holuakoa cafe & gardens

had dinner here last night and it was absolutely delicious! in house tagliatelle and gnocchi were top notch and you could taste the love that went into the food. will definitely be back.

i am currently on vacation in kona, hawaii which is referred to as the big island. hawaii is comprised of hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles at the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight “main islands” are (from the northwest to southeast

very pretty setting and friendly staff in this somewhat remote but popular eatery.  their philosophy is "slow food" and making everything from scratch.  the tomatoes were from the owner's farm.  generous serves and tasty food

i loved this place so much i went back for brunch. unfortunately, that's when it fell apart. the food was amazing but the service was horrible. my water was never refilled, my server never checked on me after my meal was delivered, i never received a check. i ended up estimating my bill and leaving cash tucked under my plate. it wasn't only my server that was subpar either. the table next to me was there before me, received their meal after i was almost finished, didn't have drinks refilled and when a refill was requested, the server said that he was busy and it would take a minute to the table. he walked by me and muttered "yeah, that's not going to happen." i would not recommend this place. i think i can get great food with the service to match but somewhere else.

excellent food. fantastic use of fresh local food items. great pairings and wonderful presentation in a funky cool outdoor (under roof and pergolas) setting. we ate at 7:30. i loved the breeze and the singing of the coquis (clearly i'm not a local). fine wait staff willing to chat and engage the customer. and my wife says the big dog upstairs is a lovable petable sweet doggie.

if you are a foodie who appreciates the local food movement, eat here.

excellent food. great setting. wait staff great but stretched a bit thin.

very nice open air restaurant. food was good. however, there seems to be a dog that spends a bit of time on the grounds. that means we saw dog poo right near the table we were first seated at. they never did clean it up during the time we were there even after letting them within a few minutes of arriving.

great ribeye. enough for two. good service. with the twinkle lights and frog chirp will never forget this experience. don't miss it. worth the price and the drive

i just had dinner at the holuakoa cafe and it was absolutely the best restaurant in hawaii & rivals any famed nyc establishment. the culinary experience is accentuated by its ambiance, location, decor, etc. the food on the menu is all sourced by local farms & ranches. fresh isn't strong enough as everything was homemade to order.

i would highly recommend this for anyone vacationing or visiting the big island including cruise ships. all would also like to recommend the tuna & beef tenderloin. all were amazing!!! thank you betsy for the great service and for providing the perfect accompaniment to the great food.

best dinner in hawaii, possibly ever. everything is locally grown from the salad to the beef. the setting is gorgeous and the food is unreal.

fresh local brunch. spent 10 days on the big island in january/feb 2013. holuakoa cafe was recommended by a big island review book we took along. we opted to head up to holualoa to visit the cafe for brunch one morning while on the kona side. the restaurant setting is a delight. up mountain side of the town of kona - about 6 miles from ali drive and a world away. we wanted to visit the art galleries and some coffee plantations up that way so we made a day of it. we started at the coffee bar next door to the restaurant. they whipped up a gorgeous latte and a nice hot chocolate for us before the restaurant opened for our 10 am reservation. the setting is very serene - garden like with koi ponds and covered patio outside seating. very zen feeling. we ordered a couple of plates for sharing. i ordered the brunch fritata, and hubby ordered the french toast. this is definitely a slow food experience so be prepared to sit back and enjoy the garden while they whip up a fabulous meal. when our meals arrived we were not disappointed. everything was so very fresh from the veggies in the fritatta to the salad underneath. french toast was slices of a very thick hawaiian style bread dipped in traditional batter, but with lots of really cinnamon goodness flavor. on the side were sliced bananas, papaya and whipped cream. real maple syrup also was served so that was a nice treat for us. we split each meal so we could get a sampling of both dishes. we also had a side serving of very nice crisp local pork bacon. the food was fresh, fresh, fresh and delicious. hands down this was one of the best meals we had on the island and for sure in the kona area. we only wish we had more time to have had a dinner at the restaurant. our loss for sure and we will not miss out next trip!
mahalo to the staff of this fine place!

lovely surprise!. found this restaurant by surprise and were so happy we did! we shared a frittata --more than enough for two -- and salad and were tempted by the passion-fruit cheesecake. so yummy! the atmosphere was so peaceful and serene -- even the bathroom was a zen experience! will go back whenever we can!

slow foods - oh yeah. we headed off to holuakoa area mid afternoon to walk around and visit the many interesting galleries. the local art is spectacular! the last reservation for lunch was 2:15 and we arrived slightly early to be seated at a lovely quiet table. our server was attentive and accommodated us with information and choices for a gluten free meal. we both ordered the ahi which was the freshest offering and recommended by our server. mine was prepared with a chipotle rub, atop a bed of red beans and red cabbage. the beans were absolutely divine, flavourful, and not too spicy and the texture was perfect. the ahi fish was cooked to perfection. my partner ordered ahi topped with a macadamia nut pesto, atop fresh garden greens - again the pesto was a perfect blend of flavors. our server listed two (not 1) dessert that was gf and of course we ordered the flourless chocolate cake - melt in your mouth goodness! the menus change daily and our next visit back to the big island will definitelysee us back for dinner. mahao

this is a lovely restaurant though a bit off the beaten path. the offerings are rather eclectic but the ingredients are all organic and wholesome. and, the portions are quite large. i had an ahi tuna melt with swiss cheese on homemade foccaio bread. not a sandwich but a mountain of tuna salad, grilled, with swiss melted over it. the setting is rather like one would expect of an old sugar plantation house with the rating areas on several levels in a lovely garden. well worth the trip to get here.

order the quiche at holuakoa – hands down, the best ever ($15.00)