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Polu Resorts, Waikoloa
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Dining

Local Favorites

The places people who live here go back to, week after week.

Grilled Spam musubi, a Hawaiian local favorite, on a wooden board

Past the resort dining rooms, the coast runs on a set of dependable, well-priced kitchens that locals keep to themselves. These are the ones worth knowing.

  • Kuleana Rum Shack

    Island plates and rum cocktails · $$$ · Queens' MarketPlace · 7 min drive

    Island plates and house rum cocktails at Queens' MarketPlace, a lively local hang where the poke and the mai tais both deliver.

  • Pueo's Osteria

    Italian, house pasta and local seafood · $$$ · Waikoloa Village · 10 min drive

    The village's real neighborhood Italian, house pasta and local seafood a few minutes up the hill, open late and beloved by people who live here.

  • Hawaiian Style Cafe

    Local plates, loco moco and breakfast · $ · Waimea · 25 min drive

    A Waimea institution for loco moco and plates the size of two meals, the upcountry breakfast worth the drive.

  • Big Island Brewhaus

    Brewpub, local plates and tacos · $$ · Waimea · 25 min drive

    House-brewed beer and honest local plates in Waimea, green-chili anything and fish tacos where the locals actually sit.

  • Cipriano's Kitchen

    Homemade Italian and Peruvian · $$$ · Kawaihae · 15 min drive north

    Gino Cipriano's homemade Italian with a Peruvian streak in Kawaihae, egg-free pastas and dishes like lobster ravioli with octopus.

  • Moa Kitchen

    Japanese izakaya and ramen · $$ · Waimea · 25 min drive

    A cult Waimea izakaya for ramen, yakitori, and chirashi, fusion-leaning Japanese cooking the locals line up for.

  • Merriman's

    Farm-to-table Hawaiian regional · $$$$ · Waimea · 25 min drive

    Peter Merriman's original upcountry room in Waimea, the farm-to-table restaurant that helped define Hawai'i regional cuisine.

  • Ippy's Hawaiian Barbecue

    Elevated plate lunch, local barbecue · $$ · Waimea · 25 min drive

    Chef Ippy's plate lunch in his Waimea hometown, kalua pork, katsu, and loco moco made with fresh, local ingredients.

  • L&L Hawaiian Barbecue

    Plate lunch · $ · Kailua-Kona · 30 min drive south

    Hawai'i's plate-lunch institution, two scoops rice, a scoop of mac salad, and your protein, the dependable local staple down in Kona.