Hilo Town Tavern — Restaurant in Hawaii

Avoid This Dive Bar at All Costs – A Mother's Day Nightmare! If you're looking for a place to ruin your Mother's Day, get insulted by staff, and eat cold food, then by all means, step right up to this absolute travesty of a "dive bar." What started as an innocent attempt to grab a Mother's Day lunch with my family turned into a monumental mistake I deeply regret.

The nightmare began almost immediately. My wife ordered a dirty martini with extra olives, and I opted for a simple beer. When the martini finally arrived, it was delivered by what can only be described as the most inept, rude, and unapologetic excuse for a server I have ever encountered. This sad excuse for a man, without an ounce of grace or coordination, managed to spill a significant portion of the drink all over my 10-year-old son and across our entire table. Our jaws collectively dropped, staring at him in disbelief. His response? A flippant, "Sorry, I'm a spiller." Not a single offer of napkins, not an actual apology for drenching my child, nothing. Just a shrug and a dismissive walk-off. The audacity was truly staggering.

And the martini itself? It was less a dirty martini and more like dirty water with a single, lonely olive floating in it. My wife was, understandably, livid. How hard is it to mix a simple drink and carry it like a civilized human being, not some uncoordinated donkey spilling indiscriminately with no remorse?

Then came the "food." We waited what felt like an eternity, a full year later, for our meals to arrive. Keep in mind, there were only four other people in the entire establishment, and he wasn't even working alone! Why it took so excruciatingly long is beyond comprehension. When the plates finally did hit the table, they were scorching hot – a clear sign that our "food" had been sitting under some heat lamp for an age. Unsurprisingly, the food itself was stone cold. How do you mess up basic bar food? It's genuinely baffling.

In summary: the service was atrocious, the drinks were a joke, and the food was an insult. Do not, under any circumstances, set foot in this establishment unless your primary goal is to be profoundly disappointed. Save your money, save your sanity, and find somewhere, anywhere,...

Mainlanders beware. CHECK YOUR BILL AND YOUR CHANGE. I am updating my review after trying the food and spending some more time there. I have lived on the island several months now, so I am not a "tourist", however perception is reality for most islanders here. I had the unfortunate experience to have a "waitress" (large Hawaiian woman with tattoos) that chose to give me the worst food and service possible. My beer tasted salty, the fries came out greasy, soggy and they looked like worms, in fact, they may have actually been worms and the chicken was burnt. It is amazing that another human being can put something like that in front of someone and walk away abruptly. She only made it to the table every 20 minutes or so even though they weren't busy on an early evening week night (my empty salty beer glass waited for a good 10 minutes (I ordered something from a bottle after). She was not friendly and barely said anything. The most disturbing part of it is that when I received my bill I was overcharged by about 8$. I asked her to correct it and bring me my change. I received the change back and no receipt so I couldn't see what was changed. I asked for the receipt and she had to make up another one, which didn't match the first at all. I also did not receive the correct change. All in all, I am out about 10$ on a 33$ bill and didn't even eat the food. (This is not the place you want to return the food and have them remake it, FYI). This is just one of a dozen instances around town where the locals will straight up show their dislike of "mainlanders, tourists, white women". I can't describe to you the overall negativity of it all and I hate to put this in that category, but people like this should not be in the food service industry period. I would have taken a picture if my phone hadn't been stolen from another restaurant a couple nights prior. I have money to spend here, but will not give my business to a...

I’m beyond frustrated with the service at this establishment. I’ve given it multiple chances, but the experience remains consistently disappointing. When you stand at the bar attempting to order, the staff actively ignore you—they avoid eye contact, pretend to be busy, and make no effort to acknowledge waiting customers. I’ve stood there for over three minutes without a single greeting or sign of recognition, and I’ve witnessed the same treatment of others. Even when you try to get their attention, they glance up briefly, only to look away and continue with whatever they’re doing, showing complete disregard for customer service.

Having visited New Jersey, New york city, Atlantic city and major cities like Los Angeles, Portland, and various places in between, I can confidently say this level of neglect would never be tolerated elsewhere. In any well-run bar, staff at the very least acknowledge customers with a simple “I’ll be right with you.” If bartenders behaved this way in other states, they would be replaced immediately. Here, however, it seems to be the norm. I’ve watched as a line of patrons stood waiting, ignored entirely, while the staff carried on as if customers were an afterthought.

This is not an isolated incident—it’s a clear and ongoing issue. If the owner cannot manage to hire attentive staff or properly train them, perhaps they should reconsider running this business at all. Customers deserve to be treated with basic courtesy, and unfortunately, that seems to be too much to ask at this establishment. If you value good service, I strongly recommend taking your...