We’re staying at the Hyatt in Poipu. We’ve been to Kauai several times and have experienced the traffic and travel times. We’re definitely going to try JO2 in Kapaa and will probably return to the Beach House because it’s become something we do on every visit to Kauai. Other than that, I’d be interested in hearing about some of the more casual spots you might suggest.
We stayed there too. We did all casual for our week as we had our 3 year old daughter with us. Here are some recommendations very close to the hotel:
Sushi: Makai…small stand inside a local supermarket. Had to eat in the back of our jeep. Great trip adviser reviews. Totally agree. Amazing!
Pizza: Pizzetta
Breakfast: Big Save supermarket. Recommended by Hotel staff…awesome breakfast bar but no place to sit. Very reasonably priced. You might think I’m crazy but great place for breakfast. We ate there everyday and nice to not pay crazy prices for at least one meal per day. Also really enjoyed their Poke…tons of different selections and after watching all the locals buy the poke we gave it a try and it was fantastic.
Thanks for the recommendations ! All 3 are new to us, and I look forward to trying them.
We just returned from a week at the Hyatt in Poipu, Kauai, and we ate really well !!
We tried 2 of the places AdamK recommended …
We ate at Pizzetta in Koloa after a day of hiking in the Waimea Canyon/Kokee State Park area. The pizza, a thin crust Super Combo, was excellent, the Islander salad was fresh and huge, and the beer was cold. This was a great change-up from the fantastic seafood we had most nights. The prices were reasonable and the service was great.
We stopped off at Makai Sushi, in the Kukuiula Market in Koloa, just as they were closing (5pm on weekends). They had 1 Gorilla Bowl - ahi, ono, salmon, cucumber, avo, sweet maui onion on a bed of sushi rice, shaved dykon, & ocean salad sauced with wasabi, aoli, & sesame seeds - left, so we decided to take it. We went back to the Hyatt, grabbed a bottle of 2007 Mount Eden Chardonnay Reserve from the in-room refrigerator and headed to one of the 2-person swings facing the ocean. The Bowl was just the right amount for the 2 of us, the setting was incredible, but the wine ran out too soon 
The reviews for this place are totally justified.
Our best meal of the week was at Jean-Marie Josselin’s new restaurant in Kapaa, JO2. We shared the Seafood Sampler, which included small portions of almost all of the seafood starters. What a great variety of fish and flavors, beautifully presented and delicious. We also shared the heirloom tomato sampler. It was a much simpler dish but the tomatoes tasted perfectly ripe. For our main course we had mahi mahi and ono, and both were fresh, well cooked and very tasty. We ended with the “local banana crème pie”, and this too was amazing. It was a deconstructed pie, with a rich custard, caramelized banana slices, banana ice cream and a “sand” of ground hazelnuts. I still dream abut this dish …
We did eat at Tidepools, one of the Hyatt restaurants, one night. My wife loved her watermelon salad with a balsamic glaze, both fish dishes tasted fresh and well prepared and the service was excellent. Our corkage fee was graciously waived, so we gave most of it back to our server. Unlike some of the reviews, I didn’t find Tidepools overpriced. It seemed comparable to other similar restaurants on the island and the ambiance is fantastic, especially in the midst of a big resort.
We also ate at Brennecke’s after spending some time at Poipu Beach. The guy sitting next to me at the bar ordered a burger that looked amazing … and huge, but I went with the Ahi sandwich and it was really tasty. Better than Gott’s to my taste, but the location may have had something to do with that
Our one disappointment was at the Beach House. We’ve probably been here 8 or 10 times over the years, and always enjoyed it. Apparently, it’s under new ownership in the past few months, and the new management is trying different things. For example, to get a “front row” table for sunset - around 7:15 or 7:30 - we were told to make a 5pm reservation. We made the reservation, showed up at 5 and were seated after about 15 minutes, along with many other parties. We then had to drag out the service - cocktails, starters, main and dessert, for a couple of hours. I felt bad for the servers, who spent most of the 2+ hours standing around, since almost all the patrons were doing this. We only saw one table, a party with a small infant, turn over before about 8pm. We talked to our server about this, and while he said the slow pacing was expected, it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything that might reflect on the new management. It still felt very awkward, though. The food was fine, although here it did feel pricey. The view was great and we enjoyed watching the surfers while we waited for the sun to go down. Some low hanging clouds did manage to obscure the actual sunset, but I’m not blaming the restaurant for that !
