This review breaks my heart! I am a HUGE Maui Kombucha fan. We've been going since they were over in the other building. But the business operation has become quite a problem for us. To be fair, I'll be clear on my issues.
PROS: I love the food. In fact, it is my opinion, that the food here is probably the best on the island. Whenever friends and family visit, I take them here. I had a client fly in for a 9-day intensive, and they literally ate there EVERY DAY on their visit. I am currently plant-based, and probably have Maui Kombucha to thank (partially) for that. Even when I was a major carnivore, I loved coming here. The food is FANTASTIC. The acai bowls are hands down, the BEST. I don't even order acai bowls from other places now because I am always disappointed. Two words....Coconut Meringue. Yummy!
Healthy, vegan, and gluten-free options make up the entire menu. They always have ono specials too. Watermelon poke! I mean, come on!! They do a bagel with "lox" made from carrots...it was divine! Not just because it's vegan. I mean, by any standards, this is good food.
The staff there has always been friendly and helpful, so no complaints there. My husband loves their kombucha, but I don't particularly care for it. Prices are reasonable, for Maui.
CONS: (biggest reason for the 3-star review)
The hours of operation are SUPER inconsistent. We have gone, no less than 10 times, just to find that they were closed or they weren't serving food. It's a 20 minute drive for us each way....so that's not great. We have started calling any time we think we might go, but they don't always answer the phone. Whether they are closed again or just too busy, I'm not sure. We check the website and FB to see if there are updates, but nothing. It's just "hit or miss". I guess the owner just doesn't need the $$$. We went a few days ago on a Saturday after a long hike and arrived around 3 pm. When we got there, they said the kitchen was closed. I guess now, they close the kitchen at2 pmm on Saturdays. We used to go and grab dinner there once or twice a week and it always seemed pretty full. Often, there would be live music too. Rencently, we showed up at 6:15pm on a Friday night and they were already closed. We happened to run into one of the staff members that was still in the area and he informed us that they were, "trying something out for Summer hours". Ummm, okay?
Some of my friends have decided to stop going, not only because of the flakiness of the hours but because Maui Kombucha uses too much plastic and non-compostable materials for serving.
Listen, the owner is entitled to run his business as he sees fit. If they want to be "willy-nilly" with their hours, so be it. But for me, I like consistency and reliablility. Lately, we have been going to Choice in Paia. Honestly, the food is WAY better at Maui Kombucha, but Choice is reliable and their hours are super convenient.
Maybe it's a location thing? If you don't know where they are already, I can't imagine you would ever "stumble across" it. It's in a little hole in the wall. So maybe they don't get enough foot traffic. I think the chef(s) at Maui Kombucha need to come and open something up in Paia!! We would be there every day, along with LOTS of other folks. read more