Overview
FORC Restaurant is a dinner-oriented restaurant in Waimea on the Big Island, positioned as a Hawaiian-regional, farm-to-table place with a bar program and a more polished dining-room feel than a casual local plate-lunch spot. The official site and Google Places record align on the core identity: 65-1214 Lindsey Rd in Waimea, operational, with a phone number that matches across sources. (forchawaii.com)
For travelers, the appeal is that this is one of Waimea’s better-known “special night out” restaurants, with enough local sourcing and chef-driven ambition to matter, but still grounded in Big Island ingredients and regional comfort food rather than tasting-menu formality. The main practical caveat is that hours and service patterns have shifted on the official site: Google’s older profile hours differ from the current website, which now emphasizes dinner service and happy hour, and says brunch is suspended for now. (forchawaii.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
FORC’s menu sits in the lane of Hawaiian regional cuisine with a strong Big Island farm-and-ranch emphasis. It mixes local fish, beef, pork, and island produce with technique from contemporary American fine dining, plus a separate cocktail and wine program. The menu is seasonal and explicitly changes with ingredient availability, so the exact lineup can drift. (forchawaii.com)
- Overall menu style: chef-driven Hawaiian regional comfort food; dinner, happy hour, cocktails, wine, and some private-event catering. (forchawaii.com)
- Notable dishes / specialties supported by menu evidence:
- Miso fish and whole roasted moi on the “ocean” side of the menu. (forchawaii.com)
- F.O.R.C. steak (loco moco style), Korean short rib, filet mignon, and prime coffee-rub ribeye on the rancher side. (forchawaii.com)
- Chef’s Hawaiian meal with homemade beef laulau and poi. (forchawaii.com)
- Portuguese chicken, whole roasted fish, and Big Island lamb as local-favorite / seasonal items. (forchawaii.com)
- Desserts such as Big Island chocolate crème brûlée, macadamia nut tart, and a Hamakua chocolate / 10-year tawny port tasting. (forchawaii.com)
- Happy-hour items and drinks including the ube lemon drop martini, jalapeño margarita, house pineapple martini, Portuguese mussels, house poke, and farmers fries. (forchawaii.com)
- Price range / spend expectation: Google Places lists it at price level 2, but the menu shows dinner entrees commonly in the mid-$30s to $60s, so travelers should expect a moderate-to-upper-moderate dinner spend, especially with drinks or shared starters. (forchawaii.com)
- Dietary usefulness / limitations: there is some evidence of flexibility—Google/third-party listings mention vegan options, and the official menu includes fish, meat, and a few lighter sides—but the strongest fit is not a dedicated vegetarian or gluten-free restaurant. The Thanksgiving coverage also noted the team planning for gluten-free alternatives, which suggests some accommodation, but not a specialized menu. (restaurantji.com)
Notable Features & Ambiance
FORC presents itself as a “country kitchen” style restaurant with a renovated dining room, bar, and a private dining area. The official opening note highlights booths and tables with sightlines into the kitchen, plus a reclaimed-wood installation tied to local ranching heritage; that points to a room meant to feel warm, local, and a little theatrical rather than sleek or minimal. (forchawaii.com)
- Service model and seating style: reservations are supported; happy hour is first-come, first-served at the bar; the restaurant also handles special events and banquets. (forchawaii.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: warm, locally rooted, “country kitchen” feel with a kitchen-view dining room, bar seating, and a reclaimed-wood ranching feature. (forchawaii.com)
- Amenities / practical features: bar program, wine list, cocktails, private dining, special-event capability, and reservations through OpenTable or by phone. (forchawaii.com)
- Best fit: date night, celebratory dinner, or a traveler who wants a polished Big Island meal with local ingredients and cocktails. OpenTable’s own listing also frames it as a good date-night choice with a casual-elegant vibe. (opentable.com)
- Weaker fit: a quick, inexpensive meal; an early-brunch stop; or a traveler who needs a highly quiet room every night, since the bar and occasional live-music energy can make the room livelier. This is more of a reasoned inference from the bar-forward setup and OpenTable’s note about louder nights than a hard fact from guest reviews. (forchawaii.com)
History & Background
