Pita Paradise: A Restaurant Week Wailea Regular

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Great meals, at great deals. Take your pick from 20 Wailea restaurants over seven nights.

Restaurant Week Wailea starts Sunday, Nov. 6, offering three-course, prix-fixe menus for $29, $39 and $49 (not including tax and gratuity) depending on the restaurant.

Each one makes a contribution to the Maui Food Bank for every prix-fixe entrée sold during the week, as part of Wailea Resort Association’s community giving.

“Restaurant Week Wailea proudly supports the Maui Food Bank,” says Bud Pikrone, General Manager of Wailea Community Association. “Since we began this popular dining promotion in 2009, over $60,000 has been raised from our Restaurant Week Wailea celebration for the Maui Food Bank and we look forward to helping again, especially with the holidays approaching.”

One of those restaurants, Pita Paradise at 34 Wailea Ike Drive, takes part in the promotion every year.

“We donate $1 for every meal purchased to the Maui Food Bank, which is really important to me and my husband,” explains Pita Paradise co-owner Christine Arabatzis. “We love to give back, especially to Maui families in need.”

In business for more than 17 years, Pita Paradise started in Kīhei’s Kalama Village, then moved to the Wailea Gateway Center around six years ago. The menu offers a Mediterranean mix of Greek and Italian-inspired appetizers, entrées and desserts. The restaurant, which Arabatzis calls “a hidden gem, bursting with fresh flavors,” uses 90% local produce.

The prix-fixe menu, created by chef Patrick James Inocentes, features starters like Waikapū Salad or Roasted Vegetable and Walnut Pesto Tiropitas.

“It has caramelized onions, spinach, mozzarella, feta cheese, baked in phyllo pastry and served with our housemate tzatziki sauce, which is cucumber yogurt sauce,” explains Arabatzis.

Her husband and co-owner is also a full-time fisherman, providing the freshest of fresh fish for the restaurant. That fish is featured on the prix-fixe menu, with Johnny’s Fresh Catch as one of the entrée choices. Other options include Garlic Jumbo Prawns or Crispy Coconut Chicken.

For dessert, you can choose between Fried Mascarpone Cheesecake and S’mores Ice Cream Cake, which Chef Inocentes says was a hit from the first time he made it, combining a torte with graham cracker crust and ice cream.

“‘How about we do a S’mores ice cream cake, ‘cause we have the ice cream?’ So I put it together,” he remembers. “Roasted marshmallows on top, with a caramel drizzle.”

Prix-fixe menus during Restaurant Week Wailea. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Prix-fixe menus during Restaurant Week Wailea. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Fresh catch entrée at Pita Paradise. Johnny’s Fresh Catch is among the prix-fixe menu options during Restaurant Week Wailea. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Christine Arabatzis, co-owner of Pita Paradise. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

The prix-fixe menu at Pita Paradise during Restaurant Week Wailea 2016. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

S’mores Ice Cream Cake, offered on the prix-fixe menu as part of the Restaurant Week Wailea dining promotion. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Pita Paradise Chef Patrick James Inocentes fires it up in the kitchen. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Mushroom appetizer at Pita Paradise in Wailea Gateway Center. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Village Salad at Pita Paradise. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Pita Paradise Chef Patrick James Inocentes. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Lamb Gyro Sandwich, a favorite at Pita Paradise in Wailea. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Mural on the wall at Pita Paradise. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Food in the dining room at Pita Paradise. Photo by Kiaora Bohlool.

Pita Paradise is one of 20 restaurants taking part in the promotion, which lasts through Saturday, Nov. 12. Three establishments will be participating for the first time: Ama Bar & Grill (Fairmont Kea Lani), Cheeseburger Grill & Tap Room (The Shops at Wailea) and KAPA Bar & Grill (Wailea Marriott). Some restaurants enhance the promotion by creating wine pairings to savor with your meal at special prices.

These prix-fixe menus are not valid with any other discount, coupons or promotion being offered at participating restaurants. Advance reservations are strongly recommended; contact the restaurants directly or visit Open Table to book online at select restaurants* which offer online dinner reservations. Here’s the full list:

Restaurant Week Wailea
November 6 – 12, 2016
Ama Bar & Grille (Fairmont Kea Lani) (808) 875-4100
Cheeseburger Grille & Tap Room (The Shops at Wailea) (808) 874-8990
DUO Steak and Seafood* (Four Seasons) (808) 874-8000
Fabiani’s Wailea (Wailea Gateway Center) (808) 874-1234
Gannon’s* (Wailea Gold & Emerald Course) (808) 875-8080
Humuhumunukunukuapua’a* (Grand Wailea) (800) 888-6100
Ka’ana Kitchen (Andaz Maui) (808) 573-1234
KAPA Bar & Grill (808) 879-1922
Kō * (Fairmont Kea Lani) (808) 875-2210
Longhi’s* (The Shops at Wailea) (808) 891-8883
Manoli’s Pizza Company* (Wailea Blue Course) (808) 874-7499
Matteo’s Osteria* (Wailea Town Center) (808) 891-8466
Monkeypod Kitchen by Merriman* (Wailea Gateway) (808) 891-2322
Morimoto Maui* (Andaz Maui) (808) 243-4766
Mulligan’s on the Blue* (Wailea Blue Course) (808) 874-1131
Nick’s Fishmarket Maui* (Fairmont Kea Lani) (808) 879-7224
Pita Paradise Bistro Wailea (Wailea Gateway Center) (808) 879-7177
Ruth’s Chris Steak House* (The Shops at Wailea) (808) 874-8880
The Restaurant at Hotel Wailea* (fka Capische?) (808) 879-2224
Tommy Bahama* (The Shops at Wailea) (808) 875-9983

No tickets, passes or coupons needed ~ simply make your reservations and enjoy! For more information and menus you can print, visit Restaurant Week Wailea’s website.