This Big Island Hotel Restuarant Won a James Beard Award—Here’s Why
The 106-year-old Manago Hotel restaurant is as humble as ever after earning a prestigious national award.
The menu at the Manago Hotel restaurant rarely changes.
The papaya at breakfast is usually from someone’s backyard and, if they’re available, the ono (wahoo) and ‘ōpelu (mackerel scad) on the lunch and dinner menus are caught off the Kona Coast. Here, you can order liver and onions—a rarity!—and pickled ogo (seaweed).
The main attraction, though, is the pork chops, thin center cutlets fried to a crisp and smothered in brown gravy and onions. It’s the only thing I order when I stop in—and the only pork chops I crave. They’re even better than my mom’s.
I took a friend recently to Manago, specifically for the pork chops, though she was enthralled by the rustic mac salad that came with the entrée. (The dish also comes with sides of cooked lima beans, corn and peas, and a big saimin bowl of white rice to share.) Here’s how it went.
The Manago dining room.
Photo: Megan Spelman
We get there just as lunch service starts—promptly at 11 a.m.—and put in our order. Within a few minutes the cherry wood-paneled dining room, cooled by old-fashioned ceiling fans, fills up with patrons, none of whom need a menu.
“What about the butterfish?” my friend asks.
“No. We’re eating pork chops.” “Shrimp?”
“No.”
The hotel in Captain Cook opened in 1917, when Kinzo Manago and Osame Nagata sold udon, bread and jam, and coffee out of their home, then added cots for travelers. Today, the hotel and its popular restaurant are run by fourth-generation sisters Britney and Taryn Manago.
This year the 106-year-old restaurant—considered the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Hawai‘i—earned the 2023 America’s Classics Award from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. It’s the fourth Hawai‘i eatery to win the award; the others are Helena’s Hawaiian Foods in Honolulu, Sam Choy’s Kaloko (now closed) on Hawai‘i Island and Hamura Saimin Stand on Kaua‘i.
A delectable spread.
Photo: Megan Spelman
Taryn Manago, who’s working the day we visit, says it’s been busy—but it’s always busy. She barely has time to chat: The phone rings, customers line up, tables need to be cleared.
After lunch we wander around the hotel, a place my parents stayed when visiting Kona years ago. Located around 20 miles south of the Kona International Airport, it’s nowhere near tourist attractions or large resort towns like Waikoloa. And though there’s nothing fancy—or even modern—about the plantation-era hotel, you can’t beat the rates, as low as $88 a night. (Rooms with shared bathrooms, which are even cheaper, are currently unavailable.) The hotel also offers a traditional Japanese room with ofuro (Japanese bathtub), tatami mats on the floor and a futon to sleep on. There are no elevators, no air conditioning and no TVs, but many rooms have balconies with views of the coast.
No frills. Kinda like the restaurant. And I’m not complaining.
82-6155 Māmalahoa Highway, Captain Cook, Hawai‘i Island, (808) 323-2642, managohotel.com, @managohotel
This story was originally published in our Fall 2023 issue.
Don’t forget to vote in our Readers’ Choice Awards! Vote for your favorite hotel, restaurant, hike, beach, poke shop and more! Plus, enter to win a free trip to Hawaiʻi, courtesy of Alaska Airlines and Waimea Plantation Cottages.
