Maui's restaurants do not perform for the guidebook. The best of them sit on highway shoulders, in paniolo towns and in strip-mall corners along South Kihei Road, and they cook for the people who live upcountry and drive down. Twelve places follow, sorted by what a resident might tell you if you asked over a beer: a Mexican room in Makawao that has outlasted three decades of turnover, a coastal Italian kitchen that opens twice a day, a Wailea pizza operation that stays hot until midnight, a plantation general store turned dining room, a working ranch that also feeds you, a Kihei Thai bistro with two clean services, an upcountry steakhouse open five nights, a breakfast counter that runs from 05:00, a South Kihei pizza shack, a Vietnamese room that goes to 22:00, an East-shore shrimp truck, and a regional chain that Hawai'i grew up on. Addresses and hours are cited from OpenStreetMap; the opinions are the editor's.
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1 Polli's Mexican Restaurant
1202 Makawao Avenue, Makawao, HI, 96768Long-running Mexican kitchen at the crossroads of Makawao town
From 11:00 the kitchen at Polli's, 1202 Makawao Avenue in the 96768, is already turning out Mexican plates for a crowd that mixes ranch hands, artists and the Baldwin Avenue lunch trade. Skip the resort-strip taquerias built for the cruise crowd; the locals head upcountry for a reason, and the reason is here. Service runs Mo-Su 11:00-21:00, which means you can eat at 11:15 or at 20:45 and be treated the same way. The phone still rings at +1 808 572 7808 and the website is where the menu lives. Nothing about the room is theatrical, and that is the point of Makawao dining.
- mexican
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-21:00
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2 Marlow Italian Restaurant
30 Kupaoa Street, 96768Two-service Italian kitchen doing pizza and pasta upcountry
Smells of wood-fired dough rise through the room at Marlow, 30 Kupaoa Street in the 96768, well before the 07:00 open. The kitchen splits the day cleanly, 07:00-14:00 then 16:30-21:00, which is honest scheduling and rare on this island. The locals prefer this style of Italian (pizza and pasta done without resort-dining fuss) to the pasta-with-a-view restaurants down the hill. Book the second service if you want the room quieter; take the first if you want the light. The website carries the current menu. Order a pie and a plate of pasta and share both, the way the kitchen would rather you did.
- italian
- italian pizza
- pizza
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3 Manoli's Pizza Co.
100 Wailea Ike Drive, Wailea, HI, 96753, USLate-night pizza in the middle of Wailea's resort district
By 11:30 the ovens at Manoli's, 100 Wailea Ike Drive in the 96753, are already loaded and running the pizza service that keeps Wailea fed. Don't bother with the poolside room-service pie back at the resort; the crust here has real char and the room stays open to midnight, Mo-Su 11:30-24:00, which is unusual on this coast. The phone is +1 808-874-7499 and the menu is on the site. Come after a late beach day, order more than you think you need, and eat the leftovers cold at breakfast, which is the correct use of a Manoli's pie.
- pizza
Hours: Mo-Su 11:30-24:00
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4 Hali'imaile General Store
900 Hali'imaile Road, Haliimaile, HI, 96768Plantation-era general store turned upcountry dining room
Doors open at 11:00 at Hali'imaile General Store, 900 Hali'imaile Road in the 96768, and stay open to 20:30, which suits an upcountry drive that starts at the crater and ends over dinner. The store sits on the Haliimaile road, and the dining room occupies a building that was never trying to be a restaurant. Reserve by phone at +1-808-572-2666 or check the site for the current menu. Skip the resort steakhouses along the coast if you have a car; the cooking here rewards the extra mileage, and the room settles into evening in a way seafront rooms cannot.
Hours: Mo-Su 11:00-20:30
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5 Ulupalakua Ranch
Piilani HighwayWorking ranch kitchen on the southern slope of Haleakala
Wind moves across the pasture at Ulupalakua Ranch, on the Piilani Highway, and the kitchen at the ranch store cooks a short American menu for the people who work the land and the drivers who make it this far south. Bring cash, an appetite and time; there is no other reason to be on this stretch of road. Call ahead at +1-808-876-1944 to confirm the day's cooking, or check the site. Don't try to fold this into a resort day; the drive is the point, and the burger tastes different when you have earned the view.
