Yelp recently recognized VigiLatte Artisan Coffee in Lahaina, Maui, as one of the top coffee shops in the US and Canada.

The Yelp website, which publishes crowd-sourced reviews, listed VigiLatte Artisan Coffee on 844 Front Street in Lahaina, as No. 15 on the US/Canada list.  

It was one of only two Hawaiʻi businesses that made the rankings, and the only Maui business included on the list of the best 100 coffee shops featured on the site.

“We’re all about being radically different.  When somebody does something one way, I do it the opposite way on purpose,” said VigiLatte owner Nathon Holder.  “When people come to our business and they try VigiLatte Artisan Coffee for the first time, they always come back. They’re so enamored by the way we put on a show, how we make the coffee and how we know about the coffee.”

As a mixologist and flair bartender for 10 years, Holder decided to apply those skills to his coffee brand.

“The customer sees how I move, sees the way we throw our shakers, and they know, even before they taste, this is going to be an amazing drink,” said Holder.

The business crafts classic espresso drinks along with unique, handshaken creations like Aero-Coco, Café Bon Bon and Nutellaccino.  They also make their own products and syrups.  Holder says he is dedicated to supporting local, using single-origin coffee beans grown on Kaua’i and offering discounts to kama’āina and Front Street employees.

Holder built the custom coffee cart by hand in 2019. The business spent one year shut down due to COVID, then came back in 2021.  

Holder said the recent ranking “has customer demand skyrocketing,” with “potential franchise options brewing.”

“This is my pride and joy.  I go to sleep thinking about the coffee, I dream about the coffee, I make the coffee,” said Holder.  “I often joke with customers this is what I was born to do, and even though I joke, it’s the truth.  I’ve definitely found my niche in life.”

VigiLatte Artisan Coffee is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week.  Find the business on Yelp here.