Verna’s III Drive Inn

Great local food! I really enjoyed it. Like all things local in Hawaii, they do take their time and have no certain fondness for white folk from the mainland. But the food was really good.

Our tour guide stopped at Verna’s so that my sister and I could order our dinner to take back to our hotel room. We ordered the pastele plate and it was the bomb man. I really and truly enjoyed it a great deal
They really know how to cook well. What more could I ask for. On my next trip to Hilo, I will be sure to stop by to order this again.

We stopped here because I have a friend that I call Verna and I wanted to take a picture of the sign and send it to her. We decided to give it a try since I’m a fan of walk up restaurants with outdoor seating! I ordered the pork and cabbage. My husband got the Kolohe platter. The portion sizes were generous. My pork and cabbage was good, but I guess I was used to more of a BBQ flavor being added, so it seemed a little bland to me. My husband’s platter was huge! It came with several fried shrimp and a breaded, fried chicken patty that was so delicious! The beef teri was amazing. Both platters came with a very generous portion of white rice and macaroni salad. I was personally surprised by how tasty and creamy the macaroni salad was. I wish I could recreate it! We were not disappointed by our choice in lunch! I would recommend stopping if you’re looking for traditional Hawaiian food with good prices and generous portions!

Great food and awesome service. Opened 24 hours and a great place to get Hawaiian food anytime. Will definitely be back

Food is good, but it takes way too long.
I waited over 20 minutes for a gravy cheeseburger. They should really change their slogan to «If can wait, you going wait. If no can wait, no come Verna’s.»

Could go with one more scoop rice, but their Mac salad is out of this world. Ono gravy too!

Aloha, a true Hawaiian style joint. Great food, prices are reasonable and staff is great. Gravy cheeseburger, Loco moco, fried chx Loco moco and patstele are excellent.
When in Hilo, go to Vernas, it’s a must!

Drove from Kona to Hilo and worked late. Checked in to my hotel and asked an employee where was the nearest place to eat for plate lunch. He recommended Vernas which was a couple minutes away. Couldn’t decide what to order with such a big menu. Seems like the Special Roast Pork w/​stuffing was popular so went with that. Didn’t expect the portion to be very large. It was very ono and well worth the $ 10. I would recommend this place to anyone when they come to Hilo.

What I love about the Big Island is its authenticity. Authentic, kind, folks. Authentic non-​presumptuous food, Authentic scenery and even… authentic tourists (I mean less plane-​loads of mega families marching obediently to their Sandals resort rooms). In a place where fresh black lava overflows a neighborhood street and the locals do their best to keep it a secret — you’d certainly expect to find hidden foodie secrets.
So this is what happened: I just had to see the volcano at night. I know… it’s a touristy cliché… but no one’s perfect. I did however modify my crater visit to avoid the crowds by arriving at Kilauea as late as possible before the lookout closes. The caldera was active that night and the view was breathtaking. By the time I got back to Hilo it was close to midnight and hunger set in.
Where does one eat in sleepy Hilo so late at night? I wondered around my hotel near Banyan Drive seeking a solution and spotted a dimly lighted structure surrounded by a few cars and some people about a hundred feet away on Kamehameha Avenue. As I got closer, the building looked more and more like a very old Carvel Ice cream shop, surrounded by a large dimly-​lit antique parking lot. At first glance — not a very inviting culinary venue. But remember authenticity is multifaceted.
The eatery’s façade sports a small ordering/​serving window surrounded by an almost endless menagerie of menu pages glued to the wall and a big bright neon sign. The selection of food is overwhelming but I chose, being, by now, very hungry, the Double Gravy Cheeseburger for around 5 bucks. No expectations. No seats. Not even a drive-​in. Verna’s is a walk up, get your food in take-​away containers and walk away.
A ten-​minute-​wait later I got the goods. A Styro tray so heavy, I thought there was a whole steer inside. An opened cover revealed a massive burger generating an unbelievably delicious scent. The taste was even better. Juicy, buttery, beefy delight. Amazing burger. Amazing! Radically better than Pat Lafrieda’s best concoctions in New York City.
The next morning I stopped by this unbelievably yummy dive for breakfast. In the back was a supply van sporting a brightly colored banner: «Hawaii Big Island Beef — Premium Grass Fed».
Facades don’t matter — it’s the authenticity and quality that counts.

One star for being open 24 hours. Roast pork used to be bomb but is now not so much. I was sad.

This place serves some good food, but it takes a bit to get your order and ordering is a bit hard when you can’t hear each other well. I could hear the lady make fun of me, but acted as sweetest could be when she gave me my order. I hope she wasn’t smiling because someone did something to my food. :/​But I’m probably being too paranoid and watched too much news.
Overall, the place is not bad. At least, it’s 24 hours.

Tried their fried noodles with Teri beef & Pastele special. Bomb AF and I would eat here again!

