Hawaii: Maui Restaurant Reviews

You can go ahead and skip this post if you're not planning a trip to Hawaii, but just for my own reference and in case you're planning a vacation in Maui, here's a short list of the eating establishments we tried in July 2011.


Royal Lahaina Resort's Luau: I thought the food was decent for a buffet and gave us a little bit of island flavor with the pork, especially. They had a good keiko (children's) buffet which was also perfect for adults looking for a little more traditional fare. I liked the Blue Hawaiian drinks that were included and others enjoyed the Mai Tai's, but you really come to this luau for the show, not the food.


Cool Cat Cafe: Located on the second floor of the Wharf Cinema center on Front Street in Lahaina, they have been voted "Best Burgers in Maui" several years running. We did have excellent burgers here (mine included avocado and was divine) and used a coupon from a dining guide we picked up from the airport. It was a fun atmosphere and great food.

Cold Stone: Far from local, this mainland chain is still tempting and had a very long line. I normally don't like Cold Stone but my simple chocolate with pb cups hit the spot. The owner was working and was very friendly. The only downside was that he only had one other worker (who was new) and they had trouble keeping up with orders, let alone doing any of the signature singing. Might have just hit them at a bad time, so I wouldn't cross it off the list.


Honolua Store: This is one of those hidden gems suggested by Maui Revealed. One morning, Adam and I drove north to Kapalua for breakfast. A combination store/coffee shop/deli, they have very reasonably priced meals that you get in a to-go box, but can eat on the outdoor picnic tables. It's located near the Ritz Carlton and the Dragon's Teeth coastal formation (pictured). The food wasn't anything to write home about (but blog about? why not?) but it was nice to find something inexpensive with good coffee.


Cilantro Mexican Grill: Located on Papalaua Street, this was one of my favorite meals. I had a craving for Mexican, so we ate here before going to Warren & Annabelle's show. I had the Nachos Del Sol as recommended by Maui Revealed and they were probably the best nachos I've ever had-plus inexpensive! Adam said the Mother Cluckin' Flautas were amazing and this was a fun little Mexican grill with excellent food. I would highly recommend if you're looking for a fast, excellent meal, for not a lot of money! Tip: Park in front of the restaurant-they'll validate your parking. We parked in Lahaina Center and they did accept the validation stamp over there, but it was more of an exception than a rule.


Shaka Shave Ice: I had to have at least one of Hawaii's trademark "shave ice" desserts, but wasn't blown away by this one. There are lots of places to get shave ice and I just picked a stand in Lahaina. The table was wobbly so I dumped half of my giant "small" size shave ice over, but it wasn't a huge loss. They use real Hawaiian cane sugar, and maybe I'm too used to artificial flavoring, but I didn't think the flavors were very strong or true to the fruit. I was expecting to want to come back every night, but one was enough for me.

Lahaina Pizza Co.: We met up with friends to share 2 large pizzas (Hawaiian and a pepperoni) among 6 of us and thought it was great. It's deep-dish Chicago-style pizza with chunky tomato sauce on top and very filling. It had live music, a second-story view of the water, and was an overall fun place to eat. Jill and Jeremy had calzones here early in the week and said they were good as well.

CJ's deli:  We went here for a big breakfast our last day in Hawaii and had a great meal! Located in the Fairway shops in Kaanapali, it was very close to our resort and a deli-style place. The staff was great and helped us figure out the vast menu. I got a breakfast burrito-type thing with peppers and sausage and it was so good, but I could only eat half of it! Everyone else seemed to enjoy their breakfast as well, so I think this is a good option.

Cary & Eddie's Hideaway: This was probably our most disappointing eating experience on the island. Looking for a place to kill time and eat a big meal before our 13 hours of travel time ahead, we chose this restaurant for it's Early Bird dinner buffet. The best thing about the place is the view, but the food was less than mediocre and was the highest price meal we ate ($18.99 each). A limited salad bar and warmed-over fried chicken was about all I could muster. I couldn't even bring myself to try the other un-appetizing-looking dishes. I had to send my soda back and there were 4 other parties there-all over 50 (but maybe because we were eating at 5:00pm) so it wasn't exactly "happenin'". I would avoid this place and find somewhere else to kill time in Kahalui.

I believe this is the total list of restaurant-stops while we were in Hawaii. We never went too extreme because we didn't want to blow the budget. We also didn't plan ahead enough to get reservations at some of the nicer sit-down places. A way we kept the budget in check was buying groceries at Walmart in Kahalui the day we landed. We didn't even eat all of our groceries, but it served us well to have a few lunches of sandwiches and breakfasts of cereal to avoid paying high prices for every meal. We also often ate just 2 meals a day with a few "suitcase snacks" in between. I wasn't really shocked by the prices in Hawaii and think you can still eat reasonably if you just make a few of your own meals and keep your restaurant bills in check.

Please leave a comment with some of your favorite places to eat in West Maui, or let me know if you've been to any of these restaurants and want to share additional information!