Unique Lāna‘i Restaurants Keep Diners Coming Back

Build your own calzone at Lāna‘i’s Cafe 565. Photo courtesy of Lāna‘i Visitors Bureau.

If you’re looking to visit our neighboring island of Lāna‘i, be sure to pack a healthy appetite. Travelers have long been drawn to Lāna‘i’s picturesque landscapes, lovely beaches and unique geographic features. You can restaurants to that list, with a variety of dining options and unique flavors. Here are some of the highlights:

Cafe 565
While Cafe 565 has a menu filled with hot and cold deli sandwiches, subs, and unique plate lunch offerings, their calzones get much of the attention. They’re made with fresh dough and come in five different varieties, including the popular Buffalo Chicken, Meatlover’s, and Veggie varieties. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can build your own calzone with a wide range of ingredients for the filling. The restaurant is open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m., Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. only. It’s located at 408 8th Street, across from Dole Square in Lāna‘i City. Call (808) 565-6622 for more information.

Pele’s Other Garden
Unique menu items and decadent desserts have made Pele’s popular with visitors and residents. However, it’s the beer selection that has people talking. Pele’s offers 12 different beers on tap at any given time, including the very rare Lemongrass Luau from Kona Brewing Company. The advanced beer refrigerator has three separate temperature zones to keep bottles and cans perfectly cold. Pele’s is one of only two restaurants in Lāna‘i City with a liquor license. Pele’s Other Garden is located on Dole Square at 811 Houston St. in Lāna‘i City, and is open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, and for dinner from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with happy hour from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. For more information, call (808) 565-9628, toll-free at 888-764-3354, or visit here.

Lāna‘i Ohana Poke Market
Lāna‘i Ohana Poke Market at 834 A Gay St. in Lāna‘i City has built a reputation as the one of the best places for fresh ahi poke in Hawai‘i. Some of the local favorites include the Maui Onion Ahi Poke, the Furikake Ahi Poke topped with green onions and tobiko (flying fish roe), and the popular Spicy Ahi Poke with green and white onions, and a mayo/Sriracha sauce. Most poke goes for $16.99 per pound, with poke bowls over rice offered between $7.50 and $8.95 each. Open from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (or until the poke sells out), the Lāna‘i Ohana Poke Market only accepts cash, so come prepared.

No Ka Oi Grindz Lāna‘i
Just off of Dole Square at 335 9th St., No Ka Oi Grindz prepares traditional Hawaiian style breakfast and plate lunch dishes. Bypassing a traditional set menu, this restaurant prefers to post its daily offerings of comfort food right on its Facebook page. But a consistently popular breakfast item is the homemade corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast, and the homemade kimchi hamburger steak for lunch. No Ka Oi Grindz is open every day except Saturdays, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The restaurant can be reached at (808) 565-9413.

Blue Ginger Cafe
Located at 409 7th St. across from Dole Square, Blue Ginger is well-known for its wide selection of freshly-baked bread and pastries. Items like apple and blueberry turnovers, cream cheese danish, ensemadas, cinnamon rolls, pigs in a blanket, and white chocolate chip-macadamia nut cookies are created by a team of longtime artisans that have worked at the restaurant almost as long as it’s been open. Blue Ginger Cafe is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is served every day except Tuesday and Wednesday. For special orders, call (808) 565-6363. Visit here for additional information.

Canoes Lanai Restaurant is located on Dole Square. Photo courtesy of Lanai Visitors Bureau.

Canoes Lāna‘i Restaurant
Located at 419 7th St. in Lāna‘i City, Canoes is a classic “old school” diner that provides patrons with a truly local-style menu. Customer favorites include the pancakes with macadamia nut sauce, fried rice loco moco, and Char Siu Omelette. Canoes is open seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., with extended dinner hours on Friday and Saturday until 8 p.m. For more details, call (808) 565-6537.

Lāna‘i City Grille
Within the charming 11-room Hotel Lāna‘i is the Lāna‘i City Grille, a family-style restaurant where plates are meant to be shared. And while it draws a crowd for live, local music every Thursday and Friday night, it’s Lāna‘i City Grille’s cuisine that is the main attraction. For starters, the Daily Flat Bread has become a customer favorite, mainly because toppings change according to chef’s inspiration that day. And one of the most unique offerings is the Angus Beef Sliders served with a flavorful bacon jam. Find out more by calling (808) 565-7211, or by visiting the hotel’s website.

VIEWS restaurant
Located on the Manele Bay Golf Course, VIEWS restaurant is the ideal place to enjoy lunch after a morning on the greens. But besides the panoramic ocean vistas, VIEWS is well known for its delicious Hulopoe Bay Prawn B.L.T served in pita bread and with caramelized onions and creole aioli. VIEWS is open for lunch Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with afternoon drinks served between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Call (808) 565-2000 for information and reservations.

Along with delighting in delectable cuisine from upscale to down home, there’s plenty more to enjoy on Lāna‘i, with cultural treasures at every turn. The 89,000 acres of countryside, once filled with pineapple plantations, now invite fishing, swimming, diving, hiking and golf. Embark on four-wheel-drive adventures to picturesque Kaiolohia (Shipwreck Beach), mysterious Keahiakawelo (Garden of the Gods) and along the 8-mile Munro Trail, which meanders through rainforest to the highest point on Lāna‘i, where Maui, Molokaʻi,  Oʻahu and Hawaiʻi Island all come into spectacular view.

For more information, visit here or call (800) 947-4774.