We dined at several restaurants during our stay at the Grand Wailea and wanted to share our honest opinions on the dining options here.

View other posts in this series:

• Trip Introduction: Ringing in the New Year in Maui
• Good for Hilton Loyalists: A Review of the Grand Wailea
• Dining at Grand Wailea: Tasty Meals But Expensive (this post)
• Plenty of Aloha: Review of the Andaz Maui at Wailea
• Andaz Maui Dining Guide: Amazing Meals for the Family
• Maui with Kids: An Island Full of Adventure
• Where to Eat in Maui: Our Full Trip Dining Review

Grand Wailea: Plenty of options for dining

Let’s spend a moment walking through all the possible dining options at the Grand Wailea resort in Maui:

• Nobu Grand Wailea Maui, a chain higher-end Japanese restaurant
• Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, the resort’s fine dining restaurant
• Olivine, the resort’s Italian restaurant
• The Lūʻau at Grand Wailea, your typical Hawaiian luau
• Botero Lounge, a place to grab drinks in the lobby
• Loulu, a quick to-go restaurant and market
• Wailea Surf Haus, a restaurant near the beach
• Grotto Bar, a bar inside one of the resort’s many pools
• Aloha Trick Pony, a food truck permanently at the resort
• Haleakalā Shave Ice, a spot to cool down from the hot Hawaiian sun
• Room Service, because sometimes you just want to stay in

For this article, we’re only going to talk about the places we’ve been to (sorry, Nobu). We’re also not going to talk about the two bars, the market, or room service. Instead, we’re going to focus on specifically our own experiences with the food we ate. After all, that’s why you’re here to read this article, right?

We have no financial relationship with the hotel or the restaurants below. That allows us to give you our honest opinions about each place we tried.

Humuhumunukunukuapua’a

Official website:
Hours: 7AM – 10AM daily (breakfast), 5PM – 9PM daily (dinner)
Price: $30-$70/entree
Good for kids: Yes, there’s is a kids menu
Reservation needed: Yes, you’ll ideally want one
Highlights: Delicious food with a beautiful sunset

The star of the show at the Grand Wailea, we’ll call this restaurant ‘Humu’ to make it easier on ourselves. Reservations are available on OpenTable and are recommended. If you’re looking for higher quality foods and dining at this resort, forget everything else at the hotel and come here.

You can tell from the level of effort in creating a wonderful ambience that the hotel operators knew which restaurant to focus on. The hotel sits atop a small pond with waterfalls and statues all around. The theme here does an excellent job of making you feel like you’re on the islands, perhaps better than anything else we experienced on this trip.

The menu

We were greeted by a very friendly server who welcomed us to her home. We were handed some menus, including an official kids menu.

Drinks

We ordered a variety of dishes, including what the restaurant called “starburst” drinks for the kids (think of it as a flavored lemonade that’s not overly sweet). Jenn ordered a kiwi lemonade (and shared with Alex) while Char ordered a strawberry version. Both were consumed quickly. I went with the Mrs. Claus’s Slippah, which I found quite good as well. Overall, the drinks here were above average.

While we waited for the entrees to come out, the kids went over to the nearby bar to check out the fish. If I were here with just Jenn, I would probably prefer to sit at the bar for better viewing of the fish in the tank spanning the whole bar.

The food

First up was the ube brioche bread, which was warm and quite soft inside. If you’re a fan of fresh bread, this is the loaf to eat. The kids were huge fans and amused by the purple color of ube.

The kids meals showed up first. The daily catch was a mahi mahi, which Char enjoyed. Alex went with a tasty grilled steak. Quality-wise, the kids meals here are a step up over what they got at Olivine, but the price was also higher as well.

The adults started with the steamed blue ocean clams. They were good, but I was hoping for a few more given the price paid.

We also opted for a salad. The dungeness crab salad is refreshing and good if you’re looking for both crab and a dish that’s not too filling. As a salad, I think it does a good job of preparing you for the rest of the meal.

The fish here is nothing short of excellent. The Chilean sea bass was cooked to perfection, with a crisp exterior and soft, flaky interior. The kabocha spread it sits on offers an excellent complement to the dish.

Dessert

At this point of the meal, the sun was starting to set and we were treated to a beautiful scene at our table.

We were given a dessert menu, and despite getting our fill at dinner, we chose the basque cheesecake. Jenn has been in a basque cheesecake craze for what feels like two years and the basque here is simply divine. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a sweet ending to the meal.

