Kawamoto Store

The best place to go for local Okazuya. I bite into their food and I just flash back from my childhood … Good memories… love love love this place…

GREAT customer service! Very fast and friendly service! Ono food and quality is what u expect from this Hilo legend!

Tried there spam musubi, onigiri, Korean chicken, inArisushi and nesume. It was all really good.

Jet lagged from last night’s flight from LAX, this spot is open early. Stepping inside with workers making their box lunch, this place has not changed ever. The cases filled with food protected by only a screen, my mouth immediately starts to water. Cone sushi… by the dozen… only 9 will make it back to the house. The reason I don’t live in Hilo… This place would kill me, fast.

Kawamoto Store is a must, every time we are in Hilo. Their food has not changed and still taste just as ono as when we were keiki. I like that there are places in little Hilo town that can take you back to your childhood days.

There’s a reason this okazuya spot has been a Hilo town mainstay for maaany years. I grew up on the food here & everything has remained relatively unchanged. The same little dog piggy bank still sits on the front counter near the register! A charming memento of my childhood.
Now, the food. Local grinds at its finest. Spam musubi. Nori chicken. Cone sushi. Shrimp tempura. Ono tempura. Maki sushi. Long rice noodles. Mac salad. Hash. I mean. You can’t go wrong with any of the local favs here.
We bought a whole box of food that was more than enough for two people for only $ 18!
Come early (though you’re sure to join a long line), box it up & take it to the beach! Perfection.

Where’s your token childhood okazuya? You’ll only have one main place, it’s like a rule, even if you like a few, you’re most loyal to your first. Okazuya’s are like Japanese grandmas for the whole world. Everyone loves a Japanese grandma! This is mine. The place I grew up skipping in and out of. The place my hubby did too. Yay serendipity. Yay nori chicken! And yay yay yay to:
Inari (cone sushi)
Shoyu chicken
Hash!
Shrimp Tempura! Yes, always.
Nishime!
Long rice noodles
Teri beef
Breaded Ono
Mahi Mahi tempura!
Oooh yay satsumaimo (sweet potato tempura)
Did I say yay nori chicken? They do it best. Yay.
These are our favorites and what our go to bento box consists of every time. Unless we’re late birds and the nori chicken is gone. Waaaah! So don’t be late and please do support this longtime Hilo mom and pop. Prices are a steal and their individual portions are huge. Like Japanese dim sum style. Chee :). You can also call in your order, woohoo for you sleepy heads.
4.7−4.8 stars for food flavor if I’m wearing my foodie critic hat. 5 big fat stars if I’m biased and planning an adventure day with my husband. This is our go to picnic lunch when we’re back home, we pick it up bright and early before heading to Waipio Valley or Kona for a beach day. Seriously, it tastes better at the beach. Try it and enjoy!

Korean fried chicken was delicious… I recommend it to everyone! Spam masubi was only 70 cents!!! I wish I got more but i will be back to try the rest of the items. Staff was friendly, and the line moves quickly. We got there around 8am and nothing was sold out yet, but they were already running low on the spam masubis by the time we left. 5 stars!

Mom and pops style of local Japanese food in which they offer «create your own» bento by selecting ala carte items made fresh in their kitchen. You can pick one/​several meat/​fish, vegetables, and noodles/​rice. My new favorite spot for local grinds in Hilo.
Food
1. kabocha (pumpkin) tempura: I usually like kabocha tempura although just know the kabocha skin is also included so it has an ultra crunchy texture, that part caught me off guard although still delicious
2. Nosu (eggplant) tempura: My favorite of the tempura I had. The eggplant was perfectly savory and complimented the tempura batter. The tempura was not ultra heavy or oily either. It had the perfect crispness
3. Satsumaimo (sweet potato) tempura: this one was yummy also if you like the sweet tempura vegetables. Also know that these pieces of tempura are massive. They’re thick slices of whatever vegetable you get. It’s awesome
4. Noodles: Best noodles I’ve had in a long time and I’m pretty picky when it comes to noodles also. This one had no meat, I don’t eat meat, which was perfect for me. It was fried noodles style with little bit vegetables mixed into it. They offer another set of noodles that has chicken in it also I believe.
Ambience
Mom and pops style for sure, very clean and intimate. You order over the counter and they have a case of all the goods to choose from. Keep in mind they sell out fast and I believe they close after they sell out usually around afternoon time
Customer Service
Excellent! Very personable, patient, and genuine. They ensure you have the best experience even when there is a rush and they do get busy. The food is delicious and also because of the great service I am a new loyal customer.
Thank you Kawamoto’s for the best local dining take out experience! Can’t wait to come again soon!

Kawamoto’s was something I heard about through some friends, but never really had a chance to try it out since you have to go in pretty early before they run out of food. However this past week, I was finally able to try it since we wanted to pick up some food before we headed to the beach. I’ve never been to a place like Kawamoto’s. The set up reminded me of a doughnut shop kind of, except instead of doughnuts, you had some local food like musubi’s and shrimp tempuras. We got a box to go, which included shrimp tempura, nori chicken, Korean chicken, fish cakes, shoyu pork, and a couple of rice balls. My favorite were the shrimp tempuras, they were nice and crispy and good even when they got cold. Overall all the food was super tasty
and box of food was more than enough for two people to be full. I think our whole order cost around $ 20. I definitely think Kawamoto’s is a unique eating experience and very convenient if your eating on the go.

