If you’re using a “best places to eat in Paia” list that still recommends Charley’s or Anthony’s, close the tab. Charley’s closed for good in 2021, and Anthony’s storefront shut down back in 2015 (the name lives on now only as a coffee roaster, not a café you can sit down in).

Pāʻia town is just two streets, Hāna Highway and Baldwin Avenue, but what’s actually good to eat there has shifted more over the last few years than most guides share.

Here’s what’s currently worth your time, roughly in the order I’d send a friend.

 

Cafe Mambo

Reopened and Somehow Even Better Than It Was!

Cafe Mambo went through a full remodel and reopened under new ownership in 2024, and it’s become one of the more dependable all-day spots in town. Breakfast and lunch run 8am to 2:30pm daily, happy hour is 2:30 to 4:30pm, and dinner runs 4:30 to 8:30pm. Dinner is the only service that takes reservations; everything else is walk-in. We do miss the duck fajitas, but everything we’ve had so far has been delicious. The open-air windows in the front, if you can snag em, are epic people-watching seats on Baldwin Avenue.

Cafe des Amis

For Crepes and Curry

On Baldwin Avenue, Cafe des Amis runs two menus that shouldn’t work together but do: French-style savory and sweet crepes, plus Indian curries in coconut sauce. The bacon, brie, avocado, and apple crepe is a strong breakfast order. We miss the aged cheddar shrimp crepe, but the lentil crepe will always have our hearts. It’s open daily, roughly 9am to 8:30pm, with an afternoon happy hour. Most seating is in a small outdoor courtyard, but it’s covered enough to stay dry during rain in most places. They have some great live music at night too.

Flatbread Company

For Wood-Fired Pizza

A block down at 89 Hāna Highway, Flatbread Company bakes organic, wood-fired pizzas that skip tradition unless you ask for it. The Mopsy’s Kalua Pork, topped with pineapple and barbecue sauce, is the order visitors keep coming back for. But us locals tend to do the 1/2 1/2 of both specials. They always make amazing specials. Open daily 11am to 9pm. It’s a solid pick for families since the room is loud enough that nobody notices kids being kids, though it’s priced more like a sit-down restaurant than a pizza joint. Great drinks and bar too. While waiting for your table, which you’ll likely have to do, pop in next door to Solely Aloha for art, clothes, and great shopping.

nyloS

For a Tasting Menu Inside Town

Also on Baldwin Avenue, above all the counter-service spots, is nyloS, a 14-seat tasting menu restaurant run by chef Jeremy Solyn and his wife Paulina. The dining room is genuinely tiny, around 300 square feet, built around an open kitchen so every table works as a chef’s table. The menu is a multi-course, market-driven tasting format built around ingredients like A5 Wagyu, caviar, king crab, and bluefin tuna, and pricing runs upward of $300 per person before tax, gratuity, or wine. It’s open Wednesday through Saturday, dinner only, and reservations are required well ahead of time since seating is so limited. This is the splurge option that’s actually in Pāʻia town, not a drive away. We’ve been once, and we’re heading back in October for date night. Excited!

Choice Health Bar

For Smoothies and Acai

Also on Baldwin Avenue, Choice Health Bar is a plant-based counter serving acai bowls, smoothies, salads, and cold-pressed juice, open daily 9am to 4pm. It’s a good stop if you want something light before a beach day rather than a full meal, but it closes early, so don’t plan on it for dinner. They have plenty of grab-and-go options too. This is one of the better quick, healthy meals on Maui.

Mana Foods

For the Best Quick Meal in Town

Mana Foods is a grocery store, not a restaurant, but its hot bar and deli at 49 Baldwin Avenue turn out some of the best food in Pāʻia for the least money. Grab a container, fill it from the hot bar or salad bar, and eat on a bench or carry it to Baldwin Beach a few minutes away. Open daily 8am to 8:30pm. If you want a simple, cheap lunch before heading out on the Road to Hāna, this is where I’d stop.

Paia Fish Market

The One Everyone’s Already Heard Of.

At the corner of Baldwin Avenue and Hāna Highway, Paia Fish Market has been grilling and blackening fresh catch since 1989. It’s counter service with no reservations. You order at a window, then find a table. The fish tacos and the fish sandwich, usually mahi mahi or ono on a big bun with coleslaw, are the reason people line up. Portions are generous for a counter-service spot. The catch is that everyone else already knows this, so lines regularly stretch out the door at lunch and again around dinner. Show up right at the 11am opening, or expect a 20 to 30 minute wait. Personally, I like spice (not sweet), so we’re not often there. Plus, I’d guess most of the fish was frozen, but I could be wrong.

Milagros

For Margaritas and People Watching

Right on the corner across from the fish market, Milagros has been serving Southwestern and Tex-Mex food with a Hawaiian twist for years. Open daily 11am to 9pm, with happy hour from 3 to 6pm. The outdoor tables on that corner are the best seat in town for watching Pāʻia’s mix of surfers, tourists, crackheads, and street musicians. It’s loud and busy by design. If you want a quiet dinner, this isn’t it. If you want great Mexican, this also isn’t it. The best Mex we’ve found on Maui is barely open, but if it is, head to Kahului for Acevedo’s Hawaicano Cafe.

Parking in Pāʻia Town:

What Actually Works

Parking is the real weak point of eating in Paia, not the food. There’s a free public lot on Hāna Highway right at the west entrance to town, and a paid lot on the East entrance. Street parking exists but is limited to one or two hours. Lunchtime, roughly 11:30am to 1:30pm, is the worst window. Eat at 10:30 or after 2pm and you’ll have a much easier time finding a spot.

MORE

What happened to Charley’s Restaurant in Pāʻia?

Charley’s Restaurant and Saloon closed permanently in July 2021 after staying shut through the pandemic. The building still stands on Hāna Highway, but the restaurant is gone.

Is Mama’s Fish House located in Pāʻia town?

No. It’s in Kūʻau, a couple of miles east of Pāʻia on Hāna Highway, not within the town itself. Though they share the same zipcode and are practically in the same zone.

Do restaurants in Pāʻia take reservations?

Most don’t. Paia Fish Market, Flatbread Company, Milagros, and Mana Foods are all walk-in only. Cafe Mambo and nyloS take reservations for dinner only. Mama’s Fish House, outside town, requires reservations booked far in advance. Think months!

Where’s the best breakfast in Pāʻia?

Cafe Mambo (8am to 2:30pm daily) and Cafe des Amis (savory and sweet crepes) are the two strongest breakfast options in town.

Is there vegan or vegetarian food in Pāʻia?

Yes. Choice Health Bar is fully plant-based, Mana Foods’ hot bar has a large vegetarian and vegan selection, and Cafe des Amis lists vegetarian curries alongside its crepes.