The Kona Bean Cafe

Closed as of 8÷13÷2015. Different business (shave ice) will be taking over. No longer Kona Bean.

I had a very positive experience today at the Kona Bean Café. The new chef owner Michi Watarai was serving. I ordered her special for the day, which was basil eggplant with either tofu or chicken, over brown rice for six dollars. I opted for the tofu. It was very fresh, flavorful and healthy, and the portion was perfect and presented with a green onion garnish. There is a comfortable indoor seating area, with a few parking stalls right out front. Entrance is either off of Pacific or Nimitz. The owner was very gracious and appreciative of her customers, especially locals. She offered us a sample of pineapple swirl, which capped a perfect meal. It was very delightful and refreshing. This same chef owner has several locations including a café at Queens POB I and Queens POB III. I would like to check out her other locations. She said soon, she will «tweet» the daily specials to her Twitter followers. She also has a website at
. The next time I go, I would like to try one of the coffee or smoothie drinks. My only comment is that as a Kamaaina, I did not receive any discount at the café (despite my asking for one, Hawaii ID in hand). The discount only applies at the Hilo Hattie store itself.

Terrible, we got a meal package with one of our tours. Service is slow, chicken taste like cardboard. Worst lunch experience on trip to Oahu. The only reason it’s getting one star is because I have to.

Service was a little slow, and the vanilla/​coconut frap was quite awful to me, even though vanilla and coconut are normally my 2 favorite flavors. But very friendly customer service (yet, not in an overwhelming, annoying way that some establishments are). I ordered a non-​meat loco-​moco. The cook went out of her way to step out of the kitchen to ask me weather I’d be interested in replacing the rice with quinoi, since I’m vegetarian. Without hesitation, of course I prefer quinoi over plain, boring rice! And she let me know the great other vegetarian options and specials they have. Very interesting selection that will prompt me to keep visiting here. I’m also impressed with their vegetarian gravy. I was surprised because most restaurants use animal broth in gravies. The barista seemed a little unobservant, and into her own world, but attentive when you catch her attention. I also had to remind her of a couple of things on my order that she forgot. Nonetheless, she was very friendly, and I don’t knock any stars from her (I just give 1 less star for the nasty frap I put up with). I just need to remember that in the future when I come, it won’t be on the way to somewhere where I’m in a rush to get to. This is a place to relax, enjoy the moment, not stress the long wait, and be attentive to what you order, so that you don’t forget and head off without everything.

The coffee is good. I typically get non-​fat milk in my coffee, but they only have 2% or whole, so not totally thrilled with that. However, the cashier was very nice and friendly and he made some good iced coffee drinks. They have some food items like a breakfast bento, hot dogs, and pastries in the case.
They also have a Kama’aina discount and two café-​only parking stalls right out front which i think is a brilliant idea.

Bought a livingsocial coupon ($ 5 for $ 10 worth) of smoothie. Which really covers for 2 medium sized smoothie. Its located inside Hilo Hattie, if you enter in the front, you have to walk all the way to the back for the café.
The first time we came here, they said the ice cream machine for the smoothie is broken, so we couldn’t get some. So glad the second time we went it worked! So we ordered the mango lilikoi lemonade smoothie and the regular lemonade smoothie. I love the first one because it was mixed with 3 different flavor. So creamy and fruity. The lemonade one tasted just lemonade, sour and sweet.

Was in Honolulu for Thanksgiving 2012. Always have to stop at Hilo Hattie for just STUFF, so went to the Nimitz location. The store is huge and we were hungry so were thrilled to find the Kona Bean Café inside the store.
We both had Chili and Rice and it was great-​I am still dreaming of it, in fact! The staff was VERY accommodating to all of our questions and requests.
I think they have a great idea as they are now serving beer (only $ 4 all day!) and had a big screen TV with Football on. As we ate, we noticed a lot of husband types migrating over while their sig others shopped. I suspect that as the day went on, they would be doing much more business!
And parking is free!
I would go back anytime in Honolulu!

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Came here because I wanted to use the coupon I bought worth $ 10. Going in, I knew I wanted their dole whip and I def wanted to give their blended coffee a try. I got their medium kona caramel ice blended for $ 4.75+tax, their small pineapple-​vanilla swirl for $ 2.50+ tax, and their pineapple cheesecake from ted’s bakery for a whopping $ 4.50+tax. The dole whip is delicious, just what you would expect if you’ve tasted the one at dole cannery. A good pineapple soft serve that has the perfect balance of «tart» and sweet. The kona caramel is also very good, and it definitely had the right amount of caffeine because it really got me «hyper,» haha, especially lasting me through the night ;). It had a good flavor and consistency. As for the cheesecake, which I saved for way later, it was really good, idk if $ 4.50 worthy but it was very delicious and the size was a good portion. The «crust» if more like a spice cake with a cheesecake filling ]and a topping of pineapple over that. The workers were also very nice and welcoming, even though they have to be since it is a tourists destination. Overall, i’d prob come here again, esp for the dole whip and coffee.

