Overview
Le Yellow Sub is a Hilo food truck/quick-service lunch stop rather than a sit-down restaurant. The identity is pretty clear: Google Places lists it as operational at 213 Kalanianaole St, Hilo, with a phone number and weekday lunch hours, and secondary sources consistently place it in the same Hilo location and describe it as a Vietnamese-focused food truck. (foodnetwork.com)
For travelers, the main reason to care is that this is one of Hilo’s better-known casual stops for banh mi and spring rolls, with a strong reputation and national TV exposure. It appears best suited to a lunch visit, a takeout stop, or a low-key picnic meal rather than a full dining experience. (foodnetwork.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
The food is Vietnamese-leaning, with the strongest evidence pointing to banh mi sandwiches, spring rolls/cha gio, and a few other Vietnamese lunch items. The menu signal is reinforced by Food Network and third-party listings, which consistently call out the bánh mì and spring rolls as the place’s signature items. (foodnetwork.com)
- Overall menu style: Vietnamese street-food/lunch-truck lane, centered on sandwiches and portable savory plates. One secondary menu snapshot also shows some American-style subs and fried sides, which suggests the offering may be broader than the food-network coverage implies. This broader menu description comes from Uber Eats, so treat it as a delivery-platform snapshot rather than a complete in-person menu audit. (ubereats.com)
- Notable items with support: lemongrass chicken bánh mì, pork-filled spring rolls (cha gio), bánh mì with pâté, bun noodle salad, and vegetarian bánh mì / chay options. The strongest repeated signatures are the bánh mì and spring rolls. (supportlocalhawaii.com)
- Price range: traveler reports and menu evidence point to a fairly affordable lunch stop, with at least one third-party menu snapshot putting a bánh mì around $10. That fits a casual, budget-friendly meal rather than a splurge. (restaurantji.com)
- Dietary usefulness / limits: there are at least some vegetarian choices, including vegetarian bánh mì and bun salad, but the place is not presented as a dedicated vegetarian or allergy-specialist kitchen. Evidence for dietary accommodation is limited to third-party menu/review reporting. (restaurantji.com)
Notable Features & Ambiance
Le Yellow Sub reads like a compact, practical food-truck stop with a strong takeout orientation. The experience seems shaped more by the food and the park-adjacent setting than by indoor dining or elaborate service. (restaurantji.com)
- Service model and seating: food truck / counter-service style, with takeout emphasized. Third-party listings say reservations are not accepted, and Uber Eats shows it as unavailable on the platform at the moment. (restaurantji.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: casual, local, and unpretentious; review summaries describe a food-court-like cluster of nearby trucks with a pleasant lagoon/park setting. This is an editorial inference from the repeated “food truck” and nearby-park descriptions, not a hard fact from an official site. (restaurantji.com)
- Amenities / practical features: the strongest practical feature is location near Queen Liliʻuokalani Park/Reeds Bay area, which makes it convenient for an informal lunch, picnic, or beach-adjacent stop. Cash-only is mentioned by one third-party source, but that claim is not independently confirmed here and should be treated cautiously. (restaurantji.com)
- Best fit: a daytime lunch stop for travelers who want a quick, inexpensive, well-liked local specialty instead of a long sit-down meal. (foodnetwork.com)
- Weaker fit: a formal dinner, a reservation-dependent visit, or a traveler who needs a broad seating/amenity setup. (restaurantji.com)
History & Background
The most meaningful background signal is its national TV feature: Food Network lists Le Yellow Sub under “As Seen On TV,” and third-party coverage says it appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in July 2021. That suggests it has enough local reputation to attract broader attention, though the ownership/founder story itself is not well documented in the sources reviewed here. (foodnetwork.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Review summaries are strongly positive overall, with the common praise centered on the bánh mì, spring rolls, and fresh, bold flavor. A number of sources also frame it as a beloved local food truck with a friendly, personal feel, and one third-party review summary highlights especially strong service and good value. (restaurantji.com)
Common Gripes
The downside evidence is lighter and less consistent than the praise. The main cautions are the limited hours, the food-truck format, and the lack of reservations; one third-party source also says cash is required, but that point is not corroborated by an official source in this research set. Overall, the negatives look practical rather than quality-related. (restaurantji.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours posture: Google Places shows Monday–Thursday, 10:30 AM–4:00 PM, with Friday–Sunday closed; Restaurantji lists 10:30 AM–4:30 PM Monday–Thursday. The safe takeaway is weekday lunch only, with some hour drift between sources. (restaurantji.com)
- Best time to go: earlier in the lunch window is the safest bet if you want the fullest menu and shortest wait. That is an inference from the short weekday-only hours and lunch-focused positioning. (restaurantji.com)
- Reservations: do not expect reservations; third-party listings say they are not accepted. (restaurantji.com)
- Ordering: this looks best as an order-at-the-window, eat-now-or-take-it-with-you stop. If you are planning a picnic or beach lunch, this is the kind of place that fits that plan well. (restaurantji.com)
- Location note: it is on Kalanianaole Street/Avenue in Hilo near the park/lagoon area, so it is a convenient stop for people already spending time on that side of town. (foodnetwork.com)
- Payment caveat: one review source says cash only, but that is not independently verified here, so travelers should not rely on it as confirmed fact. (restaurantji.com)
Verification Notes
- Official/primary identity anchors reviewed: Le Yellow Sub, 213 Kalanianaole Ave/St, Hilo, HI 96720; phone (808) 937-0911; Google Maps CID listing; Food Network also matches the same Hilo location and phone. (foodnetwork.com)
- Operational status appears active in Google Places as of the provided retrieval date, but Uber Eats shows the business as “Closed on Uber Eats” as of Sep 20, 2022, which is a platform-specific status and not a full closure signal. (ubereats.com)
- There is minor hours drift between Google Places and Restaurantji on Thursday closing time, and the street suffix varies between “St” and “Avenue” across sources. No major identity conflict is otherwise apparent. (restaurantji.com)
Sources
- Google Places record for Le Yellow Sub —
https://maps.google.com/?cid=1852614869408144786— Retrieved 2026-04-01 — Best source for baseline identity, status, address, phone, rating, and posted hours. - Food Network listing for Le Yellow Sub —
https://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/hi/le-yellow-sub— Retrieved 2026-04-02 — Useful for confirming the Hilo location, phone number, and core Vietnamese specialties. - Uber Eats menu/listing for Le Yellow Sub —
https://www.ubereats.com/store/le-yellow-sub/OxWb5Si_SHGlZzoCplSAMA— Retrieved 2026-04-02 — Useful for menu snapshot, weekday hours pattern, and the “Closed on Uber Eats” platform note. - Restaurantji listing for Le Yellow Sub —
https://www.restaurantji.com/hi/hilo/le-yellow-sub-/— Retrieved 2026-04-02 — Useful for menu highlights, review-pattern summary, reservation note, and the address/hour drift check. - Support Local Hawaii feature on Le Yellow Sub —
https://supportlocalhawaii.com/listing/le-yellow-sub/— Retrieved 2026-04-02 — Useful for background context, TV feature mention, and the recurring praise around bánh mì and cha gio. - TV Food Maps entry for Le Yellow Sub —
https://www.tvfoodmaps.com/restaurant/HI/Hilo/Le-Yellow-Sub/— Retrieved 2026-04-02 — Useful for corroborating the Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives appearance and the episode/date signal.
