The 28th annual A Taste of Hilo fills Sangha Hall on Sunday, October 18, with 15 food vendors, a lineup of beverage purveyors and two hours of grazing. The money raised goes to Hawaiʻi Community College, and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hawaiʻi handed the college a record $20,000 from the last event. For most of Hilo, the event is a single Sunday afternoon on Kīlauea Avenue.
The other half happens on Manono Street. Hawaiʻi CC culinary students cook breakfast and lunch for the public there three days a week, and the fall window for that food is shorter than usual. The college's sit-down dining room is closed this semester, so the counter-service spots are the only way in until January.
The Sunday at Sangha Hall
Here are the basics. The event runs Sunday, October 18, 2026, at Sangha Hall, 424 Kīlauea Ave. General admission is 1 to 3 p.m. and costs $75. Tickets are sold online through tasteofhilo.org.
The Fuji Experience ticket is $195, which is $120 more than general admission. That covers entry at noon, a special tasting with alcohol pairing, and a reserved section for the rest of the afternoon. This year's Fuji chef is Ernie Gray of Poke Market. He was raised in Hawaiʻi, trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and cooked in kitchens across the country before coming home. He plans a tasting of signature Poke Market creations built on the Japanese family recipes he grew up with. "As I get older, I find myself going back more and more to the Japanese recipes and flavors I grew up with," Gray said in the college's announcement.
The main-floor food lineup:
- Adoboliciouss
- Cafe Pesto
- Ellie Girl Poke
- Hawaiʻi Community College
- Hilo High School Culinary Arts
- Hilo Burger Joint / Anticʻs Hiro's Cookies
- Ishida's Kitchen
- Itsuko's Kitchen / Banzai 47
- J's Local Food & Catering
- Ka Lihikai at the Grand Naniloa
- Kaneao's Kitchen
- Kats and Lemons
- Millieʻs Deli and Snack Shop
- Tenkatori
- Tukkys Famous Wings
The beverage side includes Hilo Coffee Corner, Volcano Winery, Wailuku Brew Works, Wai Koko Coconut Water and the Waiākea Kōkua Initiative, along with distributors such as Island Distributing and Johnson Brothers. The online silent auction runs October 12 to 18. It offers restaurant packages, tours, hotel stays and handcrafted items, and winners pick up their prizes at Sangha Hall during the event.
Two names on the food list are schools, not restaurants. Hawaiʻi CC and Hilo High School Culinary Arts both have tables, and the college says its culinary students take part each year, working alongside island food professionals. So you can watch the next round of Hilo cooks working beside the established ones in the same room.
Where the $75 goes
A Taste of Hilo started in 1998. Organizers feature a different local ingredient each year and describe the proceeds as support for Hawaiʻi CC's culinary program, including scholarships and program needs. The scholarship reach goes beyond the kitchen. According to UH News, scholarships from the partnership supported more than 25 students last year, in programs ranging from liberal arts and sciences to nursing, agriculture and information technology.
The trend in the gifts is clear. UH News headlined a $10,000 gift from the event in April 2025. The gift announced in June 2026 was $20,000, the largest annual donation the chamber has made to the college through the event. Over its first 26 years, the chamber's total giving to Hawaiʻi CC passed $250,000. Most of that comes from local businesses showing up. The sponsor list for 2026 includes KTA Super Stores, Suisan Company, HFS Federal Credit Union, Green Point Nursery, Tony Honda Hilo and Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.
"A Taste of Hilo has become a tradition because our community continues to support the event," said JCCIH president Vaughn Cook.
The weekday version on Manono Street
The culinary program is based in Building 382 on the college's Manono campus. That's where students cook for anyone who walks in.
Da'Ohana Corner Cafe opened on September 9 at 1175 Manono St., Building 382. Its hours are 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday. The menu covers breakfast, salads, sandwiches and wraps, burgers, loco moco, spam musubi, bentos and drinks. The produce and herbs come from the college's own agriculture program. Hawaii Tribune-Herald food columnist Audrey Wilson suggests calling (808) 934-2591 to find out what's available that day. That farm-to-counter link matters because the same agriculture students can also benefit from the Taste of Hilo scholarships, so the vegetables in your Tuesday wrap come out of the same program the Sunday ticket supports.
I Ola Nō Ke Kino is the cafeteria, run by first-year culinary students. It serves a weekly hot-lunch menu plus a short-order menu, both posted online, Tuesday through Thursday. Wilson lists it at 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or until sold out, with daily specials at (808) 934-2559 or on the menu at hawaii.hawaii.edu/cafeteria. The college's own pages give slightly different service hours, so check the weekly menu before you drive over.
What's missing this fall is the Bamboo Hale. Formerly called the Gourmet Dining Room, it sits on the Mauna Kea side of Building 382. The program's menu page says it will reopen in the Spring 2027 semester, in January.
| Student dining spot | Fall 2026 status | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Da'Ohana Corner Cafe | Open since Sept. 9 | Tuesday to Thursday |
| I Ola Nō Ke Kino cafeteria | Open, run by first-year students | Tuesday to Thursday |
| Bamboo Hale dining room | Closed, reopening January 2027 | None this semester |
The calendar is short
Three service days a week add up to fewer chances than you'd think. Here's how the rest of the season lines up:
- October 12 to 18: Taste of Hilo silent auction bidding, online or at the event.
- Sunday, October 18: Fuji Experience at noon, general admission 1 to 3 p.m. at Sangha Hall.
- Tuesdays through Thursdays, through early December: Da'Ohana Corner Cafe and I Ola Nō Ke Kino serve on Manono Street.
- December 10: Last day of fall instruction on the college's academic calendar.
- December 21: Fall semester ends.
- January 2027: Bamboo Hale reopens with the spring semester.
The college hasn't posted a final service date for its restaurants. The academic dates are the best guide, and a call to either number before a late-semester visit saves you a wasted trip.
The same pipeline, up on Kinoole Street
Culinary training in Hilo doesn't stay on campus. Korokoro Cafe recently opened on the second floor of WR Chun Hale at 1216 Kinoole St. It's a family bakery run by Celeste and Robert Pule, who wanted to bring Hokkaido-style pastries to Hilo. Their daughter studied culinary arts at Leeward Community College and worked for Roy's while she was on Oʻahu, so the bakery runs on her parents' passion and her kitchen experience.
The menu is built on Hokkaido milk bread made with the yudane method. It includes kare pan filled with house-made Japanese curry, a matcha cream pan, the bakery's melon pan variation called Golden Koro, shokupan, and Kaʻū blend coffee. On the day Wilson visited, people were lined up before the 6 a.m. opening and everything was gone by 7 a.m. The name comes from the shima-enaga, a small round bird found only in Hokkaido, and a framed story about it hangs in the cafe.
Korokoro's culinary training came from Leeward CC rather than Hawaiʻi CC, and it shows how a culinary-school background can grow into a Hilo family business with a line out the door at dawn. Gray made the same point from the Fuji side of the event. "I love that the culinary students are part of it," he said. "I was a culinary student myself."
If you're at Sangha Hall on the 18th or in line for a Da'Ohana bento this fall, say hello. I'm Hilo born and raised, and I love talking story about where this town eats. When you have questions about your home or your next move, Tessie Fontes is ready with local guidance or a home valuation.
