The 5 Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants on Hawaiʻi Island in 2025
Thanks to a diverse bounty of local farms and producers, these restaurants are raising the bar with innovative farm-to-table dining experiences on the Big Island.
Hawaiʻi Island is home to an incredible variety of local farms and producers, providing chefs with the opportunity to prepare creative dishes with the freshest ingredients available. Across the island, you’ll find restaurants committed to working and supporting local farms, ranchers and fishermen. The results are beautiful dishes highlighting the one-of-a-kind flavors of Hawaiʻi.
Here are the best farm-to-table restaurants on Hawaiʻi Island, according to the readers of HAWAIʻI Magazine.
1. Merriman’s Waimea
Merriman’s Waimea opened in 1988 and has helped lead the wave of farm-to-table restaurants throughout the Islands.
Photo: Courtesy of Merriman’s Waimea
Peter Merriman is an influential chef and restaurateur in Hawaiʻi, known for his commitment to working with the local farmers and producers. He played a pivotal role in establishing the Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine movement in the 1990s. But leading up to that, the renowned chef opened Merriman’s in Waimea on Hawaiʻi Island in 1988. He has since launched Merriman’s Honolulu, Merriman’s Kapalua on Maui and Merriman’s Kauaʻi.
At Merriman’s Waimea, expect dishes prepared with locally sourced ingredients beginning with your pūpū and ending with dessert. Here, you can start with kalo hummus or kālua pork quesadillas with homemade kimchi and then enjoy fish encrusted with Hāmākua macadamia nuts or ravioli stuffed with Kona lobster and Hōnaunau spinach. For dessert, indulge in the delightful lilikoʻi mousse.
Hand-in-hand with its leading farm-to-table practices, sustainability is a core value for the restaurant, too. Merriman’s Waimea is also the first net-zero restaurant in Hawaiʻi.
65-1227 Opelo Road B, Waimea, merrimanshawaii.com
2. Hilo Bay Café
Hilo Bay Café focuses on sourcing fresh, local ingredients for its contemporary menu.
Photo: Courtesy of Hilo Bay Café
Perched on Hilo Bay, this popular farm-to-table restaurant offers sweeping views of the Pacific, Mauna Kea and charming Hilo town. While the views are incredible, the food is unforgettable. Hilo Bay Café focuses on sourcing fresh, local ingredients for its contemporary menu. Here, you can enjoy comfort dishes like potato gratin with ʻulu and Hāmākua mushrooms or Hāmākua mushroom pot pie filled with curried vegetables. You can also find fresh sushi and poke bowls.
123 Lihiwai St., Hilo, hilobaycafe.com
3. Moon and Turtle
Moon and Turtle’s menu is ever evolving based on what’s in season.
Photo: Aaron K. Yoshino
This unassuming restaurant in Hilo is bursting with culinary creativity. Moon and Turtle’s menu is ever evolving based on what’s in season. Here, you can find dishes like bluefin sashimi and sizzling tetsuyaki poke to ʻulu fritters and mushroom risotto with Hāmākua aliʻi mushrooms or campanelle pasta with locally caught octopus.
51 Kalākaua St., Hilo, @moonandturtle
4. Foster’s Kitchen
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You can find Foster’s Kitchen in Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa on Hawaiʻi Island. This farm-to-table restaurant also calls itself a scratch kitchen, preparing most of its menu from scratch with locally sourced ingredients. Here, you can start with fresh bruschetta made with caramelized Maui onion and seared crab cakes with lilikoʻi slaw and enjoy a hearty burger topped with Hāmākua aliʻi mushrooms.
75-5805 Aliʻi Dr., Kailua-Kona; 69-250 Waikoloa Beach Dr., Waikoloa Village; fosterskitchen.com
5. FORC
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Chef Allen Hess is widely known in the Islands for his commitment to Hawaiʻi Regional Cuisine and redefining local favorites. With FORC, his farm-to-table restaurant in Waimea, he continues to champion local farmers with reimagined dishes that highlight the unique flavors of Hawaiʻi Island. Here, you can find local classics like garlic fried rice and Portuguese bean soup along with Hess’s loco moco and beef lau lau. To end, you can choose from a few sweet treats made with local chocolate and macadamia nuts.
65-1214 Lindsey Road, Waimea, forchawaii.com
See all of the winners of our 2025 Readers’ Choice Awards in our latest issue, which you can buy here. Better yet, subscribe and get HAWAIʻI Magazine delivered to right to your mailbox.
Grace Maeda is the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.
