Review Ken's House Of Pancakes - Hilo

This place is amazing. When you get out, you feel happy. Staff is very kind and enthusiastic, especially a cheerful, colorful lady named John-nee that I totally fell in love with. Food is spectacular: we are usually committed to try different restaurants while visiting new places but we keep coming here for our breakfast. Simply, the best🩵 They have homemade syrups for pancakes which are delicious: coconut flavour is a must-have.

This place is a MUST visit when you're in Hilo - a uniquely Hawaiian take on the increasingly rare classic American diner. It's got the lot - Hawaiian grandmas fussing over you and making sure you get the best experience possible, serving sizes that will kill you, and local cuisine and versions of the full-on diner experience. As an international tourist: be assured that this is the only meal you will need today. As an American: hold on right and get ready for something familiar and yet very local and of the island. Get the French toast with a side of bacon, and order a variation you wouldn't get at home. You're only here once.

Incredible atmosphere and food. The sweet bread French toast with rum syrup is great. The Portuguese sausage is delicious, and the omelets are huge. The hash browns arent that crispy but everything is delicious. The restaurant is full of hawaiian coziness. Definitely go here for breakfast. Yall should probably fix the sign though it doesn't match the rest of the restaurant if there's some unfortunate history you want to change.

I LOVED this place! I loved the atmosphere! It's a super cute diner to go to, and their food was great! I ordered their strawberry pancakes with macadamia nuts sprinkled on top! With a super yummy hot chocolate. I was in love with this place the moment we walked in and I hope someday I can come back ❤️

This place has breakfast all day and for good reason! Their pancakes are excellent and their scrambled eggs and hash browns were too. The eggs Benedict was okay but not the best compared to their simpler breakfast options which they nailed. They also have lunch and dinner options on the menu. Service was very fast even though it was busy and the host warned us that it might be a bit before we got our food.

Super unique place for brunch! Local vibes and magical homey vibes. The food was immaculate. I got the corned beef hash loco moco and pancakes with coconut, guava and lilikoi syrup!

Was a great meal, lots of traditional Hawaiian dishes to choose from. Fast seating and service with a smile. Food was excellent. I especially enjoyed the Loco Moco.

From the outside this place may not look like much. Pay attention to how many cars are in the parking lot. We got there as they opened and it quickly filled up. The atmosphere is awesome and a true step back in time. We got a classic breakfast and the crab cake Benedict. Another for our trip to Hilo: the best crab cakes I have ever had. They were perfect and a true delicacy

The place is okay, try it if you're in the area. The service is great. The staff is very friendly, welcoming, and helpful. The place is a diner, with a diner ambiance, and if we were in the area longer, we would have tried other things on the menu. We had an omelet, pancakes, bacon, Portuguese sausage, and eggs for breakfast. They offer various kinds of syrup for you to try (coconut and passion fruit syrup) or just maple. For dinner, we had loco moco and a burger. The food was fine.

Local vibes at this diner with breakfast served all day. I had the corned beef hash loco Moco and my husband had the banana Mac waffle. All very tasty and came out pretty quick. Not super baby friendly (no high chairs)but still a good experience. It's a diner so you know, you get a diner experience lol.

If you Smelllllllllll, what the Rock is cookin? Huge platters of food at huge prices. I tried the oxtail soup which was $25. Meat was tender and broth was really good. Comes with a side of rice, fries or mashed potatoes. Also gave the Sumo Loco a shot during another visit. Spam was cooked crispy in it. Hamburger patties were 1/2 lb and seasoned. Bit hard to finish, but I took it down. Sumo style meals are large, and run $25 minimum. Be prepared for a shout out and a gong when brought to your table. They should offer up the shirt ar a reduced price after ordering one, but they dont. Try the pineapple upside down cake. It reminded me of a buttercake, but with the pineapple and ice cream.

