Paolo’s Bistro

Had the paca paca it is pink snapper. Served in a light tomato sauce. Cooked perfectly! Vegetables cooked perfectly the chef came out and talked to me and I got to practice my rusty Italian. A bit pricey but worth it.

I last came over ten years ago. The food was terrific. I’ve lived and traveled in Italy and Paolo’s is on par with terrific small places in Tuscany, Veneto, and Como I’ve been to. Tonight was also very good-​especially the portobello ravioli sauced with both red and pesto. The place hasn’t changed one bit.

Little gem in Pahoa. Food is good. Chef uses fresh and local ingredients. The epitome of a farm to table experience. For those of you who require a menu to read from, this is not the place for you. There’s no menu because if he can’t get it, he ain’t making it. And what’s the matter with that? We are here twice in a week just to see what was on the menu and still had wonderful experience! Yes, bring your own wine. And yes, it may be a lil hot in the dining room. Sit by the window if you must. Seriously, go to this restaurant. It’s part of the charm of this side of the island!

Ate at Paolo’s last night and had a great meal. It’s definitely not the fanciest place in Pahoa, it’s typical from what we have seen in Pahoa. But don’t let that fool you, the food was great. Warning: no liquor is sold there. BYOB or wine. The bread they serve was pretty bland but everything else was great. They have a verbal menu and only had about 8 choices for dinner that rotate daily. We started with a caprese salad with homemade mozzarella which was really good. For entrees we had chicken marsala and fresh mahi-​mahi. Both were excellent. For dessert we had tiramisu which was really good. Very traditional with alcohol content still intact. We will be going back again in the next couple days. Hoping they get lamb delivered for osso buco.

Not a fan. Have tried this place a few times and won’t return
The minestrone was mushy with barely recognizable vegetables, the Gnocchi were starchy and undercooked (which was disturbing given the 50 minutes wait for the food). Coffee was ordered and took forever. Specials were recited without mentioning price — admittedly a pet peeve of mine. Dessert wasn’t offered and I would have had some!
Not the most sanitary place, cobwebs, sticky salt and pepper shakers…

This was THE worst experience I’ve had at a local restaurant. Ever.
My boyfriend tried multiple times to make a reservation. He finally got through and spoke to Paolo himself. But when we got to the restaurant they had lost the reservation. This was not too much of a problem, however, as they were able to seat us anyway.
We had brought our own wine and we waited, at what I began to think of as the «invisible table», for a good 20 minutes before any of the wait staff even looked our way. When we finally received wine glasses and a bottle opener, I asked for a menu, as we had yet to receive one. Our waitress, who was very obviously operating under the influence, kept making vague, floaty excuses and passing comments about how she was not prepared for us and therefore had to figure out what food she had left. (This was at 7:00. Hardly at the end of dinner service.)
It finally became clear that we were never going to get a menu of any sort. Instead, the waitress began to verbally rattle off our dinner options. Prices were never mentioned. When I asked about vegetarian options, she said, «We have tomato sauce. I can put that on noodles for you.»
Wat.
Enough was enough and we opted to spend our hard-​earned money elsewhere. At a food establishment with menus. And a sober staff.

I’ve been going over to Paolo’s for as long as I can remember, and spent my last two birthday’s there, an impressive feat considering I live in New York now. Mind you, this does not have the same vibes as an Italian restaurant you would find in the main town of Hilo, or anywhere else for the matter. The waitress will chat with you (albeit a little drunker than you’ll be accustomed to), Paolo will come out and say hi, his cats might wander in and fool around with your legs. Plan to be there for upwards of two hours, it’s a very laidback environment. So please don’t come in expecting a quick meal, because that won’t happen.
My table ordered the seared ahi for our appetizer. The fish is as fresh as can be, and I nearly shed a tear since I hadn’t had it in so long. When I was younger I used to get his ravioli, which I’m not sure Paolo makes anymore, but now I order the black pasta which is absolutely delicious. Paolo makes everything himself, from the pasta to the bread, being born and bred in Italy he knows what he’s doing.
Now dessert is my favorite course, Paolo’s Tiramisu. I compare all tiramisu I eat to his tiramisu. This is not a dessert for children, it is soaked in coffee and liquor, giving Paolo’s tiramisu a much wetter and mature taste than the ones that you’re probably used to. So if you don’t like either of those things you probably won’t like this. As for me, I adore it, I’ve had three plates of this stuff in one night.
As a summary all I can say is that you have to come in here with a good chunk of time on your hands, a couple bottles of wine, and good company. If you go in with those things you’ll have a grand old time.

Paolo is from northern Italy, and is completely meticulous in his food preparation. I’m not a great fan of Italian restaurants, because they tend to favor heavy breads, pasta and so-​so sauce. Not this place — it’s creative authentic northern Italian food. Worth going to, again and again. I always tell visitors to the island not to miss it!

