By FoodDiscovery Editorial · Updated August 9, 2026 · Prices verified July 2026
The Big Island is a road-trip island: one belt highway, eleven climate zones, and some of the best casual food in Hawaii spaced a scenic hour apart. This route runs counter-clockwise from Kona through cowboy country and the Hamakua Coast to Hilo, finishing in Volcano Village next to the national park.
Ten stops, most of them local institutions, several with full menus and verified prices on FoodDiscovery so you can plan the day's eating before you leave the condo.
This is a driving route, not a popularity ranking. Stops follow a counter-clockwise loop from Kona through Kawaihae, Waimea, Honokaa, Hilo and Volcano before returning to Kona. Prices are shown only where FoodDiscovery has the restaurant's published menu, captured in July 2026.
Four stops have menus captured directly from the restaurants. Use these anchors to budget the loop.
| Stop | Area | Verified price example |
|---|---|---|
| Seafood Bar and Grill | Waimea | Fish tacos $19.95; fish plates $24.95 |
| Tex Drive-In | Honokaa | Hot malasadas $1.30; breakfast from $9.15 |
| Hawaiian Style Cafe | Hilo | Loco moco and omelets around $17.95 |
| Quinn's Almost by the Sea | Kona | Fish and chips $21; ono sashimi $20 |
FoodDiscovery menu records, verified July 2026. Restaurant prices can change.
Stop 1 · Kailua-Kona · Breakfast · 75-5702 Kuakini Hwy · 4.5★ (2,239 reviews)
Order this: Loco moco with extra gravy before the drive north.
Start where Kona locals start. Big Island Grill does plate-lunch portions at breakfast speed, and a proper loco moco here sets the tone for the whole loop. Expect a wait on weekends; it moves.
Stop 2 · Kawaihae, Kohala Coast · 613665 Akoni Pule Hwy · 4.4★ (951 reviews)
Order this: The teri burger and a shave ice, eaten within sight of the harbor.
Up the sunny Kohala coast past the beaches, this harbor-side counter grills local grass-fed beef and shakes up shave ice for the post-snorkel crowd. The right first-swim reward.
Stop 3 · Waimea, paniolo country · 61-3642 Kawaihae Rd · 4.5★ (1,735 reviews)
Order this: The fresh-catch plate; ask what came off the Kawaihae boats that morning.
Cowboy country at 2,600 feet, where ranch pastures meet fishing harbors, and this bar and grill splits the difference: fresh catch plates and tacos in a room full of paniolo hats. Full menu with prices on FoodDiscovery.
Stop 4 · Honokaa, Hamakua Coast · 45-690 Pakalana St #19, Honokaa, HI 96727, USA · 4.3★ (3,292 reviews)
Order this: Malasadas hot from the fryer, one plain and one filled ($0.80 extra), eaten in the parking lot like everyone since 1969.
The essential Big Island stop, full stop. Tex has fried malasadas over the Hamakua cliffs for half a century, and at $1.30 they might be the best food deal in the state. The breakfast menu under $10 is the sleeper.
Stop 5 · Hilo · Any hour · 1730 Kamehameha Ave · 4.4★ (5,880 reviews)
Order this: Sumo-size a loco moco, or the macadamia pancakes if it is technically still morning.
The 24-hour diner at the crossroads of Hilo, where every road trip, red-eye and post-Merrie-Monarch night ends. Nearly six thousand reviews say the same thing: Ken's is always open and always right.
Stop 6 · Hilo · Breakfast or lunch · 681 Manono St · 4.5★ (3,874 reviews)
Order this: The Volcano Omelet, or kalua pig and cabbage with two scoops rice.
Portions built for canoe paddlers and priced for families. Hawaiian Style Cafe is Hilo's temple of the oversized breakfast, with a 101-dish menu, every price verified, on its FoodDiscovery page.
Stop 7 · Downtown Hilo · Dinner · 332 Keawe St · 4.6★ (4,896 reviews)
Order this: Fresh catch over local greens and a lilikoi something from the bar.
Downtown Hilo's open-air corner, all live music and island-sourced plates, and at 4.6 stars the best-rated room on this route. The move: arrive before sunset, sit street-side.
Stop 8 · Hilo · Hawaiian food · 80 Pauahi St · 4.4★ (1,327 reviews)
Order this: The one-pound laulau. It is in the name, and it is not exaggerating.
Home of the famous one-pound laulau, which arrives like a green boulder of steamed taro leaf and falls apart at the fork. This is the Hawaiian-food stop for people serious about the plate.
Stop 9 · Volcano Village · Dinner · 19-3948 Old Volcano Rd · 4.5★ (964 reviews)
Order this: Whatever is on the fireplace-side menu after a day in the park; the braises earn the elevation chill.
At 3,700 feet beside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, dinner means a fireplace built from stones sent by lodges around the world and a menu that leans warm and old-world. The right last night of the loop.
Stop 10 · Back in Kona · The send-off · 75-5655 Palani Rd, Kailua Kona · 4.5★ (2,259 reviews)
Order this: Quinn's famous mahi mahi fish and chips at the bar, one last time before the airport.
Close the loop across from the Kona pier, where Quinn's has fried the island's definitive fish and chips since 1978. Fifty-three priced dishes on the menu page; one obvious order.
Prices verified July 2026 where shown. Drive times are real: Kona to Hilo is about 90 minutes on the Saddle, longer the pretty way. Gas up in Waimea.
Every stop links to its FoodDiscovery page with hours, photos and, where available, the full menu.
Tex Drive-In in Honokaa, for hot malasadas at $1.30 each (verified July 2026), fried to order all day. It has been the Hamakua Coast pull-over since 1969.
Quinn's Almost by the Sea, across from the pier, where the famous mahi mahi fish and chips run $21 (verified July 2026). Big Island Grill is the local-plate breakfast pick.
Yes. Hilo has the island's best cheap eating: Ken's House of Pancakes runs 24 hours, Hawaiian Style Cafe serves loco moco and omelets around $17.95 (verified July 2026), and Kuhio Grille is home of the one-pound laulau.
Photo: Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons · Restaurant photos via Google Places.