Our last meal, on the way to the airport, was at Kauai Beer Company in Lihue, and about 5 minutes to the rental car return. We sampled a variety of beers and they were all tasty, the pork sandwich and the bangers and mash were quite good and the Cheesy Beer Fries we shared undid all the healthy eating for the entire week.
BYOB, with a corkage fee, is very common on Kauai. We brought 3 bottles with us and took one to Tidepools and one to the Beach House. Both stated a $25 corkage fee, but as I mentioned, it was waived at Tidepools. JO2 has an $18 fee, but we didn’t take a bottle there, and ended up ordering off their list.
There’s a wine shop in Koloa with a very nice selection and reasonable pricing. They have arrangements with several restaurants in the area to waive the corkage fee if you take a bottle purchased in the shop.
Thanks for the great report. Ate at the Beach House (unbelievable meal and sunset view) after snorkeling next to it all day and Tidepools (we stayed at the Hyatt) back in 1998 on our honeymoon.
Glad the places I recommended worked out.
Bumping an old thread to see if the restaurants recommended are still valid, or if there might be others? Spending a couple of weeks on this island in Dec and am doing a little recon.
I just got back from Kauai a couple weeks ago. We stayed in Kapa’a, so all of my recommendations are around there.
JO2 is still solid. They have a great $35 dinner deal if you come between 5-6.
Fish Bar Deli has fun cocktails and good specials.
I heard great things about Aina Kauai, but I wasn’t able to get a reservation.
Pono Market and Leong’s Meat House are great for plate lunches and Hawaiian food. There are food trucks everywhere; I especially enjoyed The Musubi Truck and 808 Grille. Hee Fat General Store and Wailua Shave Ice were my favorite shave ice spots.
I also did a food walking tour in Hanalei that took us to Village Snack Shop and Bakery for chili pepper chicken and macadamia nut pie and to Hanalei Poke. I’d go back to both in a heartbeat.
Have a great trip!!
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A couple of friends said Aina
was superb.
Michael,
We just returned from Kauai last week. We stayed in the Princeville area for the first time as we normally stay in Poipu. Not a lot of dining choices in the Princeville area. We haven’t been to the island for five years.
We dine at the following restaurants. We have brought wines/champagnes to the island on all our previous trips.
Gaylords…$20 corkage, decent wine list if you don’t bring. Food and service were as good as or better than our last visit. Ask for Jeff, a great waiter who knows his wines. He runs their wine program. We are going back in December and he will be our waiter.
J02…Food and service are as good as it was before. Friendly staff. Corkage went up to $30.
Aina Kauai…we wanted to try it based on what we read. Small restaurant. Fixed menu. $135. Corkage $40. My friend brought a Haut Brion but we asked to have it decanted. He went to look for one, came back, and said they didn’t have one so we opened a Corton Charlemange instead. Decent stemware. The food was well prepared and thought out. Parking is very limited. We would go again.
Baracuda…In Hanalei. It’s one of the fine dining restaurants in the town other than Postcards. The food and service were as good as before. Corkage was $30 up from $25. Good stemware. Ask for Amanda, she enjoys wine and is very personable. She is one of their senior staff. We met people who couldn’t get reservations so book far in advance. There was a huge line of people trying to walk in before they opened.
Ama…sister restaurant of Baracuda and serves ramen. Wine friendly.
Koloa Town…La Spezia. We dined there twice in the past and are going back. The food is good and the prices are reasonable. They were wine friendly so we will see if they still are.
There is a nice wine shop in the Princeville shopping center where the Foodland market is located. Great selection with high prices. It was fun to check out their selections.
Have a great trip.
Darrell
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Any more to say re Aina? A friend who went said it was a top 5 dinner for him ( but not sure I trust him on that).
We dine often not so much in San Francisco anymore but in other CA cities Napa, Sonoma, Los Angeles since our son lives there now and in Europe.
We felt the quality, preparation, and taste of the food were worth the $135. For that area in Kauai, the price is expensive but there are not a lot of fine dining options in the area. My wife is better at evaluating food than me (very frank)…she leaves the wine stuff to me. For her to say she thought it was our best meal on the island and would go back says a lot.
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Very helpful, thanks!
Thanks for the detailed tips, Darrell. Appreciate the notes on wines.