Planning a trip to Maui? You’re likely thinking of beautiful sandy beaches and warm, sunny days. Guess what you’ll also find there? A food lover’s delight! There are some fabulous places to eat in Maui that you simply must try!

Word of Mouth Takes the Cake

How did these eateries make it on our list, you ask? All but one was recommended to us by others who had already been and came back raving about the delicious meal they had. Once we went ourselves, we had to agree they deserved to be talked about it.

Here are seven must-eat places in Maui we want to make sure you know about, too.

*Prices are from low to upper range and are listed in no particular order.

1. Mama’s Ribs & Rotisserie

My opinion on Mama’s Ribs is that it’s best experienced as takeout. There really isn’t a lot of on-site seating, but that’s ok because they give you everything you need to take with you.

With so many gorgeous views in Hawaii, that’s a win-win situation if I ever heard of one!

You could choose to drive to your favorite beach or do like we did and bring it back to where you’re staying and eat there.

On the last night of our trip, we were pretty worn out and wanted to watch the sunset from our balcony since we’d been out late every night that week.

I called in our order and Rodney went and got it for us so we could just relax while we enjoyed dinner. And enjoy it we did! 

Along with the chicken, they have good ol’ homestyle side dishes that really hit the spot.

Honestly, we could easily have split a dinner because the portions were quite large! Had it not been our last night there, we would have scored with great leftovers for lunch the next day.

Because of the large portions, I’d say if you’re looking for one of the best places to eat in Maui for cheap, this should be on your list.

Tip: If your itinerary includes visiting Nakalele Blow Hole, this would be a great place to eat since you’ll be up that direction.

2. Leoda’s Kitchen & Pies 

Don’t even think about not eating here. It’s just got to be on your list of Maui food musts!

We ended up driving by several times on our way to other activities and were so excited when it finally worked in our plans to eat at Leoda’s!

Actually, we rearranged our agenda to be in Lahaina and make sure it worked out for us to eat there. 

When we went, it was pretty crowded and we did have to wait a bit to order. Not only that, there weren’t any open tables and there were quite a few people waiting.

In my book, that gets me excited thinking this place must have the best lunch in Maui or all these people wouldn’t be here, right?

I was right. 

Rodney ordered the Reuben and I ordered the Club sandwich and we decided to get our order as takeout. We got our lunch and headed straight to the nearest beach to eat there.

We sat with our toes in the sand, sun on our faces, and watched the surfers having fun. It was fabulous!

What could possibly be better than that?

Pie. Pie could be better than that. 

Now here’s where I have to share a REGRET with you. More like a confession because I have actual remorse.

We didn’t get the pie. 

There it is folks.

We weren’t all that hungry.
We had eaten so much that week already.
Diets.
Yada Yada.

Whatever.

For some ridiculous reason, we didn’t get the pie and I just might regret that day for the rest of my life. (Sung in my best Angelica Schuyler voice as any true Hamilton fan would.)

We were told to get the pie.
Everyone raves about the pie.
Don’t be like Rodney and Karee.
Eat the dang pie.

3. Star Noodle

We’ve been to Star Noodle a couple of times now. We visited on our first trip and loved it so much that we came back!

The first time, we came for lunch and sat toward the back of the restaurant. The food is delicious. The service is great. Truly, everything about this place is so good and well worth the hype!

It gets pretty crowded during typical lunch and dinner hours, so you’ll want to come early to get a spot, otherwise, you’ll be waiting a while. (There’s very little room inside to wait, so you’ll likely be waiting outside.)

On our second visit, we opted to sit at the bar and liked that even better. The staff is great about interacting with you and checking to see if you need anything. You can also watch the chefs working their magic.

Plan ahead to be in west Maui at dinner time. Believe me, you won’t regret it.

It’s the food that puts Star Noodle on our list of best places to eat in Maui, though. We ordered Steamed Pork Buns, Pan Roasted Mushrooms and Tempura Shrimp for our main course and all were amazing!

Here’s one thing I wish was different.

We’re a party of two sharing the meal because they offer it as Shared Plates and they know this.
Their Steamed Pork Buns are to die for and they know this, too.
They brought us three Pork Buns.
Three for the two of us.
WHY?

I feel like maybe they’re doing some kind of study in psychology to see how well we handle that and whether or not I stab my beloved in the hand with a fork if he reaches for it first.

I did not and we split it like civilized people, but you may want to brace yourself ahead of time.

What’s up with that, Star Noodle?

Price: Dinner here costs cost around $50-$60 for two people, not including drinks. 

4. Thai Me Up

This is the only restaurant that wasn’t previously recommended to us. We stumbled upon Thai Me Up quite by accident after getting back from watching the sunset at Haleakala Summit late one evening.

We needed to get gas first at Costco, all the restaurants around were closing and we were starving.

I looked up “food near me” on google maps and it said Thai Me Up was two minutes away and closed in 20 minutes. That’s all we needed to know!

When we got there, we were surprised to see it was a food truck. Actually, it was one of several all lined up with a common eating area of picnic tables under a large canopy. And chickens.

We asked if they were still serving (figuring that was a polite thing to do just before they closed, but also using our best puppy dog eyes learned from our six kids).

