I've been following the Kauai posts for months and appreciate all of the info I've gathered from the experts (you know who you are). We're a group of two families with ages from 5 to 70 coming in mid-June and staying in Poipu.

We plan to cook most nights but will probably eat dinner out two or three times. My question to those in the know is what two or three restaurants are the best for large families that would hopefully please all ages. We like all types of food and are willing to "splurge" at least one night. Thanks in advance.

We recently returned from Kauai. I'm not sure which area you are staying in but I would recommend Keoki's in Poipu or Kintaro's in Kapaa. Keoki's is a very nice casual, family restaurant. They have a little bit of everything. I think they have entertainment several nights. Kintaro's is Japanese. You could either get a regular table, book a hibachi table, or they have a semi-private room for a group. Enjoyed our meal at both of these.

I would suggest driving up to the Marriott in Lihue and eating at Duke's--all ages should enjoy it. The atmosphere is fun and casual, with a great view of the bay. There's an indoor waterfall and koi pond, which the kids will love. The decor is all surfing memorabilia. The upstairs portion of the restaurant serves steak and seafood (and has a large salad bar, too). The downstairs portion has a bar and snack foods like nachos, burgers, etc. After dinner, everyone can take a walk down the beach path, which is lit with tiki torches, and browse in the nearby shops.

Thanks for the feedback SueDoc and Gellars. I was leaning towards Keoki's for one of the nights and you have given me some other options.

How about the Beach House or Roy's as far as "family friendly" restaurants? Or should we save one of those for a night for just the adults?

I would say that Roy's is for adults only. I don't think that it has the family size rooms that you would need. It is also a bit pricey. The Beach House is also pricey but totally fun. You might want to try this one if you want to go somewhere nice for the whole family. Another idea would be a Luau. I have heard that the Drums of Paradise is good.

We've often seen large groups, and families with children, at both Roy's and Beach House. How (and why) anyone would pay those prices to feed kids, continues to surprise me though! Either restaurant would be a great place for the adults-only "splurge" meal.

Lunch at Gaylord's at Kilohana (10-15 minutes from Po`ipu) should be included on your dining tour. It's got horsedrawn carriage rides around the old estate, beautiful outdoor dining with garden views, and small shops for after-meal trekking. Dinner is nice, too -- but you'd miss all the outdoor sightseeing the place offers:
http://www.gaylordskauai.com/

Keoki's Paradise and Duke's are great ideas - I like Duke's location near the water better, but Keoki's is much closer to you.

We liked the Brick Oven, it had good pizza. We also really enjoyed Keoki's.

Happy planning!

Auntiemaria is the best Kauai expert on this forum, so you can click on her screen name for lots of other Kauai info.

Lots of sites/links:

www.driveguidemagazines.com Good restaurant guide with reviews. Also good maps including detailed maps.

www.alternative-hawaii.com Good narrative drive guides w/photos. Good restaurant guide.

www.kauaidiscovery.com Free brochure

www.kauai-hawii.com

www.gohawaii.com Free brochure

www.hawaiiweb.com

www.thisweek.com This Week on Kauai XXX

www.spotlighthawaii.com Kauai Gold XXX

www.101thingstodo.com XXX

XXX - These three also have free hard copy brochures that you can pick up at airport baggage area and other places on Kauai. Lots of things to see and do. Also many ads & coupons for dining.

Recommendations for 5 to 70

The Hyatt (Tidepools) and Poipu area shopping center (Roys) are gourmet restaurants. You will pay a lot to eat there and I'd go without kids. Ditto Beach House. I don't think kids would enjoy Kintaro (sushi). I like Kaiibo better in Lihue for sushi anyway.

When I say very good for kids...people won't bat an eye if a mess is made or a cry is heard.

Nicer Dinner: Coconuts for the best dinner that won't cost you a fortune like at the Poipu tourist restaurants. Kapa'a. Kids okay.

Nicer Dinner: Hukilau Lani for a good dinner or multiple appetizers and nice garden outdoor atmosphere. Kapa'a. Very good for kids.

Gaylords for lunch ONLY, not worth it for dinner. Eat outside in plantation garden surroundings. Lihue. Kids okay.

Hanalei Gourmet for lunch or dinner. Inexpensive salads, entrees and sandwiches. Hanalei. Very good for kids.

Olympic Cafe for lunch or dinner upstairs. Inexpensive salads, entrees and sandwiches. Kapa'a. Very good for kids.

Eggberts for eggs (what else?) pancakes and waffles with coconut syrup. Kapa'a.
Very good for kids.

Pono Market for authentic local take out lunch specials. Pono chicken is delicious in that greasy brown bag kind of way that will raise your cholesterol by 200 points. This place is what local Hawaiian food is all about.

http://www.kkbedbath.com/ponomkt.html

Dukes at Marriott Lihue for lunch or sunset dinner on water. Both a more expensive restaurant and a less expensive bistro downstairs. Lihue. Very good for kids downstairs.

Keoki's Paradise for lunch or dinner. Inexpensive restaurant/bistro owned by Dukes across from Poipu resort areas. Poipu. Very good for kids.

Moloa'a Sunrise Fruitstand for 100% fresh fruit frappe. Choose your fruits! Moloa'a.

Kilauea Bakery and Pau Hana Pizza. Simply the best baked goods on the island. Bread and coconut creme filled pastries...Get there early, they sell out or call ahead and order things. Kilauea.

