Taste Grub in Maui?
 

Please recommend some good places to eat in Maui.

Thanks

We tried a lot of good restaurants in Maui. Mama's Fish House was the one we went back to a second time. Mmmmm. It was worth the drive.

You mean ono grinds? What kind of food? What price range? What area? My new favorite find is Tiffaany's Bar and Grill on Lower Main in Wailuku. They have the best Kimchee on the island.

Second on Mama's Fish House - a must.

3rd vote for Mamas. Actually I have recommended 3 or 4 friends going to Maui to try Mamas and all gave rave reviews.

One of our favorites that has scenery and reasonable prices is Cheeseburger in Paradise on the water in Lahaina.

We really enjoyed Leilanis in Kaanapali. The sunset is wonderful from there. Have a fantastic vacation!

Thanks for all of your posts.

Monkeyking, if you give me some idea what you are looking for and in what are I can reccommend some places other than Mama's. I love Mama's, but you can't eat there every meal. How about the Plantation House in Kapalua or Hali`imaile General Store? You are missing an experience equal to Mama's if you miss them. There are so many other great places to eat on Maui! But it seems from reading these boards that everyone eats at the same 10 places, many of which are, in my opinion, overpriced and commercialized because they are the standard tourist stops. I dare everyone to eat at the Pa`ia Fish Market. It may be my favorite place for fish in the world--simple, good, fresh food. Actually Pa`ia is home to more good eats than I can name: Milagros, Cafe des Amis, Hana Bay Juice Company (puts PicNics to shame), Jaques, Cafe Mambo, and more. Wailuku is full of wonderful local-style food, perfect after a day at the Ioa Valley or a drive around west Maui. Frans, Tiffany's and Pulehu BBQ Grill are just some of our favorites found on Lower Main Street. There is Thai and Korean food that will make you swoon. And when in Hana, you absolutely must stop at Tutu's on Hana Bay for lunch. DH has been known to suggest a trip into Hana Town just for a Tutu's Loco Moco.

Let's not forget Jawz fish tacos, both the taco truck in Makena and the new storefront in the Azeka Center in Kihei, Life's a Beach for fun, good, cheap food, drinks and live music, Eskimo Candy Fish market, Kai Ku Ono (OK, the service sucks, but they have great food and sunset views), Maui Tacos, Da Kitchen (best plate lunch and they often have MOI!) and Stella Blues, all in Kihei. And Dick's Place in Kihei has 50% lunches from 11 to 3 everyday.

Mañana Garage (half price entress between 5 and 5:30) and Valley Isle Seafood in Kahului, Polli's for Mexican and Casanova for late night Italian in Makawao, and Komada Bakery (Makawao) is a must for malasadas. Colleens in Ha`iku, Kula Lodge in Kula, and Grandma's coffee house in lower Kula. For sushi, besides KKO and Sansei, there is Hakone in the Maui Prince and Take Sushi in Lahaina. And for vegetarians and Indian food aficianados, Curry-in-a-Hurry on Dairy Road is heaven.

Bubba Gumps has a cute name, but does anyone really think the food is great? Just because a place has a large marketing budget it doesn't make it a great place to eat! How about trying The Cool Cat Café for burgers or Lahaina Coolers, or you want something a little special for lunch, Café Sauvage on Front Street? For dinner in Lahaina my choice is always i`o or Pacific`o. Just the thought of i`o's Crispy Ahi is making me drool.

And finally, Aloha Mixed Plate not only serves a killer plate lunch by the ocean, but they still are my favorite happy hour on the island, serving REAL mai tais, not the fruit juice imitations found elsewhere for twice the price. Just liquor and a touch of lime juice in these $2.50 puppies.

Wow, thanks htg2Maui. That was quite a list. I printed it and tucked it into my Maui Revealed book. Nothing like a good, solid and very RECENT recommendation from a local. -- Shar

Yeah, thanks hgtMaui.

Looking forward to going to Maui.

Yeah thanks here today,,,,after reading your post, I've never been so homesick....can't believe I was in Kauai for a week and spent Christmas for a week in Hana and Kihei....your post made it feel like years ago!!! big sigh!!!!!Alas I will continue to try to return again and again....feels like home!!!!!

Near the Plantation House in Kapalua, but just a few miles up the road there is an IHOP. Look for the large roof (obvious). They have great IHOP specials and an interperative trail.

I am pretty sure there isn't an IHOP? in Kapalua. AFAIK, the only IHOP on the island is at the Maui Mall in Kahului. It's where American Idol contestant Camille Velasco worked until she was whisked off the Hollywood to compete. There used to be an IHOP in Kihei, but that's been long gone and is now the overpriced, mediocre Motocycle Café.

I know this may be a problem for those of you who hold Mama's Fish House sacred, but the one (and only) time I went there for dinner, my island fresh fish was served still frozen in the middle. So I've never gone back.

Maybe the fish was packed on ice for the trip to the restaurant.

Packed on ice may chill a fish, but the supposedly fresh fish shouldn't be frozen solid on the inside when the outside was cooked; especially since we were so close to where the fish was caught. I know this because I worked in Hawaii restaurants for 10 years, and the boyfriend who took me to Mama's for a special dinner was a chef who owned his own restaurant. Definitely frozen.

