FlyerTalk Forums - Consolidated "Maui Restaurants" Thread

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We are flying back home after a great 5 days in Wailea. Wanted to share with this group a couple of places we really liked:

- Outrigger Pizza company: good woodfire pies enjoyed by all.

- Miso Phat sushi: legit high quality sushi. The butterfish was to die for. The hand rolls were all really good.

I am beyond gutted that The Mill at the plantation is closed. I loved The Mill. So yummy. Their burger was ace. There’s a new replacement cafe that serves until 8p and they lack a burger plus their shorter menu lacks many vegetable-centric dishes. Sigh. I really loved The Mill. I’ll assume that the cafe still has the gorgeous outdoor dining. Such a beautiful in crowded part of maui.

Quote:

Originally Posted by philemer (Post 33219520)

Can't remember ever eating pizza in Hawaii. :)

Flatbread in Paia. Delicious stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExpatExp (Post 33238702)

Flatbread in Paia. Delicious stuff.

Or Charlie’s in Paia.

Here's an anti-recommendation I noticed while browsing for testing info:

https://health.hawaii.gov/news/newsr...health-hazard/

Quote:

Hawai‘i Department of Health shuts down Pizza in Paradise in Kahului, Maui for being an “imminent health hazard”

...

During a routine inspection last week, the health department noted the severity of the violations and immediately issued a red placard to the restaurant. The inspection report pointed out the facility has a long history of clutter and other violations. In the most recent routine inspection, multiple foodborne illness risk factors were observed:

A large pot containing old food on the kitchen floor contained live, moving maggots;
Roaches were observed in several areas of the kitchen, indicating a healthy breeding population;
Plates of food left in the former dining area have not been discarded and these are covered with small flies of unknown type, possibly fruit flies;
The facility is completely filled with items such as boxes and old equipment;
Hand sink, counter tops and food prep areas used to store food items did not appear to not have been cleaned in a long time;
Vegetables that appear to be rotten on outer surfaces were stored with other vegetables and it unclear whether they were discarded or used in food preparation;
Raw beef, pork and poultry are completely packed in the two-door chill and are not arranged to prevent cross-contamination;
Foods are not refrigerated and stored at proper temperatures; and
Many items such as opened canned goods and bottled goods are on counters with mold growth.

Yuck!

Headed to Maui (Lahaina/Wailea) in a few days (well, couple weeks before we get there)... Any current recommendations for places to eat? Anything from casual to nice, but we'll likely not eat anywhere > ~$75/pp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnndor (Post 33441779)

Kimo’s.

Kihei Cafe is great food at a good price - it's an order at the counter type place
Three's Bar/Grill in Kihei has great happy hour but there's usually a long wait. It's in the middle of a shopping center type place so it works well to get on the list and then wander around and shop for the +/- 45 minutes.
Gannon's (attached to one of the Wailea golf courses) is a nice somewhat upscale happy hour place
Roy's is another golf course restaurant but up in Lahaina with great happy hour
Amigos (Lahaina or Kihei) is good/standard Mexican
Cocoanuts in Kihei has really good fish tacos
Cafe Ole' in Kihei has nice views and good food

+1 for Cafe O'Lei in Kihei.

Nucharee Thai in Kihei is also pretty good. They have an ahi larb, great spin on a Thai classic, which I really enjoyed.

Paia fish market in Kihei and Lahaina. And Paia.
the market in wailea

my friends liked pita paradise in Wailea.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaobest (Post 33448912)

my friends liked pita paradise in Wailea.

Pita Paradise has reasonably priced and unexpectedly good Mediterranean food (just across the parking lot from Monkeypod).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanic (Post 33455602)

Pita Paradise has reasonably priced and unexpectedly good Mediterranean food (just across the parking lot from Monkeypod).

well monkeypod is upstairs and PP is “downstairs” in the lot.
I love The Market which is directly below monkeypod.

all that said, when I’m on maui, I don’t want to eat pizza Chinese thai Italian that I can get at home. I hate it when we go to Maui tacos because… I live in San Francisco. Where I live, I really can’t get great amazing Hawaiian-style food. So on mAui, I prefer to eat Hawaiian style food.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaobest (Post 33455738)

Problem with this is the American tourists often only like/buy sugary crap so the authentic restaurants tweak their offerings. My wife's family is from Vietnam and ran restaurants on the mainland for years and altering their native food to fit American's taste buds is an ongoing joke.

Finding truly authentic food is tough anywhere. Many Hawaiian eateries would have you believe, "authentic" is 4oz of chicken in 12oz of syrupy sauce, a pound of rice, a pound of macaroni salad and two carrot sticks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gaobest (Post 33455738)

all that said, when I’m on maui, I don’t want to eat pizza Chinese thai Italian that I can get at home. I hate it when we go to Maui tacos because… I live in San Francisco.

Talk about confirming the stereotype.

You can't get real Thai in SF, it's all over-sugared and under-spiced. Nor can you get ahi larb, which you can get in Kihei.

Are you going to tell us next that the sushi is better in SF so don't bother with that in Maui?