Pueo's Osteria

This was a very disappointing experience. We went in for my birthday dinner and I was very excited because the menu looked great. To start, the server was cold and not engaging at all. Some of the food was just ok, but very high prices for just ok. Two of the dishes were almost not edible. My partner is gluten free and I do appreciate the accommodation that was offered, but they up-charge $5 for boxed gluten free pasta. We constantly eat gluten free and it’s usually very tasty but her dish was just nasty. The pasta was hard/crunchy like it was burned in a pan after being boiled. She would take bites of her food then have to spit out the rock hard pieces of pasta. The pesto sauce was very bland, and the tomato sauce was way too sweet. I highly recommend you do not go here for any special occasion, they are not welcoming and don’t seem to care about any celebration. There’s some great Italian on the Big Island, look somewhere else.

We went to their previous location back in 2021. The food was excellent, as was our service. The risotto was the best I have had outside of Italy. The only thing is the ambiance was a bit loud, and it felt a little snug indoors. The outdoor balcony looked excellent. Lots of gluten free options. I had the beef carpaccio and a side of risotto as my main course, my husband had the mushroom pizza.

I mentioned my allergy and the sever was very pleasant about it. I was able to get the veal parmigiana fully gluten free. It was one of the best meals I’ve had. I would recommend this place to my friends!