Overview
Lemongrass Restaurant is a casual Asian restaurant in Keaau’s shopping-center corridor on the Big Island, with a menu built around Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai dishes. It is a practical stop for travelers who want an inexpensive, broad-menu meal rather than a destination dining experience. The Google record and the restaurant’s own site agree on the core identity, address, phone number, and daily hours, which makes this a fairly straightforward match with no major identity conflict. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
For a traveler, the main appeal is flexibility: it covers noodles, soups, rice plates, curry-style dishes, and familiar takeout classics in one place. The tradeoff is that the concept is wide rather than tightly focused, so expectations should be for dependable neighborhood Asian comfort food rather than a chef-driven specialty house. That inference comes from the menu structure and the recurring review language emphasizing variety, portion size, and convenience. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
Cuisine & Specialties
Lemongrass serves a mixed Chinese-Vietnamese-Thai menu, with enough overlap that it feels designed for groups who want different things at the same table. The menu leans into familiar, accessible dishes: fried appetizers, noodle soups, vermicelli bowls, pad Thai, fried rice, chow mein, curries, and a handful of chef’s specials. Pricing appears budget-friendly for the area, with many appetizers and mains landing roughly in the low-teens to mid-teens, and the Google listing also marks it as low-cost. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Overall menu style: broad, casual Asian comfort food spanning Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai dishes; strong takeout-friendly structure. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Notable dishes/specialties with support: Imperial Rolls, Vegetable Spring Rolls, Crispy Wonton, Sesame Balls, Pad Thai Chicken/Shrimp, Singapore Rice Noodle, Hot & Sour Soup, Tom Yum Seafood Soup, Seafood Delight, Basil Tofu Eggplant, Salt & Pepper Calamari. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Traveler-relevant favorites mentioned in reviews: sea bass, tofu pad thai, fried rice, Singapore noodles, eggplant curry, Mongolian beef, kung pao chicken, chow mein, sesame balls. These are supported by the restaurant’s own review snippets and Restaurantji’s compiled customer-favorite list. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Price range / spend expectations: budget to low-mid spend; many starters are around $8–$12, and many mains sit around $13–$17, which makes it easier to feed a family or group without a high bill. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Dietary usefulness / limitations: vegetarian options are explicitly noted, and one review says staff carefully checks ingredients for vegetarian diners. That said, the menu is still centered on sauces, fried items, and cross-category Asian takeout dishes, so it is useful for vegetarians but not a highly specialized dietary kitchen. (restaurantji.com)
Notable Features & Ambiance
This looks and reads like a straightforward casual restaurant rather than a polished dining room. The published materials emphasize dine-in, takeout, and delivery, and Restaurantji lists outdoor seating; the overall feel suggested by the sources is a practical neighborhood spot in a shopping center, not a scenic or refined destination. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Service model and seating style: dine-in, takeout, pickup, and delivery are all supported; outdoor seating is listed on Restaurantji. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Atmosphere and decor: described in official copy as friendly and informal, with review summaries repeatedly pointing to a casual, “aloha vibes” kind of environment. This is best read as an editorial inference from the source language rather than a verified design description. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Amenities or practical features: online ordering is available through the restaurant’s ordering site, though that site also says online ordering is not currently offered at this location, so the ordering posture appears inconsistent and worth checking before relying on it. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Best fit: a relaxed lunch, easy family dinner, or a no-fuss takeout stop for travelers staying in Puna or passing through Keaau. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Weaker fit: travelers looking for a memorable setting, destination-level ambiance, or a tightly curated chef menu will likely find this too utilitarian. That is an inference from the menu breadth and review patterns. (order.lemongrasskeaau.com)
History & Background
Very little substantive ownership or founder history is available from the sources I found. The official site’s “Our Story” section is brief and marketing-oriented, describing the restaurant as a neighborhood place with affordable prices, fresh ingredients, and friendly service, but it does not give a deeper origin story, chef background, or relocation history. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
