9 Best Restaurants in Wailuku, Maui

Delicious artisan sandwiches, classic burgers, and signature items make 808 on Main a local favorite. The pupus, cocktails, and draft beers will make you wish the place was open later (10–3 pm). Check out its counterpart, 808 Deli in Kihei, for breakfast, paninis, and gourmet hot dogs.

This popular spot began as a French–Vietnamese bakery on Oahu and has branched into popular small restaurants sprinkled throughout the Islands, with some locations set up as kiosks in malls and others, like this one, as stand-alone spots with a few picnic tables out front. Vietnamese pho (soup laden with seafood or rare beef, fresh basil, bean sprouts, and lime) shares menu space with local-style saimin and plates of barbecue or spicy chicken, beef, pork, or local fish served with jasmine rice.

Open for lunch and dinner, Sam Sato's is a local favorite for noodles, manju (Japanese pastry filled with sweet bean paste), and plate lunches. The menu includes favorites like "dry noodles," beef tomato, omelets, and fried rice, and the dry mein, saimin, and chow fun come in different-size portions with add-ins to satisfy every noodle craving; try a teriyaki beef stick or two while you wait for your bowl. When it's busy—which is almost always—you will likely have to wait for a table or a stool at the counter; write your name on the little yellow pad at the takeout window.

The desserts on display will surely make you drool at one of Maui's best bakeries, where every day is cake day, the strawberry Florentines are outrageously good, and the cream horns are renowned. Other more-substantial and equally exceptional breakfast and lunch offerings include everything from mouthwatering pancakes to gourmet sandwiches on house-made bread.

The food is so fresh at this Waikapu standout that you can see the fields where it was grown while seated at your mountain view table. This family-owned restaurant creates rich cuisine from mauka (mountain) to makai (ocean), boasting seasonal produce. With every bite, you know it was made with aloha. Reservations are encouraged.

Locals have been flocking to this off-the-beaten-path gem for years, lured in by the reliably delicious family-style Vietnamese cuisine at decent prices. It's tucked behind a nondescript overpass—and only recently did management put a sign on the building—but you can't go wrong with the green papaya salad, mixed fondue, and the make-your-own Vietnamese burritos.

The breakfasts and lunches served here are crafted by chefs who use various cooking styles and techniques to showcase Maui's seasonal bounty. Menus change every 62 days to ensure that dishes use the freshest farm ingredients. It's not only a restaurant but a market, too, featuring chef-crafted spices, rubs, and sauces made from local herbs and vegetables.

The menu at Top Chef Sheldon Simeon's newest restaurant features "Hawaii classics," namely a fusion of Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and Portuguese flavors. Chef Sheldon has become a culinary ambassador for this diverse cuisine, and the menu here showcases the best of it.

Local-style Japanese food is the hallmark of this eatery, where, at lunch, you might rub elbows with both bankers and construction workers, and, at dinner, three generations might be celebrating tutu's (grandma's) birthday at the next table. Enjoy the freshest sashimi, feather-light crispy shrimp and vegetable tempura, or local-style bentos and plate lunches.