36 Best Restaurants in West Maui, Maui

When it opened in 1995 this was an over-the-counter pizza place, but it's evolved over the years into a local favorite, serving Mediterranean-style pizza and comfort food including pitas, gyros, and kabobs.

This restaurant proves that good food doesn't need to be complicated, using many local Maui products to do what the Italians do best: craft simple, delicious food that lets the ingredients shine. Must-haves include the panfried gnocchi Genovese, risotto-crusted fresh catch, and the deconstructed tiramisu.

Aromas from a wood-fired oven lure you into this cozy Italian restaurant set just off of Front Street, and the wine list tempts you to stay awhile. Quality is paramount here—many of the ingredients are imported directly from Italy, while farm-fresh produce and meats come from Maui. Chef-owner Michele Bari (also from Italy) honed his skills at the prestigious Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli (International School of Pizza) in Venice. The desserts change regularly—if you’re lucky, the addictive tiramisu will be on the menu.

Acclaimed chef Roger Stettler leans on his Italian heritage to create this award-winning menu. This rustic, open-air restaurant dishes hearty soups, salads, and sandwiches at lunchtime, and the house-made pastas are the highlight of the more upscale dinner service. Sunday brunch features both Italian and local-style items. Belly up to the lively bar or request an outdoor table to enjoy sweeping ocean and mountain views.

Breakfast is the reason to seek out this restaurant located poolside at the Napili Shores Resort. The food is standard diner fare, but the portions are big, the prices are low, and many folks think the pancakes—with bananas, macadamia nuts, or white chocolate chips—are the best in West Maui. The ambience is a little funky but the oceanfront setting and views are spectacular—including the turtle, spinner dolphin, and, in winter, humpback-whale sightings. Expect a long line any day of the week.

Executive chef Tom Muromoto is a local boy who loves to cook modern, upscale Hawaiian food, and he augments the various fresh fish dishes on his menu with items influenced by Hawaii's ethnic mix. This casual, open-air restaurant is the only place on Maui—maybe in Hawaii—where you can have a Native Hawaiian combination plate that is as healthful as it is authentic. Sunday brunch, complete with strolling Hawaiian musicians and hula dancers, is renowned here; and if you're around for any holiday, chow down at the amazing holiday brunch buffets.