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On Kauai, if you're lucky enough to win an invitation to a potluck, baby luau, or beach party, don't think twice—just accept. The best grinds (food) are homemade, and so you'll eat until you're full, then rest, eat some more, and make a plate to take home, too.
But even if you can't score a spot at one of these parties, don't despair. Great local-style food is easy to come by at countless low-key places around the island. As an extra bonus, these eats are often inexpensive, and portions are generous. Expect plenty of meat—usually deep-fried or marinated in a teriyaki sauce and grilled pulehu-style (over an open fire)—and starches. Rice is standard, even for breakfast, and often served alongside potato–macaroni salad, another island specialty. Another local favorite is poke, made from chunks of raw tuna or octopus seasoned with sesame oil, soy sauce, onions, and pickled seaweed. It's a great pupu (appetizer) when paired with a cold beer.
Kauai's cultural diversity is apparent in its restaurants, which offer authentic Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Mexican, Italian, Vietnamese, and Hawaiian specialties. Less specialized restaurants cater to the tourist crowd, serving standard American fare—burgers, pizza, sandwiches, surf-and-turf combos, and so on. Poipu and Kapaa offers the best selection of restaurants, with options for a variety of tastes and budgets; most fast-food joints are in Lihue.
Located right on the main drag of Kapaa, this café has an exterior that's a bit grimy and noisy, but it's worth a stop to order takeout and walk to the beach instead. The poke salad bowl and ahi nori wrap made of seared tuna, rice, and cucumber with wasabi cream sauce are the best picks here. Other choices include hearty fresh salads, sandwiches, tropical tacos, stir-fry noodles, and satay made from either tofu or chicken.
The Hawaii Regional Cuisine served up at chef Peter Merriman's namesake restaurant is enhanced by a sophisticated setting, live music, and lovely views from a pretty second-floor dining veranda. Start at the bar, where fine wines are offered by the glass, and then continue to the dinner menu, which states the origins of the fish, shrimp, lamb, beef, chicken, and veggies: 90% is locally grown or caught. The chocolate purse is a favorite dessert.
Monico’s Taqueria is a favorite among locals and visitors, due to its hearty portions and delicious authentic cuisine, including nachos, tortas, flautas, and fajitas. The bright airy dining room is cheerful, and the outdoor patio offers a view of coconut palms waving in the breeze.
The signature restaurant of the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas has casual open-air seating that perfectly complements an island-style menu sure to please a wide range of diners. Grilled rib eye is served with bacon-and-sour cream mashed potatoes, while the chicken—smoked kalua style—is accompanied by Molokai sweet potatoes. Lunch options include a plate lunch. The food is well executed and service is friendly.
Named after a seasonal local fish, Opakapaka is the only oceanside restaurant on Kauai's North Shore and is a great place to stop for a meal or a quick bite on the way to or from Haena State Park and Kee Beach. The longtime community gathering hub serves local fish and seafood, burgers, steaks (try the rib eye), and pasta; add shrimp to your salads and fried rice sides.
Kauai's largest natural-foods market, now in much larger digs fronting the highway in the same shopping center, offers a cold grab-and-go menu of deli and green salads, wraps, soups for reheating, smoothies, and sometimes fresh sashimi.
Located in what was once Kauai's most expensive plantation estate, Gaylords pays tribute to the elegant dining rooms of 1930s high society: candlelit tables sit on a cobblestone courtyard that surrounds a fountain and overlooks a wide lawn. The menu is eclectic, offering Portuguese fish stew, shrimp pasta, scallops, steak, sake short ribs, chicken, and a few vegan and vegetarian options. Be sure to start with the fresh ahi poke stack. The banana cream pie with a coconut crust is a tasty twist on an old favorite. Lunch offers some hearty salads, soups, hot and cold sandwiches, and burgers.
This plantation-cottage restaurant built in 1864 has a menu full of local seafood but also offers Wagyu beef, roasted rack of lamb, and other land-based options, with eclectic flavor profiles reflecting the chef's global travel experiences. Top menu picks include crispy leek salad with buckwheat noodles, catch of the day, and chèvre cheesecake with coconut crust and lilikoi (passion fruit) gel.