FORC is closely associated with Chef Allen Hess and opened in 2021, with the name explicitly standing for “Farmer Ocean Rancher Cook.” The official launch materials frame the restaurant as a tribute to local farmers, ranchers, fishers, and the ingredients that support Waimea’s food culture. More recent coverage still ties the restaurant to that regional-cuisine identity and to Hess’s farm-to-table focus. (forchawaii.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Review and feature patterns point to strong praise for the food’s ambition, local sourcing, and range: steaks, fish, cocktails, and comfort-food items all get attention. People also seem to like that it feels more welcoming than formal fine dining, with good service, a lively bar, and a “special occasion” feel without being stuffy. Hawaii Magazine’s 2025 coverage and OpenTable’s synopsis both reinforce the restaurant’s reputation for local sourcing and date-night appeal. (opentable.com)
Common Gripes
The most useful downside signals are mixed rather than severe. The strongest recurring caution is that the room can be louder or more energetic than some diners want, especially near the bar, and that menu availability shifts with seasonality. There is also some evidence of occasional inconsistency in execution from community comments, but that signal is lighter than the praise and should be treated as a caution rather than a defining flaw. (opentable.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours: the current official site says dinner runs 4:30 PM–8:30 PM for reservations, happy hour is 3:00 PM–4:40 PM at the bar, and the contact page lists the broader public-facing hours as 3:00 PM–8:30 PM. Google’s older hours differ, so use the official site or call ahead before relying on Maps. (forchawaii.com)
- Reservation posture: reservations are recommended and supported online; the bar happy hour is first come, first served. (forchawaii.com)
- Best time to go: for a quieter dinner, aim earlier in the dinner window rather than peak bar hours; for value, the happy hour looks like the best price point on the menu. This is an inference from the published hours and bar setup. (forchawaii.com)
- Parking / location: it sits on Lindsey Road in Waimea Town, so it is not a beach or resort dining room; plan it as a town stop rather than a scenic-view meal. (forchawaii.com)
- Ordering tips: the menu changes with seasonality, and some dishes may require pre-ordering or be limited; the whole fish and holiday specials are explicitly treated as availability-sensitive. (forchawaii.com)
- Best use case: a substantial dinner, birthday, date night, or a meal where you want Hawaii Island ingredients and cocktails in one place. (opentable.com)
Verification Notes
- Official identity matches the candidate record on name, address, and phone: FORC Restaurant, 65-1214 Lindsey Rd., Waimea Town Kamuela, HI 96743-8438, (808) 731-4656. (forchawaii.com)
- The official website is forchawaii.com and the business appears operational. (forchawaii.com)
- There is a hours mismatch between Google’s stored hours and the current official site; current site language is the better source for planning. (forchawaii.com)
- No major identity conflict found beyond the hours drift. (forchawaii.com)
Sources
- FORC Restaurant — Contact page —
https://forchawaii.com/contact/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for official address, phone, and the current contact-page hours. - FORC Restaurant — Reservations page —
https://forchawaii.com/reservations/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for current dinner, happy hour, holiday closure, and reservation details. - FORC Restaurant — Opening / history page —
https://forchawaii.com/opening/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for origin story, chef association, and the restaurant’s intended atmosphere. - FORC Restaurant — Dinner & Happy Hour menu —
https://forchawaii.com/dinner-happy-hour/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for signature dishes, drinks, dessert lineup, and pricing. - FORC Restaurant — Cocktails & Wine page —
https://forchawaii.com/cocktails-wine/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for the wine program, sommelier service, and corkage note. - FORC Restaurant — Home page —
https://forchawaii.com/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for the restaurant’s current self-description and service framing. - Hawaiʻi Magazine — “The 5 Best Farm-to-Table Restaurants on Hawaiʻi Island in 2025” —
https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/best-farm-to-table-restaurants-on-hawaii-island/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for third-party confirmation of farm-to-table positioning and regional reputation. - OpenTable listing for FORC Restaurant —
https://www.opentable.com/r/forc-waimea— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for traveler-facing sentiment summary, date-night framing, and recent featured references. - Big Island Now — Thanksgiving dining options article —
https://bigislandnow.com/2024/11/25/business-monday-big-island-restaurants-give-visitors-thanksgiving-dinner-options/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for corroborating holiday menu items, pricing, and operational details. - Restaurantji listing for FORC Restaurant —
https://www.restaurantji.com/hi/waimea/forc-restaurant-/— Retrieved 2026-04-02. Useful for secondary menu cues and mixed user-reported ambiance notes, with lower evidentiary weight than primary sources.
