Pakini Grill

Pakini Grill is closed.

Drove by the place last week and the sign is gone and the place is shuttered up. Looks like is it permanently closed.

Pakini grill is by far one of the best restaurants I have ever been to.
I have been to Pakini grill many times and have never left dissatisfied. They always have great live music whether it be soothing acoustic dinner music or huge concerts with big name artists. Pakini grill is one of the best if not THE best place for live music on the big island.
The food always tastes fresh! I absolutely love the smoked pork.
They also have a full bar. With Pakini grills comfortable environment, having some cocktails after a hard days work became a routine for me.
I recommend Pakini grill to anyone, any age. It’s an easy ⁵⁄₅.

We were on our honeymoon and the goal for the day was the Volcano National Park and to drive around the entire island with multiple stops along the way.
Since the Volcano Nat’l Park was a bust (zero lava anywhere, bummer), we took off and started on our giant loop of the island of Hawaii. We were getting hungry, got on Unilocal to research food around Kamuela and came across this spot. The Unilocal reviews were about par on our experience.
I had their fish sandwich with the ridiculous amount of cripsy fries. MMMMM… I finished my entire plate! The hubby got a bbq brisket sandwich, which he said was good, but the bbq sauce erred on the sweeter side that what he’d like. Regardless, he finished his plate as well.
The place is pretty big with a center bar for the local folks to watch their sports.

Dropped in on our last day on the Big Island. I ordered the won ton min, but when it came there was no won ton in it only a saimin. Wold have been okay if it tasted good, but the soup base was very bland. I have had better saimin at McDonald’s. The rest of m family said their meals were okay, guess I ordered the wrong item.

Eh. All I can say is, canned gravy? Really? I can have that at home!

Wnat you order really makes a difference here.
The poke, fish sandwiches and burgers got high marks (as did the fries), while the BBQ sandwich was reported to be «good, but kinda sweet.» The shrimp tempura was a mixed bag, with tasty tempura veggies but teeny shrimp coated in tons of batter. The beers are huge, but there’s nothing local on tap.
Stick with the fish and the burgers and it’s a four star place.

absolutly best ribs ever. sweet and a tad spicy with their bbq guava sauce. the meat falls right off the bones its juicy inside and crispy outside. this resturaunt shud be on guy fieris tv show for real.
i ordered the fish and chips the first time though and i have to say it was the worst iv had. whole bucket of fries and like 3 strips of fish. horrible batter and sauce idk what it was but id never get it again.
they have also a smoke meat red potato salad. its ok for the most part. but id still rather have just regular mac salad (which they do not have).
service was awesome. all the servers are very attentive and friendly, they dont act like ur othering them like some places do. a+ on service.
also the wait for food is very realistic. there hasnt been a wait to get in every time iv went. but once u order theres enough time to have a nice conversation with ur hubby/​freinds w/​e. and when ur done the foods there! OH and happy hour, oh my god. awesome
id love to se them in a 2 story with outside dining

Service by Courtney was great. Food so delicious. Ate Hawaiian mixed plate special and garlic chicken. So Ono.

WOW! Stopped by after our lovely horse ride at Dahana Ranch. Our guide suggested Pakini Grill as a good place for lunch. Boy was he right! Super friendly staff– and the food was PERFECT. I had the Miso Mahi Mahi and my husband had the Mahi Sandwich. It was delicious. Diverse menu and just plain YUMMY. I’m sad I don’t live in Hawaii because I would really love to go back! Great bar with screens for watching games– it was Sunday so NFL football was on. GO NOW! ALOHA AND MAHALO PAKINI GRILL!!!

After 20 min of waiting we realized the waiter forgot to put in our order for poke… I should have just cancelled it because he ended up bringing out old (I’m talking grey/​slimy) poke that they tried to camaflouge with some kind of sauce. I couldn’t beleive the chef even let that dish out of the kitchen. I ended up walking it back to the kitchen myself — I think the waiter was embarassed he even served it and was avoiding us. The awesome hamburger steak was completely overshadowed by the poke FAIL.