- american
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6 Maui Thai Bistro
2439 South Kihei RoadTwo-service Thai kitchen on the South Kihei strip
The kitchen at Maui Thai Bistro, 2439 South Kihei Road, runs twice a day, 11:00-14:30 and 16:00-20:30, which is exactly how a Thai room should be run. The locals prefer this stretch of Kihei to the pan-Asian dining rooms in the resort corridor, and the price difference is not subtle. Order across the menu, listed on the site, and share; a single-dish table is a wasted table here. Take the late lunch if the beach has wrung you out, and the early dinner if you have a sunset booked. Skip the resort's version of a green curry and eat the real one where the cooks eat.
- thai
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7 Makawao Public House
3612 Baldwin Avenue, 96768Upcountry steakhouse open five nights on Baldwin
Doors open at 17:00 at Makawao Public House, 3612 Baldwin Avenue in the 96768, five nights a week, Tu-Su, which is a schedule that respects both the cooks and the town. The kitchen runs a steakhouse and American menu without the tableside theatre the coast has grown tired of. The room fills quickly and empties near 21:00, so book the first sitting if you want a conversation. Skip the resort steakhouses if a car is available; the beef eats better in a paniolo town, and the walk to it is part of the meal.
- steak house
- american
Hours: Tu-Su 17:00-21:00
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8 Kihei Caffe
1945 South Kihei RoadPre-dawn breakfast counter on South Kihei Road
From 05:00 the counter at Kihei Caffe, 1945 South Kihei Road, is already pouring for surfers, contractors and the early-flight crowd, and it does not close until 14:00. The locals eat here before the sun is up, which is why the queue at 09:00 is entirely visitor and moves slowly. Order at the window, carry your tray to a patio table, and pay less than you would at any hotel dining room. The phone is +1-808-879-2230 and the menu is at kiheicaffe.net. Skip the resort buffet on a travel day; a plate here and a coffee will set the morning straighter than any omelette station.
Hours: Mo-Su 05:00-14:00
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9 Shaka Pizza
1770 South Kihei Road, Kihei, HI, 96753Late-weekend pizza counter on South Kihei
Ovens at Shaka Pizza, 1770 South Kihei Road in the 96753, come on at 10:30 and stay lit until 21:00 most nights, with Fr and Sa running to 22:00. The room is small, the pizza menu is short, and both are honest about what they are. The locals prefer this to the strip-mall chains a few blocks up; the crust is thinner, the cheese is fresher, and the counter runs on first names when it can. The site carries the current pies. Skip the resort pool bar and walk over on a Friday; the ninety extra minutes of service on the weekend are the whole point of the address.
- pizza
Hours: Mo-Su 10:30-21:00; Fr,Sa 10:30-22:00
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10 Vietnamese Cuisine
1280 South Kihei RoadLong-hours Vietnamese kitchen on South Kihei Road
The kitchen at Vietnamese Cuisine, 1280 South Kihei Road, runs a straight 10:00-22:00, which on this island counts as generous. The Vietnamese menu is longer than the room deserves, and the pho is what regulars come back for; the site lists the day's specials. The locals eat here between shifts because the timing works and the price is right, which is a better recommendation than any dining-room review. Skip the fusion places along the resort strip if a proper bowl is what the day needs. Sit near the window, take the seat closest to the kitchen if it is free, and order the broth-first dishes before the fried plates.
- vietnamese
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-22:00
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11 Geste Shrimp Truck
591 Haleakala HighwayRoadside shrimp truck on the Haleakala Highway
Smoke drifts across the lot at Geste Shrimp Truck, 591 Haleakala Highway, from 11:00 Tu-Sa until the window closes at 17:30. The locals go early; the truck sells out, and the line at 12:30 is a warning, not a welcome. Call +1 808 298 7109 before making the drive on a shoulder day, or check the site. Skip the resort's version of a shrimp plate and eat this one at a picnic table with your fingers, sauce on the paper and the highway a few metres away. Bring napkins the truck will not give you enough of; the plate is not tidy and is not meant to be.
Hours: Tu-Sa 11:00-17:30
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12 Zippy's
15 Ho'okele Street, Kahului, HI, 96732Regional Hawai'i comfort kitchen near the airport
At 15 Ho'okele Street in the 96732, the kitchen at Zippy's Kahului glows through the parking lot for the last-flight crowd and the first-flight crowd both. The regional menu is the one Hawai'i grew up on, and eating it once is part of understanding the state; the site carries the full lineup. The chili and the saimin hold up at hours when nothing else near the airport is honest food. Call +1-808-856-7599 if a takeout order needs to be ready before a red-eye. Don't bother with the airport concession stands; a plate here on either side of a flight is the correct Kahului bookend.
- regional
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