Cafe Ono

This place is not easy to find nor is it difficult to find if that makes sense. Once you find the «correct» turn that connects to the Old Volcano Rd you’ll be able to find the art gallery and restaurant easily.
We shared a quiche and salad with potato chips and bean soup since it seemed like a lot of food and we weren’t super hungry. We didn’t ask for separate plates, but our quiche and salad was split onto 2 plates and we were given extra salad cause they were going to close soon. The quality of the ingredients and method of preparation are top notch!
For dessert we had the vegan carrot cake. I looooove carrot cake in general, but for me being neither vegan nor vegetarian I was a bit skeptical. Having learned what they use instead of eggs I tried it and loved it. It was a bit too sweet for my liking, but it goes really well with coffee.
I like that the menu is straightforward and that it doesn’t try to pass off meat substitutes as meat. What you see is what you get. I’d like to go again sometime to try their other dishes, especially the lasagna.

If you’re in the area and you want a gorgeous meal outdoors in Volcano Village, I recommend this spot. My boyfriend and I decided to sit outside and they brought all of our food out to us. They had a great array of tea options and the food was really yummy. My boyfriend was hesitant about «Vegetarian» food, but even the carnivore himself agreed that the lasagna was very satisfying. I also had a panini and carrot cake and I highly recommend trying any one of their quiches and baked goods. I believe this café also hosts small gatherings/​parties because I attended a lunch here a few years back. I remember the quiche then and I haven’t been disappointed since. Will definitely return next time I’m home.

What a delightful surprise! If you’re visiting the volcano national park, this place is a must stop for lunch. The scenery is beautiful, the staff is so sweet and the food… WOW! My husband and I shared the lasagna and the artichoke hummus. Each are served with salad, sweet potato chips and delicious soup! I was observing Ira, the owner, and how he takes great pride in his establishment and enjoys talking with his visitors. Love, love this place!

As far as food this is LITERALLY the BEST of the island. During my week visit, I went to what most guides and even Unilocal consider the best of the island and none of them hold a candle to Café Ono. I’m talking about Merrimans, napua, Browns etc etc etc. The food was AMAZING. I’m a huge meat eater myself and was hesitant about a purely vegetarian meal but man was I surprised. Everything tasted fresh and was seasoned JUST right. It was so good I was sad to only have eaten there once.
We decided to sit outside which is definitely a lot warmer than their cooler indoor fare. While you wait, you can explore the garden. Their goat had since passed but now they have a super cute bunny instead. The art is superbly well done and well placed and one can pick up some very nice souvenirs for their home.

A really lovely little place to have a sandwich. Soups generally are okay. The staff is very friendly and the garden is charming. I do think it’s overpriced and the salads and sandwiches are very good but nothing incredible. I am really happy to have this cute place down the street and enjoy poking around the gallery. A good place to take a visitor or tourist.

This place is great great great. I live in the owner’s cottage for 2 nights and I HAD brunch in the café for two days. the food is healthy and more than full for breakfast or brunch. the environment Of the café is soooo relaxing. YOU Will be surrounded by nice art work and full Of green. Definitely worth checking out!

Excellent food! Only a few options to choose from but all were equally delicious! Lasagna yum! Homemade soup double yum! Fresh garden salad yummola! Coffee was the best I’ve had in Hawaii and yes, we were in Kona. The brownie ala mode was everything you could hope for. The attached gallery was truly an experience. Save your souvenir shopping for this place. It was raining when we visited so we didn’t get to enjoy the gardens as much but they were beautiful. Definitely a must see/​do/​eat if you are coming to Volcano

An amazing find in the middle of no where serving gluten free and vegan options served in a beautiful garden. Reasonable price, artistic and nice people.

Excellent food! Really unique and awesome setting. Fantastic staff. And truly the only vegan option for miles. And it’s not just any old option, it’s really something special.
I especially enjoyed the desert. :)
And even my dad liked it and he is a total meat guy.

Bought our wedding guest register here in 2012. This is the first time we’ve been to the Café Ono inside of Volcano Garden Arts. Just picked up a quick desert, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. We will be back.

What a great find!
We had a terrific time there. Lasagne was among the best I’ve had. Ingredients are fresh.
Super friendly and courteous staff. They went out of their way to help us customize our tea from their collection. Also, recommend trying their shortbread cookies (macadamia is a winner) with some tea!

Very impressed with this place. It’s the best place near the volcano to eat, especially if you’re looking to eat healthy. The menu isn’t all that large but the food tastes amazing.
I had a coconut curry soup with a salad & their green goddess dressing. Amazeballs. I tried a bite of my friends chili which was equally amazeballs. My friend ordered the carrot cake, which I easily helped her to finish off. So yummy.
Great service, healthy & flavorful bites, nice vibes, lovely property and great locally made gifts in the gift area.

I LOVE CAFE ONO! IRA is always such a pleasure to talk to. I always take my dad out every so often and this place has been our favorite for the past few months.
My dad is vegetarian and so its very hard for him to find a nice restaurant that accommodates to his diet here on the big isle. He LOVES Café Ono.
I always get the lasagna that comes with a choice of soup and a delicious salad with a slice of bread. The BREAD is to die for! If I could buy an entire loaf I would. It is absolute perfection.
Every single bite is filled with comfort and flavor. You really feel at home here. Incredible service and delicious food. Check out the please touch gift shop and walk through the garden! Beautiful. Thank you IRA!