Drove through Waimea to get to Hilo because we couldn’t get to it through Saddle Road (Iron Man was going on). We were STARVING!
Asked a toothless security guard where to go for lunch, and he lead us here.
I looked this place up on my phone, and everyone said the BBQ sammich was good. I have to disagree. My boyfriend was happy with his burger. They make their own ranch which is kind of lemony but very yum.
Service was good. Prices were okay. Not exactly what I was hoping for on our first day in Hawaii, however.

Stopped by Pakini Grill on a rainy Labor’s Day in Waimea only because our first choice (Hulie Sue’s) was closed. Decided to try the loco moco while the wife ordered the saimin. We also ordered the ahi poke. Unfortunately, none of the food was great. The loco moco was really disappointing and the gravy tasted like it was store bought or from a can. Also, the rice was a clumped mess and the patties were salty. My wife’s saimin on the other hand was completely bland. Even after dumping salt and soy sauce we couldn’t save the poor noodles. Likewise, the ahi poke had no flavor. In fact, we had to ask for soy sauce and wasabi just to make it edible. In terms of the overall restaurant, the atmosphere does feel local, but the food… I’d only go back there if I was really loco. Unfortunately, this meal was the worst we had on the Big Island.

We stopped by Pakini Grill after a beautiful horse ride through Parker Ranch. This fantastic neighborhood gem dishes out tasty local food with friendly, personal service. Our large group loved Pakini Grill and wished we had the time to check it out in the evening, when local musicians perform.
Our group felt like we were being welcomed into someone’s home, as we enjoyed loco moco and hamburger steak plates (the best we had through Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island — and we tried plenty), pork sandwiches, and mahi. The portions were hearty and all of the ingredients were fresh.
Hope to be back to Pakini Grill soon!

I love Aunt Betty and her outrageous glasses and her friendly manner. the food is decent but no local beers on tap. Service was pretty iffy. I had the roast pork which was delicious but the gravy tasted packaged. The tomato/​mozzarella salad was pretty good but the grilled mahi mahi sandwich was pretty so-​so.
The music was good but really loud and as this is a family friendly joint there were children running about and people smoking just outside the door so the smell drifted back into the dining room.
The atmosphere is not real comfy but they do make a decent effort to provide good honest food.

Went there for lunch on a Saturday. Great friendly service, looks like a locals place for the area.
Had the calamari steak and loco moco. The calamari tasted great, very crispy and light, wished there were more vegetables on there. The loco moco was huge had to box it up for a midnight snack. The gravy was excellent.

Great food. Friendly staff. Nuff said

A great «authentic» local place full of home town hospitality! Aunty Betty, with her outrageous glasses, came over to our table and greeted us like we were family! Live music playing songs from the 70s provided a great backdrop for our meal.
We had the Valentines special, which was a great value. We started off with a smoked pork and onions appetizer, which was YUM! Next, a 6 oz. Steak and opakapaka combination served with white rice and a side of Lomi salmon and Kim chee. The sides were unexpected but added flavor and color to the dish. During the meal, we enjoyed a decent Pinot grigio, all part of the VD special. We finished with their mango brûlée, a nice way to end the meal.
We also enjoyed Guava ribs which were outstanding fall off the bone goodness that should not be missed.
Staff is warm and friendly. Try it!

$ 3.50 for Newcastle on draft!!!
This place has probably one of the best deals on beer on the island… that coupled with good food and great service makes this place a winner.
We both had tasty burgers; I went with the loco moco burger, which was especially nice. Granted, the menu isn’t huge, and Phil F. is right about the bar being the center of attention, but the place hits the mark. Plus, the view out of the north-​facing windows is spectacular.
It was only because we couldn’t find the Koa House Grill that we even stopped here (we obviously didn’t know that it had closed and the Pakini had taken over the spot).

We stopped for dinner on the way back to Hilo. Friendly service, relaxed atmosphere and good food. I had the fish special (mahi-​mahi), which was cooked perfectly. Overall a good dining experience.