Last week's MauiTime was the food issue. They did a fantastic job and pretty much covered the gamut from Local Food to Mama's.

http://www.mauitime.com/v07/v07iss39/index.html

ttt

Tommy Bahama Cafe in the shops at Wailea has a fabulous brunch with live music overlooking the Ocean, deelish!

We just returned from Honolulu and Maui.

We were watching our pennies and did not go to expensive restaurants but managed to have some good food on Maui. Although definitely not fancy, really a "dive" kind of place, Paia Fishmarket had the very best fish we had the entire week in Maui. We also liked Charley's in Paia - stopped there for breakfast on the way to Hana. They have wonderful macadamia nut pancakes and the cajun ono eggs benedict was superb.

We also ate in Mahawo (great little town with lots of art galleries) at the Stoplight (or Stopwatch). Again a local kind of place and not fancy but had very good fish there as well.

Enjoyed the breakfast at the Gazebo in Napili area. The omelettes were very good and again great macadamia nut pancakes - the view is just mesmerizing as you are right on the beach overlooking Napili Bay.

Had great hamburgers at Jonny's on main road (below Giovannis) in Kannapali. We did not like Cheeseburger in Paradise nor thought the food at the Kula Lodge was worth it - had to send food back because it was no cooked.

We loved Maui - so beautiful

Pam

Pam, what did you have at Kula Lodge that disappointed you? I've had the Eggs Benedict twice, and they were so good! I'm sorry your experience there wasn't..............

I think the kitchen had a bad day at Kula Lodge. I did order eggs benedict and the eggs were extremely runny. My friend got pancakes that were gooey in middle. He sent them back and the new ones had a sour taste to them. I agree that the place is beautiful and I would try again based on all the recommendations that i have read. The flowers in that part of Maui are so pretty.

Pam

I guess any kitchen can goof sometimes. Even at the famed Roy's (on Kauai), I ordered a salad with Granny Smith apple in it........... and I promise you, that apple must have been in some refrigerator for 6 weeks! YUK! But 99% of what I've had in a Roy's was outstanding! Maybe next time you try Kula Lodge, it will be in it's excellent mode! :-)

We just got back from Maui and we discovered (via a local) a great restaurant ... Hana Hou in Haiku, it has reasonable prices and great food. Also, you can never go wrong with the touristy Cheese Burger in Paradise, you might have to wait in line, but the view, food, and atmosphere are well worth it. Mama's is also a sound choice, but it can get expensive at dinner time. Humu's in the Grand Wailea resort is a good date place to go, good food and great view. And after your done with dinner you should stroll along the pristine wailea beach ... it makes for quite a night. PS - sneak into your bathing suit and steal a swim at the resort pool, it's the best on the island.

What's that place called where you cook your own entree? It's in Waikiki. That was VERY reasonable if you don't mind cooking your own steak. Restaurants always overcook my steak (unless I ask for rare) and this was a great opportunity to dine and have it done my way. I forget the name of the restaurant.

cohru11, do you mean the Shorebird Grill? Sounds like the place..........

That's it! Thanks. The side dishes were fantastic and I enjoyed the scenery while cooking my own steak. As I said earlier, the price was very reasonable. I think I paid only $20 for entire filet mignon dinner.

The restaurants and quick eats we enjoyed on our last visit were, in the order I would recommend them:

Nick's Fishmarket (incredible service,
food & location; worth every penny);

Sarento's (fabulous sunset & food; DH actually liked it more than Nick's);

Manana Garage (quirky & very good but a bit expensive for mostly Mexican menu);

Bada Bing (yo' basic Italian at a digestible price, complete with Dean Martin/mafia theme);

Gazebo (justifiably famous pancakes - almost worth the wait);

Da Kitchen (oh that loco moco will fill you up for the entire day);

Espresso Shack (literally a shack near the shopping centers on S. Kihei across from the Kamaole Beaches -- best shave ice ever, even better than Jo-Jo's in Kauai IMO. I recommend the mango syrup ice with hupia coconut cream on the top and vanilla ice cream on the bottom. The breakfast of champions);

Maui Tacos (fresh fast food);

Mama's Fish House (Yes, the setting is worth seeing once, but this restaurant seems way too proud of itself. The service was worse than anywhere else we ate and it was the most expensive -- the food was good but not THAT good. Our overall impression was of an overhyped tourist trap with an attitude problem. I'd recommend just going for drinks & pupus.)

Maui Prince (pretty good Sunday champagne brunch); and

Palm Court in the Renaissance Wailea (I would avoid this place because the quality of their food wasn't anything to write home about and they have a serious bird problem.)

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the Hana Bay Juice Company in Pa'ia. We ordered their smoothies for breakfast at the same time we had them pack us a "box lunch" for the Road to Hana. Both the smoothies & sandwiches were very good and fresh. They're located in the same building as the Wine Corner at the intersection of Baldwin and Hwy 36. They also sell the "On the Road Again" audio tour CD of Hana, which I highly recommend. It made our day so much more fun. (Thank you for that tip, gone2maui!)

Topping for beachgirl86

ttt

Mai tai's at Kimo's with ahi sashimi and smoked marlin appetizers. MMMMM