Local Food • Family Fun • Gaming • Community • Hilo
Great Pizza. Games at the Table. A Little Hidden World in the Heart of Hilo.
There are restaurants you visit because you’re hungry.
And then there are places you remember because of how they made you feel.
Antics Pizza is one of those places.
Tucked into downtown Hilo at the corner of Kinoʻole and Ponahawai streets, Antics combines seriously good pizza with video games, imagination, art and just the right amount of weird.
Walk through the doors and the outside world seems to disappear for a while.
There are games to play.
Characters and artwork to discover.
Pizza names that make you smile.
And tables where keiki, teenagers, parents, grandparents, gamers and the young-at-heart can sit down together and simply have fun.
It feels a little like discovering a secret clubhouse that happens to make great pizza.
And Hilo is better because it’s here.
Born From Pizza and a Love of Games
Antics Pizza opened in Hilo in June 2020.
Yes.
2020.
Opening a restaurant is difficult under normal circumstances. Opening one during a global pandemic required another level of determination.
Owner Justin Ambagis had already been developing his idea for a restaurant that combined two things he genuinely loved:
Pizza and video games.
When circumstances suddenly became enormously more difficult, there was every reason to walk away from the idea.
He didn’t.
Antics opened its doors and began creating something Hilo didn’t really have anywhere else.
A pizza shop.
A gaming hangout.
A family destination.
A gathering place.
And a wonderfully unconventional little world of its own.
Welcome to the Hidden World
Part of what makes Antics special is difficult to capture on a menu.
It’s the feeling of the place.
You can come in for pizza and find yourself sitting down in front of a game controller.
Keiki discover games.
Parents rediscover games they haven’t played in years.
Teenagers can hang out somewhere that actually feels designed to welcome them.
Adults who grew up gaming suddenly have an excuse to play again.
Families aren’t simply sitting around a table waiting for food to arrive.
They’re doing something together.
And that matters.
Hawaiʻi needs spaces where families can gather without everything feeling formal.
Places where kids are allowed to be kids.
Places where adults can be kids again.
Places where different generations can find something they enjoy in the same room.
Antics created one.
Games at the Table
Gaming isn’t decoration at Antics.
It’s part of the experience.
Tables feature gaming stations where guests can play while they wait, surrounded by artwork and references to gaming and pop culture throughout the restaurant.
That playful personality carries right onto the menu.
Names like Mario’s House Party, Sonic the VegHead, Pacman’s Luau, The Master Pig and The Fortnite make ordering part of the fun.
It’s clever without feeling manufactured because gaming isn’t a theme Antics added later.
It’s part of the reason the restaurant exists.
And when a business is built around something its people genuinely love, guests can usually feel the difference.
But Let’s Talk About the Pizza
The games may get you through the door.
The pizza gives you a reason to come back.
Antics offers build-your-own and specialty pizzas alongside additional comfort-food options, with choices designed to accommodate different diets and tastes.
Vegetarian and vegan diners aren’t treated like an afterthought.
Vegan cheese is available, and pizzas can be adapted with vegan substitutions.
A gluten-free crust option gives even more people a chance to join the table.
That’s another small detail that contributes to what Antics does particularly well:
It makes room for people.
Because the best gathering places are the ones where everyone in the group can find something for them.
A Place for Kids of Every Age
We often talk about creating spaces for keiki.
But there’s something equally valuable about creating places where generations can connect.
A parent showing their child a game they played growing up.
A teenager challenging a grandparent.
Friends gathering around pizza.
A family celebrating a birthday.
Someone coming in alone for a slice and finding themselves surrounded by this wonderfully strange little universe.
Antics gives Hilo a place where play doesn’t have an age limit.
You don’t need to be a gamer.
You don’t need to know the characters.
You don’t need to understand every reference.
You just have to be willing to have a little fun.
Around here, antics are encouraged.
Showing Up for Hilo’s Keiki
Antics’ connection with community also extends beyond the restaurant.
The business has supported local schools and student fundraising efforts.
In 2026, Antics supported Hilo High School’s Japan Club fundraiser, creating an opportunity for students raising funds for their Japan trip to sell Antics Pizza tickets.
The relationship with local schools goes back further.
At E.B. deSilva Elementary, students once helped create two special Antics pizzas for a PTA fundraiser — the Super Beeza Pizza and Bee Getarian Pizza.
