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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Hilo
White rice topped with a hamburger, a fried egg and a dark meat gravy. Created in Hilo, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, in 1949, it became one of the islands’ most popular dishes.
Traditional dish from Hilo, Havaí
Also known as: loco-moco
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Loco moco — Hilo, the United States
The loco moco was born in Hilo, on the east coast of the Island of Hawaiʻi. According to the story told in town, in 1949 a group of teenagers from a sports club asked the owners of a restaurant, Richard and Nancy Inouye, for something cheap, quick and different from a sandwich. The answer was rice with a hamburger on top, covered in gravy; the fried egg came later.
The name also came from the boys: “loco,” from one of their nicknames, and “moco” because it rhymed. The dish is a variation of the plate lunch, the boxed lunch that originated on Hawaiian plantations, with rice as the base.
The loco moco spread across all the islands and appears on menus at diners and restaurants from breakfast through dinner. There are versions with fish, with kalua pork or with Portuguese sausage, but the most requested remains the original.
Hilo , Havaí
White rice, beef hamburger, fried egg and dark meat gravy.
In a deep plate or in a takeout box, with the egg and gravy on top of the hamburger and rice; sometimes served with macaroni salad.
All year round, at any meal.
Your questions
In Hilo, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, in 1949, according to the story told in town.
White rice, a hamburger, a fried egg and dark meat gravy on top.
From the teenagers who ordered the dish: “loco” was one of their nicknames, and “moco” was chosen because it rhymed.
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