Get there early! Past 11 and selection dwindles. A big full box will run about $ 30 enough to feed 4 – 5 big eaters if not 6 – 7. See my photo for example. One thing I was suprised about was the korean fried chicken was not spicy like «traditional» korean fried chicken. I was sweet and very good. Also visitors, for the sanity of the rest of the people in the line that goes out the door, don’t ask what every single item is. You might cause a riot. The staff moves so fast that they don’t want anyone to even be in line longer than 5 minutes. Great bento to take to the beach, or outing. If you are taking the circuit drive around the island this is a great place to stop in Hilo for traveling food if you don’t want to stay in town long.

I grew up in Pepeekeo on the Hilo side of the Big Island.
As an adult, I moved to Kailua-​Kona, HI. In Kona, there is NO places like Kawamotos.
Occasionally, I visit my folks in Hilo. Whenever I get the chance to go to Hilo, this is one of my most treasured places. There is no other place that shows the same love and «family» essence to their food as they do with their customers.
Many of the employees are people who I grew up with or who know my family.
Friendly and warm staff.
Although it is busy, be patient. It’s more than worth the wait.

Kawamoto Store is another great okazuya pit stop. You’ll find early birds like construction workers, business people, and just about anybody in line to get their boxed lunch or breakfast.
Their items are kinda similar to Hilo Lunch Shop. They got the Nori Chicken, Shoyu chicken, chow mein noodles, nishime, shrimp and vegetable tempura and lots of goodies. Make sure you go there early because they do run out of food early.
The parking kinda sucks, that’s my only complaint. 4 stars for the food!

Don’t let the minimal decore and almost hidden location deter you. When you see locals lining up in the wee hours of the morning, you know this place is super legit. I ordered a box of spam musubi, maki sushi, fried chicken, and shrimp tempura. This entire hodgepodge was about $ 10 and was enough for lunch for 2 people. I randomly pointed things from the display window, taking the chance on pre-​cooked tempura and fried chicken that may have possibly been sitting out for a while. Even worse, I ate it all a few hours later, but instead of resigning to possible cold food, it was still really freaking amazingly good!
I have to give it up for the Maki Sushi, which I don’t see nearly as often as its famous cousin, Spam Musubi. This over-​sized sushi roll of celery, tofu skin, egg, and pork sung was the highlight of my togo box, the true star of the roll family. The flavors and textures work so well together, even after sitting in a car for a few hours.
If you come here, tack on a few extra pieces of everything in your order because most likely, you will be like me and regret not getting more.

This place is all about VALUE!
They have a huge selection of different meats and ‘finger food’ and everything looked seriously tasty. You buy the items by the serving/​per piece and you can fill the box to your hearts content without you wallet crying.
My girlfriend and I got 2 shrimp tempura, two shoyu chicken, two tempura ono, one long rice, one fish cake, two cone sushi, and two korean chicken. It came out to just 13 bucks!
All of the items we ordered would be worthy of your typical Japanese bento so while its not all that special, its tasty. I just love that we can have such variety.
We also wanted to try their famous nori chicken but apparently that sells out like a few hours after they open.
Overall, the food is yummy and the service is quick. If you are going on a picnic or a hike and want to bring some finger food along, this place will answer all of your stomach’s cravings.

So I visited this place on my last day in Hilo… wish I went earlier… so got there at 545am and they open at 6am… there was already a few people waiting. They opened exactly at 6am.
By the time they opened there were 6 people ahead of me and the workers are AWESOME and so friendly. It took a few minutes to be helped after the people in front of me.
I ordered three plates and the worker helping me was so fast and efficient. After looking at my plates I was expecting to pay well over $ 30…but my bill came out to a little less than $ 25. Pretty good if you ask me
This will always be a stop for me when I am in Hilo. Can’t wait to go back already.

Thats Kanakattack Heaven!!! Recently went there 3 times during my vacation. Thats how you are supposed to make cone sushi. Shoyu chicken was on point. And the tempura Ono was, well, ONO! Nori Chicken turned out to be my crack. Got me fienin!!! Lol
Shout out to Big Rob workin in the back. Thats my new cuzzin. Lol Till the next wave!!!

Ever since I got this work trip to Hilo I was so looking forward to coming here. I seriously need to say Thanks to the Unilocalers because you all didn’t stear me to the wrong. I absolutely am amazed at how much food you can get for less than $ 20.00 :-)
I walked all the way from my layover hotel to get some of amazing bento box. I had to get a little bit of everything. The person who helped me what can I say was friendly and patient with me taking my order. I felt like a little piggy when I paid and she asked me how many forks or chopsticks I needed. I only needed 1 chopsticks :-/​
Definitely come here!!! Everything I got was delicious :-)