Best Family-Friendly Restaurants in Maui That Are Also Delicious

Traveled in May 2023 and May 2025

Let’s be honest – eating out with a toddler can be…chaotic. We usually stick to takeout at home, though that means missing out on eating food while it’s still hot. When we do dine out, we look for fast, easy, family-friendly spots, which usually means skipping the trendiest and most delicious spots. That’s why we were pleasantly surprised by how well we ate in Maui, even with our kiddo. Maui has incredible gourmet food trucks – delicious food in a relaxed setting where kids can play while you wait. Many restaurants are casual and kid-friendly too, so dining out is less stressful. If you’re looking for some family-friendly but delicious restaurants in Maui, bookmark this page now to prevent a hangry toddler meltdown later.

These family-friendly restaurants in Maui are clustered around Napili Bay and Kihei, where we stayed. When we stayed in Napili Bay, it was just a short drive to Lahaina, so we ate there most nights. After the fire in Lahaina, many of our favorite spots have opened branches in Kihei. There are a few more family-friendly restaurants we’ve bookmarked for our next visit to Maui, but these are the standout ones we would definitely come back to.

I must apologize in advance for the quality of the food photos. Clearly, I’m no food photographer! I always forget to take a picture before taking a bite, and most of the time I forget to take a photo altogether. These were quick snaps before our kiddo grabbed the food or while holding a wriggly toddler – we didn’t have time for all the perfect angles. I hope you’ll take my word for it that the food was so delicious that we couldn’t wait to dig in, and that’s why the photo quality is not the best!

Napili Bay

• The Gazebo Restaurant: famous for their breakfast, both for the food and the wait. We ordered our breakfast to go to enjoy in our condo to avoid the wait. We got the banana mac nut pancakes and a couple omelettes. The portions were large, hearty, and filling.
• Miso Phat Sushi: AMAZING sushi rolls. (And that’s coming from people that eat real sushi.) It’s a small place and the wait can get long, so this was another take out situation for us. They use real crab meat by default in their rolls, unlike most places that use imitation crab and charge extra for the real stuff.
• Big Wave Shave Ice Company: this shave ice stand is located inside the Westin, just past the main lobby. There is free public parking on the gravel lot just past the main parking lot for the Westin. I was skeptical since it was inside of a big hotel, but this shave ice was delicious! I would recommend the natural flavors and of course go for the snow cap.

Kihei

Food in Kihei

• Da Kitchen Maui: we went for the deep fried spam musubi! They also have plate lunches that were tasty but the main draw for us was the deep fried spam musubi.
• Kitoko: a fancy bento box food truck in the South Maui Gardens. Think elevated versions of traditional Hawaiian plate lunches. We got the mahi bento and the braised beef loco moco. The braised beef was super tender and the mahi was not dry at all. In place of regular rice they serve a block of crispy rice with the bentos, which adds a great texture and crunch that is great for soaking up all the sauces. Kitoko also makes some fancy Hawaiian inspired pastries and tarts, which are sold at the Blue Door Bakery next door.

• Sugar Beach Bake Shop: famous for their malasadas, but you have to get there before 10am or they sell out. They have freshly fried hot malasadas with no filling, or already prepared malasadas with filling. I don’t usually like things with filling but surprisingly liked the malasadas with filling more. I was skeptical, but the malasadas really do live up to the hype.

• South Maui Fish Company: a food truck serving up some super fresh fish tacos and plates. They only serve local freshly caught fish, and you can taste the difference in the flavors.

• 808 Deli: really good hot sandwiches with Hawaiian ingredients. We went for the sandwiches but could not resist the lilikoi pudding. Definitely don’t skip the pudding, it was amazing – light and fluffy as air. We noticed a lot of people called ahead to place order and that was the smart thing to do.

• Miso Phat Sushi: another branch of the same sushi spot above. You can order ahead online for this Kihei location.
• Cool Cat Burgers: if you want a giant, messy, delicious burger, then Cool Cat definitely delivers. The Cool Cat Burger in Lahaina was always our first dinner whenever we visited Maui so it’s somewhat nostalgic for us. We were happy to see that they have a branch in Kihei so we could keep our tradition alive. Online ordering is available if you want to do take out, but the restaurant is big enough that there usually isn’t a wait.