Review Sentiment Snapshot
What People Love
Review patterns are consistently positive around portion size, value, fast service, and menu variety. The strongest recurring praise is that the restaurant gives a lot of food for the price and covers many reliable comfort-food choices. Specific items singled out across the sources include sesame balls, sea bass, tofu pad thai, fried rice, Mongolian beef, kung pao chicken, and Singapore noodles. Vegetarian diners also appear to have a good experience here. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
Common Gripes
The downside evidence is mixed rather than strong. The clearest recurring caution is that, because the menu is broad and the place is casual, some dishes may not land with the same consistency as the strongest favorites; one review summary mentions tofu pad thai tasting good but wanting more sauce. Restaurantji’s aggregate rating is also lower than the strongest praise would suggest, which points to unevenness in some visits, though the exact pain points are not fully spelled out in the source text. (restaurantji.com)
Practical Visitor Tips
- Hours posture: both the Google record and the restaurant site list daily hours of 9:00 AM–8:30 PM, so it works for lunch and early dinner; verify on the day if you are making a special trip. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Walk-ins vs. reservations: the source set supports walk-in, pickup, and delivery use; I did not find evidence of a reservation system. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Ordering: pickup appears clearly supported; delivery is advertised on the main site, but the ordering subdomain also says online ordering is not currently offered at this location, so confirm before assuming digital checkout will work. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Location: it sits at 16-586 Old Volcano Rd in Keaau, in or near the shopping-center cluster rather than on a standalone scenic site. That makes it convenient for errands and drive-by meals. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- What to order if you want the safest bets: fried rice, Mongolian beef, kung pao chicken, sesame balls, Singapore noodles, or one of the seafood or curry-style chef specials are the most supported bets from reviews and menu listings. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- If you need vegetarian dining: it appears to be one of the more useful casual options in the area for vegetarians, but because the kitchen is broad and sauce-heavy, it is still worth asking about ingredients. (restaurantji.com)
Verification Notes
- Official name and Google identity align: Lemongrass Restaurant, 16-586 Old Volcano Rd, Keaau, HI 96749, phone (808) 982-8558. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Google lists the business as OPERATIONAL; the restaurant’s own site was also live at retrieval. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- Website handling is a little inconsistent: the main site is live, but the ordering subdomain says online ordering is not currently offered at this location even though the homepage advertises pickup/delivery. (lemongrasskeaau.com)
- No major identity conflicts found, though one third-party listing refers to the location as being in or near the Keaau Shopping Center / Town Center and another mentions Suite 103; the Google record and official site should be treated as the authoritative address form. (mapquest.com)
Sources
- Official restaurant site — Lemongrass Restaurant (Keaau) —
https://www.lemongrasskeaau.com/— retrieved 2026-04-02 — best for core identity, hours, service model, and the restaurant’s own description of cuisine and favorites. - Official ordering/menu site — Lemongrass Restaurant - Keaau —
https://order.lemongrasskeaau.com/menu— retrieved 2026-04-02 — best for menu structure, specific dish names, and price points. - Official location/hours page — Lemongrass Restaurant - Keaau —
https://order.lemongrasskeaau.com/locationinfo— retrieved 2026-04-02 — best for current hours posture and a check on operational consistency. - Restaurantji listing — Lemongrass Restaurant, Keaau —
https://www.restaurantji.com/hi/keaau/lemongrass-restaurant-/— retrieved 2026-04-02 — useful for recurring review themes, customer-favorite dishes, outdoor seating note, and broad sentiment snapshot. - Tripadvisor listing — Lemongrass Restaurant, Keaau —
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60590-d26906898-Reviews-Lemongrass_Restaurant-Keaau_Island_of_Hawaii_Hawaii.html— retrieved 2026-04-02 — used mainly as a corroborating presence signal for the location, though the accessible snippet was limited. - MapQuest listing — Lemongrass Restaurant —
https://www.mapquest.com/us/hawaii/lemongrass-restaurant-434001108— retrieved 2026-04-02 — helpful for confirming shopping-center context and the Keaau location framing.
