Top Maui Restaurants 2012: From Thrifty to Four Star: Independent Advice from Experts Who Live, Play & Eat on Maui [Paperback]

James Jacobson (Author), Molly Jacobson (Author), Shannon Wianecki (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2012

"A must-have for anyone looking to navigate Maui's restaurant scene." -San Jose Mercury News

This Best-Selling Maui Guidebook has been entirely revised and updated for 2012. Local Food Writers Reveal Secret Spots and the Top Maui Restaurants for Every Budget.
Every year since 2005, Maui visitors and locals have trusted Top Maui Restaurants to steer them toward the best eats on Maui. Why? Because with over 2 Million visitors per year and around 150,000 permanent residents, it's not always easy to find the restaurants that really deliver good food at good value. Written by local food writers who live on Maui year-round and "eat bad food so you don't have to," this guide will help you avoid the tourist traps and discover the most delicious places to eat on the island. Readers trust this book because the authors dine anonymously over several repeat visits, pay for every meal, and don't receive compensation from restaurants: they are 100% free to report their honest, independent advice. Whether you live on Maui, are planning your vacation ahead of time, or only have a few days left in paradise, this guide gives you:

• The top romantic restaurants worth the splurge
• The best inexpensive but tasty places
• Hidden gems you wouldn't find unless a local revealed the secret
• A user-friendly reference section to help you fulfill any food craving or find places right near you and in your budget
• Insider secrets and tips to help you get the most out of your Maui vacation

Flip through the comprehensive index (using the "Look Inside" feature on this page) and you'll see that this is much more than just restaurant reviews--it's chock-full of advice about Maui. Top Maui Restaurants 2012 is written with one audience in mind: you--as a dear friend. This lovingly researched, frank and honest guide has been completely revised and entirely updated for 2012. Also, when you register your copy, you get free updates on the Maui restaurant scene emailed to you.

"The money that you'll save by following their advice and dining at the recommended establishments will pay for this book many times over." - Edward Mendelsohn, Weston, FL

ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Food journalists James and Molly Jacobson are two big-city-exiles who live on Maui. They keep this book and their blog, MauiRestaurantsBlog.com fresh by dining out an average of 11 times per week.

Product Details

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Maui Media, LLC (January 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0975263196
• ISBN-13: 978-0975263198
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #27 in Books > Travel > United States > States > Hawaii
  • #31 in Books > Travel > Reference & Tips > Food & Lodging > Dining

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top Maui Restaurants from Thrifty to Four Star, October 26, 2007

By 

S. Piper (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Top Maui Restaurants 2008 From Thrifty to Four Star: Indispensable Advice from Experts Who Live, Play & Eat on Maui (Paperback)

This book is one of two guidebooks to Maui that we consider a must. Unlike the free guides readily available everywhere, the authors give you the straight scoop on a whole range of restaurants. It is very easy on Maui to find terrible restaurants and leave feeling ripped off. Even the bad ones are expensive. This guide led us to several places we would not otherwise have given a second look. Just one example: Gian Don's. This very attractive restaurant with its comfortable outside seating looks totally out of place overlooking noisy Kihei Road. Following the authors' suggestions we ordered the appetizer ribs and a salad and were very happy with the portions and the prices. Without this book, we would never have tried Gian Don's much less ordered ribs in an Italian restaurant. This wonderful, entertaining guide was worth every penny. It will be on our short list of "must brings" to Maui--unless there is a new version out.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One delicious meal after another!, April 21, 2008

By 

Kimberly Shaw (Wailea, HI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Top Maui Restaurants 2008 From Thrifty to Four Star: Indispensable Advice from Experts Who Live, Play & Eat on Maui (Paperback)

We just returned from Maui with a well used copy of this book! We are VERY frequent visitors to Maui (about three times a year). I loved James and Molly's story, their passion for each other and for great food! I appreciate the fact that they are sharing their dining experiences with us (the readers). I highly suggest this book to anyone visiting or living on Maui!