Smart sophisticated decor, attentive and skilled service, and an exceptional menu that highlights Hawaiian seafood make Red Salt a great choice for leisurely fine dining. A daily breakfast is also served, featuring lobster Benedict and lemon-pineapple soufflé pancakes. The sushi lounge and pool bar offer more of the kitchen's great food at lower prices. The seared ahi with furikake (a Japanese seasoning) is accompanied by coconut-lemongrass black rice, while the Australian lamb chops are dredged in Parmesan and herbs. Dessert options include Hawaiian bread pudding drenched in rum caramel, a passion fruit crème brûlée, and five dessert martinis.
A restored plantation cottage surrounded by tropical foliage is the casual setting for this island café, whose name and plant-based menu reflect the owner's love for his late dog. Choose from tofu scrambles, salads, chickpea-curry wraps, tempeh sandwiches, banana pancakes, hummus wraps, and Beyond Beef burgers. A selection of pupu (appetizers) is available after 11 am. Outdoor seating in the vine-covered garden is pleasant during nice weather, and acoustic music is offered most evenings.
This Asian restaurant, known as SEA Kauai, is a welcome and affordable addition to the Lihue dining scene, offering super fresh sushi as well as Thai cuisine. Try the popular sushi boats or the sweet-spicy pineapple curry. The setting is simple and clean, with indoor and open-air seating, and the service is friendly and efficient.
Pick up some of Kauai’s tastiest made-to-order rolls, sushi burritos, and poke bowls with ahi, smoked salmon, and (sometimes) ono at this modest trailer. Dine in the adjacent courtyard (snag a table with an umbrella) or picnic at the beach. This is a popular place, so be prepared to wait in line.
Perched on the second story of a building in Ching Young Village, The Terrace offers sweeping mountain views along with stellar sushi and fresh-fish dishes in a lively environment that attracts the local post-work crowd. There's a sushi menu (try anything with the special beet-cured kampachi), plus a main menu with small plates, appetizers, and daily special entrées.
Not surprisingly, tacos take center stage here (though there are tamales and salad bowls). The tacos are made from quality ingredients, many of which are organic and locally sourced, and you can mix and match; the fish tacos, as well as those filled with kalua pig, surf and turf, or fire-roasted vegetables, are popular choices. The corn tortillas are house-made, and so are the tamales and slow-cooked meats. Tacos are very large and are served à la carte. This joint is mostly for takeout, with a tiny dining room and a few outside tables facing the parking lot.
Combining classic Mexican food with chile-based sauces and creations from the chef's home state of New Mexico, Verde's menu includes tostadas, enchiladas, and tacos filled with fresh fish, slow-cooked chicken, or local grass-fed beef. The garlic-shrimp tacos and stacked enchilada with a choice of chicken, pork adovada (New Mexican red chile stew), or Kauai beef filling, smothered in red or green chile sauce, are favorites. The food runs hot and spicy. Beer on tap and the house margarita are the only alcoholic offerings. Save room for the fried sopaipillas served with Kauai honey. The modern decor is sparse but comfortable and casual, with natural lighting and seating at tables or the bar. Located in Hokulei Village in Lihue, Verde offers delivery services and online ordering for the Lihue area.
Wong's family-run, family-style restaurant has been serving up hearty portions of local favorites for decades. Specials change, but plate lunches are always available to go, complete with rice and mac salad (which Hawaii practically considers a "vegetable"). Save room for light lilikoi chiffon pie or desserts made with coconut and purple sweet potato.
The reins have been handed over to the next generation at this family-run restaurant, where meats are grilled over kiawe wood for a smokey flavor. Steaks and burgers are made from from Rancher's Daughter's Reserve grass-fed Kauai beef, lettuce is grown nearby at Iwikua Farms, and there's usually a locally caught fish special. Denim-covered seating, decorative saddles, and a stagecoach in a loft transformed the old Ako General Store in Waimea into a comfortable Western-look steak house where you can eat on the front porch, on a deck out back, or in the old-fashioned wood-panel dining room. Live music is lined up nightly, and The Saddle Room saloon stays busy until 10 pm, thanks to a dozen appetizers, a decent selection of beers, and "fancy kine" cocktails. Time things right and you can enjoy a bite before a movie at the Waimea Theater across the street.
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