The Hale Makai Cottages Kauai Restaurant Guide

The Hale Makai Beach Cottages Kauai Restaurant guide contains only a partial overview of the most popular cuisine on the garden isle and includes some of the 10 top Kauai restaurants. In Hanalei Bay alone, some of the islands most popular top Kauai Restaurants can be found, only 10 minutes from our North Shore oceanfront vacation rentals.

The Hale Makai Kauai restaurant guide lists various dining options while visiting the Garden Island. Local Restaurants are listed by area, categorizes by their special cuisine and rated by price range. Addresses, websites and telephone numbers are added for convenience for enjoyable Kauai dining experience. When dining at top Kauai Restaurants or at very popular Kauai restaurants, we recommend reserving a table ahead of time.

Bon Appétit, Hale Makai Staff

North Shore Dining

Hanalei Bay is home to a variety of restaurants in different price ranges and quality and has some of the top restaurants on Kauai.

The hip Restaurant Bar Acuda Tapas & Wine serves high quality gourmet meals. The name Tapas is used in the Spanish cuisine. Tapas are a wide variety of appetizers which are shared communally around the table. Tapas at Bar Acuda include mixed olives, small exotic salads and delicious minute fish and meat dishes. Regular main courses and desserts are served in normal size portions. Bar Acuda owner and chef Jim Moffat was recognized in 1996 by Food and Wine Magazine as one of the “Top 10 New American Chefs”. Jim’s expertise from his two San Francisco restaurants, 42 Degrees and The Slow Club, adds elegance and style to the Kauai dining.

Postcards Café serves a unique vegetarian fare with a Thai twist that includes fish. Their catch of the day comes mostly from local fisherman and all produce is organically grown. Postcards Lilikoi Mousse is a divine passion fruit dessert!

Sushi Blues is a popular sushi bar with consistently excellent quality. The sushi chefs create scrumptious sushi rolls and extraordinary sashimi. Service can be slow at times and the noise level can make conversations difficult. Local musicians entertain most evenings.

The Hanalei Gourmet serves great salads, burgers and sandwiches for lunch and dinner. Live music is played most nights. Items from the menu can also be ordered at the take-out counter.

Java Kai is a small coffee place in the heart of Hanalei. The Latte’s are excellent and the small pastry and bagel selection makes for a satisfying breakfast or small lunch.

A favorite North Shore lunch place is Red Hot Mama's, located in Wainiha right along Kuhio HWY, only 3 to 4 minutes from the Hale Makai Beach Cottages. Red Hot Mama’s is just a “small whole in the wall” Mexican take-out restaurant. The tacos and burritos are outstanding and very reasonably priced.

The Napali Café is a cute North Shore neighborhood Coffee Shop within a 2 minute beach walk from our beach vacation rentals. The Napali Café is located within the Hanalei Colony Resort and is open to the public. Their Latte’s, Chai’s and tropical smoothies are delicious and very worth while trying. Freshly baked bagels and homemade pastries are served in the earlier part of the day or as long as the supply lasts. The Napali Café is a favorite among our Hale Makai guests.

Exploring Kauai & Kauai Dining

For small snacks and quick luncheons it might be fun to try some tropical fruit stands that line the roads on Kauai. Most Kauai fruit stands offer delicious snacks, sandwiches and mouth-watering tropical smoothies. Taro chips, a Hawaii specialty, go well with any lunch and are also a great snack in itself. Organic and locally grown fruit and produce is offered at the fruit stands as well for a convenient meal on the go.

Local Hawaiian cuisine can be found at the Tip Top Café & Bakery in Lihue and the Ono Family Restaurant in Kapaa. Both restaurants are known for their scrumptious breakfast and are a great place to take the family. The Hamura‘s Saimin Stand at 2956 Kress Street in Lihue serves tremendous amounts of local food and keeps relatively long hours at night. Their specialty is “Saimin,” which is a noodle soap with veggies, chicken, pork and egg unique to Hawaii. It’s delicious! Google directions or use mapquest, since it is very hard to find.

For the last twenty years, Hawaii Fusion Cuisine has been made popular by most renowned Hawaii chef Roy Yamaguchi. Dining at Roy’s is a culinary journey. Asian-fusion Hawaii food creations are produced from locally grown products and highest quality fish. Roy’s presentations are artistic and exciting and complex and bold flavors make his distinctive dishes delightful.

For Chinese family dining two popular Restaurants come to mind. Ho's Chinese Kitchen in Lihue along Route 50, known for their lemon chicken as well as Panda Garden in Kapaa on the East side along HWY 56 is well known for their quality Cantonese and Szechwan cuisine.

Yes, there are burger and fast food restaurants on Kauai. The Hale Makai Ohana recommends Hawaii local brands. The most famous and most highly recommended Kauai Burger place is Duane’s Ono-Char Burger in Anahola, north of Kapaa, along HWY 56. The other Hawaii trademark is Bubba’s Burger located in Hanalei and Kapaa. Bubba’s Burger call themselves “an authentic old-fashioned hamburger joint" with quite a following of locals and visitors to Hawaii alike.