Wondering where to eat on Maui? While I’m not the ultimate source for where to go I will share my experiences. If you have had any good, bad, or average experiences you would like to share please post them in the comments and I’ll make sure they end up on the list. Of course, calling ahead is always the best way to begin the advocation process. However, not all places are the kind worth calling. Always tell your server about your intolerance/allergy/celiac disease, and if they don’t understand try to tell a manager or chef. If they don’t understand, leave.
Key
- Underlined: Gluten Free Menu
- Italicized: Unvisited by me
Strike-through: Not recommended, reason specified
Upcountry
- Market Fresh Bistro, Makawao
Casanova Restaurant(cross contamination)- Grandma’s Coffee House (breakfast only), Keokea
- Makawao Steak House, Makawao
- Colleen’s, Haiku
- Hana Hou, Haiku
- Hali‘imaile General Store, Hali‘imaile
- Mama’s Fish House, Kuau
Kula Lodge(poor service, cross contamination), Kula- Milagros Food Company, Paia
Flatbread Pizza Company(review), Paia- O‘o Farm Tour
Kahului
Thailand Cuisine- Saigon Café
- Bangkok Cuisine
Maui Tacos(cross contamination)Bistro Casanova(lack of response from management after incident, staff not knowledgable)- Kahului Ale House (menu)
Kihei
- Outback Steakhouse (menu)
- Monkeypod Kitchen
Maui Tacos(cross contamination)
Lahaina
- The Melting Pot (Accredited by The Gluten Intolerance Group of North America)
Penne Pasta Café(cross contamination)- Star Noodle (review)
- Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (menu)
Maui Tacos(cross contamination)
- Old Lahaina Luau (e-mail for ingredients list)
- Feast at Lele (contact for dining options)
- Pacific‘O
- i‘O
- Kimo’s
- Hula Grill (menu)
- Pineapple Grill
- Cool Cat Café
East Maui
- Coconut Glen’s
- Aunty Sandy’s
Other
- Ghiselani Designer Wedding Cakes (services)
- Chef Jana (about)
- Maui Fresh Chef (home)
- Maika‘i Ola Bakery (Facebook page) *Currently Closed
can you share the detail of what causes cross contamination @ Maui Taco?
I’ve been informed by Maui Taco’s corporate offices that they cannot state that any of their food products are gluten free, and they have removed their previous statement, of having gluten free foods available, from their website. Also, the corn tortilla chips are fried in the same fryers as the gluten containing food products. Surfaces aren’t cleaned before handling an order for a food allergy, nor are gloves changed. These are things done by other chains like Chipotle to prevent cross contamination.
What do you like to eat at Milagros? I am trying to find online info on their gluten free options without much luck.
I go with things not in flour tortillas, things not fried, and things without enchilada sauce. You can get the fajitas with corn tortillas instead, but avoid the corn chips as they are fried on site in the same fryers as everything else.
Does anyone know if Coconuts in Kihei is gluten-free? They have really good fish tacos that I’ve tried a couple of times, and haven’t been affected.
As far as I am aware, no restaurant on Maui is 100% gluten free. In dining out while gluten free there is always the risk of cross contamination, and while your body may not be showing a reaction it is still possible that your body is experiencing it. Every time we dine out we are possibly ingesting gluten, and the same is true for products you use in your home that are made in facilities that process wheat and other gluten containing grains. There is no perfection when it comes to a gluten free diet, but we can do our very best to buy certified gluten free foods, and to dine out carefully.
I have never been to Coconuts, but if you’ve had what you’d consider good luck in dining there then I suggest you do not kick it from your list of available dining out options.
Have you tried Cuatro in Kihei? I have had great luck there in the past.
I haven’t yet, but I’ll put it on my list of places to try. Thank you for the heads up! Do you have any ordering tips or menu item suggestions?
Hi,
Just wanted to mention that there seems to be some confusion regarding “Cheeseburger In Paradise” in LaHaina. I do not think it has ever been GF. We went there and they very nicely told us that they had no GF choice, that they might in the future but not for now. We were appalled since we saw it on their linked menu, but…
Could the link be wrong? I checked and unfortunately it is wrong. Admittedly anybody could have made that mistake since the names are misleading. The link you guys provided here (http://www.cheeseburgerinparadise.com) is for a different “Cheeseburger In Paradise” chain, nothing to do with the LaHaina restaurant (also called “Cheeseburger In Paradise”) but which belongs to the chain of “Cheeseburger restaurants” (http://www.cheeseburgerland.com). In their menu no GF choice is given.
A real pity, since I was dying for a burger. ;P
Loved Star Noodle though, ty for that!!!
Thank you for the heads up. I was sure they were the other chain, but it’s good to know the truth. I’ll remove it from the list.
