Situated in South Maui with views overlooking Keawakapu Beach, 5 Palms Restaurant boasts one of the most enviable business locations on the island. This is a beachfront location tucked away from loud urban sounds and so dining out on their patio truly feels like a private island escape. Perhaps it is also its less pronounced address that has made 5 Palms Restaurant one of the more “best-kept secret”-type of beach grill in Maui.
Unlike a lot of more upscale Maui restaurants that are only open for lunch and dinner, sometimes only dinner, the 5 Palms Restaurant is open all day, serving up delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Between 3 pm and 9 pm, diners can also access a fantastic Happy Hour menu when sitting at the bar. This Happy Hour menu includes excellent beer, wine, and cocktail discounts as well as lower-priced food dishes like Sushi and Hawaiian pupus (appetizers) like Coconut Shrimp, BBQ Ribs, and Korean Chicken Wings.
Note that this Happy Hour Menu is only available at the bar, but that bar offers its own pretty wonderful dining experience with open windows opposite the long bar and plenty of seating. Similarly, most of the interior dining room seating also offers excellent window views. 5 Palms Restaurant has such an enviable location on the coast, that bringing in the natural light and opening up the indoors to showcase the beauty of the ocean outside was certainly a priority in the design and decor of the building. But while the bar and the interior dining room do offer great seating and views, the oceanfront outdoor patio is where most diners are going to want to be.
The outdoor seating at the 5 Palms Restaurant features hard tile flooring with a partial roof boasting lights for evening dinner and fans for the hot days. This outdoor patio is open on three sides and offers superior beachfront views. Many regulars and diners in the know choose the 5 Palms Restaurant as a sunset location, reserving their table setting for an hour or so before the sun dips to enjoy the magic of the golden hour. A manicured grass lawn slopes down just beyond the outdoor patio and meets up with the soft white sands of Keawakapu Beach. As the name of the restaurant would suggest, you will see plenty of palm trees dotting the landscape between where you sit and where the ocean meets the sand.
The 5 Palms Restaurant bills itself as a fine dining restaurant, but guests should not expect a more formal type of environment. This open-air restaurant certainly leans into its beachfront location to provide a more upscale casual dining experience. An upscale, local casual dining experience as you will find many local ingredients and main course items on the menu. This includes locally caught and raised fish and fruits and vegetables from Upcountry farms.
When it comes to the popularity of specific menu items, those sourced primarily from local fisheries, fishermen, and farms are the most popular. Such recommended menu items thus include:
Fresh Catch Grilled & Crab Crusted.
The fish entrées are rare to disappoint. Fresh catches will vary by the season and by the day, but often times you can get a succulent Mahi fillet that is served crab-crusted with a drizzle of lobster sauce and served atop sweet Molokai potatoes.
Hawaiian Sweet Bread French Toast
Don’t forget their breakfast menu! The Hawaiian Sweet Bread French Toast served with bananas and white chocolate chips, is a wonderfully sweet way to start your day.
Insider Tip:
If you are looking for a full-day excursion combined with eating at 5 Palms Restaurants, it’s easy to do. Enjoy swimming and snorkeling at the neighboring Keawakapu Beach or hire one of the nearby boat charters that go out of Kihei Boat Landing just to the north of the restaurant.