I stopped by here earlier today with my wife and her parents for lunch. After a long morning exploring the national park we decided to head up to Volcano. We headed down a small sketchy looking road before making a tight turn into this place. After meandering through a number of party like tents with guests eating inside of them, we made our way inside. Since it was raining and there were no more covered seats outside, we ended up getting sat inside.
The lunch menu here was quite interesting as it was exclusively vegetarian and vegan options. I ended up choosing the artichoke and hummus sandwich with garden salad and their full moon mushroom and seaweed soup for my entrée. The soup came out first and ended up being a miso mushroom soup with seaweed and sesame seeds in it. I wasn’t a huge fan of it and at that point was wondering what we had gotten ourselves into. After our entrees came out I was still wondering as my dish had a salad on one side of the plate, some purple looking chips in the middle and an open faced sandwich on the other side. It all ended up being really good though. I had ordered the green goddess salad dressing which gave nice flavor to the salad. The purple chips ended up being purple sweet potatoes which had a wonderful crunch to them and no greasiness at all. Last but not least was my sandwich which actually ended up being rather fantastic. I loved the sourness and flavor of the artichokes paired with the creamy hummus.
The bottom line for me is that I would head back here again in the future. Café Ono really surprised me with their great food and friendly workers.

Café Ono continues to be the vegan Ono place on the big island of Hawaii. Green an refreshing setting with green and delicious offerings. Always friendly, bright and pleasant.
Artisan food in an artisan setting.
Large food with large taste and vegan is the baseline vice the exception.
Bring your omnivores and they will be pleasantly surprised. Vegan heaven.

Café Ono is a charming little place located in Volcano Village. It has a garden where one can leisurely lounge in the sun and enjoy looking at artwork and little trinkets. We ordered he vegan panini, lasagna, a salad, and the four cheese quiche along with a soda, two iced hibicus teas, and a water. The food was delicious! The quiche was savory and inviting (this is the dish I ate). Everyone devoured their plates as we were ravenous from our walk along the crater. We also ate a delicious dessert that consisted of vegan carrot cake (with tofu frosting!!) and a lilikoi chocolate bark. These were both divine and the perfect end to a lovely lunch!

So glad we found this place! The true definition of a hidden gem. Thanks Unilocal!
Needed a stop for lunch after leaving Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and luckily we made it over shortly before the café closed at 3 pm.
It’s a little off the beaten path, but you’ll be happy you made the trip. The grounds are beautiful, the gallery is filled with wonderful local art (I fell in love with the photography and had to buy a print), and the food is outstanding.
I’m a vegetarian, but my wife is not, and we were both blown away by the quality of the food. The bread was great, the chili was flavorful and fresh, and the miso-​mushroom soup was one of the best soups either of us have ever tasted. We saw the vegan carrot cake at another table and had to order a slice for ourselves; we weren’t disappointed.
Another thing I was blown away by was how friendly everyone was. And it wasn’t «fake friendly,» the whole staff seemed like genuinely welcoming people who enjoy what they do. And of course there’s Ernest the goat.
Café Ono was one of the highlights of our trip. Highly recommended.

Overall impression:
Healthy, organic food in a beautiful setting that you can’t experience anywhere else
Avg price (lunch): $ 15
Tips:
–have a walk around the grounds!
–eat outside if the weather is nice!
Positives:
–amazing atmosphere/​ambience! Nothing like it anywhere
–food is good and healthy. You feel good while eating it and don’t feel crappy afterwards. Perfect for the ambience
–good service
Negatives:
–I’m sure it gets muddy when it rains
–slightly pricey for lunch, but for what you get, it’s really not that bad
Ambience:
Hard to describe how beautiful this place is. A bit New Age-​ey for me, but the nature is just unreal. Interesting collection of art and objects all over the place. Perusing the gift shop is an excursion in itself. The setting is what really makes this place what it is.
Food:
I had the lasagna and iced tea. The soup was a mushroom/​seaweed soup that tasted like miso. It was all very good. I liked the sweet potato chips that came with the lasagna. My wife had the quiche. Also very good. Best part is that I felt healthy eating it and afterwArds, I still felt good.
Service:
The workers were all very nice.
Check this place out. You won’t find anywhere else like it.

Healthy dining + shopping + goat = 5 stars.
If your time in Volcano is limited and you only have time for one stop besides the national park, I would bring you to Café Ono. I’ve only eaten there once myself, and to be completely honest actually didn’t really love the soup and salad I had that day, although at least it was fresh and healthy, but the darn ambiance is so charmingly «volcano village» with the excellent fine local craft store, the goat, and flowers and beautiful gardens, that I still totally rate it 5 stars. You won’t regret an hour spent here for a meal.

My wife, Sarah, is a vegetarian. For her, a vegetarian restaurant can either be a godsend or a nightmare. She doesn’t want messages from cults blasting on television screens, nor does she want to declare «I am elated» when ordering a «raw enchilada.» Sarah likes hot, hearty, fresh home cooking. And Café Ono delivers this in spades.
We split the purple sweet potato casserole and the lasagna and loved both. Both tasted like our home cooking, but with island ingredients, which are super fresh and delicious. They also make homemade ice cream.
All food is made to order, which gives you more time to enjoy the setting. Service is friendly.