Kens is just good old fashioned comfort food. Diners like Kens really don’t exist anymore. The atmosphere, staff, and food are all top notch. We had the chili loco moco (which is not on the menu, but available upon request), and the crab cake benedict. Both were absolutely delicious. Chili was a little spicy and had fantastic flavor that totally went with the hamburger patty. The crab cakes in the crab cake benedict stayed crispy until the last bite, even while drowned in delicious hollandaise sauce. I totally understand why Kens is a Big Island staple. Thanks guys!!

Hands down the best place for breakfast in the area. The mac nut pancakes are outta this world. Also the khop breakfast sandwich is one of the best I have ever had. The staff here is amazing. I don’t know how they keep up with the crowds, but they do it well. After you are seated it takes a little bit to get your food, but they keep you happy with coffee and beverages. Absolutely love this place!

Really good local spot for good food and awesome, friendly, welcoming service. Very popular spot. 👌🏽 would recommend.

The birthday pancakes were good! I wouldn't have ordered french toast if I knew I would be getting that. 5/5 Crab cake benedict

LOVED this place. Service was great, the restaurant had a fun atmosphere and the food was so good! We just got your classic breakfast but this is fun to try in Hawaii, although you can get this breakfast food anywhere…the pancakes come with different syrups which makes it feel different and exotic.

Great place if your looking for a tasty meal while in Hilo. The food and service were excellent. The atmosphere is not fancy but very relaxed. I had the Korean BBQ style ribs. They were flavorful and the serving size was more than I could handle which meant tasty leftovers. Our server was great. She was helpful and had our dinner out quick and kept checking on us to make sure we had everything we needed. Overall, good food in a relaxed setting what else could you ask for when visiting Hawaii.

We've had breakfast and lunch at this place several times, and our favorite dish is pancakes.They come with a delicious coconuts syrup that really adds to the flavor. The coffee is also very good, and the staff is friendly and welcoming. It's a popular spot during breakfast and lunch hours, so expect to wait around 15 minutes for your food.

The turkey burger is to die for. Their portions are amazing and the meal is prepared fresh. Had a hearty dinner. Would recommend to everyone visiting Hilo.

Kens is a great place to eat in Hilo. Open 24 hours a day, they have an extensive menu from pancakes to ox tail. I personally had the loco moco, which is an island favorite. Simple-rice, hamburger patty, egg and gravy. I also had the pleasure of having a huge fluffy pancake that makes I-hop look like a 2nd grader. Their corn bread muffins are also the best ive ever had. Great burgers too. Breakfast is devine. Totally recommend Kens for a dress down beeakfast, lunch or dinner.

The is the perfect confort food type of restaurant with a menu that will keep you choosing for days. I had the Hombre omelette filled with green peppers and onions served with a spicy red sauce and hashbrowns. Very good with superb service.

Food was oily last time but the customer service was fast and friendly. I also liked the environment where you fell the aloha and spirit of hawaii. Next time I'm going to try the sumo!

I loved the macadamia pancakes, they were extremely soft and fluffy and the whipped butter was seasoned with salt so the savouriness accompanied the pancakes so well! My partner ordered the crab cake eggs benedict (half serve) which came with a hash brown and another pancake. His dish had a good balance of flavours also but I would choose my pancakes over his dish for sure. It is a pancake house after all!! Really generous servings here and plenty to choose from on the menu - we were a bit overwhelmed with options and would've loved to try more if our stomachs would let us.

Old school diner setting that you'd see in movies! Service was friendly, the serving sizes were massive. I got an omelet which comes with pancakes as well...it really was 2 meals. I ate the omelet first so the pancake got a little dry unfortunately.

LOVED their omelette. Loco moco was...alright. Busy restaurant with lots of variety on their menu so can't be good at everything. Our waitress was so friendly it made the visit so much more pleasant.

We loved Ken's. Went there twice in our 5 day stay in Hilo. Overall impressed with breakfast and dinner. The omelette was a good choice, absolutely huge and very tasty. The service is great, everyone very quick and friendly. Reminds me of the old school diner feel.