Star Noodle is delicious, isn’t it? The atmosphere is also really cool.
Hey all gf Maui eaters. The latest update. I’m from Maui, now live on mainland so visit often. Here’s what and where we ate w three of the four of us being celiac and sensitive… All w out reaction. Kimo’s in lahaina…. Amazing sunset view, have a gf menu and accommodated us beautifully w manager checking in as well. Stella blues in kihei has long been a favorite. Manager personally answered all questions and guided our ordering. Ribs and fish were awesome!!! Flatbread pizza was great as always and even have added gf brownies ala mode! The kids were so excited. Call ahead for seating as it gets really crowded. Lastly our new discovery was wholefoods in Kahului is now doing gf pizzas to go. These became our go to when we needed food to travel. We even took them on the plane home. Hawaiian moons and mana foods are great local markets for all things gf and more convenient depending on where you stay. FYI if flying through lax, bring food. No good options there at all…
Thank you for sharing that information. I haven’t had good luck with Flatbread, but I’m glad your family did. I’ve also never been to Kimo’s and didn’t know that they have a gluten free menu. I’m very glad to hear that they do. I agree with traveling with your own food. You can never be certain that the airport you’re going through will have anything you can eat (even if they have in the past).
Thank you Amanda for the website! I’ll be vacationing in Maui during the last two weeks of January 2012. This is already proving to be a valuable resource :-)
Aww thank you. That’s exactly what I want it to be. May your trip be full of many wonderful experiences.
Hi Amanda! İ have a restaurant you could add to your list. We just went to a very nice restaurant in Kapalua called Pineapple Grill. When I mentioned to the server that I must eat gluten-free, she was immediately able to tell me in detail what dishes i could have as is, and what substitutions could be made to certain other dishes to make them gluten-free.
Hi Amanda-
My GF wife Vicki and I will be returning to Maui in March 2012. We really appreciate the tips about where to dine (and we’re really glad there is a Whole Foods there so we can have GF food and other stuff ready when we get there). We are staying in Kaanapali so I appreciate the dining tips you put in here. My wife was concerned that — based on your review of Star Noodle – that there might be cross contamination with their utensils, etc. I like the tip about asking (and waiting) for them to put on a new pot of water for GF noodles. Any thoughts?
We’ve been concerned about things like that, but I’ve never had any problem there. If you’d like you can always mention it to the server and request that they change out the utensils. I’d be curious to know if they do or not when I visit. Please come back and share your experience about that with us. I am very sensitive to that kind of thing, and if there was an issue with cross contamination I’m fairly certain that I would have reacted.
Just got back from Maui. I had a great time there!
On Friday we went to Cool Cat Cafe in Lahaina. It turned out they have a Gluten-Free Options Menu. They could do most of their burgers as lettuce wraps. They also had five specific items mentioned, of which the most popular was the fish tacos. That is what I had – they were quite tasty! As I am a (mostly) silent celiac, if there was cross-contamination, I’m less likely to notice that.
As we were around Kihei on Friday night and Saturday morning, we used your list to go to the Outback Steakhouse and the Monkeypod Kitchen. There were a few items which were naturally gluten-free at Monkeypod. They were willing to adjust others if they could. I had a scrumptious Ahi Nicoise and some of their home fries. As they have an outside terrace there, we got a great view of the ocean while we dined!
I’m so glad you had a great experience and that I was able to provide some helpful information. Thank you for letting me know about Cool Cat Café. I will add it to the list.
Thanks for all the great info. I clearly won’t have to bring as much raw GF ingredients as I thought I would. I’ll buy them there.
I’m just gluten sensitive, so a little cross contamination is OK. Do you think I could cobble together a loco moco reasonably gluten free? Leave off the mac, the gravy, the teriyaki, chicken katsu, breaded anything. Rice and Kalua pork seems safe, hamburger (no filler), egg. Heck, even Spam is GF…what else? I realize that the gravy is the binder for the whole plate. Sigh. And, how about pasteles? They also seem reasonably safe. Am I deluded?
Thanks!
I can’t say for certain on the pastels, but I’ve had some before without being made ill. Really ask questions of the person who made them. The same is true for kalua pork. Some people may add soy sauce.
You could make loco moco yourself if you have a kitchen or at least the ability to whip up a basic brown gravy (gluten free beef stock, little bit of water and cornstarch, s&p) and then buy a plain hamburger patty somewhere and a side of white rice. If you’re in a hotel you could probably get the hotel kitchen to make the burger and rice, but gravy is a hard one as most restaurants use some sort of bouillon in their stocks.
Spam is gluten free, but don’t always assume the other foods with it are. Read labels, ask questions, and be good to yourself.
Enjoy your trip!