Kawamoto Store

Former vegetable shop turned bento box take out. Order bento box by size and price or order a la carte. Server will take your order, then send you to wait at one of four stations marked on the counter by the window. Once your order is fulfilled, the same server who took and filled your order will present your order and serve as your cashier. Offerings may vary, but usually include shoyu chicken, tempura (shrimp and veggie - ours was ube and eggplant), long rice, spam musibi, maki sushi, fried dish (we had ono and mahi mahi). Mac salad is in the fridge if you order that. Food is comfort food of the island and lives up to its reputation as flavoful and authentic. If you are looking for a place to eat your bento, drive toward the harbor (make a right at the Long's Drugs down the street) and then turn left at the water to the canoe park and park in the free lot. You can enjoy your meal at the picnic benches and soak up the Hilo vibe!

The best okazuya on the Big Island! Kawamoto Store never disappoints. Everything is fresh, delicious, and brings back so many memories of local-style lunches. Their nori chicken and potato salad are my personal favorites. Make sure to get there early before they sell out of the best items.

Stopped by first thing in the morning to grab lunch for our National Park hike. The food looked and smelled amazing. Very fast service for our group of 6, and very friendly as well. You have options to choose prelisted bentos or choose a la carte for whatever is on display. You know it's a hit when it's the locals lining up. HIGHLY recommend if you're ever in Hilo.

Saw a review of this place on YouTube and thought it would be worth checking out and I was blown away with the quality of the food. The fish was some of the best mahi I have ever had and the spam masubi tasted fresh as if it were just pressed. The chicken was crispy and had an excellent flavor. The staff here were filled with aloha and I felt very welcomed despite it clearly being my first time visiting.

This is a very local restaurant, and we loved it! They have a display showing all the options, and you can order by the unit to try different things or go for one of the bento boxes with set items. We got a bit of everything! There’s no seating area, but they pack the food really well so you can take it anywhere. Personally, I didn’t love the crab cake and roll, but everything else was wonderful. There was quite a line when we arrived, so it took about 30–40 minutes to order worth the wait!

This is one of a kind and original downtown Hilo. Great local food by the piece. Tempura shrimp, Ono two different ways, Korean chicken etc And get there early before it's gone. You can't go wrong with anything on that counter and the staff is super friendly. There is a reason they have been in business so long.

Great local place for an impromptu custom bento. Line was a few feet out the door so had to wait about 20 minutes for order to be taken. When you get up to the case a patient employee will take down your order then go fill your order and meet you at the register to pay. Don’t worry you’ll have plenty of time once you get inside to ogle at all the food options they have in the case. Everything tasted great and satisfied the craving. Don’t forget to order at least a serving or two of long rice, nishime (stewed root veggies), mac salad. They had a Portuguese pickle on the white board for $6. Great rice vinegar based pickle option that helped cut through the fried options.