Mi’s Italian Bistro

Awesome dinner. We needed our Italian fix while we were on the island and we were not disappointed. I had the spaghetti and my husband had the lasagne. Our waiter Damien was great! Banana Flambé just made the overall experience perfect !! I would definitely come back!

First off, there is some confusion for Unilocalers here, because the reviews for Mi’s are for both their mauka (Captain Cook location) restaurant, and the newly opened Mi’s at Waterfront Row. If you’re looking at Waterfront Row then the reviews for the past couple weeks are the only ones valid for that location. Mi’s has had an excellent reputation up mauka, and for those of us in Kailua town proper it’s great to see them open up down here.
We waited a couple weeks for things to shake out at Waterfront Row, and we went on my birthday with my wife, daughter, and grandson. Promptly seated with a great oceanside table, we were pleased with the menu. The grandson promptly chose spaghetti and bread. My wife had the manicotti, daughter had the shrimp, and I had the evening special osso bucco.
Everything was delicious, the service was good, and it was nice to be at an excellent restaurant at Waterfront Row. We remember when the Chart House was here, and it was one of our favorites.
Looking around, people were enjoying their meals in the casual oceanfront atmosphere. I think they’re on the right path, and expect further improvements as time goes by. I’ve posted a current menu and some pics. If you are in the mood for Italian food in an oceanfront fine dining location, well, this is the place to go! Mahalo.

Very delicious. I had the crab manicotti. Nice and cheesy with a hint of crab taste. Beef pappardelle was also delicious. Noodles seemed perfectly cooked and flavors were wonderful.
Damien the waiter was very nice. Provided great service. And there was good team work with the wait staff, as well.
Bread was warm and decent.

Great food and great location! I have are at their previous location and some of the great food followed to this location!

The food and the view were great. Service excellent. Jasmine was the best! I think it’s great that the owner has the freedom to bring her kids to work with her. However, I’m not sure that it’s great that her daughter is allowed to run around and stomp on the deck while people are eating dinner. Would have given 5 stars otherwise.

I recommend coming here for dinner, not lunch. I personally haven’t been here for dinner, but I feel like the pictures that I saw on Unilocal that enticed me to come here were all of dinner items. When they handed me the lunch menu, I noticed that it only consisted of a few items (mostly burgers/​sandwiches). I was excited to see Shrimp Scampi on the menu but then found out that it doesn’t come with pasta. So I went with a burger. So Italian, I know. I asked for medium-​rare, but the first time they brought my burger out, it was literally bleeding red, so I had them take it back to make it medium-​well instead (just to be safe). The meat was pretty well seasoned, and the texture was good the second time around, but by the time they brought out the re-​done burger, we had been waiting so long that I wasn’t even hungry anymore. They offered me a free scoop of ice cream to makeup for it (which I appreciated), but the ice cream wasn’t anything special. It just tasted like Dreyers’.
The one thing that I did really enjoy here was the corn chowder. The parsley they used was super fresh (and strong – in a good way). It was refreshing and satisfying at the same time, without being too heavy at all. Really enjoyed it! So that’s my recommendation for lunch, haha. My bf got the chicken parmesan sandwich, and that was pretty good as well. The crust was perfect and the chicken wasn’t dry at all. So I guess moral of the story is just to stay away from the burgers.

New location, so we joined friends for a different scenery for lunch. Food was fresh, wait staff was attentive but not pushy. We ordered a variety of menu choices from ahi wrap, chicken Parmesan, burger & beet salad. The sandwiches came with garlic fries which were crunchy and flavorful. Each person in our party enjoyed the lunch along with a variety of beverages to choose from. I will definitely return to try the dinner menu and bar food offered.

Our visit came on the third day Mi’s has been opened at their new waterfront location. I took that into consideration when writing this. The place had really great reviews from credible reviewers. Here was our experience:
We were sat at the table, and already choosing our food when we asked for a wine list. Then we were told that they didn’t have their liquor license until June 1^st. It would have been appreciated if they told us before they seated us. We found out that you can bring a bottle of wine until June 1^st and the corkage is free, which didn’t help us at the moment, but is a nice offering on their part.
I ordered garlic bread from the menu. I was told they no longer offer it. So, no wine and no garlic bread.
The salads were smaller than average and lacking on toppings. My Caesar salad had one anchovy and a couple of olives and croutons. The beet salad was also very skimpy on toppings. Two small, unimpressive salads were $ 22.00.
I ordered the duck gnocchi. I assumed (my fault) that the duck would have been incorporated into the sauce that says it is «robust» on the menu attached. It ended up being a deep fried duck leg on top of a watery sauce, the capers were missing, no detectable rosemary, the onions and peppers were undercooked, and their was cold feta cheese on top which wasn’t showing it would be in this dish on the menu. It was just a mess…
The catch of the day Ono risotto dish was $ 32.00. The portion of fish was small. The sauce again was watery, and lacking in flavor. There was corn and wilted lettuce in the risotto. It just didn’t land right…
This feels like they are pawning off uninspiring food as high end. 2-​entrees, 2-​salads and 2-​ice teas were $ 109.00 with tip.
Upside: all of the staff was pleasant, and the service was good.