My opinion is that this place serves food that I can prepare myself. There is nothing too special about this place, and it is too expensive. The food was delicious, but I do not think I will come back. I have had better Italian Food prepared by Italian friends. Not disappointed, just not worth the money.

Paolo’s food is so unexpectedly amazing. The food is farm to table fresh! Perfectly prepared. What a treat in Pahoa!

Extremely disappointed by every bit of it… minus the food which i never experienced and the amazing guitar player. I called early (days in advance) for valentines, and i struggled with whoever accepted my call to create a reservation 4 days in advance. Upon arrival, we were not seated at what was requested and waited for more than 30 minutes and still not acknowledged. As we waited those 30 minutes for a menu, we basically observed those who walked in AFTER us with bottle of wine (s) be serviced promptly. After those 30 mins and upon voicing our complaint to the younger lady who sat us, we were instructed that there was and i quote: «NO physical menu, but only an oral one to be provided when the ONE server was free…» which made no sense absolutely and still never provided. After observing 3 other table concern over the same matter and left over the same issue, we gave feedback to why we were leaving, i was «meowed to in disgust» by the young girl who sat us! Kaleo’s (down the street) who heard our situation quickly accommodated us and even apologized for them and even spoke highly of paolo’s. Upon THAT experience, i was appalled to how to disorganized they were and inconsiderate. i will not be recommending it

For Pahoa this is a 5 Star restaurant anywhere else a 3. I’ve eaten here a half dozen times. I’ve had 1bad meal and the rest have been good to very good. The one bad was a Mahi Mahi crusted in Macadamia nuts. The fish was to thin to put up with the searing so was way over cooked. Every other meal has been good and will keep me coming back. My hint if you’re ordering a fish dish is to check on its thickness and how it is cooked before ordering. Bottom line is I’ll go back. Food is good and priced fairly.

Seriously go here now. Like right now. Stop looking at your phone and make the right choice. You won’t be sorry if you like old world food.

The farm to market approach is definitely working. The food is so fresh and so tasty! We came back for a second time we liked it so much. I highly recommend stopping in.

The lamb dish and the tiramisu completely blew my mind.
let me rephrase that: the Tiramisu is divine! It’s seriously beyond words amazing. It has given me an appreciation for Tiramisu that I have never had before and it’s from some level of perfection that I could only call divine!

A poor excuse for «gourmet.» If you’ve been to Italian spots elsewhere, you’ll be disappointed. We tried ravioli, which had a sad and predictable sauce. The place never attracts locals (which we are), and that tells you something every time.

Pros:
Misto salad was excellent
Fresh pasta is always a treat
Cons:
When we had to send back a dish the owner refused to take it off the bill, stating we should have ordered something else. The pasta dish had an EXTREMELY oily pesto sauce on it that really was not palatable at all. Our waitress tried to get the owner/​chef to do what any normal restaurant owner would do and he told her to say something which she refused to say to us. (We overheard part of the conversation from the kitchen). She stated that it was not appropriate to repeat. Really?
We have to advise against patronizing this restaurant. There are other lovely places to eat in town — why support such a grouchy owner?

A true gem on the Big Island! Thanks Jen for making our evening excellent!
(Some words of advice — 1) Make reservations beforehand and ask to sit at the table by the front window. You’ll thank me later. 2) Do NOT come here in a rush.(Our meal took about 3 hours) 3) Bring your own wine.)
Paolo’s is a restaurant that approximately eight tables and seats about 40. The dishes served are all truly homemade including the bread, pasta, sauces, and desserts. The dishes change nightly based on what is fresh locally. (A great plus!)
We had a table for four and each of us ordered something different so we could share. We started with two caprese salads (mozzarella is made in house) and enjoyed the addition of the capers not usually found in the salad. We then moved onto the cioppino, osso bucco, black ink pasta w/​ahi, and the pasta with sausage and a tomato basil cream sauce. Each dish was excellent. The cioppino was some of the best i’ve ever smelled or tasted. Both pasta dishes the sauce was creamy and the pasta melted in your mouth. For dessert we ordered the tiramisu and it was good but not excellent.
We had reservations at 7 p.m. and by about 7:30 p.m. there was not a seat in the house. (This was on a Thursday night in March.) Jen was there only waitress and she was running all night trying to keep up with the demand. There was also an ad on the door for a morning cook. I believe if Paolo and Jen could get some help they could have themselves a five star experience.

I went there for a large family dinner, and I have never received such poor service. It took literally 4 hours for us to get our food, in which time one of our party literally took our order. The food was marginal, overpriced and afterwards, the owner had the balls to ask us to do the dishes…
Avoid at all cost

Although, Paolo’s looked very promising from the cute décor, I was not impressed.
We ate here a few months back and had a less than average meal. I was surprised to learn that the chef is from Italy. What’s up with that? I’ve had great food in Italy, but this place was unimpressive if not just bleh.
The pasta was NOT al dente, it was overcooked and the lamb oso bucco was dry and very gamey tasting.
I will not go back.