The Emerald Orchid

Bonus points for being almost the only thing open after 9:00 p.m. besides Ken's House of Pancakes.  They offer locally brewed Mehana brand beers on tap (could have been colder) as well as a few others.  I recommend the Mehana Porter.  It was really tasty, but not as thick as I'm used to a porter being.  I also had the "Humpback" something beer and the Pale Ale.  Both good, much better than any Budweiser.

I think this place is trying to be a jack of all trades kind of place, and they succeed at least half-way.  I know there's dance nights like "Latin Dance Night" sometimes.  "The Emerald Orchid" and 3 of their entrees on the menu such as Bangers and Mash allude to the place being an Irish bar.  However, other than that it's not very Irish-seeming.  Other "pupus" and entrees are local Hawaiian favorites as well as standard bar-food.  I tried the 1/2 pound of "seasoned" onion rings.  There was absolutely NO seasoning (not even salt?), but add a bunch of salt and for $4, this munchie was perfectly acceptable.

There's Open Mike Night, which was pretty painful.  It was pretty bad until the very end of the evening.  Save the best for last, I guess.  There was a female duo with one local girl on electric bass that I thought was pretty good.

I'm pretty sure a troupe of tall caucasian hookers came in towards the end of the evening.  My fiance thinks they were hookers too.  They were like bees going from guy to guy "saying Hi".  Maybe they were just ugly and trying to get laid...?  (Oooh, I feel so mean for typing that!)  I don't think so, though.  It seemed like business.

Anyway, check it out if you're in Hilo, bored, and in need of entertainment after 9:00 p.m.  Maybe ask for "bucket ice" with your beer.

   * Hours of Operation : 11:00am till 2:00am
   * Email : the_emerald_orchid at <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2Fyahoo.com&s=670c83b2efe4b2818e6440a64e449d57fb6fd834c451330b5db7c952a9cb25f9" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://yahoo.com</a>