Comments on: Verna’s Drive In

By: JG

JG — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:06:20 +0000

I was curious about Verna’s, since it a local establishment – I thought I’d give it a try since my family always go to Ken’s House of Pancakes when we are in Hilo. Verna’s was quite disappointing; it was less than mediocre. The loco moco gravy was quite blaaah and the patty was too salty. Our family all agreed, we will stick with Ken’s House of Pancakes; their food is always ono, they give good portions and the service is great.

By: m

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:17:10 +0000

it depends on who is cooking the food. some cooks are lazy and dont care about the quality. i have tried everything on the menu. i live in the mainland now and if i were to go back to hilo. i would eat at verna’s.

By: Terinna

Terinna — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:04:54 +0000

Hey! Thanks for putting a post about Verna’s.. I tried looking for some review on Yelp! But that didn’t help. Haha. I’m from San Francisco so our Hawaiian food consists of only Japanese BBQ with a slab of mac salad on the side. =/ So I was hoping to find more local style type of food in Hilo. =)

I’m moving to Hilo for college this coming week & I asked my friend who’s from Kona to recommend some good late night dining places and she told me to go to Verna’s. She seems to be very happy about the food there but reading your post made me feel iffy. I guess I’m just going to have to try it out on my own.

But, thanks again for the post! Pretty helpful!

By: Pua

Pua — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:05:02 +0000

Verna’s teri burger with Swiss cheese…ono! Das ’nuff fo me!! =)

By: penny

penny — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:16:46 +0000

I love their tag line: “If no can, no can. If can, Verna’s!” This place has been every kind of restaurant. I remember back in the day when it was Dairy Queen!

I feel sorry for the people who work their, no AC!

By: James

James — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 18:24:10 +0000

lance, sorry about your bad loco moco experiences next time let me know when you are here and we can grind some good ones! yeah, verna’s get really local style stuff on their menu!

lope, that sounds disgusting, but hey i’m filipino and have a really good immune system as long as taste good and nothing weird in my food, i’m cool and don’t want to know what’s back there! haha

dean, lol.. well that’s what scares me.. when i tried the loco moco i was totally sober. i also tried the teri burger later on sober and it wasn’t as good (but still good!)… i think the teri burgers taste best in the wee hours because it was given time to marinate… dont’ get the ones in the morning where they just start to marinate them, i guess.

Kirk, I would’ve thought San Diego got lots of late night options. Ewww I hate denny’s! Taco shops…. mmmm. no late night loco mocos? Those are the best.

Reid, I was sad you wasn’t able to come to Hilo side! Manago hotel closed at 7:30? man… I thought I remember eating there later than that. They supposed to have a mean pork chop. Where did you eat? I’ll keep a close eye on your food blog Speaking of teri burgers, i’ve seen some reviews of yours with teri burgers at drive in’s… I will def check them out next time I’m on Oahu!

By: Reid

Reid — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 04:16:24 +0000

Hi James,

Just got back from Kona and I have to say that I was surprised that everything closed so early. On Saturday, places like the Manago Hotel closed at 7:30 pm! YIKES….

I love teriburgers and especially ones that contain homemade patties. That one looks so good right now! =P

By: Kirk

Kirk — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 20:25:00 +0000

James – It seems that you have more options for late night eating in Hilo then we do here in San Diego, inless you want Denny’s or a Taco Shop you’re S-O-L.

By: Dean

Dean — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 15:58:45 +0000

I guess after a night of partying …a dry overcooked Loco doesn’t matter much to the wasted mouth…. but to a “pro” like James, it must have been a nightmare.

By: lope

lope — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 10:42:37 +0000

ugh…verna’s. i dunno if they cleaned up the place, but the one and only time i went there, it was naaaasty! there were bugs flying around in the kitchen and there were, i swear, at least a hundred huge roaches in the restroom….i refused to order anything and refuse to ever go there again. also, a friend of ours found a roach tucked neatly at the bottom of his meal!!! cafe 100 is another place i refuse to eat…there were feathers still connected to the chicken i ordered and it totally grossed me out! it still gives me the heebee jeebees just thinking about those two places!