Tried a lot of stuff on their menu and was impressed with everything I’ve tried but the one item that stood out the most was the pulled pork plate. Generous portions for a reasonable price. Will come back next year when I head to Hilo again.

I really like Verna’s plate lunches, they’re simple and delicious and a great representation of chill Hawaiian food. They have great macaroni salad, kalua pork, and korean chicken. I wouldn’t recommend their laulau though, it gets pretty dry and isn’t the best you can find in Hilo. They’re lomi lomi salmon is also way too salty. None of the items are expensive, especially when you account for the portion sizes. They give you HUGE servings of rice and protein, so you can definitely have yourself a great and filling meal for under $ 10. My only issue is that they do take quite a bit of time to make your food, and when there’s a line it’s actually excruciating. Of course, the reason they take so long is because everything is made to order, so it’s not the worst problem to have. There are a few bench seats, enough for twenty to twenty five people I’d say? But I’d suggest getting your food and eating at any of the beaches in the area. Having a plate lunch while watching the sea is a Hawaiian experience that can’t be beat.

Great little take out spot for plate lunches open ²⁴⁄₇ good prices on food and it’s delicious !

A real treasure not to be missed. Open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Great Island food at very reasonable prices.
The Kimchi Burger is not too be missed. The loco moco awesome. .
Most items are between $ 4 -$ 7

We flew into the Big Island with jet lag still in place so we asked our local friends for a good suggestion to eat. Verna’s was second on his list, and closest to our hotel so we decided to check it out… A little let down.
The food was more on the greasy side. The waitress at the window wasn’t the best at answering all of our questions which was needed since we didn’t know what half the stuff was. The kahula pork was rather good, as was the rice and Mac salad.
Not a bad place to stop if in a quick hurry or need of a greaser filling meal, not for the sensitive stomachs.

I love stopping by this place whenever I’m in Hilo for work. Always find myself getting the roast pork plate lunch. I’ve nicknamed it the Thanksgiving plate lunch. Stuffing, roast pork, gravy, mac salad, rice, and even applesauce lol. Servings for the full plate lunches are definitely large and can easily be shared for even those with a moderate appetite, and at a very moderate price!

Like Verna’s says…“IF NO CAN… NO CAN. IF CAN, VERNA’S! «Lol!!! How’s that for a local style slogan???
I was in Hilo today… and upon finishing up my jobs, I only had about 45 minutes before I had to head back to the airport to catch my flight back to Oahu.
I had to look for something fast, so I decided to stop by at Verna’s Drive Inn.
I’ve eaten here before, but it’s been a very, very long time… for today’s lunch I ended up ordering the Korean chicken with brown rice, and it also comes with a scope of mac salad.
What can I say about the grub… the Korean chicken was outstanding! Great sauce over the slightly crispy chicken drumsticks & wings… a hint of sweetness too! On the down side… the brown rice was «rock hard»!!! I choked down a bit of the rice before I gave up eating it… I guess I should have taken the regular rice? As for the mac salad… I did not partake, as I just hate mayonnaise!
Service was a bit slow, as it was not busy. But I understood why it took a little while to get my plate lunch… they make it fresh for you when you order it.
Just a tip — Only outside seating, as this is a drive inn, and not a restaurant. You order your food, and find some outside seating on the side of the building. They have a few large picnic style tables where you can sit down to eat.
Lots of parking in the private parking lot, as this little hole in the wall drive is placed smack in the middle of the parking lot, so the parking surrounds the drive inn.
Gave this place a «3», as I had to take a point off for the «hard as rock» brown rice… If the rice was perfect, I’d probably have given them a «4». Overall, not a bad place to get a good plate lunch. I will be back again one day… maybe I will eat at your other restaurant in Keaau?

This was our first «eating out» experience upon touchdown in Hilo. I was really excited to have some local food since I am a big fan of Hawaiian food/​bbq. It’s also only about 30 seconds away from our hotel.
The stars are for the food and part of the service. The order takers were very pleasant the both times we were there. Unfortunately, on our first visit, at night, ok, I get it… there were about 10 ppl waiting so when I was warned the food would take a long time, I was given a chance to cancel my order.
However, when I’m the only person at your window the next morning, ordering just a couple breakfast burritos and such, it’s a little of a turn off that right away, the chef in back tells the order taker — it’s going to be a while. How long? «Oh 15 minutes…» Yeah, try again… it ended up being 35 minutes. Again, my order was the only ones they were working on!
I understand that the slow service could be part of the laidback island culture but this was probably the worst example of it during our entire vacation.
Otherwise, the food was pretty good overall. Breakfast burritos were not wrapped properly which was a surprise since it took them 35 minutes to get us the food. Fell apart by the time I got back to the hotel.
Although this is a walk-​up window, I don’t recommend it unless you’re there just for a good old fashioned «nothing else is open after 8 in Hilo» hang out.