Not only did they serve up the best Thai food we’ve ever had, but when the chef learned it was our first visit he also fixed a couple of samples for us to try as well.

That, my friends, is how you create fans for life. 

I ordered the Cashew Chicken and Rodney ordered Pad Thai Chicken. 

Great food. Super friendly service. Great price. Definitely worth being on this list of best places to eat in Maui.

Price: Dinner for the two of us was under $25.

5. Mama’s Fish House

Mama’s Fish House restaurant is probably on every “best places to eat in Maui” list you can find. That’s because it earned its spot there.

You don’t just go to Mama’s for dinner. You go there for the experience, the ambiance, and the world-class seafood. Once you’ve been, you won’t ever forget it! 

For starters, the place itself is so open and beautiful. You’ll get the wonderful breeze off the water and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to watch the sun setting over the ocean. It’s certainly one of the best restaurants in Maui with a view!

Their daily menu includes fresh, local fish caught in the past 24 hours, along with the fisherman’s name who caught it.

Let me just say if you’re craving Maui cuisine, you’re going to have a hard time deciding which scrumptious entree to choose.

You’ll want to save room for dessert because they’re pretty well known for that, too!

It’s a very popular place, so you’ll need to make reservations, sometimes even a couple of months in advance. You can do that online, though. 

We first visited Mama’s Fish House to celebrate our 25th anniversary and the staff treated us in a way that made it seem like it was special to them, too. 

Mama’s Fish House is such a lovely place for fine dining. If you are celebrating something special while in Maui, this is the perfect place to do it!

Price: If you’re on a budget, take a look at the menu online before going so you’ll have an idea of the cost. It’s lovely, but also expensive.

6. Feast of LeLe Luau

You can’t go to Maui and not go to at least one luau. There are several to choose from and although they’re all fairly similar, they each have something unique about them and this one stands out as one of the best.

The Feast of LeLe is my absolute favorite. We’ve been twice now and have loved it both times.

I need to warn you though, they serve a crazy amount of food and you will leave stuffed.

Like, loosen your belt and don’t even bother sucking it in for photos.

One thing that sets the Feast of LeLe apart is that the servers bring the food (and unlimited drinks!) to you instead of you going up buffet style to get your dinner.

They also seat you at private tables, so it’s a bit more intimate, even though you’re in an audience of a couple of hundred people. 

The servers are incredibly attentive and are constantly checking on you, refilling drinks (the Banana Madness was my FAV), bringing the next course, and then checking on you again.

The very talented dancers take you on a journey telling the story of how the Hawaiian people came to be settled there. Each of the four courses features different foods from various cultures.

The food is all so good. There wasn’t anything we didn’t like!

The fire dancer puts on quite a show, too. (You’ll definitely want your camera ready for that!)

Now, here is where I question their reasoning for changing things up. When we went a few years ago, the audience faced the water and you got to see the best of both worlds…the show and the sunset. 

It surprised us to find they moved the stage to the other side and now our backs were to the ocean.

I’m here to tell you they could have been putting on the mother of all shows and it would not have mattered because when Mother Nature showed up, she completely stole the show! Half the audience got up to go take pictures of the sunset.

It was a magnificent sunset and would have been stunning to see the dancers and the view at the same time.

Other than that, the Feast of LeLe luau gets two thumbs up from us and we look forward to going again someday!

And hey, while you’re learning about traditional Hawaiian foods, you may also want to try some of these 25 delicious fruits you can find while you’re in the islands.

Tip: When you’re in Maui, you will undoubtedly see signs for businesses that can get you signed up for activities much cheaper than you would otherwise have to pay. These are timeshare presentations. If you are ok giving up a couple of hours of your time, you can easily save a couple of hundred dollars on tickets to the Feast of Lele. Otherwise, it’s about $135 per person.  

7. Ululani’s Hawaiian Shave Ice 

OK, this isn’t an actual place to eat in Maui, as in lunch or dinner. However, it still deserves to be on the list of best places to eat on Maui. I’m not even kidding when I say it was our first stop in town and our last stop on the way out!

Seriously, in Maui, there is shave ice and then there’s Ululani’s Shave ice. 

It’s the perfect mix of creamy and sweet. They have so many flavors to choose from. So many combinations of total yumminess that you could visit every single day on your vacation and never try them all, although I’m all in for trying. 

My personal preference is to order it with a scoop of Macadamia Nut ice cream at the bottom. It takes it to a whole new level of deliciousness!

Rodney prefers his without ice cream at the bottom, but he loves shaking some plum powder on top. They keep a shaker on the counter for anyone to use and you definitely need to try it on at least one bite. You may find you really love it, too!

They have a few locations, but we seemed to be going through Lahaina just about every day, so we always stopped there. (What a coincidence, huh?)

Trust me when I say you’re going to want to add them to your list of fun places to eat in Maui Hawaii!

Best Places to Eat in Maui

I hope our list is helpful – go ahead and save it for when you travel to Maui. You’ll be glad you did! Have you been to any of these places? What would you add to the list?

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This article was produced and syndicated by Our Woven Journey.