Blane’s Drive Inn

Ordered the roast pork as the «chef» was listening to my order so I had my meal before I was finished paying. Sweet, fast food. Wrong. The chef forgot to run the microwave long enough because my pork was still cold. Haven’t been back.

We got a regular saimin and Korean style chicken katsu. The saimin was good, not great but hit the spot. The Korean style chicken though was amazing. The flavor was so good. But it was pretty fatty and so you had to cut off a lot of fat. It’s worth it though because the flavor is so unique.

Greasy french fries. Go to Tex before Blanes for your own good.

Had #2 mix and hubby had roast pork. In my mix, Teri beef and free miso soup were delish… other than that, roast pork was chewy, gravy salty, chicken was greasy, portions were small, service poor, flies bothersome, tables dirty… I don’t recommend the stop… or if you do, maybe cheeseburger and fries with over priced bottled water… DISAPPOINTED

My family and I came here to get a quick plate lunch. We knew this was going to be fast food, but we didn’t expect quite this level of quality. My chicken katsu was drenched in oil and barely edible. My step-mother’s saimin was bland. I don’t remember what my dad got, but he didn’t finish it.
To say the least, I wouldn’t recommend this place.

Stopped for lunch here after exploring the Waipio Valley. It was a Sunday so it happened to be the only place open serving food. Nice staff and fast service. My husband and I split the regular sized Loco plate which crazily was on special for 50% off. So for being in Hawaii we enjoyed a filling lunch for under 5 bucks! Don’t come here if you want to eat healthy. Our loco plate was basically steamed rice, topped with two meat patties, two fried eggs and gravy, with a side of mac salad– plenty for 2 people. It was actually very tasty and filling!

Just don’t eat here. We ordered chicken katsu and it wasn’t even edible, the chicken was like a rubber sole. It’s an outdoor deal so don’t expect anything to be clean. Pretty disappointing.

Awful experience. Food is barely eatable. So greasy !
Waitress at counter is unfriendly. This restaurant was the only opened on eastern sunday
Oh … Restroom are disgusted !

The food is barely edible. Old grease for fries, greasy sandwiches. The lady at counter was not friendly. I asked for something to wipe the table with, expecting a napkin. I was handed the filthiest dish rag I have ever seen!. Attached is a picture of the ketchup bottle I was given. This place is nasty. Avoid!

Sadly this particular location has slowly gone down hill. Food is ok but I’d rather go to CC jons if open or one of the newer places in town that offer tastier food. But if you’re looking for something more inexpensive this may fit the bill. Only thing I still love here is the slush floats and they had them ½ off so that was nice. Still no working bathroom; I feel like it’s been like that for years now. Service is ok but like the food not the best offered in town

Bathroom still out of order. October 2012. Closest is honokaa park.
From reviews seems as tho the bathroom has been out of order for quite some time. but the food was good, very quaint restaurant. Right around the corner from many shops, down the street from some others. Nice outdoor seating, great when its a sunny day. We enjoyed the food. :D

Cheap prices and questionable food quality. Ordered a hot dog for the little one, and got a semi-​cooked (cold in the middle) flourescent pink flesh colored thing that looked really gross. Never seen A hot dog bleed color onto a bun and chucked it in the garbage. Gravy burger was okay, Mcd quality patty, and a smidgen of gravy. Not much selection in Honokaa, but we wont be going back. BTW, read another Unilocaler visited end of June and their bathroom was ‘out of order’ back then too. How long does it take to fix a toilet? More likely they just don’t want to deal with having to clean bathrooms. Our 3 yr old had to pee and we had no choice but to find a bush in the back lot.

This was the only location open on July 4^th, and we were truly grateful for that! Food is 5 stars for the price, and the ambiance 2 stars, but given its location and the ‘thank goodness’ factor, this is a 4 star location altogether.
Overall: a pleasant surprise under dire circumstances!

Literally the only open restaurant in Honoka’a on a Sunday afternoon. The gravy burger seems popular, probably because it’s a local specialty, but didn’t seem any better than any of the other burgers. I would eat here again but I’d try not-​a-​burger.

Blane’s gets 5 stars just for the awesomeness of its GRAVY BURGER. Who doesn’t eat a gravy burger at 6:30am for breakfast on the way to Waipio Valley.
1) I’m a little Oahu girl who never had a gravy burger in my life
2) It was 6:30am, who eats a gravy burger. I ordered a scoop of fried rice. But then someone lovingly looked out for me and got me an extra gravy burger.
3) who makes a slush float thing with creamy slush and creamy ice cream – wow it was like ice cream all over the place in a sweet goodness. Yes, it was still 6:30am and we were ordering that. Just beware, it’s carbonated. That didn’t sit well with me at 6:30am, but oh well.
4) I think I got like a boneless chicken combo plate with rice for like $ 4 for later. That is some ono boneless chicken thing. And no, I didn’t eat that one at 6:30am also.
Why have I never had this GRAVY BURGER before? Wow. I think it’s a homemade patty (it’s chunky with bread, onions etc) with the perfect amount of gravy on it – it’s not that messy because they put just enough gravy to make the patty covered, but not dripping. Even without the gravy burger, I think it’d have been a masterpiece. Looks are deceiving because the place is small, dirty, looks a little messy behind the counter. Yum.
Oh, the fried rice was nothing to write home about. I don’t think I would order it again. But why, when I can order 3 gravy burgers and boneless chicken plates.
NO BATHROOM – you have to go across the street to the gas station to go to the bathroom.
PARKING off of the main road in the back of the big Blane’s sign.
You want local kine grinds where you don’t want to see the kitchen but just enjoy the food, this is it. You want fancy, clean white table cloth, then keep driving by.

I think my katzu was reheated from the freezer. Greasy and gross. Filthy patio tables. The kind of place to eat if you do not care about ptomaine or maybe being sick the rest of your trip. GAG!

Loved this place. ‘Plates’ for breakfast and lunches. GF had the spam and eggs and I had the bacon and eggs — both over fried spam rices with the obligatory brown gravy. Excellent! Found out later this is a small chain but I can not hold that against them.

If you are driving around the Big Island of Hawaii and want to try some «local kine grinds» (Hawaiian comfort food) then pull the rental car off the Belt Highway onto Waipio Road (240 on the map) and go into Honokaa Town. I’m not sure why we did but I’m glad I did. I decided on the fried opelo (small mackerel) plate. At first I thought the cook made a mistake and gave me a fried shimp plate but it turned out that they butterflied the tiny 3″ fish.
And then I got a little upset at the miniscule size of the fish. Luckily I didn’t say anything and put one in my mouth.
OMG it was heaven. I’ve eaten in three star Michelin Guide restaurants and this was one of the best seafood dishes ever. Well, I can’t say that about the macaroni salad and mushy white rice, but daaaaaamn those little morsels of fish were incredibly light. The light breading was melt-​in-​your-​mouth light and would rival the finest tempura in Japan. The opelu must have been swimming in the ocean the night before because the flesh was so sweet and flaky.
I made the mistake of letting my seafood loving daughter have a bite. The next thing I know I’m fighting to keep my food on my plate. I am writing this review in December 2011 about a plate lunch I had in March 2008 and that day still is quite vivid in my mind. Is that enough for you? I hope the same cook is still there.

Yummy loco moco!