What to Eat on Kauai

Hi friends! If you’ve been reading along, you know we just returned from 10 days on Kauai for our honeymoon and you can see parts one, two and three of our trip for the overall recap of the trip. But for today’s post, I am going to just list all of the places we ate, what we got and how much we recommend it! I thought this would be helpful for anyone planning a trip to Kauai in the future. So if you aren’t planning a trip to Kauai, come back on Friday for Friday Favorites 🙂

All the places we ate on kauai

Kukui’s – Lihue

This is the restaurant right in the Marriott (where we stayed) so we ate here quite a bit for all meals, snacks, drinks. The food was as expected, but we loved the flatbreads. Unless you’re staying at the Marriott, don’t go out of your way to eat here, but if you are, you can get some good food and even take it back to your room!

La Spezia – Koloa

One of my favorite meals of the whole trip was here! I had the Tuscan Chicken and it was great! It is a very small Italian restaurant and wine bar. We got there early and had no wait, but after 6 it got pretty crowded. Food came out very fast as well – and the prices were extremely reasonable for Hawaii. There were many other shops along this strip so I would go early and walk around.

Chicken in a Barrel – Hanalei

We loved Chicken in a Barrel! There are many locations around the island but we ate at one that you could actually eat inside (still very casual but not just a shack with a window). The BBQ was great – I had a chicken sandwich and Miguel got the sampler. I would definitely recommend for a cheaper lunch/meal.

Pietro’s Pizza – Lihue

If you are in Lihue and need a pizza, I would recommend Pietro’s! We ordered an entire pizza for lunch and devoured it (we were pretty hungry). For lunch, they just have the outside table area with a walk up window open but it is covered and the pizza came out very fast.

Kauai Beer Company – Lihue

We ate here for dinner one night. It is definitely a younger crowd here and it was pretty busy, regardless our food came out quickly. The beer was reasonably priced (and Miguel said it was good) -they are a microbrewery. I don’t like beer but I enjoyed my mac and cheese. Nothing amazing but pretty reasonably priced.

Tiki Iniki – Princeville

We enjoyed the tiki bar atmosphere of this place for lunch one day! I love a drink in a good tiki glass and the food was good. Nice service as well. Would recommend going to this fun place as well.

Gaylord’s – Lihue

Gaylord’s was one of our “splurge” nights but it was extremely good. We had a special table to celebrate our honeymoon (make sure to tell them you are celebrating) as well as amazing service. The food was very good – Miguel cleaned his plate of Mahi Mahi and the chocolate cake was divine! The setting is an old plantation mansion and it was really cool to see.

Duke’s – Lihue

Duke’s is on the Marriott property so we actually ate here twice. This was my third Duke’s I had been to so I knew what to expect. There is a downstairs bar area and an upstairs dining room (we did both) and both offer great food/service and views of the ocean. We love Duke’s!

Lava Lava Beach Club – Kapaa

Lava Lava Beach club is right on the sand of the beach which is super cool. I loved enjoying a lunch right up on the water. We both got a burger for lunch and there was nothing to complain about. If nothing else, go here for the awesome atmosphere and ask to sit in the sand!

Mariachi’s – Lihue

We were craving Mexican food so we decided to go to the one right across the street from our hotel. It satisfied our craving and the food was what I would expect from a Mexican restaurant here, but it was much more expensive. My guess is there are cheaper Mexican restaurants not he Island!

Cafe Portofino – Lihue

This is the Italian restaurant right on the Marriott property. Italian is my favorite kind of food so I am usually not disappointed whenever I get pasta. This was no exception, I got the ravioli and I was a happy girl. You also have great views of the water here. It wasn’t very busy on a Saturday night which surprised me but we enjoyed ourselves and would go back.

Beach House – Poipu

Beach House is another splurge restaurant but make sure you make reservations a little before sunset! You will be able to watch from your table with a great view of the sun setting over the water. We both got the seafood pasta and it was the best seafood I think I have had. We also had the butternut squash ravioli as an appetizer and it was to die for, so good!

Tidepools – Poipu

This was the restaurant for our last night celebration – another splurge. It is located in the Grand Hyatt Resort and it is a very cool place. The little building is hard to describe but we had great table right next to the coin pond – let’s just say we loved the atmosphere! The food and service were also excellent. And can’t forget the lava cake dessert as well 🙂

Snacks:

Coconut Corner – Waimea

We stopped here and got fresh fruit smoothies – so good!

Skinny Mike’s Ice Cream – Lihue

This was close to the hotel so we walked there and got a cone, good ice cream if you are in the area!

Lappert’s Ice Cream – Poipu

Lappert’s was better though! I got the oreo/chocolate ice cream and it was so so good! I believe there are Lappert’s all around the island. We only went on our last day but I wish I would’ve gone more!