5 Best Restaurants in Big Island, Hawaii

Unquestionably the fanciest spot in Honokaa, this cozy Italian bistro known for its pizza and other options feels like you've taken a step into Florence. Wood details, a full bar, travertine finishes, antique furnishings, pendant lighting, and a fantastic stone pizza oven combine to create a thoroughly welcoming atmosphere. On the menu, pizzas and calzones dominate, but there is a full selection of pastas, salads, and sandwiches. Prices are surprisingly affordable. Local entertainers play on weekends.

With indoor and outdoor seating, this easygoing Italian restaurant in a Keauhou shopping center serves gourmet pizzas and a tasty selection of pasta dishes, calzones, sandwiches, and salads. Everything is made from scratch, and they even have dairy-free cheese and gluten-free options. There's live music on Wednesday nights. 

Located in a beautiful high-ceiling venue in the vintage S. Hata Building, Café Pesto offers creative pizzas with ingredients such as fresh Hamakua mushrooms, artichokes, and Gorgonzola. You can also make a full meal of the Asian-inspired pastas and risottos, fresh seafood, delicious salads, and appetizers. Products from local farmers feature heavily on the menu—Kulana free-range beef, Kawamata Farms tomatoes, and Kapoho Farms lehua-blossom honey. Happy hour is 2–5 pm.

Its name is Hawaiian for "done," perhaps an allusion to how eagerly the pizzas are gobbled up at this eatery with cool artwork and a relaxed vibe. On offer is a wide selection of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pastas, and pizzas loaded with lots of local local ingredients. All sauces and salad dressings are made in-house. When it comes to the pizzas, anything goes; order one of Pau's 16-inch signature pies or create your own. You can order online and pick up.  Lunch is a deal if you order the triple slice: a quarter pizza cut into three slices plus a side salad at a special price.

Hidden in a shopping center in residential Waikoloa Village, this late-night destination serves dinner from 5 until 10 pm: pueo means "owl" in Hawaiian, and refers to the restaurant's "night owl" concept. Renowned executive chef James Babian (Four Seasons Hualalai, Fairmont Orchid) serves multiregional Italian offerings that combine farm-fresh ingredients with fine imported Italian products like prosciutto from Parma.