Mm pancakes. They have a huge menu. Took us a while to decide but we ended up getting pancakes and a burger + fries + salad. Very happy with our choices. Pancakes were the standout. Shouldn't go to a pancake house without getting pancakes! Friendly service too.

Was served the toughest, stingiest, worst hibachi chicken sandwich I've ever tried to eat. Had to pull the chicken out and eat what was left. Wasn't too bad without the chicken. You couldn't pay me to go back to Kens.

The crab cake eggs Benedict is so good. Service is excellent, food is delicious, if recommend this place to anyone

Went to this place for breakfast I got the bananas foster French toast which was amazing and my husband got eggs Benedict which was pretty standard the has browns are the frozen shreddded kind not potatoes

Ken's. From Mainland 56 years. This place is a step down from 'Elias bros. "Big Boy" Restaurants...Service was fair..food not worth the price. Overpriced, bland salty food...would of done better coking/eating @ home. Howlies...not worth the time/money.

Sure hope Ken's pancakes are better than the rest of his menu. We are guessing that anyone who ate here & gave a positive review must have never actually eaten good food in their lives. Our bill for 4 people was $115 including tip for dinner items & it wasn't worth 15 cents. Fortunately the service was fantastic, but it doesn't make up for the upset tummies we all now have :( Wishing we hadn't picked this place based on the good reviews from this site.

Big portions of gross food.. Big portions of purple meat and chili that has been sitting out for who knows how long, served on top of rice, with an egg on top. I ate the egg and nothing else. Very disappointed. They go for portions here not quality.

OUTSTANDING BREAKFAST ITEMS. The Homemade corn beef is to die for. Outstanding service.

Order the #47 (crab & shrimp omlette) with hollandaise instead of the salsa and I swear angels will float down from the drop ceiling and sing sweet Hallelujah!!<br/>They certainly didn't skimp on the crab or shrimp - it was DIVINE!

Breakfast must-have. This place is always full and portions are more then generous. We are going to stay in Kona next time but my husband already mentioned that we were going back to this place for pancakes across the island lol

Eat here!. This was our first meal in Hawaii and it was great! I had Vietnamese coffee and coconut pancakes, which came with a syrup spinner carrying coconut, guava, and passion fruit syrup. The texture and consistency blew away every other pancake I've ever had. I had enough left over for me and my husband to split for part of our breakfast the next day. I tried my husband's loco moco and it was delicious as well, even though I cringed at the thought of tasting it!

Classic!. This place is a institution....great food, lot of history on the walls. If you go to Hilo, go to Ken's.

Yuuummmmmm. Coconut pancakes with coconut syrup?? Yes, please!

Big Food & Great Prices!. After several hours of touring from Kona to Hilo, it was time for food, and we came across Ken's House Of Pancakes. What a fantastic place, it has the old school diner feel to it, you get the smell of chocolate shakes, and home style food. I had the BIGGEST taco salad I have ever seen, and NO I didn't finish it! <br/>I have to say the shell was Monstrous and stuffed with lots of goodies!<br/>We had a variety of food between the group and all of which was great!<br/>The price was very competitive for the size of portions and quality of the food. <br/>The service was good as well. <br/>I highly recommend Ken’s if you are in the area!

Ewwww and ick!!!. Let me begin by saying trying to find somewhere decent to eat in Hilo was beyond nightmarish!!! We looked up reviews and foundj out 92 % of the people Just LOVE the food so we thought why not??? Well I know it says Kens Pancakes not Kens Spaghetti... Let's just say I should have stuck with Subway!!! The spaghetti was awful and it came with 2pieces of "toast" that was beyond soggy since they were stuck in the watery sauce!! The meatballs lacked meat and were a shade of purple green and of course I couldn't eat those things!!!!! Gross spaghetti for $15. :(

Awesome of you can stop by! Daily specials to keep it interesting, and many regular choices to choose from. Coconut syrup is the best on the island!

