My wife and I are spending five days on the Big island in January and would appreciate any advice on your top picks. Any price range or location is fine by us.

Our three faves -

Canoe House, at the Mauna Lani hotel - gorgeous, romantic... Come at sunset.

Merriman's in Kamuela - great food

Sam Choy's place in the industrial park between Kona and the airport - Loco Moco, ummmm...

Huggos is Kona is great for lunch. Right on/over the water. Very casual atmosphere but outstanding service. Right next to the Royal Kona Resort.
MMMM Tasty!

Our three favorite restaurants were all recommended by our B&B hosts. The two on the west side were on Hwy 11 south of Kona (near where we were staying). Firstly the Keei Cafe at the 106 milemarker. Don't be put off by the exterior, the food is wonderful and good value. You need to reserve. Secondly the Aloha Angel Cafe in Kainaliu (in the town theater building). They do great dinners but not every night, again best to call in advance. If you have "The Big Island Revealed" they are both in there under "Kailua-Kona American" (though service in the Keei Cafe was much better than indicated in the book!)

Also ate in Kona at the Kona Inn Restaurant - meal good though slightly less special - location great, just a strip of grass away from the sea.

In Hilo we had a great meal at the Cafe Pesto on the main bay front street.

We found a wonderful little Italian restaurant in Kona called Ambrosia and we had a good and fun dinner at Bubba Gumps.

We also enjoyed Merriman's restaurant but wanted to mention the Hard Rock Cafe in Kona. Great location and good food. Especially nice at sunset -- gorgeous views!

so happy to hear Merriman's is still great - It was the best place we ate at on the Big Island.

We, too, think the Hard Rock is great for a burger/beer and you can't beat the sunset view. We had a fabulous meal at Oodles of Noodles. The best tuna casserole - not like you used to make in college!
Edwards at Kanaloa is a really nice place - very expensive, but excellent food and incredible oceanside dining.
For a terrific coffee and cinnamon roll or muffin, or lunch, you can't beat Island Lava Java.
Huggos was pretty good, too.

I agree with the Canoe House recc. It has a beautiful atmosphere. Equally nice (equally pricey) is Brown's Beach House at the Orchid. Brown's has entertainment: music and a hula dancer (not like a luau, but relaxing Hawaiian music). We enjoyed both. We also liked Roy's in the Waikoloa Resort Area (It's in the "King's shops" or something like that). We were less impressed with Cafe Pesto, which many people reccomend. It was over-hyped for the distance from the resorts. It was very crowded, but the food was ordinary. We had a few other restaurants on our list, but we ran out of time. I had wanted to eat at the Bamboo House, which many people seem to like. Enjoy your vacation!

If you are staying in the Kona area Java on the Rocks is the espresso place oceanfront right by Royal Kona resort and it sure is a nice early morn spot for a latte, banana-macnut muffin YUM! and wave watching. Lava Java is nearby and across the street, good views.
We did make it up to the little town of Hawi and the Bamboo restaurant and enjoyed the day very much butit is not a quick drive, don't know if we'd get up there if only 5 days. Oodles of Noodles in Kona was good (altho for some reason we'd assumed it was an extremely casual place, we were just in beachy shorts and shirts--would dress up a bit next time) Had a very nice sunset dinner at the Old Kona Inn restaurant. Good forum for Big Island visits is www.konaweb.com and post in the visiting the Big Island section. Very helpful folks there.

Agree with other posts...all fine resturants....here are a couple more low key alternatives:

"Whats Shakin'" - located on the senic route 4 mile north of Hilo. Lunch and snack/treats....I think best smoothies in the islands....try the fresh papaya.
Outside dining in beatiful surroundings.

"Bamboo Resturant" - located in Hawi on the tip of the Kohala Coast (north end of the island)....interesting atmosphere .....lunch and dinner...be sure to check out the Kao Hohala Gallery located next to, in the same building......plus the smoothies here are good as well.

Both can be located on the internet.

We just returned from our 15-day trip to the BI and Maui. Our favorites on the BI were:

Roy's @ Waikoloa - ask for Josh for your waiter -- he was great

Cafe Pesto - in Hilo (had a GREAT lunch there)

Canoe House was closed for renovation --we ate in their other restaurant called the Bay Terrace -- it was good

We also stayed at the Kileaua Lodge in Volcano Village (lovely B&B) and had dinner -- it was very good

Also had dinner at the Orchid resort -- cannot remember the name but it was extremely expensive -- but very good. The atmosphere was very upscale -- the hostess was very nice.

the Stucky's just off the main drag. you Must try their pecan log. Cheers.

We had a fabulous evening at Donatoni's located in the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Fabulously romantic. We took the hotel boat to the restaurant, had a table looking out french doors to the terrace, brilliant service, and the food was outstanding. Also, enjoyed Huggo's.

Jack--since you said any price range, I thought I'd give you a few cheapies. We've found on several trips that it's nice to take a break from fancy food. Killer Tacos in Kona has local pork and fish tacos that live up to the name. The pizza at Kona Brewing Co. is moderately priced and very good (and so is the beer-try the Lillikoi Wheat). Next door to that is Kona Style Fish and Chips...$2 bought me two chunks of local ono batter dipped and deep fried. Bubba Gump, although a chain, had a moderately priced breakfast and a great view right on the water. For bigger bucks, we like Roy's and the Hualalai Club Grille at the Four Seasons. With the exception of Gump, none of this is on Ali'i Drive--I don't think that's a coincidence. It's a lot easier to ask how to get to these places than for me to tell you. Bon Appetit and Aloha!

Hello!!! Huggos! (restaurant) I reviewed this before, type in Huggos and read what I wrote, someone else recommended it as well!