When you’re taking the family out to dinner or having lunch with the gang, a golf course may not be the first place that comes to mind. But those who aren’t into the sport are missing out on a great source for down-home local food.

This is no surprise to the players, who have long appreciated the welcoming shade of the proverbial 19th hole after a long day trudging the links. More than what’s on the menu, golfers keep coming back for the camaraderie, and a place where friends gather to recap triumphs or defeats.

But those who’ve never picked up a nine-iron might be surprised at benefits of golf-course dining that go beyond the menu — lots of free parking and serene, panoramic views from a restaurant in the middle of lush fields of grass. There are plenty of window tables to go around, plus outdoor seating that — thanks to refreshing breezes — beats a sidewalk cafe by a mile.

The food may not be fancy, but it’s comforting, and every restaurant becomes known for a few favorite dishes — “Everybody has their little niche,” says Guy Yamamoto, who has managed three Oahu golf courses over the past nine years.

Best known for winning the U.S. Amateur Public Links in 1994, Yamamoto now manages the Royal Hawaiian Golf Club (formerly Luana Hills) in Maunawili Valley, recently transferred from Mililani Golf Club. He’s also worked at the Ewa Beach Golf Club, Olomana Golf Links and Pearl Country Club. Most of Oahu’s 40 or so courses, even those privately owned, offer restaurants open to the public, he said.

The key to a restaurant’s popularity is “knowing your clientele and offering food they like. It does not have to be innovative,” he said, and the ideal menu varies by location, depending on the regulars. But local comfort food seems to be the name of the game, as almost every restaurant makes a version of loco moco and hamburger steak, he said. It seems that anything covered in rich, brown gravy is a winner, like these kamaaina standards, in addition to items like fall-off-the-bone baked pork chops at Moa­nalua, and the chicken cutlet at Olomana.

A welcoming atmosphere and friendly service go a long way, Yamamoto said, adding how impressive he finds veteran servers who can remember all their regular customers’ usual orders.

Another plus is that golf course restaurants are designed so groups of golfers can chat with friends without disturbing the peace, even if they’re not all sitting together. “They know they can go there to brag about their victories with friends or settle their bets,” he said. Or they can linger for hours, cheering a tournament on TV, as clubs aren’t looking for quick turnover.

THE SMALL, old-time Moanalua Golf Club restaurant is a case in point. Men and women gather in noisy bunches, laughing and joking with others across the room. The camaraderie is “amazing,” says General Manager John Harman, former PGA pro at Waialae Country Club, who grew up learning the game at his neighborhood course.

The bonus, he added, is fabulous local food at a reasonable price. “We’re not fine dining, but we are bringing in nicer wines.”

The semiprivate club’s clients are 90 percent local, but nonmembers regularly stop in for a beer and pupu, and watch TV to wait out the traffic on their way home from work.

He’s proud of the club’s historic high points. It’s the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi River (built in 1898), and it’s where aviation pioneer Amelia Earheart once landed her plane. “The history of it is there and we can’t lose it.”

Non-golfers can find these restaurants to be a revelation. Kapolei resident Linda Fuji­kawa went to the Waikele Country Club Restaurant for the first time recently, and it was like “opening a new world for us out in Waikele.” A retired Japanese-language professor, she returned with friends and relatives the same week, especially to sample all the Japanese items on the menu.

Harue Van Buren has been a waitress at Waikele since 1991, and raves about Chef Masahide Miyagi’s Okinawan pig’s feet and oxtail soups, skimmed of any grease. The chef operated the Sushi-Ten restaurants in Waimalu in the 1990s and later in Waikele, until he came to golf club in 2011. He makes teishoku combination plates, featuring butterfish and ahi belly with garlic butter, among a list of other Japanese specialties. For the American/local side of the menu, created by chef Gary Dioquino, Van Buren said popular items are the sizzling kalbi platter and Chinese steamed fish, made with basa.

Yvonne Bellefeuille, food and beverage manager, said about 20 percent of the golfers are from Japan and parts of Asia, including lunch tour groups. The weekends are particularly packed with club players and after-churchgoers, as well as banquet customers.

The Paliuli restaurant at the Mililani Golf Club, which Yamamoto used to manage, offers a little bit of everything, including a number of Filipino dishes.

Chef Lisa Kim (formerly Choi), who once owned Cafe Olive in Wahiawa, comes up with specials like kim chee pasta, made with shrimp or a kalbi-marinated sausage.

The Filipino dishes are created by longtime chef Tony Ferido, who cooked for Paliuli’s predecessor, Alonzo’s. His pork adobo omelette is one of the best around, says manager Maxine Dela Cruz, and the restaurant is known for its lechon kawali, or crispy pork belly.

The kim chee pasta, she added, “doesn’t sound like it’s going to be good, but it is.”

SADLY, another restaurant that was gaining a local following was shuttered in April at the Olomana Golf Links in Waimanalo, which closed due to financial problems. Chef Jon Choy, a former food truck entrepreneur and line cook, learned the trade from Gordon Hopkins, a retired executive for Roy’s Restaurants, who was Olomana’s chef until leaving for the mainland last year.

Hopkins taught Choy about cooking techniques and equipment usage, but Choy said he tweaked the recipes with his own local touch, learned from his mother and grandmother.

A bestseller was the sizzling kalbi, with his special marinade. Popular, too, especially among construction workers, was a hefty 6-ounce Nalo Phat Burger, loaded with toppings and capped with a fried egg. Choy replaced a frozen wagyu beef patty with his own blend of local beef cuts. He always wondered if the construction crew could return to work after eating such a monstrous meal.

The restaurant used to draw Japanese tour groups, but Choy didn’t feel he had to offer anything other than Hawaii comfort food, because “it’s appealing in itself” and they seemed to enjoy it, too.

Tourists and nongolfers don’t tend to look for good food at a golf course, and the course restaurant managers realize people are largely unaware that their diners are open to the public.

“A lot of people think we’re private because we’re called a ‘country club,’ or don’t know we’re around,” said Bellefeuille, at the Waikele course. “It’s more like a hidden gem.”