• Tajima Ramen: the Tonkotsu broth here is really rich and flavorful and the homemade noodles are the perfect amount of chewy. You would think that you wouldn’t want a hot bowl of soup when it’s so hot outside, but the ramen really hits the spot and makes you feel warm inside in the best way. The ladies that work here are so sweet, and they had kids utensils and bowls for our little one. They also mentioned that they would start serving sushi soon.
• Maui Bread Company: I love bakeries. Especially bakeries that combine local flavors in their pastries. Maui Bread Company does just that with Hawaiian-inspired pastries and breads. Their jams and fruit butters are also divine, and the perfect size for bringing home as gifts. We never got here early enough to get all the specialty pastries, but the lilikoi bun, pina colada sweet bread, POG bread, and Hawaiian bread were great for breakfast.

• Maui Fish’n Chips: the fried fish tacos here may have been my favorite ever. The tacos are piled high with slaw and a tangy dressing. Some reviews mentioned it was too much slaw, but I actually loved it. The fish and chips were also a hit with our kiddo who is in his picky eating phase. He usually never goes for the fish but he actually ate half a piece on his own, no prompting needed!

• Aloha Prime Eatery: another gourmet food truck in the South Maui Gardens. We wanted to get the prime rib, but they only have that available on Fridays and Saturdays (so plan ahead!). The ahi bruschetta was really unique and yummy.

• Thai Mee Up: another award-winning food truck in the South Maui Gardens. This thai food was really flavorful and tasted really authentic.

Shave Ice in Kihei

• Ululani’s Kihei: located next to the Sugar Beach Bake Shop. Ululani’s was our go to shave ice place in Lahaina. They have multiple branches around the island. They always do a great job making sure the syrups get distributed all the way through the ice.
• Da Kine Shave Ice: located in a small gas station plaza across the street from the beach. There is a small parking lot and indoor seating. We went on a weekday afternoon and had no trouble with parking or lines, but I could see it getting busy on the weekends. I liked that they had all natural dye-free syrups for the kids in plenty of flavors. They also gave us a loyalty stamp card so you can earn a free shave ice.

• Peace Love Shave Ice: this is a stand located in a plaza parking lot. There is a small shaded outdoor seating area with some benches and small tables next to the stand. One bonus is that the condensed milk topping is free here!

Hungry yet? Find the perfect place to stay in Maui near these family-friendly restaurants in Maui so you can get a taste for yourself!

Wailea

• Akamai Coffee: locally grown artisanal coffee with Hawaiian-inspired lattes and drinks. This coffee shop in Wailea Village has all of the hipster vibes. They do have some breakfast options like avocado and egg toasts, but we found them pricey and not really worth it. Most mornings, we grabbed coffee from Akamai and picked up pastries or bread from the Maui Bread Company instead.

• Island Vintage Coffee: this is more of a Hawaii-wide chain coffee shop located in the Shops in Wailea. They also have some Hawaiian-inspired drinks, and a bigger breakfast menu. The breakfast items here are also pretty pricey, but at least the portions are bigger. The acai bowls are popular, but I also like the breakfast bagels on the purple taro bagel and the breakfast plate. They have online ordering available. Island Vintage also has a little shave ice stand next to the coffee shop. They included free mochi in the shave ice, which was a nice touch.

Maalea

• Point Break Pizza & Panini: located in the plaza next to the Maui Ocean Center, so it’s a great place for lunch when visiting the aquarium. It’s also next to PacWhale Eco Adventures, and because we booked a tour with them, they emailed us a 15% coupon to Point Break. The panini sandwiches come on house-made focaccia that was incredibly fluffy. Our kiddo liked it so much I went back just to order another side of focaccia. They also serve pizza by the slice, which was great for trying a variety.

Kahului

• Tin Roof: opened by one of Hawaii’s celebrity chefs, Tin Roof serves Hawaiian plate lunches but with an elevated twist. I always try to have mochiko chicken once when in Hawaii, and the ones here were juicy and flavorful. It’s right near the airport, so we stopped here for our first meal in Hawaii right after landing. It would also be a great place to pick up take out before getting on the plane for one last Hawaiian meal on the plane ride home.

Find the perfect activities to work up an appetite with our list of toddler-friendly activities in Maui!