There’s lots of information about where to eat in Maui, but how about what to eat in Maui? Here are some local and Hawaiian favorite specialties that you can find lots of places in Hawaii. Find out what to eat on your Hawaii vacation. Don’t miss these local Maui food musts!
Be sure to check out all 23 posts in my Maui Hawaii – First Trip Travelers Guide!
Best fruit to eat in Maui
Fresh pineapple
I have been to Hawaii and other tropical islands before, but the pineapple we had on Maui is the best I’ve ever had! The first pineapple we ate on Maui came with our cabana rental at the Hyatt Regency Maui. . Oh. My. Goodness. Icy cold pineapple on the beach is the best!
Then purchased this little guy from a roadside fruit stand on the road to Hana. Locally grown, it’s unlike any pineapple you would find in a grocery store. For one thing it was tiny. But it was big on sweetness!
Fruit stand produce
Be sure to take along change or small bills to leave money at serve-yourself fruit stands along the road to Hana. Talk about locally grown produce. You can’t get any more local than direct off the farm Hawaii fruit. And the prices are great!
In addition to the pineapple, we bought avocados and a funny looking fruit that turned out to be passion fruit. I though passion fruit was purple on the outside, but these passion fruits from Maui, Hawaii were yellow.
To our surprise, the ugly passion fruit with the brown spots turned out to be the one that was the sweetest. It was amazing on coconut custard ice cream. So take a chance and don’t just pick out grocery store pretty fruit.
The pineapple was divine! The avocados were huge! (Don’t let the pineapple size fool you – it’s that tiny one above.) At the next stand, I had the idea to get some tomatoes and a lime so I could make what my mom calls Acapulco Guacamole. Unfortunately, the huge Maui Avocado was tasteless. Oh well, it looked pretty!
Best tropical snacks to eat in Maui
Macadamia nuts
You will see these everywhere in Hawaii, in every store, and they’re a great snack to have on hand for car tours and short hikes. Our favorite were the honey roasted and we got ours at Walmart and Target on Maui.
Bare Dried Coconut Chips
Okay, we actually had this before our trip and knew we already loved it. But they go great with the macadamia nuts. And with it and some dried pineapple and dried mango, you can make yourself a delicious island trail mix for some of the great hikes on Maui. You can stock up before your trip on Bare Coconut Chips from Amazon.
Taro chips
We didn’t find these until our last meal on the island at Da Kitchen Cafe. At Da Kitchen they made their own fresh. It was a spur of the moment addition because we hadn’t had any poi on this trip, also made from taro. Taro chips are way better than poi. Frying makes just about anything better, doesn’t it?
If we’d had them earlier, we would have definitely gotten more! We found a bagged brand of mixed taro chips – Terra Chips – at our local grocery store. The bagged chips are not quite as good as the fresh made we had in Maui, but still a nice change from potato chips.
Tip! Hawaii is a lo-n-n-n-g way from Mexico. The tortillo chips that came when we ordered queso in a restaurant were not so great. Try ordering queso with taro chips instead!
Best coffee in Maui
Coffee
Hotel coffee is always “eh,” and it’s hot in Hawaii anyway. We were picking up some iced Starbucks coffees and noticed this local brand – Royal Mills Iced Cappuccino made in Hawaii! Way less expensive and a favorite with many of us. Also, you can’t take glass bottles to the beach, but this comes in cans.
Best ice cream to eat in Maui
Coconut pudding ice cream
Ah, this is delicious! And cold. We got this first at one of the fruit stands on the trip to Hana, and then found this one at the grocery store. Rosalani Tropical Cream ice cream made in Hawaii. Eat as much coconut ice cream as you can in Hawaii! It’s different from the coconut ice cream we found back home.
Mochi ice cream
We got mochi ice cream in the Whaler’s General Store, which appears to be a Hawaiian, if not local, chain at their Shops at Wailea location. Mochi is a sweet bean paste used to make Asian desserts, and we saw lots of it in Hawaii.
With mochi ice cream, the slightly chewy, sweet mochi covering it lets you hold your ice cream in your hands to eat it!
There were lots of different flavors, like mango and chocolate coconut. We loved every flavor we got!
Best quick breakfast to eat in Maui
Banana bread, Mango bread, and fruit smoothies from fruit stands, especially on the road to Hana
We got banana bread, mango bread, and fruit smoothies at local fruit stands made with tropical Hawaiian fruit. It was divine to have something for breakfast that was obviously homemade. Just watch for them along the roads as you drive. The ones that are open will be hit or miss.
Be sure to check out all 23 posts in my Maui Hawaii – First Trip Travelers Guide!
Love the snacks you discovered in Maui?
Love the snacks you ate in Maui on your trip to Hawaii? Bring some home for an inexpensive souvenir. Alas, you can’t bring home the coconut cream ice cream. So eat as much as you can while you’re in Hawaii!