The kids meals here also come with a scoop of ice cream. It is nice when the kids meals come with a dessert (to help prevent the kids from stealing our dessert).

Olivine

Official website:
Hours: 11AM – 3PM daily (lunch), 3PM – 5PM daily (intermezzo), 5PM – 9PM daily (dinner)
Price: $20-$40/entree
Good for kids: Yes, there is a kids menu
Reservation needed: Yes, if you’d like to avoid a wait
Highlights: The kids meals are a better value than the adult meals

We booked a reservation on OpenTable for 5:30PM but they happily seated us at 5:00PM. Olivine is located right above the pool activity desk in the adults-only pool area of the Grand Wailea. If I’m being honest, it seems like an odd place to place the restaurant. With the high traffic from patrons using the restaurant, wouldn’t it make more sense to keep the adult pool more serene by placing it elsewhere? Plus I can say that we felt odd bringing the kids to the adults pool area to eat.

The menu

Shortly after being seated, we were had a few moments to peruse the menu before our server greeted us. We had a nice view of the Grand Wailea grounds from our table.

The food

Kids menus are available but seem to not be printed so just ask your waiter for what is offered. Our kids ordered a pepperoni pizza and spaghetti with meatballs. While the kids version of spaghetti doesn’t have the burrata or confit tomatoes that appear in the adult version, it is still flavorful. Sometimes the kids meals at restaurants are overly bland but I’m glad that’s not the case here. The kids dishes cost $21 each, but the meatballs cost an additional $11. Quite honestly, given the adult pizzas are twice as expensive, I would recommend going with the kids pizza if you have the choice.

The adults ordered six blue ocean oysters, housemade ricotta, and the daily catch. I also decided to order a mai tai. The drink was good but otherwise not too memorable.

The blue ocean oysters were fresh but I had a lot of bits of shell in mine. I suppose it comes with the territory, but it was a tad off-putting.

The fresh ricotta was light and fluffy but it needed some salt. The olives in the dish provides the necessary element but there aren’t enough for the amount of cheese given. The lack of a balance in flavors led to a slight disappointment.

The daily catch was amberjack, and has a nicely crisp bottom from the pan searing. This was a better dish than our appetizers and, in retrospect, probably the only adult dish I would order again (the kids dishes were also good).

In conclusion, overall the restaurant was a bit on the expensive side (all in, we paid ~$230) but what can you say when you’re at an expensive resort in Hawaii?

Loulu

Official website: https://www.grandwailea.com/dine/loulu
Hours: 24 hours a day
Price: $15-$40/entree
Good for kids: Yes, there’s a kids menu
Reservation needed: No reservations allowed, but don’t be surprised about a wait
Highlights: It’s there when you want it

Found on the fourth floor of the Grand Wailea, this restaurant is a grab-and-go option designed for a quick bite. I saw quite a few people here eating a quick breakfast here instead of the other expensive on-property restaurants. We stopped in here one afternoon for dinner after a day at the pools.

More than just a restaurant–it’s also a convenience store

They do sell snacks and convenience store items here as well. Just expect a higher price for the goods here to compensate for the convenience. I recommend taking a short 10 minute walk to the Shops at Wailea where there is both an ABC Store and a true grocery store if you need snacks at a cheaper price.

There is seating outside, but since it’s all to-go anyways, we ended up just going to our room instead.

The food

We weren’t too hungry, so we ordered a kids grilled cheese sandwich, a cheese pizza, and Korean style fried chicken for us all to share. This ended up being plenty of food for us.

The kids grilled cheese seemed very sad, just a tough, lonely sandwich that Char already started eating before I was able to take a picture. It comes with a small bag of chips that she accidentally spilled while eating. The sandwich tasted like no effort was placed into making it.

The pizza was fine, but note it’s actually more expensive here than what we paid for at Olivine. The pizzas are comparable. It just seems odd that it’s more expensive here.

The Korean style fried chicken wasn’t what we were expecting. We were thinking it would be more like crispy Korean fried chicken (the real type of KFC). Instead this tasted like it would be found at Panda Express. That doesn’t make it bad, but if I had known this was what we would get, I would have ordered something else.

If you have Hilton Gold or Diamond status and need to use up your credits, this is likely your cheapest option doing so. But I would otherwise suggest going elsewhere.

Wailea Surf Haus

Official website: https://www.grandwailea.com/dine/wailea-surf-haus
Hours: 11AM – 5PM
Price: $20-$40/entree
Good for kids: There is a kids menu
Reservation needed: No
Highlights: If you need food at the pool…

Let’s start by admitting dining poolside at the Grand Wailea wasn’t going to be a cheap meal. But even saying that, the cost exceeded expectations. I ordered two drinks, a burger, and some chicken tenders and combined it cost $100. A bit painful.