Classic Diner. Everyone in Hilo has eaten at Ken's. It's an institution. Massive menu and excellent service. It is not gourmet dinning. The helpings are large (too large) and you can even super size it by getting the Sumo size. Then they ring a gong and everyone yells "Sumo". Sometimes you just want something simple and quick...Ken's fits the bill. I always order from the Keiki menu offerings. Just the right size and reasonably priced. Ken's is a bit overpriced for the quality of the food, but sometimes you just have to do it...it's Ken's.

Pretty good. gotta know what to order. Go here regularly. The pancakes & omelettes are great - huge portions. Belgian waffles good too but small compared to the above. The burger patties are not made in house but are tasty. If you want good oxtail soup go to Cafe 100. The curry chicken sandwich and spaghetti are gross. The local dishes like loco moco and teri plate are good and portions are generous. The saimins are good but not served steaming hot -come to think of it, none of their soups are served very hot . They are the only 24 hr place in Hilo and if you like big portions they "sumo" size everything on request. Service is good; usually seated quickly.

If you like pancakes drop in. Had pancakes for breakfast it was yummy I am not a big pancake fan but these were as good as it gets for me love the coffee also.

Vast menu, good service. The menu here just keeps going!<br/>This is not fine dining, but hopefully you wouldn't have been expecting a gourmet experience given the name, the location, and the fact that it's open 24 hours. The food is tasty and satisfying and the waitress was happy for me to make a couple of substitutions in order for my meal to be gluten free (always a good thing!).<br/>Staff are attentive and efficient.

I just don't get it.. So, my father who has been going to Hilo for 30 years made it a point to travel to Hilo from Kona to just hit this place. He's been raving about it to me since the 80's!<br/><br/> Anyway, strike 1 is that we get put in the back of the restaurant and go shoulder to shoulder with some other haole's even though we're surrounded by empty tables!?!?<br/> Strike 2 is when that I order a mushroom burger (I know not really Hawaiian) and when it came the patty is dry, and cut almost in half by spatula on the grill to ensure the meat is dry and completely cooked. <br/> Strike 3 was the gravy that came with it. The burger bun was dry and normally I wouldn't put gravy on a burger but it was necessary. The problem with this gravy though was that it was bitter tasting, the gravy with mushrooms tasted like it had been made with vinegar or really sour milk.<br/> My father woofed down his Mahi Mahi, and my daughter loved her mac and cheese. The wife thought her oriental salad was tasty, regretfully I was not impressed. Sorry Dad, we're not going back.

YUM!. A great family restaurant. Very busy but friendly vibes and staff and really great food especially for tourists. Homemade coconut syrup, macadamia nut pancakes, crab cake eggs benedict. sweet bread french toast, Portuguese sausage... a lot of Hawaii in that menu alone!

A well loved place. It is a lot like Denny's Hawaiian style. Accent on the Hawaiian style. Open all night - it gets a huge plus for that. It's the Big Island version of the coffee shop where the waitresses call you honey and keep filling your coffee cup until you turn it upside down. The menu is like a magazine, and still, you have to be in the mood for this somewhat all American style of food to find something you will truly enjoy. Gotta say tho even my foodie friends love this place.

Loved the ox tail stew and the corned beef loco moco.

Food was good! Finally food on the Big Island worth eating! I loved the Pig Sandwich... Good flavor on the sauce. Wife had BBQ Burger....good flavor too. The best part was the price. I love places that are reasonable in cost and provide good eats. Remember coffee for breakfast at the resorts on the other side of the Big Island is $12....Eat and drink at Ken's.

The pancakes are so so but the snowcrab omelette was really good. My wife had the French toast and the slices are really thick. She also says the coconut syrup is her new favorite.

Pancakes!. This place is awesome! every time i am in hilo i go eat there. I love the beef stew, but the pancakes are awesome!