Great experience! Kamaainas get 10% discount! Looks like a great meeting place.

While driving past Koala Moa I noticed the banner outside posted that they were offering Dole whip at the Kona Bean Café. I love Dole whip. But you usually get it either in Wahiawa at Dole plantation, Waikiki (if they still have the spots there), and at Ward theaters. All those places aren’t really convenient for me. But Kona Bean on Nimitz sounds doable. After shopping in Hilo Hatties I finally go to try for myself. I don’t drink coffee so I could care less about the drinks. But they had a good dole whip. The Panya food was ok, but I could see people meeting here for some dole whip and free wifi.

Hilo Hattie’s flagship retail store on Nimitz Highway recently opened The Kona Bean Café, which is located at the back end of the store on the ground floor.
According to Hilo Hattie’s website, they describe it like this: «Hilo Hattie’s new café „Da Kona Bean Café“ is the place to relax and unwind with food and beverage unique to Hawaii, live entertainment showcasing the up and coming musical talents in Hawaii, and free WIFI to catch up on what’s happening at home and at work. Plenty of free on-​site parking makes this a „must-​stop“ for locals and visitors alike.»
Sounds good, so we went to check it out this past week. We got there around noon’ish, where there wasn’t any live music happening, yet making it feel at least a little «happening», there were several tables of patrons, who mostly looked like they were bussed-​in tourists. The two young gals working the counter were also very knowledgeable, friendly and eager to serve us.
Come to find out, as far as food, they source most of the deli items from Panya, which is certainly a welcome thing as far as being a vendor, yet we were a little disappointed nothing was made-​to-​order there.
Well, we had to give it a shot anyway, so we picked up a Tuna Sandwich ($ 4.95, Curry Chicken Sandwich ($ 4.95), Ham & Cheese Danish Pastry ($ 2.50) and Mixed Fruit & Custard Danish Pastry ($ 2.50), all of which are sourced from Panya. On a soon-​after return visit, I also picked up a «Hana Hou» Mac Nut Latte ($ 4 for the «Ali’i» medium size), which thankfully is made-​to-​order by the nice barista gal workin’ it at The Kona Bean Café.
That nice barista gal also offered me a free sample of their «Dole Whip», which is sort of like a frozen yogurt/​sorbet that comes out of a soft-​serve machine. Seriously, of all the things I’ve so far tried here, the «Dole Whip» is by far my FAVORITE! That stuff is awesome! She gave me a combination of Vanilla and Fresh Pineapple flavor in a little sample cup, yet I tell you, that was such a tease, as I wanted a whole friggin’ GALLON of it after sampling just that small taste! Seriously, don’t leave The Kona Bean Café without at least trying it. They’ll be happy to give you a sample first. 5 stars on The Kona Bean Café’s «Dole Whip»!
As for the Panya-​sourced sandwiches, the execution, presentation, quality of ingredients and size was spot-​on, yet it having been sitting in the refrigerator case for who-​knows-​how-​long, it just had that «leftovers» taste to it, mainly because the thick Japanese style bread was stiff and crumbly from the refrigeration. Like sushi rice, nothing is worse than stiff, cold bread. And having paid about $ 5 for it, I expect better than that. Fresher than that. On the plus side, the curry-​flavored mayonnaise with diced chicken, pickles and cranberries spread in my sandwich was quite tasty. If the bread was room temp’, supple and fresh, this sandwich would have been a real winner. Yet as is, I give it barely 3 stars, especially considering the price. My coworker felt the same about his Panya-​source Tuna Sandwich.
The Danish Pastry had a fantastic buttery, almost filo-​like flavor and texture to it, yet on the downside, they MICROWAVED it to heat it up, which made it a kinda’ chewy. DO NOT MICROWAVE pastries! They need to seriously invest in some sort of blast oven to bring their cold deli foods back to life. Again, 3 stars on the pastry, with potential for better with the proper heating method.
Finally, I returned soon after and tried their «Hana Hou» Mac Nut Latte, which an «Ali’i» medium size (12 oz.) ran $ 4. Honestly, I’m not one for «fru-​fru» jazzed-​up coffee styles (simple cream and sugar is fine by me), so I’m not qualified to judge whether this was a good or bad Latte. All I can say is it remained well-​frothed from start to finish, and it had a smooth flavor profile, with just the right amount of dairy and sugar going on, while I still could taste the robust and nutty flavor of the Mac Nut-​enhanced Kona coffee. 4 stars.
As always, see photo section for pics of the items mentioned in this review.