we stayed. The service is fast, and the food is good! The thing I loved the most is probably the chicken skins! I found that usually in the day they have them, but if you come late they are almost always sold out.
The chicken skin taste exactly like chicharon so if you love that, you’ll love this! I haven’t tasted the gizzards but that kinda grosses me out anyway lmao.
Fried rice cost a little extra but nonetheless taste awesome as well.
Very clean restaurant I’d definitely come back.

Unilocal 365 Challenge 2015 #73/​365
Kuhio Grille is a great place to have any of your three meals of the day. They serve some mean loco mocos, and are known for their «One Pound Lau-​lau».
We would always come here for brunch after church, and it would be PACKED. They’ve been around a long time and know what it means to serve good, consistent, local food.
If you want breakfast, they have that. They have lunch & dinner as well, and an ever-​changing specials menu.
As far as service goes, the servers are always polite, and attentive, and the food never takes too long to come out.
The prices here are pretty great, especially for the portions that they give, which are huge! You can get a double fried rice loco for 14.99. Talk about a kanak attack!
I myself have actually never had the one pound lau lau, but being that it’s one of their staple items, make sure you give it a try!
Seems like every time I come home I make a stop at Kuhio Grille, and it’s always a good experience.