Pull off the highway and let Hilo Hattie do the cooking

Hilo Hattie’s Nimitz Highway store has been a landmark for years, but how many locals whizzing by en route to Ala Moana Center or Waikiki, or heading home pau hana, have ever considered dropping in for a look?

Even if you’re not in the market for aloha wear, but in the area, the Kona Bean Cafe provides another reason to stop by.

Visitors to the shop had always asked for recommendations on where to eat in Iwilei, so the company decided it might boost business by keeping people fed and energized. Even the most avid shoppers sometimes need refueling.

The cafe delivers the jolt of Kona coffee in its most basic form, blended or served in the form of affogato, the Italian-style "drowned" dessert of coffee poured here over soft-serve vanilla ice cream.

As for food, general manager Eddie Kang has created a basic menu of hot dogs, chili plates and the like that are tourist-friendly but with room for Hawaii-grown ingredients, such as nachos topped with kalua pork, island salsa and house-made guacamole from local avocados.

Small signs on either side of the building advertise the Friday special, alternating between delicious pastele stew ($7 plate, $6 bowl; served this week) and homemade shoyu chicken ($7 plate, $5 bowl; next week). Both dishes are aimed at the local crowd. Few tourists would recognize those dishes.

———

The Kona Bean Cafe inside Hilo Hattie, at 700 N. Nimitz Highway, is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Call 535-6500 or visit www.hilohattie.com.