Millie's Deli and Snack Shop

Located at 94 Kalanianaole Ave in Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, you Find a nice little Mom and Pop shop serving up fresh and delicious deli style meals.  Millie's Deli and Snack Shop has to be one of my favorite places to eat in Hilo.  A very casual and kid friendly restaurant Millie's offers a wide variety of items from Burgers and Hot Dogs to Salads and Wraps.  Price range is very reasonable and the customer service is excellent!      

On this particular day I had a craving for something very filling as I had not eaten breakfast and by the time I got to Millie's I was starving.  As soon as I looked at the menu I immediately knew what to order, the Kalua Pig Wrap!  For those of you who don't know about Kalua Pig, it's basically slow cooked shredded pork butt.  

The waitress brings me my plate and WOW, this thing was huge.  I could see that the meat was very moist and paired with their secret sauce I knew I was in for a treat.  The combination of shredded pork, fresh crisp lettuce, tomato and the whole wheat tortilla was out of this world.  I chose to wash this all down with one of their famous Real Ice Cream Chocolate Shakes, not very calorie friendly but man was it worth it.

In all, I paid around 10 dollars for the meal left a $2.50 tip and went on my way.  With my hunger satisfied I returned to class and................SLEPT!!!!  Hahahaha

Millie's Deli and Snack Shop: (808) 969-1241

Big Island Dog House!

 Aloha, so another week in Hilo meant another chance to try out some tasty foods.  This week I chose a place called "Big Island Dog House".  Now I've been there before on a few occasions and the reason for this is that I do construction work in my spare time and they are located outside of the Home Depot.  I was attending school on this day but I need to run over to Target (which is across the street from  Home Depot) on my break so I wanted to grab a couple quick dogs.

 What you can find here is a pretty wide variety of things to eat, but I came for the hot dogs.  They have everything from your ordinary plain dog with ketchup and mustard, to a kicked up "Poi Dog" with all the fixins.  I decided to give the Poi Dog A try

They supply you with your ordinary white bread bun and a standard red hot dog as the base for this item.  I guess what makes this a "Poi Dog" is the mixture of toppings they pack this thing with.  You get mustard, jalapenos, sauerkraut, and a heaping pile of olives.  I really enjoyed this hot dog and thought all the flavors blended pretty good actually.

The next hot dog I ordered (I got two.........I was hungry) is called the "German Shepherd"

As you probably might guess this hot dog was going to have two things....mustard and sauerkraut.  CORRECT, and that's all that it came with.  Hot dog, bun, mustard and sauerkraut.  I was a little less than pleased with this choice to say the least.  It was just to ordinary for me, to easy.  I guess it was the basic red hot dog that let me down, I wish they would upgrade to some kind of German sausage or something.  Anyway I washed both dogs down with a bottle of water that I had from earlier and continued on with my buisness.

I payed about $7.50 for both hot dogs and left a dollar tip.  Was it worth it, lets just say I WOULD eat there again ONLY if I was shopping at Home Depot and barely had any time for food.  I encourage people to give Big Island Dogs a chance though, you might like it!  Till next meal!!!

The Manono Mini Mart

I traveled out to Hilo twice last week for school and found a place for lunch that not many people may know about.  It is located about a half mile from HCC (Hawaii Community College) at 454 Manono St.

 Now I don't have too much time in between classes so I need to find places that are somewhat close to the school.  This place is Perfect!  You get to the Manono Mart and there usually aren't a lot of people there....even around lunch time which I think is great.  Inside you will see a gas station like "Mini Mart" store.  The one thing that's different is that they make the freshest sandwiches that I've had in a long time.  The Aioli Deli in Kamuela was a very good sandwich shop and probably the last really good sandwich I've had before this.

I went to the Manono Mart on both Tuesday and Thursday and tried two different sandwiches.  The first one I tried was the Turkey w/ cheese on Multi-Grain bread.

I did not expect the sandwich to be as good as it was.  We all know turkey breast can be dry at times but the one they use is not at all.  The portion size is also not what I expected.  I did manage to eat both halves and I barely made it back to school afterwards.  I was so full that I had to rest in the car for a while before I could return to classes.

Thursday I went back and tried the Roast Beef Sandwich on the multi-grain bread as well.

Man, they just keep getting better and better.  Once again, the roast beef just melted in my mouth it was so tender.  They were not skimpy with the amount of meat that they gave me either.  Both sandwiches came packed with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, sprouts and your choice of meat with a couple slice of pickles on the side.  They also offer several choice's of breads too.

Each day I went and bought lunch from the Manono Mart I think I spent about $7 - 8 and that included the sandwich and a bottled drink.  Not to bad if you ask me.  Some mini marts you go to charge $5 just for two slices of bread and some tuna spread.  I will definitely be back to try more items from their menu in the future.  For now though there are many more places like the Manono Mini Mart and.............I will find them!

Until next time.......... 

Ma's Diner...Nothing beats a home cooked meal

How funny that the first post in Best Places to eat in Hilo would be about a meal I made right at home for my lovely wife.  Here's a funny story that relates to this.  When I was a kid My dad would always ask me "Boy, where you like eat today"?  I would always reply with something like Burger King or Jack in the Box (they had the best curly fries).  Now this was one of his favorite jokes to play on me because he would always say "Nah, let's go to Ma's Diner".  Now the first time I fell for this prank I was very exited to try the food at this Ma's Diner but when we arrived there I would find out that Ma's Diner was actually our house :(   I remember being semi dissapointed everytime this happened to me because there's something about all beef patties, sesame seed buns and not to forget that special sauce that I loved.  At the end of every meal I remember saying to Dad "I'm so glad you picked this place"!!!

Let's fast forward to today's meal.  I fired up the grill and threw a couple of Salmon Filets, Zucchini's, Onion's, Veggie Burger's with Gouda Cheese, Toasted Bun's and a little side of Lemon Dill Sauce.  I alway's say to my wife "Why go out and pay for something when I can cook a meal 1,000,000 times as good at home"?  That being said I find myself eating out on a pretty regular basis, I guess it's just a part of our every day on the go live's.  Let us remember though that some of our fondest memories are made at the kitchen table :)  We look forward to our next meal wherever it might be and we hope you join us..............

Intro to "Places to Eat"

     Hello, Just a Quick intro to this blog and what people can expect from it in the near future.  I am currently enrolled in school in the amazing town of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.  This will be a new and exciting experience for me as far as learning new things, meeting new people and of course getting to eat some of the incredible food that Hilo has to offer.
     I find that, when looking for a place to eat in Hilo Town there are two major factors I run into.  The first is too many places to choose from.  There are so many great places to enjoy a meal that I have a hard time picking one.  Second, there are a ton of places I don’t even know about.  At times I find myself driving around town searching for new places to eat while my stomach aches from starvation.
     I want to help people get familiar with some of the best spots to go and satisfy those culinary cravings.  Join me on this adventure as I partake in some of Hilo's "Best Places to Eat!"