Mi’s is one of the best restaurants on the Big Island. It is by far the best Italian. We have regularly driven to eat dinner in the old location, 30 minutes south of Kailua-​Kona. We are thrilled they have now opened up in downtown Kailua-​Kona with an incredible waterfront view! The dinner menu is highly recommended! Be sure not to miss this place! 5 stars!

Now reopened in Kailua town as Mi’s Waterfront Bistro. Same great quality food but with both a Linch and all day bar menu. Has been our favorite Italian Restaurant on Hawaii Island since they first opened in Kealakekua. Interesting menu, great service and ONO local sourced food.

This was easily the best restaurant my wife and I had experienced on the island, hands down. We were driving up from the black sand beaches down south and were actually looking for something more casual. We decided after a week of seafood that some pasta sounded great. We walked in and were warmly greeted by Brittany who inquired if we had reservations. We didn’t, and the fact that we were dressed very casually compared to the rest of the patrons made me start to wonder if we should have stopped somewhere else. (It’s casual there but we were dressed for the beach. I would recommend at least a collared shirt.) SO glad we didn’t. Brittany found a table for us quickly and put us at ease. The meal was delicious and everything we tried we really liked. Needless to say we were impressed. Our kids are coming out in June and this is the ONE place we made sure to recommend. This is a MUST TRY, just make sure you place reservations first!

Cozy place in South Kona, great food at honest prices. Pastas were fresh made and cooked perfectly: maybe avoid the chicken parm bites, but the scampi appetizer more than made up for it… We were dipping in the scampi sauce all the way until dessert.

This place does not look like much from the outside and reservations are a must on busy nights but the inside looks posh without overdoing it, attracting an older crowd. The pasta is homemade and the beef is locally sourced, so is the mahi mahi. We tried the lasagna and the bolognese and it was delicious without being overpriced.

We were enticed by the «fresh made pasta». The pasta is good and the meals were satisfying. With a little fine tuning this place would make me a fan.
The chicken parm was good and crispy and juicy. The pasta was indeed tasty.
The spaghetti bolognese was super meaty with a deep rich tomato goodness and perfectly al-​dente noodles.
The lasgna was more a ragu of bolognese and 2 lasagna noodles. It would be better with more layers of noodles.
All the dishes came out searing hot.
For that 4^th star, it would be great to add a keiki menu. The inside is also DARK, our little tea light was not enough to see our food. I understand the romantic atmosphere but this was more cave dark.
We tried to like this place and would come back for the fresh pasta and chicken parm but would probably avoid the lasagna.

Great choice for Italian on the Big Island. Don’t be turned off by the exterior. The co-​owners, Morgan & Ingrid, do a great job. Quaint!

Mi’s is one of my favorite restaurants on the entire Big Island. My boyfriend takes me here for our special occasions… and well, on a lot of ordinary occasions, too!
We have always had good service, but the last time we stopped in we had exceptional service. The servers are always knowledgable about the chef’s dishes and wine pairings as well. I love this restaurant for the outstanding experience we always have!
The dining area has soft lighting with a little vase of fresh tiny flowers and the tables are made of beautiful solid wood. The food is amazing by my standards. I like how the chef makes his classic dishes and doesn’t distract you with a bunch of «fancy» stuff. Every morsel tastes so delicious that every time I eat there, «mmmmmmm» always seems to follow every bite. We love their shrimp scampi, and get it pretty much every time we eat there. It has the perfect blend of garlic and buttery flavors with the shrimp nice and tender! This place has the most tasty foccacia (sp?) bread! It’s so fresh and warm every single time they bring it to the table. Even restaurants 3 times the price of this place can’t seem beat their bread in my opinion.
For the main course I seldom can make up my mind even though I practically know the menu by heart. I stare intently at the menu for several minutes as my boyfriend laughs at me. My favorite dish is a tie between the pork with gnocchi dish and the pesto cheese ravioli. They serve large portions for my appetite, so I always get to tote some home in a box to relive my amazing culinary experience later that night or the next day. Unfortunately for us, we seldom have any room left for dessert. The one dessert we have had and loved was the white pineapple sorbet. It is most refreshing and tasty. I wish we could pack a quart up and take that home as well!

We were swept in by the wind and rains during a storm, with the electricity flickering. The lovely staff welcomed us warmly and made sure we were seated far from the elements in the back. The party all enjoyed the various appetizers we ordered and our entrees as well, but there were little things here and there that make this a ³¹⁄₂ or 4-​star place to eat, not a fancy dinner out. A few of us had pasta that was stuck together– and it looked like dry boxed pasta, not fresh homemade pasta. I was most disappointed in my chicken parm: I had been craving it for weeks, but this was dry and over-​cooked and I wasn’t given enough marinara to moisten it fully. Go and enjoy the home-​style welcome and food, but don’t expect wow.

Everything was freshly cooked to perfection, farm to table. The service and friendliness was so geniune. The food was hot and so delicious. So worth going again.
A must to go to!

Best Italian food on the Big Island !!! Maybe not the best location.
But the food is really good. So happy to find this place.

Really nice staff and service but overall I found the pricing a bit too high for the quality of food. Portions were good sized but the flavours didn’t really pop for me.
To be fair, my mother taught me how to make my own pasta and pasta sauces so I have very high expectations for Italian when I go out.