Lappert's local ice cream. Several locations.

Polish Sausage at Hyatt Snackbar Pool.

Drinks in Hyatt Lobby expensive but good view.

Wow! I'm printing out all of your great suggestions. Auntimaria, lunch at Gaylord's sounds like a crowd pleaser (especially the carriage rides), and something that I hadn't considered. Kakalena, the Moloa'a Sunrise Fruitstand sounds like a definite stop on our tour of the Island. Thanks to all.

Has anyone suggested Hanama'ulu Restaurant & Tea House? Our family (w/two teen boys) enjoyed this special night. Your group would probably have a private tea room. An extended family, complete w/infants and grandparents, was at the other table in our room. The place doesn't look like much from the outside, but inside is another story. This is No. 1 for us, after three visits to the Island & numerous other restaurants.

We took our family to Poipu last August, plus young granddaughter, and went to Keoiki's, Roy's (lots of well behaved kids) Beach House, Dukes, and one nice surprise was Joe's on the Green, which is only opened in the middle of the week for dinner. It's outdoor patio seating with nice sunset view and great food and entertainment at very reasonable prices.

I second the vote for Joe's on the Green -- lovely location, plus good service, good food, and reasonable (for Hawai`i) prices. Because we live on the north side of Kaua`i, I often forget about how good Joe's is! 8-)

But Hanama`ulu Restaurant??? Not high on my "recommended dining" list.

Oh, I forgot about Joe's. That is indeed a good idea...especially for breakfast. I like that place a lot.

One note on Eggberts: The service there can be super. Duper. Slow. But the food is delicious.

Another idea I just had: There is a Mexican restaurant in Koloa...nothing fancy at all but very good and pretty darn cheap.

Aaron,

Glad you've found some suggestions helpful. I'm not sure where you live but don't expect the cuisine in Kauai to knock your socks off. You can find good to very good food though. The restaurants come and go. It's hard to get long-term employees. Ingredients are more limited and I'd steer clear of ethnic food if you're from a city.

I spent a lot of money on some really bad meals to come up with my list.

Skip luaus, food is mediocre, expensive and for tourists only.

Aloha!

uh, i respectfully beg to differ in opinion from Kakalina. I hail from SF, which has, arguably, some of the best restaurant food out there. I must say that the food on Kauai ranks as some of my favorite. The local style is a little different from typical mainland fare, but I love it. If you get it right, you'll see creative uses of some of the freshest fish and local produce that i'ce ever seen anywhere. As far as the kids liking Kintaro..well, it is not just a sushi restaurant (have you been?). They have a great local style teppan yaki type deal that is very entertaining and works very well with a bigger group of all ages, plus an awesome aqaurium that my daughter looves. Just be sure to make reservations well in advance as this place is hopping. Try some PoPos cookies. You can get them at the Longs drugs in Kapaa, if you get em before they sell out! You can also get them near where you are staying in one of my favorite local market/snack counters in Koloa (Sueoka's). For that matter, try anything there that looks interesting. I haven't loved everything i've tried there, but it is distinctly local-style. One of my sueoka faves is the macaroni/potato salad also *anything* from their local baked area up near the cashier. YUM. They have good stuff for bringing back to the condo/house. Fish express in Lihue has really good fresh fish for your own cooking, too.
aloha..Have fun!

admittedly..kakalena, I, too have spent some $$s on woefully bad food there, even when the rep is good. For example, i really didn't find much in the food at Hamura's, but the whole vibe of the place was worth the very inexpensive tab, and I think Keoki's was much more fun for pupus at the bar over the whole dinner experience although we've done both more than a few times (you know I'm gonna get railed for those opinions!) But that's what these boards help folks with, hopefully!

Aaron.. I recommend taking time to find out when the farmer's markets are and get some goods there. The local growers and merchants are so interesting and you can learn alot about what you can get fresh from the twigs. I've found this has helped me when ordering in restaurants, too! It's also fun for the kids. If you like your dairy organic, we've found that Papaya's in the same mall as the Long's in Kapaa has a really good selection comparatively and their prices hurt only a bit more than here in California.
aloha. cousin annie

argh.. i *hate* that little clown! It comes up whenever i type a "normal" happy face. What i meant was more like
; O )

Sea,

I'm glad you like the restaurants on Kauai. I like some of them too. I just don't think there are many great ones.

I'm afraid we don't agree about much.

To me Kintaros is okay.

Popos are okay but not the best cookie I ever had or anything. The cookies and pastries on Kauai leave a lot to be desired in general . They're the old fashioned grocery store style with that fluffy icing etc.

Another favorite is malasadas..literally heavily fried dough. Yuk..

The local diet leaves a lot to be desired really. Obesity and diabetes are epidemic.

Some restaurants will substitute fish. Ono (really Wahoo) might be any fish because Ono also means good in Hawaiian.

Many a piece of mahi-mahi is some other fish too. Tourists don't know the difference.

I know someone at one of the biggest restaurants there and know it happens.

Fish for your own dinner or buy it from a fisherman or at a local market if you want something excellent (if you have a kitchen).

Fish Express does not impress.

Vegetables are very difficult to grow in Kauai so most of them are shipped over. If the boat can't make it from HNL in rough winter water, restaurants start to panic. I don't find vegetables to be all that impressive there really.
I've been to the farmer's markets.


Fruit is out of this world on the other hand and I still dream about the enormous papaya. Take advantage while you can!