10 Best Restaurants in Paia, Maui

If you're okay with communal picnic tables, or taking your meal to a nearby beach, head to this place, which serves, arguably, the best fresh fish—choose from four to six types and four preparations on any given day—for the best prices on this side of the island. For non-fish fans, the menu has burgers, as well as chicken and pasta options. There is also a location in Kihei.

The menu at this budget-friendly café features French, Mediterranean, and Indian dishes, and the food is fresh and tasty. Expect flavors and preparations not easily obtainable at other island eateries, with a nice selection of sweet and savory crepes, curry wraps, and salads complemented by cocktails, wine, and beer. Primarily open for lunch and dinner, the cafe opens for breakfast hours on the weekend.

This colorful, airy, and brightly painted hangout is right in the thick of things, so the people-watching is excellent. The food is great, too, and the menu features everything from burgers and fish to four different preparations of duck.

A Maui institution since 1969, Charley's is known for satiating your cowboy-size breakfast appetite: omelets, pancakes, and sausage biscuits with country gravy lure customers in. Charley's also serves hearty portions for lunch and dinner, including handmade pizzas and awesome burgers.

Not only is this popular restaurant, an outpost of a Vermont-based operation, a great place to take the kids, but it's also a valued member of the community, giving to local nonprofits with proceeds from benefits held each Tuesday night and sourcing local, organic, and sustainable ingredients, including 100% organically grown wheat for the made-fresh-daily dough. Although it only accepts reservations for large groups, it offers "call-ahead seating," so you can put your name on the wait list before you arrive.

Both fun and photo-worthy, this restaurant features classic Peruvian dishes with a Maui influence thanks to the incorporation of fresh, local ingredients. In addition to serving both lunch and dinner, it offers a daily happy hour (actually, three hours from 2 to 5 pm) and live music or DJs on Friday and Saturday nights.

Set in an intimate location on the beach, Mama's has been the Maui destination for special occasions for almost four decades. A path of gecko-shape stones leads to an ever-changing fantasyland of Hawaiian kitsch, where savvy servers can explain the various fish types and preparations, and you'd be wise to heed their recommendation; the fish is so fresh that the daily menu lists who caught it that morning.

The seasonal, handcrafted plates and the chef's table concept at this intimate, 14-table restaurant have helped fine dining get a foothold in Paia. There are just two prix-fixe seatings a night, and dishes are always memorable thanks to the use of high-end ingredients like caviar, A5 Wagyu beef, and foie gras.

A stop at this popular coffee spot, tucked just behind the main buildings on Hana Highway, is a great way to start or end the day. Grab a coffee or tea along with avocado toast or banana bread for breakfast or lunch, or come during happy hour (2 to 5 pm) for a reasonably priced, island-fresh cocktail followed by live music (four nights a week) or trivia (Wednesday night).

Fresh gelato made with locally sourced ingredients is the big draw here (try Surfing Goat Dairy's Lilikoi Quark flavor and thank us later). You'll also find jams, jellies, and dressings from Jeff Gomes, coffees from Maui Coffee Roasters, and picnic lunches from Hana Lunch Co.