Must see restaurants in Waimea Canyon & the Westside

The eye-popping deli counter at this famed Japanese supermarket is guaranteed to revive even the most jaded palate. With local favorites like kim chee sea…

This tumbledown shack looks like it’s been closed for decades, but find your way in through the side door for a quintessential Kaua‘i experience…

With its local take on Japanese cuisine, this smart little restaurant has earned a sky-high, island-wide reputation. The sushi is impeccable, but there’s…

Hands-down Kaua‘i‘s best bakery, this small organic cafe offers everything from delicate pastries and cinnamon rolls to sourdough loaves and baguettes and…

Promising ‘aloha in a bun,’ this much-loved little town-center diner keeps things simple. Everyone’s here for the juicy pulled pork, and you can have it…

Modeled on similar ‘fish markets’ elsewhere on Kaua‘i, here with more of a fast-food slant, this barnlike roadside building is good for a quick meal…

The roomy and rather lovely wood-built bar/restaurant at the Waimea Plantation Cottages has been through various incarnations over the years, including…

Hawaii’s famed icecream chain started operations right here in 1983. Lappert’s is way too big for Hanapepe-based production now, but this quaint little…

‘Friendly, filling and reasonably priced’ sums up this local institution, formerly known as Yumi’s, where you can get a plate lunch with chicken katsu or…

Your quest for Kaua‘i’s top acai bowl might reach the finish line right here. A Marley Bowl comes with hemp seed, kale and bee pollen, and the Avatar with…

In a small storefront, this humble lunch counter makes huge plate lunches like loco moco and chicken katsu (deep-fried fillets), plus BBQ chicken and ribs…

The menu at this cute coffee shop lures customers with espresso drinks, fruit smoothies, granola bowls, homemade soups, garden salads and bagel and panini…

This shack delivers icy flavor: all syrups are homemade without additives and won't knock you out with sweetness. The superstar item is the halo halo …

This place lives up to its moniker. Stop in for tropically flavored shakes, sundaes, floats or old-fashioned scoops of Maui-made Roselani ice cream in…

One of the county-wide Sunshine Markets. Small-scale farmers truck in the goods themselves, and locals keen to score the best produce line up before the…

This log-cabin restaurant overlooks a large meadow that’s stalked by marauding wild roosters. The one dining option in the park – and there’s nothing else…

Yes, it’s touristy, but this Western-style saloon dishes up plantation lunches in authentic kaukau (food) tins full of shrimp and vegetable tempura,…

Tortillas at this island fusion taquería are stuffed with wasabi-coated or Cajun-dusted seared ahi, fresh cabbage and rice, and they’ll do the same trick…

Craving shrimp? Whether sautéed scampi-style, coconut- or beer-battered, in taco form or ground up into a ‘shrimp burger,' crustaceans are what this…

Part Chinese restaurant, part local bakery, this Hanapepe fixture serves up favorites from saimin (local-style noodle soup) with pork to a whole roasted…