To order food by the pool, you’ll either need to walk to the restaurant or you’ll need to acquire some pool chairs (can be a challenge depending on the time of day). Also, note that it took about 40 minutes after ordering for the food to arrive.

That all said, the burger was juicy and the chicken tenders were crispy. The drinks were fine (we ordered a mocktail for the kids). So it could be worse. It’s just not a great feeling when you get such poor value for the price paid.

Should I note that while the pool rules state outside food is not allowed that it was never enforced by staff members?

The other restaurants at the Grand Wailea

Nobu Grand Wailea Maui

Official website: https://www.nobugrandwaileamaui.com/
Hours: 5PM – 9PM daily
Price: $30-$100/entree
Good for kids: There is no kids menu
Reservation needed: Yes, highly recommended
Comments: An upscale Japanese dining experience. We’ve been to other locations and the food is delicious but we haven’t made it out here yet. This isn’t a cheap experience, so expect premium prices, especially since you’re in a high-end resort in Hawaii. Between the Humu and the Nobu, you’ll have your fine dining itch satisfied at the Grand Wailea.

The Lūʻau at Grand Wailea

Official website: https://www.grandwailea.com/dine/luau
Hours: 5:15PM – 8:30PM daily
Price: $300/adult, $150/child (ages 3-12), Under 3 free for standard seating
Good for kids: Yes, if you can afford the price
Reservation needed: Yes, highly recommended
Comments: Every major Hawaiian resort needs its own luau, and this one ranks rather well. But it will cause a sizeable dent in your wallet. A family of four will end up spending $900 on dinner and a show. Even by Hawaii standards, this is expensive. This isn’t for everyone. If you have a 3-year-old in your party, consider the luau at the Andaz Maui down the street.

Botero Lounge

Official website: https://www.grandwailea.com/dine/botero-lounge
Hours: 4PM – 11PM daily (live music 6PM – 9PM)
Price: $30 cocktails, $30-$40/entree
Good for kids: No
Reservation needed: No
Comments: It’s a bar in the open-air Grand Wailea lobby that also serves some standard bar food. If we didn’t have other plans, we might have tried to make it over to listen to the live music, but the drink prices are tough to swallow. We’re sure the drinks themselves are easy to swallow.

Grotto Bar

Official website: https://www.grandwailea.com/dine/grotto-bar
Hours: 10:30AM – 5PM
Price: $20-$40/entree
Good for kids: No
Reservation needed: No
Comments: This is the swim-up bar in one of the Grand Wailea’s expansive pools. Most of the people here will just be looking for drinks, but there are a few bar food options you can choose from. The food is sourced from the same kitchen as the Wailea Surf Haus (and indeed it’s the same menu).

Haleakalā Shave Ice

Official website: https://www.grandwailea.com/dine/haleakala-shave-ice
Hours: 11AM – 4PM
Price: $10-$15
Good for kids: Yes
Reservation needed: No
Comments: If you have a car, you could probably head somewhere else to get better shave ice (we love Ululani’s). Even if you don’t have a car, you can easily walk to the outdoor shopping mall next door to find some alternatives.

Room service

Official website: Menu can be viewed here
Hours: 6AM – 11AM (breakfast), 5PM – 9PM (dinner)
Price: $15-$40/entree
Good for kids: There is a kids menu
Reservation needed: No
Comments: It’s room service, so what can you really say? We generally avoid ordering room service because of the mandatory fees that stack on top of the price of the meal. But the sad part is you can’t order lunch. Yes, the “all day” menu is not available between 11AM and 5PM. False advertising?

An alternative to Grand Wailea dining: Island Gourmet Markets

We’re going to specifically call this out here that you should know something about Grand Wailea dining: it’s expensive. The good news is you’re not trapped at the resort. Take 5-10 minutes and walk next door to The Shops at Wailea. There, you’ll find Island Gourmet Markets.

Yes, we briefly mentioned this above in the section about Loulu, but it bears repeating: this grocery store is cheaper than anything at the Grand Wailea and the food is better. See this post for more on the food here. Unless you’re looking for fine dining, do yourself a favor and take a walk.

What do you like to eat while at the Grand Wailea?

Suggested reading:

• Destination Spotlight: Maui, Hawaii
• Destination Spotlight: Oahu, Hawaii
• Other destinations we’ve visited