A portion of sales from each pizza supported the school PTA.
The school later offered special recognition to owner Justin Ambagis for his continued support and kōkua.
This is what we love about local business.
A school needs help.
A local business says yes.
Students get involved.
The community buys pizza.
And something as simple as dinner becomes a way of supporting local keiki.
Why Spaces Like Antics Matter
Stewardship isn’t always conservation work.
It isn’t always a donation.
Sometimes stewardship means contributing something meaningful to the social fabric of your town.
A place to belong is valuable.
Hilo is an incredible community precisely because it isn’t interchangeable with everywhere else.
Our independent restaurants, shops, gathering places, artists, musicians and wonderfully unusual ideas give this town its personality.
Antics contributes to that.
It took an empty commercial space and turned it into somewhere families make memories.
It gave gamers a place where their interests aren’t merely tolerated — they’re celebrated.
It created another place for birthdays and celebrations.
It supports community fundraisers.
It employs local people.
And every day it opens its doors, it adds something distinctive to downtown Hilo.
That is worth protecting.
Why Support Local Hawaii Recognizes Antics Pizza
Support Local Hawaii believes local businesses help shape the character of our communities.
The best ones don’t feel imported or interchangeable.
They become part of the place.
Antics feels like Hilo.
Creative.
A little unconventional.
Welcoming.
Full of personality.
And not particularly interested in being like everywhere else.
Since opening during one of the most challenging periods imaginable for a new restaurant, Antics has created a gathering place where great food and play bring people together.
They’ve supported local students.
They’ve helped community fundraisers.
They’ve created a place where keiki can have an adventure over dinner and adults have permission to play again.
Most importantly, they’ve given Hilo something unique.
For its contribution to Hilo’s local character, its support of community and keiki, and the wonderfully imaginative gathering place it has created, Support Local Hawaii is proud to recognize Antics Pizza as a Hawaiʻi Steward.
Stewardship in Action
Creating Community
A one-of-a-kind gathering place combining pizza, games, art and imagination in downtown Hilo.
Family-friendly fun where keiki, teens, parents and adults can play together.
A place to celebrate birthdays, graduations and those everyday moments that become memories.
Supporting Keiki
Local school fundraisers supporting Hilo students and educational opportunities.
Hilo High School Japan Club fundraiser supporter.
E.B. deSilva Elementary PTA fundraiser partner, including pizzas created with student involvement.
Making Room at the Table
Vegan-friendly options
Vegetarian choices
Gluten-free crust available
Build-your-own pizzas for diners who prefer to create their own adventure.
Support the Places That Make Hilo, Hilo
It is easy to underestimate how much independent businesses contribute to a community until one disappears.
The unusual places matter.
The quirky places matter.
The places our keiki remember growing up with matter.
The restaurant where you celebrated that birthday matters.
The corner booth where your family laughed over a video game matters.
The business owner who says yes when a local school asks for help matters.
These places become part of our collective memory.
And every time we choose them, we help ensure another generation gets to discover them too.
So come hungry.
Bring the keiki.
Bring your friends.
Bring somebody who insists they’re unbeatable at Mario.
Order a pizza.
Pick up a controller.
And disappear into Antics for a little while.
Pizza + Games + Hilo
Maybe that’s the secret.
Antics doesn’t need to take itself too seriously.
Its own definition says it best:
Antics: foolish, outrageous or amusing behavior.
And, around here:
Pizza and games.
Mahalo to Justin and the entire Antics Pizza ʻohana for taking a chance on an unusual idea, opening during an extraordinary time, supporting Hilo’s keiki and giving our community somewhere that’s simply fun to be.
Keep Hilo weird.
Keep Hilo creative.
Keep making places where people want to gather.
And please…
keep making the pizza.
This is local character.
This is community.
This is stewardship in action.
Visit Antics Pizza
Business: Antics Pizza Opened: 2020 Location: 475 Kinoʻole Street, Hilo, Hawaiʻi Business Type: Locally Owned Restaurant & Family Entertainment Stewardship Areas: Local Business • Keiki & ʻOhana • Community Support • Family Fun • Local Character Support Local Hawaii Recognition: Hawaiʻi Steward
Come for the pizza. Stay for the games. Support one of the wonderfully unique local businesses that helps make Hilo feel like home.
