On June 19, 2012 Hotel Molokai suffered an electrical fire loss which resulted in the closure of their restaurant. The hotel began rebuilding the establishment in May of 2014 and it was completed in August of 2015.

On October 5, 2015 the restaurant reopened as “Hale Kealoha” under the ownership of siblings Tammy Smith and Kama Hoe.

For the moment, Hale Keoaloha has a limited pupu menu of smoke meat, poke, chicken wings, quesadilla, steamed clams, lumpia and pepperoni fries but they gave us a sneak peek at some of the menu items they will be launching at their soft opening.

Our preview menu included a variety of preparations of venison, their sweet/savory “uala bites” (sweet potato with cheese and seasonal fruits), ulu and sweet potato chips with savory homemade Maui onion dip, poke platter with inamona, spicy tuna and lomi tomato, their vegetarian “aina burger” made of kalo (taro), ulu (breadfruit) and kabocha pumpkin, Keawanui butter garlic shrimp and their turkey, ulu burger. See video above.

For the time being, the restaurant is serving customers from 3 p.m. – 9 p.m. daily. The restaurant currently has a full bar and holds the only hotel liquor license on the island.

The soft opening is currently scheduled for November 5, 2015 and the Grand Opening will be in early December. After the grand opening the hours will be extended to 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. serving breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Hotel Molokai’s general manager, Michael Drew, says “The community is overjoyed that there is a new dining location for them to celebrate special occasions with their families and are excited about the new jobs that will be created. The fact that the owners are a local Hawaiian family that understand the needs of the community and visitors alike makes this place very special.”

Fun fact: The female musician in the video is Tammy and Kama’s mother.