What I hear you saying is...

If you are a doughnut fan, no trip to Hawaii is complete without devouring some hot, fresh Malasadas. If you've never had them, Malasadas are fried yeast-dough rolled in sugar and often stuffed with a cream. Kind of like a beignet, only covered with granulated instead of powdered sugar. They were originally brought by the Portugese settlers in the late 19th century, and are still really popular in Hawaii today.

My favorite place for Malasadas on Oahu is Leonard's, and this place often gets written up in guidebooks as the best in the islands. However, there is no Leonard's on Hawaii, so we had to find another shop. Luckily, our cravings were well satisfied at a place called Tex Drive-in.

Tex is in the town of Honokaa on the north side of the Big Island, about half-way between Kona and Hilo on Hwy 19. It's easy to find if you keep your eyes open.

They have a bunch of flavors, but I really liked the plain and the Bavarian. Is Tex better than Leonards? It's a tough call, but I'd probably have to side with Leonards because the fluff-to-mass ratio is higher, and the malasadas themselves are a bit smaller and easier to consume.

But I'd definitley go back to Tex again. They also have a great lunch menu of drive-in food, including a shrimp burger that was quite tasty.

As a bonus for reading to the end of the post, it's worth mentioning that they have really clean bathrooms in a stretch of highway where there isn't much else. We saw an entire tour bus of Japanese tourists pull over for what seemed to be this purpose alone.

Extra bonus thoughts: I know what you're thinking, Keith P. You want to know if there are any In-and-Outs in Hawaii, so that we could attempt the most audacious sandwich ever attempted...

The Bavarian Cream Luther Burger!

The answer, sadly, is Nein.