I admit I peeked ahead to see what they thought of my favorite Maui restaurants and it helped me "trust" them to realize we shared similar tastes! Then I read the book cover to cover. Later I downloaded the latest edition. The book paid for itself the first new place we tried, which happened to be Cilantro Fresh Mexican Grill in Lahaina. Having lived in Hawai'i and also places that have some excellent Mexican food (Texas, California, Arizona and MEXICO)...in my opinion, this is the best Mexican food in all of Hawai'i, of course I am open to continue to try other places just to make sure. As it is often difficult to find an affordable dinner on Maui, this was a great place to discover.

Another time we wanted to kiss the book in thanks was after the first bite at Flatbread Company in Pa'ia. I cannot have gluten/wheat, so I had to skip the pizza, but I so enjoyed watching my husband and youngest daughter eat it. My daughter agreed that it was a "spiritual experience!" I enjoyed a salad with the yummy pineapple vinaigrette dressing! The lemonade was a little too tart for us, but loved the iced tea. My husband loved the pomegranate ginger mojito. The desserts were amazing, especially with their homemade whipped cream (sweetened with maple syrup). We found the service to be excellent, too!

Many places we had driven by on former trips and always wondered about. This book gave us the nudge to go ahead and try some of these places, as follows:
Longhi's - The steak WAS awesome, just as the book said. It was also one of the best breakfasts we had (even though Plantation House continues to be our favorite place). My husband thought it was the best french toast on the island. My daughter enjoyed the huge cinnamon roll.
Cafe O Lei - Great place for lunch, just as the book said. We loved the shave ice place downstairs, too!
Maui Tacos - Just figured it was typical fast food, so always avoided. After reading the review, we gave it a try. It was fresh and tasty and a perfect quick meal on the way to a movie.
Mala in Wailea - I appreciate all their organic items on the menu! The organic chicken was ONO!
I'O - It is now our top Lahaina restaurant, too! (Have enjoyed Pacific'o and Feast of Lele in the past.)

We did have two semi-disappointing meals this trip. I should say ONLY two, as we often have many more than that. Thankfully, this book helped us avoid most of those! And I do realize that every restaurant has an off day. Perhaps it was an off day for these two places? After waiting a while in the rain for the Gazebo, we felt it was not worth the wait. The view IS amazing, but you can get the view from the other side of the beach at the Sea House. The food seemed to be typical "diner" food. To me, it tasted like something you'd get at Denny's. It was not bad, but not great either. My husband and daughter had the pancakes and were disappointed. We much prefer Sea House or Plantation House for breakfast in that area (or Longhi's and SeaWatch further away). We had one night to have a romantic dinner, just my husband and I. We decided to try Pineapple Grill. We did not feel the view compared to the view at Plantation House (perhaps it was where we were seated). The service was excellent. The food was good. However, it was so noisy be could hardly hear each other. It was not too crowded, although there was one large group. We decided we did not like yelling at each other from across the table and did not stay for dessert.

Overall it was one ONO meal after another! We enjoyed adding some new winners to the restaurants we already enjoyed on Maui!

James and Molly, mahalo nui loa!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makin' it so easy...!, July 28, 2009

By 

Kraig and Debbie "Kraig and Debbie" (York, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Top Maui Restaurants 2008 From Thrifty to Four Star: Indispensable Advice from Experts Who Live, Play & Eat on Maui (Paperback)

Not having visited Maui in 30 years, I had no idea where our family of four would be able to eat at reasonable prices. Given the fact that Hawaii, in general is so expensive, this wonderful book not only gave a comprehensive and entertaining review of Maui's offerings, but it was organized, thorough and easy to use as a daily guide...which we will for the next two weeks!

This book made an important part of our trip less challenging and took away the stress and frustration of trying to find nice, clean and reasonably priced restaurants.

I am so very glad we purchased this book -- I recommend it highly -- no one should travel to Maui without it!