Great food anytime of the day or night. I'm hungry at 3:00am in Hilo. Am I gonna stay hungry until the morning? Nope. Hilo is one of the BEST places in the world to be hungry at 3:am because there's Ken's House of Pancakes. And it ain't always about breakfast. You want to fill up your tank? Ox tail stew, brown rice, chili pepper water on the side. Make sure you got a place for a snooze. Broke da mout'! The service is snappy and the food comes out hot. Are you a sumotori? This is your kinda place!

We had dinner there last night and were pretty disappointed. You could tell the slow-cooked smoked pork had so much potential but they did nothing with it--no flavor! The coconut shrimp were good but the rest of the seafood appetizers were horribly greasy.

We had breakfast and lunch there. Lunch was good and the breakfast was outstanding, menu was loaded with so many choices. Service was outstanding from the hostess to the waitress to the bus boy.

I had their chicken & long rice soup, very comforting and delicious. My hubs had one of their most seller turkey sandwich (has 2 smiley faces in the menu) and loved it, it's a very fullfilling sandwich. Service is awesome & cool decoration. No wonder it's been open since the 70's, it's worth it.

Great place to refuel after a volcano tour! Quick service, great selection depending on your craving. If you like local diners, Ken's is it!!

HUGE variety of dishes to.... HUGE menu and a long list variety of dishes to choose from! Hard to pick what you want to try first. I enjoyed the spam moco loco with fast and friendly casual atmosphere. Great family diner to eat.

Great food, open late. They have everything that you could ever want 24/7. From saimin (which was absolutely delicious) to honey stung fried chicken, everything was cooked wonderfully. Not only did we get an authentic taste of Hawaii, we were grateful that they were open all night. I'd gladly go here again and try all the other hundreds of dishes that we didn't get to eat the two times we came here. :)

A grrrrrrreat variety of food. I loooove da house of pankakes •• U

To appreciate Ken's in Hilo, you have to love a good diner. If diner fare is not your style, you probably won't be impressed by Ken's offerings, but if you love a great diner atmosphere where you can get good food on the cheap 24/7, then Ken's House of Pancakes is the place to go. Ken's bills itself as the place for "ono grinds… anytime" (in Hawaii, grinds are food and ono means delicious). For more than 40 years, Ken's has been serving up pancakes, omelets, burgers and more and is consistently voted the best breakfast spot and best diner on the island by locals.

Ken's is a 24 hour Diner. It's a 24 hour Diner. Let me say it again it's a 24 hour diner. As American as you can get the 24 hour Diner right. Right. That is why it should be a stop for breakfast, there is something very comfortable for me to slide into a both with outdated waitresses and outdated tables and outdated coffee ( fres

We took a 10 day vacation on the Big Island of Hawaii from May 12-21, 2010. I had plotted out a bunch of restaurants to visit while we were there based on reviews on Urbanspoon and recommendations in the "Big Island Revealed" book. For the most part, we h

Ken’s House of Pancakes came top in my most disappointing experiences in Hawaii. I had really wanted this restaurant to be great but instead found that it was just a giant mess.

...today I got me some delicious macadamia nut pancakes. We drove into Hilo early so we could hit Ken's and I could satisfy this very specific, very unrelenting craving

Nelson @ Hilo: Coconut pancakes in Hawaii? Hell yeah! These are called Kokonut pancakes, shredded coconut in the batter with kokonut syrup. So there is coconut in the batter, coconut sprinkled on top and they syrup is coconut. I like coconut, so this was heavenly for me. The coconut syrup was new for me and really stood out as excellent. It was a little like condensed milk and very thick, but full of good coconutty flavour. Good stuff! Unfortunately they were out of snowcrab omelettes and we were very sad. Instead we ordered Da Bradah: bacon, ham and Portuguese sausage with green onions and cheese. The omelette was huge, even priced at $12.45 and absolutely stuffed with cheese. The meat was ok, not that salty but not that good either. Overall very filling and enjoyable. The last is a traditional Hawaiian dish, the Kalua Moco made with Kalua pork. It is a Loco Moco, a type of Hawaiian dish consisting of scoops of rice topped with meat (in this case Kalua pork), homemade gravy and th